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Cleveland, OH - 08/04/18 - Tecmo (Jam) Cleveland 2018


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On 4/27/2018 at 1:55 PM, TecmoCleveland said:

Tecmo (Jam) Cleveland 2018 tickets are now on sale!!! 

 

www.tecmocleveland.com for details

 

Tournament Dates: 

Saturday, August 4th: Tecmo Super Bowl

Sunday, August 5th: NBA Jam

$38 for one tournament or $55 for both tournaments (two days) - includes all taxes, fees, shirts, retro arcade, giveaways, lanyard and more. Website has all the details. 

 

Also look for announcement for guest appearances to come soon (pending contracts)! Thanks for your continued support as always - we hope you can make it out this year and make Tecmo (Jam) Cleveland even bigger than last year!!!

 

Tickets are the same prices as last year and we're thrilled to be back at the same venue as we were in 2017 as well. People said amazing things about the space and it's our home again. See you guys there. 

 

Tom Jenkins

[email protected]

whats the payouts for the tecmo tourney? @TecmoCleveland

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8 hours ago, joeygats said:

whats the payouts for the tecmo tourney? @TecmoCleveland


First Prize in Gold Bracket prize pool goes up to $500 if we max out registration at 64 - the current payout as of today is $410. + Tecmo trophy of course

Runner-up Gold Bracket includes prize packages, plus nominal cash prize + trophy. 

 

In Silver & Bronze brackets, prizes are non-cash; but include prize packages and trophies. 

 

Come on out. We put on a good show

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Tecmo Cleveland recap thoughts....(sorry long)
 
After a 2 hour flight delay that would have resulted in getting home faster via car, I thought I'd share some thoughts on my Tecmo Jam Cleveland 2018 weekend. I'll probably do a video later on this too with a bit more emotion behind it.
 
My journey took me from Green Bay into Chicago first, then transferring into Cleveland. United thought it would be fun to change my terminal and gate to the other side of the airport about a half hour after landing. I had a 2 hour layover, so it wasn't the end of the world, however it felt like their climate control wasn't keeping up with the body count. It was so crowded, I thought I was at Lambeau during a Packer game.
 
Moving on, my flight was delayed on the runway about 15 minutes, and we arrive about 10 minutes late in Cleveland. For a Friday night out of Chicago, I can live with that. The ever so patient Mark Nutter was kind enough to pick me up from the shuttle depot, and that's where the fun started. I was greeted by a shuttle bus driver named Thurman(can't make this up), who immediately started messing with me, telling me I was on the wrong bus. A moment later his ear to ear grin tells me he got me good. I shake his hand, and away we go. Mark Nutter takes me away in style to the legion hall in his caddy.
 
Upon arrival, I see Tom Jenkins and a small army of local bred volunteers slaving away at hauling a massive supply of CRT's and consoles, testing each one. As I am setting up the TGFN Retro stream setup, suddenly it starts pouring buckets. John Salter arrives with multiple arcade cabinets, including my all time favorite, Mortal Kombat 2. This was the 2nd sign I had made the right decision to be a part of this event.
 
Sadly no one was able to take my $20 from me in MK2. I again remain undefeated on random select on console/arcade since the year 2000. I estimated at least 40 games played/won, with 20 of those being against Kevin Cabarello. Maybe next year boys.
 
We had some technological adversity, but we battled through it. The Internet on site ended up not being as fast as originally communicated, so we ended up using our company ATT LTE Nighthawk hotspot. It provided a challenge in that the building material was concrete block in the general area of the equipment. We were able to run a very long ethernet cable to a window, extend the power, then had just a strong enough signal to stream at 30 fps. We had a minor issue during the break where it just turned off. We then realized that the router was in direct sunlight and was overheating as a result. We shielded it with the window treatment, then had to slightly downscale the stream due to a poorer signal from ATT near that time of day. Despite all of this, we do have every game we covered on stream in their entirety. Outside of this, the equipment held up well, and we were able to accomplish our mission of broadcasting this amazing event.
 
