Madison's 6th Annual 88-man Tecmo Super Bowl Tournament

[buck]

some song suggestions (maybe Tupa can run with these...):

He's a "MAJK man" (heart)

"Blame it on the WAYNE (haddix)" (milli vanilli)

"Bark at the MOON" (ozzy)

"Mojo RISON" (doors)

"Carry on my HEYWARD son" (kansas)

Top two candidates....sorry if these have been used before

Weekend at QB Brown's

Burning down the house: Revenge of Rison

[ImFlo]

I think "carry on my Heyward son" could be awesome.

[Knobbe]

I'll send Twitter updates so people can track how I do.

@FloFanclub

I'll be posting stuff about how I do for sure, and try and keep everyone updated on some of the more exciting happenings. I will be hanging out with buddies, and drinking, so let's see how coherent and entertaining I can keep it.

I'm just trying to give the people what they want: more Flo.

I'm going to try and have this all aggregated in one section....twitter, video feed and any sort of audio feed.

If anyone else is twittering, let me know as well.

[Knobbe]

Live from Madison, WI.

The weather of is warm and the beer is cold.

Tecmo is already in the air.

My laptop's ethernet card is shot so I'm down a bit.

[fatcheerleader]

Rod and/or any other players at the tourney,

Please take as many videos and pictures as you can so all of us unlucky stiffs can at least enjoy it from a far. A live camera feed of a game or the tourney area would be amazing too but I know that's a long shot. Game results and a picture of the group or bracket would be cool too. It seems like this is as close to a World Championship as there is in TSB.

Have fun and thanks!

[Knobbe]

Pre-tourney videos

geFk9PqVcoo

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7cnSvzd2pmE

xLAKRAz74Ms

[fatcheerleader]

Rod, I love it! Thanks. I'm curious to see how Clay Travis does in the tourney if you can find out. You rock.

[bruddog]

Watched the final game.

Thoughts:

Matchup: NYJ vs NO (Thats a handicap for whoever plays as NO with No's weak defense) NYJ and NO's offense are nearly identical but the jets have a massiave talent advantage on defense.

1. Not sure why Mort put the 'Obrien run in when he could have gone with a two back attack. Or even just the offest-i up the middle since NO's lbs at the bottom aren't good. Along with that I didn't see him checking conditions but i'm not sure if that was allowed.

2. The arrow trick came in handy but it looked like it also was the cause of an INT.

3. Mort's run defense looked lost for most of the game. His defensive angles and choices didn't seem to be working at all until the guy ran heyward up the middle 2-3 times in row.

4. Luckily the Saints defense and Mort was able to methodically make his way down the field most of the game.

Two pussy 4th down punts in a row in the first half. I thought the 4th and 1 punt by the Saints was worse since he had been running on him nearly all game. That gives you pretty unlimited options to pick up a first. Luckily mort didn;t get burned as FReeman Mcneil hauled in a end of half prayer.

I was also unclear why mort didn't just kick the FG right away once he got to the 2-3 yd line. Only bad things can happen. Again maybe there was a rule that Ot's have to end in a td?

But all in all an exciting game! Congrats to Mort.

[averagetsbplayer]

Congrats, Mort. Great final to a great tournament!

[sonofpatbeach]

Should have an overall summary posted in an hour or so.

[son_of_pat_beach]

Ok, here's my best shot at a tournament summary. We should get some pics/vids uploaded later.

Overall:

Great turnout -- great tournament. The new venue (Badger Bowl) was a pleasant surprise -- much more room than the Plaza. The posterboard designed by the Child of Destiny (CoD) was absolutely amazing, and looked professionally done. The authentic Tecmo lettering, the custom logo, and the authentic Tecmo pics of Montana, Gannon, Miller, Young, and of course Jerry were a nice touch.

Flo's t-shirts were a huge hit: half the room seemed to be wearing them by the end of the tournament. More women at this year's tournament than in previous years, which was certainly a welcome sight. Tony's entourage was an absolute force: 10-15 drunken, sombrero-wearing, noise-making revelers that almost certainly rattled each of his opponents.

The Jerry Rice coins at each station were received well, as were the action figures of Tecmo players at each station. The readings from the book of LT (old testament and new testament) set the tone for the entire tournament. Two players who won’t be named didn’t behave like true Tecmo gentlemen and won’t be asked to return next year.

