It was a night full of fun and excitement, and some of the greatest matches ever contested. In the end, Corey "Humperdink" Pinkham bounced back from a semi-final loss in 2001 to capture his record tying third Halloween Foosball Tournament Champions. Corey also onced again teamed up with Steve as that duo captured their second straight doubles title.
Dressed as Tom Brady like he promised, Corey initially had trouble adjusting the new table (he lost games to Wilson, among others during the earlier practice games.) Corey believed that he had a hoax placed on him by Uncle Billy, who was the man responsible for the table. Uncle Billy almost faced Corey in the first round but didn't want to because he had to leave later in the evening. After "UB" left, it was clear sailing for Corey who for the first time in his Halloween Foosball career recieved a bye.
Corey's evening began in the doubles tournament when he and Steve competed in the round robin half of the Doubles Tournament. Steve & Corey, "The Jamaican Foosball Team" first had to face the one man team of "Shawn", which was comprised of Halloween Foosball Tournament Rookie of the Year, Shawn Paradise. After their game against Shawn, Steve and Corey defeated the team of Nicky & Kyle to advance to the finals of the Doubles Tournament.
After that game, Corey sat idly by as the first round matches took place. His bye was withheld however in case anyone showed up to challenge him (namely a big tall guy). Only after the completion of the the third matchup between Jim & Angel was completed, did Corey recieve credit for his bye and advanced to face surprising first round winner, Derek.
Derek and Corey faced each other in the first round of 2001 and Corey shut him out 5-0. This time, however, it was the underdog, who shocked many by beating Wilson, that got off to an early lead. Derek was winning early in the match, but Corey kept his composure and eventually won that match 7-3 setting up another classic confrontation with Jim.
The Singles Tournament was interrupted for the Doubles finals as Steve & Corey took on The Ouellette Brothers in the championship game. Although the game was close, Corey and Steve controlled the game from the getgo and ended all talk of an Ouellette Sweep when they won the game 10-?. Then it was on to Jim.
Jim can lay claim to the fact that he undoubtedly has been Corey's toughest (and most frequent) opponent throughout the years, culminating with last year's 12-10 classic that sent Jim to the finals and sent Corey home, shocked. The game with Jim was an instant classic. Unlike last year where one person (Jim) got off to a huge early lead and Corey came back, it was pretty even and back and forth throughout the game and noone was surprised when Corey tied the score at 9 to force overtime. Jim had several game points in OT, but Corey perservered and eventually won the highest scoring Halloween Foosball Tournament game in history by a score of 13-11.
After Greg came from behind to beat Steve 11-9, the "Biggest Match in Halloween Foosball History" was ensured. Corey beat Greg in a match witnessed by few back in 1998. Ever since then many people, especially, Greg have been waiting for the oppurtunity to see a rematch. Unquestionably the two with the most success, heading into that matchup the two had combined for 5 championships, 6 finals appearances, 2 doubles championships and a win-loss record of 32-5 in singles competition. After 4 years, the wait was over.
After an elaborate pregame ceremony introducing Jim as the referee, Hollywood Hulk Nales as the enforcer and Ptolemy as the trophy holder, Corey entered the foosball arena to his theme song. Greg then came down as the defending Halloween Foosball Champion trying to prove his four year claim that Corey's victory over him was a fluke.
Corey got off to an early lead scoring three quick goals. He dominated the final from start to finish, and while Greg would eventually score 5 goals in that game, the case could be made that it wasn't even as close as the final score indicated as Corey Pinkham silenced the critics and won his third Halloween Foosball Tournament Championship.
2002 Tournament Central
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