I. Corey Pinkham looks to capture his sixth HFT title in what will be his final Halloween Foosball Tournament* Of course Corey's supposedly been playing in his last Halloween Foosball Tournament for three years now.  First it was rumored that he would be done after the 2003 tournament.  Then there was a lot of talk that last year would be the final go-around for the legendary Humperdink.  But unlike in years past, this year it appears Corey's plans are solid.  He will be moving to Deltona, Florida in November, less than one month after this year's Halloween Foosball Tournament is scheduled to take place.  Corey already holds virtually every record in the Halloween Foosball Tournament.  His five titles (won in a 7 year span) are 2 more than his nearest competitor (and arch rival) Greg Ouellette.  Indeed much of the suspense surrounding Corey in 2005 will not center around whether he can maintain his dominance, that has become expected.  The drama will revolve around the question of whether anyone will be able to defeat him in a singles foosball match.  The last person to defeat Corey was James Ostis in 2001.  Since then Corey has won 11 matches in a row en route to capturing three straight Halloween Foosball Tournament titles.  The one person who wants to beat Corey more than anyone would have to hope for a fourth straight finals match up with him, and that is Greg.  Greg holds an all-time record of 0-4 against Corey, including 3 straight losses in the finals.  If the talk of Corey's moving holds true, this will be is his final chance to gain any sort of revenge.

II. Will Somebody Else break into the Final Four? While Corey's run is amazing, equally as dominant has been the other three competitors who have traditionally made up the final four.  Corey, Jim, and Greg have been in 7 HFT final fours in a row, while Steve Ostis has also been there for 5 of those.  Jim and Greg in fact have made it to at least the semi-finals in every single Halloween Foosball Tournament dating all the way back to 1996.  (Nicholas Ostis made it to the semi-finals in 1998 and 2003, the only breaks in the dominance of the Big Four)  Could this year be the year that streak comes to an end?  Certainly Nicky (in line for yet another second round game against Steve) could possibly make it to another final four, but will someone else outside this exclusive club advance past the elite 8?  Wilson Rith was once rumored to be a breakout star, but has yet to live up to the hype after being billed as the Mystery Person a few years back.  Angel Nales was a model of consistency in his first few years of the HFT, but in recent years, some bizarre decisions have led him to not even advancing past the first round (In 2000, Angel challenged Corey and lost in the first round, in 2003, Angel  lost a controversial "protest" match against Joe Higson).  The latest foosballer that has been talked of being primed for a breakout year is young Kenny Stuart.  Hard to believe but its been 5 years since Kenny won his debut match against Gina Ouellette, becoming the last player to accomplish that feat (winning a debut match, not beating Gina).  In 2003, it was as doubles partners with Gina that Kenny scored his greatest success going all the way to the finals of the doubles tournament before losing to Nick Ostis and Kyle Bielski.  Because he had to leave the 2003 Tournament early, Kenny actually had a two game winning streak in the singles tournament with wins over Shawn Paradise and Nick Lutz before losing in the second round in 2004 to Greg.

III. The Fifth Annual Doubles Tournament: Not only will October 29th be the Tenth edition of the original Halloween Foosball Tournament, it will also feature the fifth HFT doubles tournament, which has become a tradition in its own right.  Corey and Steve dominated the first two tournaments, before losing in shocking fashion in the first round of a 2003 tournament that was won by Nick and Kyle. But the Corey and Steve team rebounded in 2004, with a new gimmick (the Jamaican stereotype ditched for a Mexican one instead), and new challenge, the dream team of James and Greg, who teamed for the first time in 2004.  Will they team up again in 2005?  That will be one of the biggest questions over the weeks to come.  Historically both have been opposed teaming with eachother, as egos often got in the way.  But it worked to almost ultimate success in '04 (with their highlight in a startling come from behind victory against the defending champions in the doubles tournament)  One thing is for sure.  Steve and Corey will team up again (and if Corey leaves, presumably for the last time).  And the Doubles Tournament will continue to be much more full of upsets and unexpected happenings than its singles counterpart.

IV. The Big Game: Will it be back? the HFT has been ready for some football since 2003, as the annual Big Game was called off in 2004 due to a lack of available players followed by a lack of available daylight.  The SHMOG controversy played a big role in that, and the Halloween Foosball Committee is looking to make sure it does not happen again in '05.  The perennial rivals, the Mister Cyrs and Greg-Angel Yackadoodles haven't played since the December 2003: Celebration of All Things Football, which featured Sothey Long's infamous injury.