Overall, we had about 11 states represented: Maryland, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Rhode Island, New York, Tennessee, etc. Disappointed with no Ed (out of country) or Sconnie, no Ohio guys and no Sobhi (out of country). This was our first tourney w/o Sobhi since Tecmo I five years ago, and his presence was missed. Josh C. from California no showed on us without the courtesy of a phone call, which we didn’t appreciate.

Group play went relatively smoothly – no big surprises. Group A turned out to be the toughest group, as Flo was pushed to the limits. He needed to beat Eric R., a guy who never lost a group play game in the history of the tournament, to advance. He did just that in a classic Giants/Bills matchup.

Here is a list of notable non-qualifiers for the Round of 44: Adam F from Kansas (http://www.hutchnews.com/mobile_localre ... mo-Bowl--1), Clay T. (http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/0 ... uper-bowl/), the Child of Destiny, and Stratis from NY. Stratis got a raw deal – found out about the tournament on Thursday, drove all the way from Rochester, NY to participate, went 2-1, but didn’t advance out of group play due to point differential. He seemed to enjoy the nightlife in Madison, though, so hopefully that made the tough beat easier to swallow.

Seeding the field of 44 afterwards was a pain. Here's how the Top 20 shook out based on group play records and point differential:

1. Pat Beach (former champ – from WI)

2. Kyle H. (WI)

3. Mort (NY)

4. Chet (Ohio finalist in 2009 – from WI)

5. Rik Fenny (WI)

6. Chris E. (KS)

7. Eric O. (IL)

8. Jason W. (KS)

9. Adam G. (WI)

10. Kevin M. (defending champ – from WI)

11. Justin O. (WI)

12. Mark D. (Rhode Island)

13. Ivan S. (IL)

14. Knobbe (Nebraska)

15. AverageTSBPlayer (formerly Penn, now WI)

16. Peter K. (former champ – from WI)

17. Flo (IL)

18. Dave N. (WI)

19. Rico (WI)

20. Jimmy B. (former champ – from WI)

----

The Play-In Games:

The top 20 spots were coveted because spots 21-44 had to participate in play-in games to make the field of 32. No huge surprises in the play-in games. Jay H., one of the most decorated players in the history of the tournament, was forced to play in this round, but won easily. Matt O. from Michigan also played in this round, but only because he was a late entry into the tournament. He defeated Nick, his friend, to advance to the field of 32. Bailey, who fared well in the Ohio tournament last year, won as expected to advance.

Bird’s Eye View of the 32-Man Bracket:

There were four regions: Joe Montana, Chris Miller, Rich Gannon, and Steve Young. The group names were no accident, as the four quarterbacks are in an elite club: they’ve all thrown TD passes to Jerry Rice. The most obscure of course is Chris Miller – he threw a TD to Jerry in the 1992 Pro Bowl game.

The first thing that we noticed about the bracket is that the left side (Joe Montana & Chris Miller) was much harder than the right (Rich Gannon & Steve Young). The toughest was the Chris Miller region, which featured Chet (the group’s #1 seed), Rik Fenny, Jimmy B., Jay H., and a relative unknown about to make a name for himself. At the bottom of the Miller region alone were Chet, Jimmy B., and Jay H. – only one of which could advance to the Elite 8. In years past, players of this caliber would meet in the Final Four or at least the Elite 8. Likewise at the top of the Montana region with Pat Beach (overall #1 seed), Peter, and Flo.

The Gannon region was Mort’s (#1 seed) to win. Knobbe or Rico waited for him in the Sweet 16, though. The clear favorite in the Steve Young region was the defending champ Kevin M. But averageTSBplayer was looking to make a run out of that region.

The Round of 32:

One of the first games in the round of 32 was Peter (Atl) vs. Flo (Bucs). Flo’s first drive was epic – it took up nearly 6 minutes of game clock, and ended when Peter stopped him on fourth and goal from the one yard line. But Peter ended up going three and out, and Flo jumped out to a 10-0 lead.

Then Peter rattled off 14 straight points after a bomb to Rison and a fumble recovery. But Flo had the last word: after a bomb to Mark Carrier, he “soloed” Peter and ran into the end zone with little time left for Peter to respond. Tough break for Peter, the former champ, to run up against Flo in the Round of 32. For the second time in a row, he failed to advance to the Sweet 16.

