The End of An Era. Corey wins his final HFT.
It was a bombshell announcement that nobody saw coming. The rumor that the 2003 Halloween Foosball Tournament would be Corey "Humperink" Pinkham's final one as a competitor became more than just rumors when it was learned that Corey is planning to move to Florida in the summer. That meant that October 25th, 2003 figured to be the final chapter of an impressive career. If it was the end, Corey certainly went out on top.
The night did not start off that well for Corey, however. He had mixed results in The Big Game, including a very costly interception when the Mister Cyrs had a third and goal. But even more shocking was when he and Steven, who had never lost in six doubles matches coming in, were upset in the first round of the Halloween Foosball Doubles Tournament to the team of Joey Higson and Mike "Nelly/Yao" Nelligan. The first round loss was the first ever suffered by Corey in any HFT, and it clearly devastated him. As a result, Corey predicted that he was going to have a bad year.
Despite a ton of controversy, much of it coming from Corey's
neighbor, Uncle Billy, Humperdink was seeded #2 despite having beaten Greg head
to head in 2002 and tied him in championships at 3. Corey got a chance for
revenge by facing Nelly and he received it with a 5-0 shut out victory.
Corey advanced to the second round where he faced a confident
Keith Ouellette. While Keith had not been actively talking about a
Ouellette Sweep as he did last year, he didn't fear facing Corey as perhaps he
would if he was facing C.K. Keith actually would be Corey's toughest
opponent on the night as it took a 7-3 victory for Corey to make it to his sixth
straight final four.
In the final four, it was another match up in the classic rivalry that had been brewing between Corey and Jim. Jim had been more dominant in the first two rounds than he had been in years, outscoring Gina and Joey 12-2. Perhaps it was because he didn't have the usual challenge of any early close game, or perhaps it was his injured arm courtesy of Grady Little, or perhaps Jim was still stunned by his brother Steve's second round loss. For whatever reason, Jim turned in the worst performance of his Halloween Foosball career and Corey took advantage with a 10-1 victory to advance to the finals.
The other semi-final was the surprising match up of Greg vs. Nicky. Either one would have been a perfect opponent for Corey in what would be his final Halloween Foosball Tournament match. Nicky, of course, was the person who Corey faced back in 1998 in the finals when he won his first Halloween Foosball championship and rose to prominence. A rematch of that classic 1998 confrontation would have been fitting. But if Greg had won, it would have given the Halloween Foosball Tournament a match up of two three time winners head to head bidding for a record fourth Halloween Foosball championship. It would also be Greg's one last chance to beat Corey, something he had never been able to do. It would also allow Corey to avenge the bullshit ranking system and prove (if there had been any need to prove it any further) that he was the most successful Halloween Foosball player of all time.
Despite the fact that Greg was ranked #1, he came down first in a show of respect. Corey then made his entrance, not to the familiar tune of "Let the Bodies hit the floor" but rather to an Elvis Presley rendition of "I did it my way." The end was certainly near. Also in a note of irony, Joey Higson accompanied Corey as his cut man. Greg and James Higson, Joey's brother, served as Team Steve in 1999 and played a huge role in Corey's first HFT defeat. James Higson threw goldfish at Corey throughout that match.
The 2003 Corey vs. Greg final was actually a closer contest in the early going than the rather disappointing one-sided affair in 2002. Corey and Greg matched each other goal for goal through the first six goals. Then Corey took over. He outscored his longtime rival 7-1 the rest of the way, to come away with a 10-4 victory and his fourth Halloween Foosball Tournament title. (The 10-4 win ultimately ended up a greater margin than the 10-5 win a year ago, although Greg scored most of his 2002 goals after the game was for all intents and purposes over.)
It was quite the turnaround from the shocking first round loss. Corey's name was printed on the red and blue trophy in all caps COREY, just like in NHL 2002, and he celebrated with the few brave souls who lasted over the length of what was by then by far the longest Halloween Foosball Tournament in history.
If it truly is the end, Corey's career totals were truly impressive. He won four out of the six Halloween Foosball Tournaments he was in, and only missed the finals once, in 2001 when Jim defeated him in the semi-finals. He amassed a 20-2 record (.910 winning percentage) in singles play. He was also 6-1 with two doubles championships in his team with Steve. Since individual game scores started to be counted in 2000, Corey outscored his opponents by a count of 116-49, a 67 goal differential. He not only won his games, he won them with authority.
Of course, there still remains the chance that Corey will be back in 2004, once again going after the Halloween Foosball Tournament. Uncle Billy who is Corey's neighbor has said like many others have said about Roger Clemens, he doesn't believe that Corey has really played his last tournament game. Corey, for his sake, has left the door open for a return to foosball, and adds that he definitely would want to return if it was at all possible.
But if he does end up moving to the Sunshine State following his graduation from the Voke, it will certainly leave a void in the Halloween Foosball Tournament. His career started with a victory over Billy Gendron in 1998, which Greg at the time called "surprising". It ended with a 10-4 victory over Greg 5 years and one day later. But for Corey's sake, at least he wasn't like Roger Clemens, he was able to go out on top. A champion, once again.