V. Mill City Invitational: Revisited? In response to being kicked out of a Fantasy Baseball league that he had already been invited into, James Ostis had created an invitational fantasy league with the aim of having 20 teams.  While the league never reached 20 teams, and approximately half the league never paid a single ounce of attention, a feud developed between two of the league's most active owners.  Jonathan Pollard, "J.P." owner of Jip's Diamond Nine made several questionable trade offers throughout the course of the season, some of which were accepted. Brass Bonanza owner Jason Richland took offense to this practice and thus started a war that featured some of the most intense trash-talking ever seen.  Sometimes others got involved and made fools of themselves, namely Corey Pinkham of the Notes, but while the trash-talking never really settled who was right and who was wrong, it was only fitting that the finals of the Mill City Invitational featured the two teams, with Jippa taking the series 6-4.  However the invitation from the Halloween Foosball Committee to settle this issue in a foosball grudge match remains on the table.  Each of the two fantasy baseball rivals could have a former HFT champion in their corner, Greg is Jason's friend, and Corey is JP's bitch. (Greg is of course, Angel's bitch).  So far neither the Connecticut native nor the former Boys and Girls Club athletic director have accepted the invitation, but if they did, it could be the grudge match of the ages.

VI. Geocentric vs. Heliocentric One rivalry that almost certainly will be revisited is the blood feud between astronomers, Ptolemy and Galileo.  Ptolemy was to be honored at the start of the 2004 Halloween Foosball Tournament when Galileo shocked the entire audience by returning and attacking Ptolemy from behind.  It was the first appearance by Galileo in over 4 years, and the two exchanged shots throughout the evening.  After Galileo ruined Ptolemy's ceremonial first pitch ceremony, Ptolemy clubbed Galileo in the back of the head during an interview. Galileo also attacked Ptolemy when the Ancient Greek astronomer was appearing at a joint press conference with John Kerry in a melee that resulted in Mike Tyson being pistol-whipped.  The bottom line is for all their battling in 2004, nothing was settled, and while Ptolemy is a certified Halloween Foosball Tournament legend, his arch nemesis will look to make the 10th annual HFT far from a celebration for him.

VII. Red Sox Repeat? The 2004 Halloween Foosball Tournament was held on the same day as the parade celebrating the Boston Red Sox's first world championship in 86 years.  Will there be another celebration at the end of this October, we can only hope.  The Halloween Foosball Tournament has traditionally been the same night as Game Six of the World Series (whenever it gets that far).  Of course we all remember the last time the HFT and the World Series were running head to head, and that was in 2003, when the Nicholas and Greg semi-finals match was interrupted in order to celebrate the Florida Marlins victory over the Yankees.  As we get closer to the World Series, we will again look to see if certain events will need to be rescheduled to not conflict with a possible Red Sox world series match up.  At this point, that's a problem I'd be happy to have to deal with.

VIII. Returning Legends Well Legend may be a stretch for some, but with this being such an important event in the history of the Halloween Foosball Tournament, many former HFT competitors who haven't been around in recent years are rumored to be making comebacks.  Patrick and Jon Casserly have been mentioned.  James Higson, the infamous cut-man, was reportedly considering a comeback when he was last spotted over the summer.  Even though his is not a long drought, Angel Nales, who missed last year's festivities because of EB Games, will be back this year, or else there will be angry mob invading Nashua.  And none of these are the big surprise guest that the Halloween Foosball Committee Chairman has been hinting at a possible return.

IX.  New Faces This year's Halloween Foosball Tournament figures to have the biggest field in history as several new names have been invited to take part in our annual tradition.  These names will be announced over the coming weeks in the Latest News section as their attendance is confirmed, but Jim has already talked to several people, and there are a couple other that may be extended an invitation as the date draws nearer.

X. An Event Ten Years in the Making One thing that has been true at all of the Halloween Foosball Tournaments is "Expect the Unexpected."  And with this being the tenth annual installment, this year could be bigger and better than all of the previous tournaments combined.  With returning players and exciting newcomers, the tournament field will likely be the largest in history (Perhaps even extending into five full rounds for the first time ever).  We also are sure to look forward to the hilarious sideshow antics of the Ptolemy/Galileo feud and the various skits that have become as much of the HFT's legacy as the actual foosball game itself.  With this being the tenth tournament, expect a lot of tributes to the past HFTs, dating all the way back to inaugural Halloween Foosball Tournament held on October 26th, 1996.  We've come a long way since our humble beginnings as an idea thrown together at the last minute to one of the most anticipated dates on the calendar every year for all who take part.

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