Another notable game was Chet (Boys) vs. Jay H. (Chargers). Another matchup that we’d expect to see in the Elite 8 or Final Four, rather than in the round of 32. The Cowboys were overmatched in this one, and Awalt had a costly kick return fumble that Chet wasn’t able to recover from. Suddenly, two of the best players were out of the tournament. But the most compelling was yet to come.

In a stunning upset, Troy H. (Chiefs) knocked out defending champ Kevin M. (Bungals). The Bungals didn’t show up to play in this one. Two dropped bombs by Eddie Brown and at least one lost fumble crippled the defending champ, but Troy proved later in the tournament this game was no fluke.

In what would be a recurring theme, Knobbe was knocked out while playing with the Cards by Rico (Jets) in this round, also. Bailey was knocked out impressively by Eric O., a relative unknown prior to the tournament. Mort cruised through his game in this round.

Sweet 16:

Headline matchup in this one was Pat Beach (Chargers) vs. Flo (Broncos). Lots of great runs by Humphrey & Butts, who were both in Good or Excellent, and the Bolts pulled it out in a close one. Matt O. (Jets) continued his run by thumping Rik Fenny (Cards), another player highly regarded in the Madison ranks, with the help of four fumbles from the lowly Cardinals in the first quarter. Fenny was never in this one. No team in the tourney fared worse than the Cards.

Jimmy B (former champ) was knocked out by Jay H. in this round, and if memory serves it wasn’t terribly close. Two things that always happen in Wisconsin in March: the ladies start wearing skimpy clothes again, and Jay H. advances to the Elite 8 in this tournament. Very impressive wins by Jay H. over Chet & Jimmy B.

Also in this round, Mort (GB) knocked off Rico (NO) 21-7. Too much Sterling, I would imagine. Troy H., who knocked the defending champ out in the previous round, defeated Eric O. to make the Elite 8 after trailing by 14 heading into the final quarter. AverageTSBPlayer, with the help of his entourage, knocked off Kyle H. to advance. It’s not as if you needed to look at the scoreboard to know he was winning – the screaming, the bullhorn, and the maracas told you all you needed to know.

Elite 8

The Elite 8 featured one of the most infamous games in the history of our tournament: Pat Beach (Cards) vs. Adam G. (Pitt). Adam played some great D and held the Cards to 10 points. The Steelers never had any offense in this one, but managed to get a “garbage” (without a doubt, the most frequently-used word at the tournament) desperation JJ to Lipps to score a TD.

With the score tied 10-10, the line of scrimmage at the Cards’ 48 (eyewitness accounts vary – we’ve heard everything from 46 to midfield), and just a few seconds left on the clock, the Steelers lined up for the winning field goal. It certainly looked good – the arrow seemed to be in the right place, and it got through without being blocked. But in his excitement, Adam started jumping up and down (whilst screaming “Garbage! Garbage!”) and managed to turn the Nintendo off while the ball was in the air. Now what?

Bailey (tournament ref when Chet or I are involved in a dispute), with some help from Clay, decided to start a new game that would serve as sudden death overtime. Pitt won the toss, but after a called play, was stuck inside their own 10 yard line. Adam was lining up for another E2E JJ bomb, but Strom’s pass was blocked, and it went out of bounds in the end zone, which many of us know means one thing: SAFETY. In our tournament, this is part of the game. Future tourney organizers out there may want to have a ruling prepared for situations like this as well. Tough loss for Adam, but he doesn’t remember most of it.

Also in the Elite 8, Matt O. (SD) continued his magical run by knocking off Jay H. (Broncos) 28-14. Also, Mort (Dal) defeated a tough Chris E. (Cards). Again with the Cards losing. AverageTSBPlayer (Rams) suffered a terrible loss in this round to Troy (Rams). With less than a minute left, inside his own 10 yard line, he called Right+B and got his play called. He tried to dump it to the RB, but a maniacal Chris Spielman made a stupefying dive to make the INT. He promptly got himself off the ground, ran over a guy or two, and waltzed into the end zone. Tough exit for Tony and his entourage, but the Elite 8 appearance was his best showing in the Madison tourney thus far.

Final Four:

Matt O. (Saints) dominated Pat Beach (Cards) on the left side of the bracket. Great game and great play-calling by Matt and his Saints, as he defeated the Cards for the second time in three games. Mort (Chi) defeated Troy (Phi) in a defensive battle on the right side of the bracket. Mort got a few timely deep throws on offense, and in an amazing defensive effort, shut the Eagles out. Final score: 14-0.

