In recent weeks, Keith Ouellette has been bragging about his brother Greg being the best foosball player ever. Greg himself believes that by winning his third foosball championship, he has earned the right to call himself the best foosball player in the HFT.
Not so fast, boys....
Despite a semi-finals loss last year, Corey "Humperdink" Pinkham is still the best Halloween Foosball player ever. When Greg brags about his foosball accomplishments, he often cites his two straight wins in 1996 & 1997, before Corey even entered the tournament. In fact, things were so different (the '96 case especially), one could argue their relevence in any discussion about today.
Nonetheless, since Corey entered the Halloween Foosball Tournament in 1998, he holds an advantage over Greg in virtually every Halloween Foosball statistic. Since '98, Corey is 13-2, Greg: 10-3. Corey has won 2 championship and been to the finals three times while Greg has one championship in one finals appearance. Corey's career WIMPY rating (Wins in matches per year...(W+1)/Yrs) is 3.50. Greg's is only 3.00(since '98..2.75). And oh yeah, Corey won their only head to head meeting back in the 1998 finals.
There are other factors to consider that numbers that can't describe. For instance, for both of Corey's championships he had to win 4 games in a single night...until '01, Greg never accomplished that feat. Corey also has faced a consistantly tougher schedule than Greg has. In 1998, Corey beat a semi-finalist from the year before, Billy, in the first round. When Corey won it all again in '2000, he faced Angel in the first round. In fact in 2000, Corey beat the #6, #8, #3, and #4 ranked competitors in the JGRSIII. Greg's paths to success have been consistently easier.
Corey also has won a doubles tournament, something Greg has never (and with Keith as his partner, will never) done. So if you really want to be technical, Corey and Greg won the same amount of games in 2001.
Make no mistake, Greg had a tremendous comeback and an impressive showing in 2001. Was Greg the best player on the evening of October 27, 2001...Undoubtedly. But is he the best player in Halloween Foosball today? I don't think so...
Greg may have had the most success in Halloween Foosball Tournament history. That would be a more accurate description. But the fact is after winning back to back championships, Greg failed to make it to the finals the next three years. These should have been his prime years...yet he let himself get out of shape. Then he came back and won. If he's the best, he should have been the same dominant player from '98-00 that he was in 96-97 and last year.
Greg has the longevity, but it was Mr. Ouellette himself who said that "longevity is overrated." The fact is, based on over the past few years, and I believe today...Corey Pinkham is a better foosball player than Greg Ouellette.