Fast forward to gameday, Saturday morning(Kevin Cabarello picks me up after I had coffee with Joe Mosqua aka Shark). I get there early to make sure we are all ready to go, and get a warm up game in with Francis Buennagel aka Mort. I was there in official capacity, not to play in the tournament, so I welcomed the opportunity to play one of the all time greats. This would be the 4th time I'd play Mort in my life, the other three times all being losses by a combined 10 points. This time was different, despite some amazing use of Rod Woodson by Mort to force two close jump picks, I was able to survive a 3-0 game. To say he got Tecmoed would be an understatement. I blocked two FG's with Leslie Oneil, and at least two of his burn routes to open guys were redirected at crucial moments. An eventual fumble sealed the deal. I played a handful of pickup games, and didn't lose any, so I think I still got it. :)
 
The venue had great food and service, and the prices were ridiculously low. Smiles all day long from the staff. Next year they might want to double up on their Yuengling supply though.
 
Free play setups with games like Mario Kart, Ice Hockey, and Goldeneye were available to anyone.
 
Opening ceremonies, I was honored to lead in the national anthem, and I've never been honored by so much praise as I was not only immediately after, but for the remainder of the event. I am truly humbled. I pray someone was able to capture the song in its entirety. It's a moment I'll truly never forget.
 
This was followed by an awesome Tecmo Jam Cleveland 2018 video put on by Tom Jenkins, with a bit of Jj abrams inspired lense flare at the end of it. Tom Jenkins was amazing on his wireless mic all day long, commentating crucial games, getting crowds to gather around certain stations, and being the voice of reason throughout the entire thing. It truly was electric all day long.
 
Because the tournament was at/over capacity, it was necessary to have every tv assigned a station number. We had hoped for a dedicated highlight setup for the stream, but instead covered some interesting games for group 1. Joe Mosqua and Tecmo Lou were the heavy hitters in this group, and the games ended up being very fun to call. I encourage folks to stay tuned to TGFN Retro as we share the games with you. There were originally streamed to twitch.tv/tgfnretro, and you can catch the original streams on there.
 
I was able to sneak in an interview on the BIGPLAY.com booth with the gentlemen there who were covering the action in their own way. I'm looking forward to hearing that when it's online. They were active on Twitter supporting the event, and that's incredibly appreciated.
 
There was a bit of a delay in between group play, and the gold/silver/bronze brackets, but this in itself was one of the great things about the tournament. No matter how poorly you did, you got to continue playing at least one more game, and were grouped with others with a similar fate as your own. We did go offline as we waited for this to happen, as we were making sure we didn't use up all of the data allotment, and there was a raffle at that time. I know for sure if Ryan M hadn't had to go to the Hall of Fame ceremonies, this would have gone a bit faster than it did. Francis Buennagel stepped in to help Tom Jenkins, and I know it might have taken a bit longer, but they both did a great job, and once things were back up and running, it was exciting Tecmo for the rest of the evening. As a fellow organizer of tournaments, the amount of information collection of a tournament like that takes an enormous effort to ensure accuracy, and having 3 brackets to form instead of 1 definitely complicates things. Well done gentlemen!
 
As we were waiting for the Gold groups to be formed, we did choose to call a silver bracket game to be called. Because this game had not yet completed, and to move things along, we didn't get any of the first round of gold bracket games on stream, but got everything from the elite 8 on, and boy it didn't disappoint.
 
In addition to covering each one of the final 4 games(which because double elimination), we were able to cover the bronze finals(single elimination), silver finals(double elimination, which went the full two games), and it produced some amazing games.
 