The championship game was streamed live, so I won’t offer a recap. Kevin M. (defending champ) served as the honorary flipper of the coin, which just happened to be a limited edition Jerry Rice coin. Mort’s bomb at the end of the first half was invaluable. It was good to see a championship game with no clear crowd favorite. In the game for third place and pride, Pat Beach knocked off Troy H.

Final Results:

1. Mort (NY)

2. Matt O. (MI)

3. Pat Beach (WI)

4. Troy H. (WI)

Like Jimmy B. and Kevin M. before him, Matt came from out of nowhere to steamroll right to the championship. He played good enough to win the whole thing, but Mort wouldn’t be denied this year (he was knocked out by Chet in the Sweet 16 last year). Congrats to Mort – heck of a player, and a nice guy to boot.

Quick response to Bruddog’s post: it’s a lot easier to watch a video of a championship and criticize the players than it is to get on a plane, participate in that tournament, and make it to the championship game. Here’s hoping that you make the journey to the Madison next year in lieu of the armchair quarterbacking.

Response to Knobbe’s vids: “He plays online? He’s garbage!” is an inside joke that pokes fun at the dogmatic insistence of one WI player that online players are inferior to console players. It certainly isn’t meant to offend any of the members of the online community, and in fact many of the online players at the tournament joined in on the joke throughout. Personally I think the sack on QB Moon merits some Oscar consideration in the short film category.

[Knobbe]

BTW, if anyone is currently in the Milwaukee airport, send me an PM as I scored a later flight to get a free flight and am hanging out until 7:30 tonight.

- LOL....I hope no one is too sandy about "online players are garbage" considering that this is an inside joke about everything being garbage. I've updated the description to "If you can't take an inside joke about online play, feel free to get on the internet and bitch about it!" so by all means go crazy!!!!!

- I am about 95% sure i have the championship game on my POS recording laptop and also had a video camera stuck on Mort and Toolie for the championship game. It should be interesting to be able to hear the crowd along with the game video for the full effect.

I really don't have the words for how awesome the entire experience turned out to be.

Kudos to Chet, Josh, and the entire Wisconsin crew for pulling this all together. It's really a testament to the game of Tecmo Super Bowl and the men (and occasional women) who play it.

[bruddog]

It's also a lot cheaper. Ha Ha. Madison isn't exactly a cheap plane flight from California and isn't exactly on my places to visit list.

That being said its a sweet event that gets put on.

However, I think a number of my criticisms were valid.

I'll try and make it out one year.

Ok, here's my best shot at a tournament summary. We should get some pics/vids uploaded later.

Quick response to Bruddog’s post: it’s a lot easier to watch a video of a championship and criticize the players than it is to get on a plane, participate in that tournament, and make it to the championship game. Here’s hoping that you make the journey to the Madison next year in lieu of the armchair quarterbacking.

[averagetsbplayer]

Everett (63PC) throws to Curt Warner (25 REC) and gets picked off by Chris Spielman (19 INT) to knock me out of the tournament. Should have taken the sack? In hindsight, I guess the answer is "yes"...

(It was a called play. Do we know what the attribute changes are that happen during a called play?)

[buck]

Hey guys, Madison and the Tournament was awesome. A beautiful town full of friendly people. A bar full of pure TSB love.

Me, my friend, and my brother had a great time and would do it again...however, as we were leaving the bar, Isaiah said: "If this whole thing is a dream (about me video taping everything) - when I wake up, I won't do it again."

Love,

Chris E

(I vow to never use PHX again.)

[bruddog]

I think you mean everett? And Warner is only 25rec. I'm guessing you mean Mcgee.

Regardless the INT isn't a likely outcome (~4%). The INt rating doesn't get boosted during a called play. I believe its ALL of the speed and HP attributes.

[averagetsbplayer]

Yeah, I meant Everett and Warner (I quickly read his BC instead of his REC attribute.). It was a diving CC by Spielman, so I'm not really sure what the percentage breakdowns would be in that situation.

[bruddog]

If it was diving the percentage was probably higher. Not sure what it is but its quite bit higher when the QB "misthrows" the ball.

[fatcheerleader]

about me video taping everything

Awesome, sooooooo, when and where do we get to see this uncut masterpiece?!

