2006
HFT: 10th Anniversary Edition
Ten years (and three days) after the first HFT, the Halloween Foosball Community reconvenes for the 11th annual extravaganza.
LOWELL, Mass. – The Halloween Foosball Tournament will take place on October 29th, 2006 at its usual location in the cellar known as the HFT Arena in Lowell. This year’s tournament figures to be the most wide-open competition in years. Corey Pinkham, who has won 6 of the last 8 Halloween Foosball Tournaments (including the past 4 in a row), moved to Deltona, Florida in November of last year. With Corey now out of the running, there will be a new champion for the first time since 2001 when Greg took home his 3rd Halloween Foosball Championship.
But Greg will be competing in his first Halloween Foosball Tournament since 2004 after his controversial decision to not attend last year’s festivities because he missed his train to Lowell. Many of the tournament faithful were furious that Greg would miss the 10th annual edition of a tournament that he co-founded. What will the crowd reaction be like for Greg, who won the first annual Halloween Foosball Tournament on October 26, 1996? Will he be booed out of the building? Returned with open arms? Its expected that the HFT crowd will forgive…but not forget last year’s snub.
But of course, the Halloween Foosball Tournament is not a popularity contest, and the fan favorites rarely win. (Just look at the reaction for Corey year after year). And ultimately the one who wins the circular piece of wood is not the one that the people like, but the one who wins the most foosball games. And in that sense, Greg will have to worry about being rusty after having not faced the competition of a Halloween Foosball Tournament game since his 2004 final loss to Corey.
The 2006 Tournament will be the tenth anniversary of the event and probably mark a new era. While its possible that Greg may win his 4th HFT title, there’s hope that this year someone new will step forward and capture the crown now that Corey has moved to the South. The Greg vs. Corey finals from 2002-2004 got old really quick, especially as Corey won every time. Greg had one last shot to defeat him in 2005 and did not even compete in the tournament.
Jim and Steve will be the top contenders returning from the 2005 field. Jim lost to Corey in the finals, while Steve, the only person besides Corey and Greg to have a HFT singles title, was a semi-finalist in ’05. But this year, the field will be more than just the same old Big Four, who have dominated since Corey beat Billy Gendron in the first of ’98.
Nick, who has a finals appearance and two semi-finals appearances to his record, lost in 2005 to the most surprising semi-finalist in HFT history, Kenny Stuart. However Kenny’s ascension is no fluke as he has been competitive in the past few Halloween Foosball Tournaments, even making it to the finals of the 2003 Doubles Tournament partnering with Gina. Kenny only has one first round loss in his career, and reaching the semi-finals in ’05 was not shocking, even if it wasn’t expected.
Who else could compete for the title? Well Wilson is always a contender, and he has put in some heavy practice training in the past, we don’t know if he will again this year. As one of the few Ouellettes still in Mass, Keith may emerge in ’06, especially since there have been no rumors of The Legendary Chuck returning.
Maybe this year a newcomer will come in and win the whole thing, just as Corey did, in 1998.
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