Slowly but surely, as people were eliminated, many had to move on with their lives and leave the venue, but we had a very strong contingent of Tecmo faithful remain behind, including my friend Eric Kuhlman who rocked it in the booth with me. Near the end I was really starting to fade, eyes burning, and he carried the energy over into the finals, where I was able to catch that 2nd wind, to an amazing finish, where Jordan Willis aka Woodshed emerged triumphant. You can see that finish here: https://www.twitch.tv/tgfnretro/clip/BadTenaciousDisc4Head
 
I had help all day long on the mic from the likes of Joseph Readitnweep Moore, Kevin Cabarello, Tecmo Lou, Jordan Willis, and of course Eric Kuhlman. Having that 2nd voice really helps things along.
 
In short, Tom Jenkins and staff run a great event. It's catered to all involved, not just the few elite players at the top, and I think that's the key to a successful event, and crucial to the growth and sustainability of Tecmo tournaments to come. It was an honor to be involved.
 
Sadly I could not stay for day two. After tearing down and grabbing some needed grub, Kevin Cabarello drove me back to the hotel where we crushed about 8 games of NHL '94. I think we split our games, and there was a lot of laughing, as well as hats thrown.(Kevin's patented gesture after a NHL94 hat trick)
 
Thanks to Joe Mosqua for getting his tail up super early and dodging that deer on the way to the airport. After a grueling 70 minute walk through TSA, I finally made it to Chicago. If only I had known of the fun 2 hour delay waiting for me in Chicago, that was riddled with about a dozen reschedules and updates. No thanks to United, first they didn't have a plane, then they didn't have a crew. I could have gotten home in a car faster than it took between the layover and delays. I did get home safely though, so I will be thankful in that. Whenever possible, we will be working with Delta Air Lines moving forward, and avoiding ORD if it can be helped.
 
I hope everyone got home from the tournament safely. Working on making Tecmo Players Championship our next TGFN Retro destination. Hopefully will see many of you in September!
 
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17 hours ago, Woodshed said:

3EA821EB-ABD9-4344-8BF3-CA792A5434FE.thumb.jpeg.24f3de9631b3b57e16cada62cf9a8e15.jpegHad this banner waiting on me when I got home. I have a true lady of Tecmo.

I had so much fun this weekend and to win one of these was incredible. I was a little salty that they didn’t have a police escort for me as I rolled into my hometown with the trophy, but I think I might get a sign underneath the 2009 boys basketball state champions, so I’ve got that going for me. Big thanks to everyone involved, and the love from the Tecmo community after this was phenomenal. Something I’ll never forget. You guys are the best. Can’t wait to spend another day drinking and playing this game with you guys. It’ll never get old. 

Congrats Jordan!  Happy for you bud.  I wish I didn't have to leave early from the tourney and could have been there to celebrate with you and everyone else.  My wife and I bought tickets to see Brian Dawkins get indicted into the Pro Football HOF which was amazing but glad I was able to be there at least through group play!  Tom did an amazing job again (I think we had 61 total players after having 63 last year).  NBA JAM TE was a lot of fun too on Sunday.  Long live Tecmo!

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On 8/6/2018 at 10:30 AM, trojan1979 said:
Tecmo Cleveland recap thoughts....(sorry long)
 
After a 2 hour flight delay that would have resulted in getting home faster via car, I thought I'd share some thoughts on my Tecmo Jam Cleveland 2018 weekend. I'll probably do a video later on this too with a bit more emotion behind it.
 
My journey took me from Green Bay into Chicago first, then transferring into Cleveland. United thought it would be fun to change my terminal and gate to the other side of the airport about a half hour after landing. I had a 2 hour layover, so it wasn't the end of the world, however it felt like their climate control wasn't keeping up with the body count. It was so crowded, I thought I was at Lambeau during a Packer game.
 
Moving on, my flight was delayed on the runway about 15 minutes, and we arrive about 10 minutes late in Cleveland. For a Friday night out of Chicago, I can live with that. The ever so patient Mark Nutter was kind enough to pick me up from the shuttle depot, and that's where the fun started. I was greeted by a shuttle bus driver named Thurman(can't make this up), who immediately started messing with me, telling me I was on the wrong bus. A moment later his ear to ear grin tells me he got me good. I shake his hand, and away we go. Mark Nutter takes me away in style to the legion hall in his caddy.
 