I vow to never use PHX again.

details man details

[ohiotecmo]

Hello all,

Just wanted to say had such a great time at the event in Madison. First off, the organizers had their stuff together, without good organizers this even could have easily turned into a cluster, but they knew what they were doing and ran it perfectly. So bravo to all of them. They should reach out to the City of Madison next year, as they deserve an award from the Mayor for the economic shot in the arm that they gave Madison and the Badger Bowl for bringing so many out of towners to the city.

It was great to meet Rod Woodson...aka Mr. Knobbe. Thanks for telling me how to pronounce your site's name and good luck with your Cornhuskers this year.

The final game was a classic, if you take away the desperation bomb at the end of the half, it could have been a different outcome. But I don't want to take anything away from the winner, Mort is a great Tecmo player and is a worthy champion. Everyone who stayed until the end watched a great game, which included a couple of lead changes and an overtime. Just think, the Superbowl has never had an OT. Just sitting around seeing 100 people go crazy during the final game, was just amazing.

Some other random observations

1. Loved the posse...happy I didn't have to play against it.

2. Great burgers at the badger bowl

3. Reading from the Book of LT was a great surprise

4. Enjoy everyone I spoke too, just a great group of people from all over the country

Nick from Ohio (Matt's friend)

[buck]

well, my loss with PHX was a heartbreaker, because I had been kicking everyone's ass.

game 1: win - skins 31 rams 14

game 2: win - broncos 28 cowboys 3

(humph had 196, elway had 3 passing tds)

game 3: win - eagles 30 raiders 10

game 4: (round of 32) win - patriots 23 colts 7

(mosi tatupu went 8/132 rushing!)

game 5: (sweet 16) win - chiefs 31 lions 3

(okoye had 200, held sanders 9-7 )

game 6: (elite 8 ) loss to eventual champion - cards 7 cowboys 17

I missed two FGs in the first half, got burned on a 60 yard TD "arrow trick" pass.

In 4th quarter, game was 7-10, I held Mort to 4th and 10 at midfield...somehow I got blocked and he got the first down, proceeded to score a few plays later.

J Johnson 17/176, I passed for less than 50 yards....I have only played with the cardinals once in the last year or two...that was a retarded matchup I picked, I straight-up choked on that one.

*Congrats to Francis/Frank/Mort - it was his destiny to win - so many great/improbable plays he made. It was awesome seeing him win it all.

again, beautiful tournament! serious props to chet and josh, and the entire Madison crew.

[Knobbe]

It was great to meet Rod Woodson...aka Mr. Knobbe. Thanks for telling me how to pronounce your site's name and good luck with your Cornhuskers this year.

The funny thing is there are actually two Matt Knobbes in Lincoln, NE and the other one actually pronounces his name with a short o.

4. Enjoy everyone I spoke too, just a great group of people from all over the country

Nick from Ohio (Matt's friend)

I know I wish I had more time to talk to people. I talked to Nick quite a bit because he happened to be in the same area as I was putting together the live broadcast. I found out those guys actually had a 28 team league in college and that once Matt played a season blindfolded (if you're looking for something to do sometime)

[allamerican1569]

Is there a link to the tourney bracket posted online?

[averagetsbplayer]

I quickly made this: http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=354160

[toolie]

The tournament was a blast. After seeing some of those Madden shows I thought there might be a lot of d-bags there who felt the need to trash-talk constantly, but the loudest thing there was the fellow with the entourage (and that grew on me after a while). Most of the players there were cool.

The final game was fantastic, and I was fortunate to be a part of it. There was a lot of great talent at the Badger Bowl that day, and I had pretty good luck up until the final game. If McNeil doesn't catch that pass at the end of the first half, if Heyward doesn't fumble, or had I won the coin toss in OT I would have had a good shot to pull off the win, but that's the way it goes, and Francis was an excellent player. His title is well-deserved. I will have Al Toon nightmares for the rest of the year!

Regarding some criticisms: I had already played with both NO and JET earlier in the day and felt comfortable with the matchup (I was NO in my semi-final game, so I felt like I was in the groove with them... but JET is the better team, for sure... I would have been happy either way). Looking back on the punt I probably should have gone for it, but that's normally not my style. The fact that he got the TD on the bomb really accentuates that mistake.

The tournament was very well-run. We had a great time and hope to come back in 2011.