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Steve's Doubles Troubles |
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The Eleventh Halloween Foosball Tournament is on Saturday, but of course, October 28th will also feature the 6th edition of the HFT Doubles Tournament. The Doubles Tournament has received a reputation for its unpredictability, despite the fact it has been dominated throughout the years by the team of Corey Pinkham and Steve Ostis. Corey is gone now, his move to Florida has been discussed almost incessantly especially in regards to its effect on the singles tournament. But Corey’s departure could an even bigger shakeup in the doubles tournament.
Corey and Steve are the only team that has competed together in all 5 HFT Doubles tournaments, and their impressive record of 12-1 (including 4 championships in 5 years) is unlikely to be matched any time soon. With Corey in Florida, Steve will need to find a new partner. There have been efforts throughout the years to break up the Steve and Corey union, but neither one wanted to mess with a good thing. But now the focus turns to Steve and his decision.
One up and coming HFT star has already been openly campaigning to become Corey’s replacement. Kenny Stuart, who was a finalist in the 2003 Doubles tournament which gave the annual event its reputation of being wide open, has noted that his regular partner, Gina Ouellette, has moved down south just like Corey. He has reportedly said that with Corey in Florida and Gina in North Carolina, a Steve/Kenny team only makes sense. Steve initially dismissed the rumor out of hand, but recently may have softened his stance and could be more open to the pairing. Kenny, of course, teamed with Steve’s brother Nicky Ostis last year when Nick’s regular teammate, Kyle Bielski was unable to make it to the doubles tournament. Nick and Kyle are expected to reform their team this year, which would tie them with Steve and Corey as the duo with the most appearances as a team.
The natural choice for Steve’s partner would seem to be C.K. Mulenga, who will finally return to the Halloween Foosball Tournament and is reportedly going to replace Corey in the crazy costume pairings with Steve. But CK is not an accomplished foosball player—he has been quoted as saying “foosball is a white man’s sport”—and that could dissuade Steve from teaming with him. Another potential choice is Alex Figueroa, who has already been dubbed “the New Corey.” If he is truly to be the new Corey, would he take the O.C. (Original Corey)’s spot as Steve’s teammate?
Then there is the obvious choice that hasn’t even been discussed. Team Ostis. James Ostis has never teamed with Steve, but he always is looking for a new partner. Despite going to the finals last year with Wilson Rith there has yet to be a decision on whether the Jim and Wilson team will return for a third time. Jim’s partner is always up in the air, although a return to the Odd Couple team of Jim and Angel Nales is unlikely as the latter has gone from “laid back” to “blatantly not giving a shit” over the last few years of the tournament. Jim’s most successful pairing was when he teamed up with Greg Ouellette in 2004. Will they team again? It wasn’t even a sure thing last year before Greg no-showed and the breakup of the Steve and Corey team would seem to make it less likely to occur again.
So could Steve and Jim be teammates? Jim hasn’t commented either way, although one would wonder if he was pissed about Steve picking Corey as his partner for all those years. Jim has gone to the finals with 3 different partners, would he want the 4th to be his brother who beat him all those previous times? Jim has resisted the urge for a long time, and even was reluctant to team with Greg in ’04 because of a belief that the big four shouldn’t team within each other. Jim has been thinking about teaming with a girl to become the first mixed team to win the doubles tournament (Kenny and Gina were the first finalists) But that having been said, he did team with Greg and Team Ostis would automatically become the heavy favorites to win in ’06.
But the unlikelyness of that pairing presents another interesting scenario, what if Steve and Greg teamed up? But it would appear that team would have more problems than even a Jim and Steve pairing. Steve and Greg have been big time rivals with plenty of swear words exchanged between the two. They did join forces an along with James Higson became “Team Steve” in 1999, but after Steve’s tournament victory, Greg took the credit.
Steve is facing a dilemma. Does he go with a teammate such as Greg or Jim (and to a lesser extent) Kenny, who is clearly among the elite in the HFT world? If he does that he would have a good chance of winning his 5th doubles tournament…but also faces the question of “can he carry a team on his own?” A teaming with Greg especially would lead to Steve being (fairly or unfairly) accused of teaming with the most accomplished singles player and riding his success to doubles victory.
But going with an unknown could pose a problem for Steve as well. If Steve and CK lose in the first round for example that could do even more damage to Steve’s legacy as a doubles tournament player.
If Steve’s team fails to win the tournament, Corey will have the advantage in winning percentage over his partner. But if Steve wins it this year, he will have that edge over Corey. There is a definite risk vs. reward.
There’s the third option…does Steve sit out the doubles tournament? His partner is in Florida. Steve and Corey are the best doubles team in history, no partnership would improve upon that. No matter who wins the tournament this year, Steve and Corey will still own that title for the immediate foreseeable future.
But Steve’s competitive desire will likely make such a scenario unlikely. With Greg’s no-show last year, Steve and Jim are the only people to compete in every Halloween Foosball Tournament—doubles or singles. It’s unlikely that Steve would want to give up that distinction just to play it “safe.”
One thing is for sure. This year, the Doubles Tournament will certainly live up to its reputation for being unpredictable.
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