Upon arrival, I see Tom Jenkins and a small army of local bred volunteers slaving away at hauling a massive supply of CRT's and consoles, testing each one. As I am setting up the TGFN Retro stream setup, suddenly it starts pouring buckets. John Salter arrives with multiple arcade cabinets, including my all time favorite, Mortal Kombat 2. This was the 2nd sign I had made the right decision to be a part of this event.
 
Sadly no one was able to take my $20 from me in MK2. I again remain undefeated on random select on console/arcade since the year 2000. I estimated at least 40 games played/won, with 20 of those being against Kevin Cabarello. Maybe next year boys.
 
We had some technological adversity, but we battled through it. The Internet on site ended up not being as fast as originally communicated, so we ended up using our company ATT LTE Nighthawk hotspot. It provided a challenge in that the building material was concrete block in the general area of the equipment. We were able to run a very long ethernet cable to a window, extend the power, then had just a strong enough signal to stream at 30 fps. We had a minor issue during the break where it just turned off. We then realized that the router was in direct sunlight and was overheating as a result. We shielded it with the window treatment, then had to slightly downscale the stream due to a poorer signal from ATT near that time of day. Despite all of this, we do have every game we covered on stream in their entirety. Outside of this, the equipment held up well, and we were able to accomplish our mission of broadcasting this amazing event.
 
Fast forward to gameday, Saturday morning(Kevin Cabarello picks me up after I had coffee with Joe Mosqua aka Shark). I get there early to make sure we are all ready to go, and get a warm up game in with Francis Buennagel aka Mort. I was there in official capacity, not to play in the tournament, so I welcomed the opportunity to play one of the all time greats. This would be the 4th time I'd play Mort in my life, the other three times all being losses by a combined 10 points. This time was different, despite some amazing use of Rod Woodson by Mort to force two close jump picks, I was able to survive a 3-0 game. To say he got Tecmoed would be an understatement. I blocked two FG's with Leslie Oneil, and at least two of his burn routes to open guys were redirected at crucial moments. An eventual fumble sealed the deal. I played a handful of pickup games, and didn't lose any, so I think I still got it. :)
 
The venue had great food and service, and the prices were ridiculously low. Smiles all day long from the staff. Next year they might want to double up on their Yuengling supply though.
 
Free play setups with games like Mario Kart, Ice Hockey, and Goldeneye were available to anyone.
 
Opening ceremonies, I was honored to lead in the national anthem, and I've never been honored by so much praise as I was not only immediately after, but for the remainder of the event. I am truly humbled. I pray someone was able to capture the song in its entirety. It's a moment I'll truly never forget.
 
This was followed by an awesome Tecmo Jam Cleveland 2018 video put on by Tom Jenkins, with a bit of Jj abrams inspired lense flare at the end of it. Tom Jenkins was amazing on his wireless mic all day long, commentating crucial games, getting crowds to gather around certain stations, and being the voice of reason throughout the entire thing. It truly was electric all day long.
 
Because the tournament was at/over capacity, it was necessary to have every tv assigned a station number. We had hoped for a dedicated highlight setup for the stream, but instead covered some interesting games for group 1. Joe Mosqua and Tecmo Lou were the heavy hitters in this group, and the games ended up being very fun to call. I encourage folks to stay tuned to TGFN Retro as we share the games with you. There were originally streamed to twitch.tv/tgfnretro, and you can catch the original streams on there.
 
I was able to sneak in an interview on the BIGPLAY.com booth with the gentlemen there who were covering the action in their own way. I'm looking forward to hearing that when it's online. They were active on Twitter supporting the event, and that's incredibly appreciated.
 
There was a bit of a delay in between group play, and the gold/silver/bronze brackets, but this in itself was one of the great things about the tournament. No matter how poorly you did, you got to continue playing at least one more game, and were grouped with others with a similar fate as your own. We did go offline as we waited for this to happen, as we were making sure we didn't use up all of the data allotment, and there was a raffle at that time. I know for sure if Ryan M hadn't had to go to the Hall of Fame ceremonies, this would have gone a bit faster than it did. Francis Buennagel stepped in to help Tom Jenkins, and I know it might have taken a bit longer, but they both did a great job, and once things were back up and running, it was exciting Tecmo for the rest of the evening. As a fellow organizer of tournaments, the amount of information collection of a tournament like that takes an enormous effort to ensure accuracy, and having 3 brackets to form instead of 1 definitely complicates things. Well done gentlemen!
 
As we were waiting for the Gold groups to be formed, we did choose to call a silver bracket game to be called. Because this game had not yet completed, and to move things along, we didn't get any of the first round of gold bracket games on stream, but got everything from the elite 8 on, and boy it didn't disappoint.
 
In addition to covering each one of the final 4 games(which because double elimination), we were able to cover the bronze finals(single elimination), silver finals(double elimination, which went the full two games), and it produced some amazing games.
 
Slowly but surely, as people were eliminated, many had to move on with their lives and leave the venue, but we had a very strong contingent of Tecmo faithful remain behind, including my friend Eric Kuhlman who rocked it in the booth with me. Near the end I was really starting to fade, eyes burning, and he carried the energy over into the finals, where I was able to catch that 2nd wind, to an amazing finish, where Jordan Willis aka Woodshed emerged triumphant. You can see that finish here: https://www.twitch.tv/tgfnretro/clip/BadTenaciousDisc4Head
 
I had help all day long on the mic from the likes of Joseph Readitnweep Moore, Kevin Cabarello, Tecmo Lou, Jordan Willis, and of course Eric Kuhlman. Having that 2nd voice really helps things along.
 
In short, Tom Jenkins and staff run a great event. It's catered to all involved, not just the few elite players at the top, and I think that's the key to a successful event, and crucial to the growth and sustainability of Tecmo tournaments to come. It was an honor to be involved.
 
Sadly I could not stay for day two. After tearing down and grabbing some needed grub, Kevin Cabarello drove me back to the hotel where we crushed about 8 games of NHL '94. I think we split our games, and there was a lot of laughing, as well as hats thrown.(Kevin's patented gesture after a NHL94 hat trick)
 
Thanks to Joe Mosqua for getting his tail up super early and dodging that deer on the way to the airport. After a grueling 70 minute walk through TSA, I finally made it to Chicago. If only I had known of the fun 2 hour delay waiting for me in Chicago, that was riddled with about a dozen reschedules and updates. No thanks to United, first they didn't have a plane, then they didn't have a crew. I could have gotten home in a car faster than it took between the layover and delays. I did get home safely though, so I will be thankful in that. Whenever possible, we will be working with Delta Air Lines moving forward, and avoiding ORD if it can be helped.
 
I hope everyone got home from the tournament safely. Working on making Tecmo Players Championship our next TGFN Retro destination. Hopefully will see many of you in September!
 
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Awesome summary - this is truly epic that you did this write-up as to capture the magic of the weekend. Thanks again for making the trip out and everything more. Amazing stuff and so much fun all weekend long. Tom 

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On 8/7/2018 at 12:27 AM, Woodshed said:

3EA821EB-ABD9-4344-8BF3-CA792A5434FE.thumb.jpeg.24f3de9631b3b57e16cada62cf9a8e15.jpegHad this banner waiting on me when I got home. I have a true lady of Tecmo.

I had so much fun this weekend and to win one of these was incredible. I was a little salty that they didn’t have a police escort for me as I rolled into my hometown with the trophy, but I think I might get a sign underneath the 2009 boys basketball state champions, so I’ve got that going for me. Big thanks to everyone involved, and the love from the Tecmo community after this was phenomenal. Something I’ll never forget. You guys are the best. Can’t wait to spend another day drinking and playing this game with you guys. It’ll never get old. 

Congrats Jordan - you were a beast the entire day, humble with your winnings and being a true champion.  Unbelievable gameplay all day long - hope to see you again next year. Tecmo Jam Tom 

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  • Knobbe unpinned this topic

Sorry for the delay in my recap - I've been utterly exhausted following this year and oh yea, my family and I are currently selling our home (open house this Sunday 2pm - 4pm!) and moving to a newly purchased home. Just minor life events, that's all. 

 

Also, quick summary/recap of Tecmo Jam Cleveland 2018: 

 

We sold a total of 77 tickets for 2018, beating our 2017 numbers - which was great! We had a fantastic turnout both days and I appreciate the continued support in the community here and beyond. 

 

We actually oversold the TSB portion of the tournament, selling close to (or around) 68 - 69 TSB tickets (some ppl buy the joint two-day pass and others buying one-day pass) with day-of registrations, last minute purchases, etc. 

 

We had 16 stations playing TSB with Group Play starting a little late, around 12:30 - 12:45pm, following the national anthem and Tecmo Jam Cleveland 2018 hype video (to be posted to YouTube later once i've recovered). Group Play lasted about 3 - 3.5 hours (double elim), with players in groups of 8, so we did 8 groups of 8 (64 man total, b/c of some no shows and what not, per usual - even having over-sold it). Bronze was single elimination all the way through. Silver and Gold were single elim., I believe in the first 2 rounds and then we reseeded to double elim. with both final four groups. So, at a minimum all players were guaranteed at least 3 games, whether they lost all 3 of them or not, which was a nice change from 2017. Based on Group Play players were re-seeded into Bronze, Silver and Gold Brackets: 

 

BRONZE: https://challonge.com/tecmojamclevelandbronzeTSB

SILVER: https://challonge.com/tecmojamclevelandsilvertsb

SILVER FINAL FOUR: https://challonge.com/eduqzjk7

GOLD: https://challonge.com/tecmojamclevelandgoldtsb

GOLD FINAL FOUR: https://challonge.com/n9iyr3au

 

Players in Silver and Gold were then re-seeded in a Final Four, also attached above with links to Challonge. 

 

I did my best to log all the scores for posterity - thanks to everyone for communicating so well and getting me results to log real-time. 

 

I believe gameplay lasted all-in until about 8 - 9pm? Keep me honest if I'm off - it was a long day and I was beyond exhausted. Jordan Willis and Louis in the finals was incredible; and quite honestly, all finals match-ups, final fours, etc. were amazing. 

 

Troy did a great job on the microphone with Eric Kuhlman doing broadcasting on some of the top games, and I appreciated him making the trip out to be a part of this years' experience. 

 

NBA Jam TE was great the second day as well. We had exactly 24 competitors show-up so that made for great brackets. We did 6, four-man groups that were all double elim. Again, based on performance in group play, players were seeded in Gold, Silver and Bronze brackets respectively. So 8 Gold, 8 Silver, 8 Bronze. They can be found here as well: 

 

We just ran these through the entire-way as double elimination to get everyone more games. 

 

BRONZE: https://challonge.com/tecmojamclevelandbronzenbajam

SILVER: https://challonge.com/tecmojamclevelandsilvernbajam

GOLD: https://challonge.com/tecmojamclevelandgoldnbajamte

 

Green Majic walked away victorious with some great games and hard-fought competition. This was great to see and an awesome addition from 2017 + it was just fun. 

 

NBA Jam play ended around 5pm(ish)? Again, keep me honest guys. Then the fun part began... I think I got home around 9pm Sunday night by the time cars were unloaded, I dropped off arcade cabinets at John's arcade, hit up a storage locker and more. I was utterly and completely pooped, and my back was just killing me too. 

 

Anyways, I think Tecmo Jam Cleveland 2018 was a great success and I owe a huge debt of thanks to a lot of the guys who have been Cleveland-faithful in helping me promote, setup, tear-down, etc. in the last 3 - 4 months and also on gameday. You guys are great - thanks. 

 

What I learned in 2018? 

Kudos to Chris Vogt, because he already read my mind and sent me an email re: 2019. I've felt like an ass for the last two years being really so close to Midwest Tecmo, knowing that they are both great tournaments - and truthfully I want to make the trip down as well, as I'm sure they want to come up. I've talked to so many ppl about this in regards and Chris and I are going to talk to figure this out for 2019. I 110% respect Chris' seniority and entitlement to the late July timeframe and I do want to move Tecmo Jam Cleveland 2019 out of mad respect for what they do as well and I am looking at options. 

 

In the spirit of full-transparency to the community, the timing has always been an issue for me as well for the following reason - my wedding anniversary is August 28, I had Hamilton tickets this year on August 25, I have a huge conference with work I am planning for multiple months which is the 2nd week in September every year at our software company, my wife, son and mother-in-law (yes 3 generations all have the exact same birthday - which is October 6), my dad's birthday is late October, plus planning for Halloween costumes, etc. with the boys around Halloween is a disaster, plus my other son's birthday is November 20 - so that is a mess too. So basically from August 20th+ through the end of the year (any year) my calendar is hosed because as soon as November 20 hits it's holiday season. Factor in the Cleveland weather which can kick-up any time with snow storms really early October - it could spell disaster - oh plus football season and MLB playoffs (if not world series again [hopeful]). So, long-story short. I'm trying to find something that works and I want the community to know I seriously am (as you can tell) looking into it and trying to come up with an alternative for 2019 because I do not want our two tourneys to be back-to-back weekends next year as it does nobody any good. 

 

At the end of the day that really leave me either pushing back a few more weeks in August, but not too close to our wedding anniversary date b/c I'm also dangerously close to the 10 year mark and I do not need a divorce and/or we usually take a wedding anniversary vacation around that time. 

 

I also want to work with Kevin Cabarello re: Tupa Bowl too, b/c again - mad respect to him and I don't want to conflict at all and give him the space/time he needs around scheduling (which is generally May). 

 

So really it comes down to either moving up in the June timeframe, but not close to Madison or anything else - maybe pushing to the 1st week of November in between Halloween and my second boy's birthday - i.e. 11/1 - 11/15 (but also knowing everyone will be in full NFL and college football mode, so I'm competing with that then too). Or moving entirely to the winter, but not competing with Tundra Bowl who I madly respect as well. 

 

I'd be open to suggest, comments, recommendations or more because I really want everyone to understand I know I am a relative newcomer to this community and I fully respect the boundaries and work that these Tecmo-lifers have been doing and they are owed mad street cred. So kudos to them and we'll figure it out in 2019 best we can. I just didn't want anyone also think I'm not trying, because I am beyond this and even more. 

 

Anyways, in summary - thanks for the support in 2018. I'm excited about 2019 - growing this thing even more. Growing Tecmo, growing Jam and maybe even adding more into the mix. Thanks for making the trip out. I hope you guys had a great time and I appreciate the support, knowledge transfer, collaboration, partnership, recommendations, suggestions and more. 

 

Tecmo Jam Tom 

 

*edited adding in handle/tags so ppl are aware of this post and not buried in the forums :)

 

@vogtcd11 @trojan1979 @kmolnar3298 @red98sethuthut @Woodshed @The Ultimate Weapon @mort1237 @kevincabarello

 

 

Edited by TecmoCleveland
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On 8/10/2018 at 3:13 PM, TecmoCleveland said:

Sorry for the delay in my recap - I've been utterly exhausted following this year and oh yea, my family and I are currently selling our home (open house this Sunday 2pm - 4pm!) and moving to a newly purchased home. Just minor life events, that's all. 

 

Also, quick summary/recap of Tecmo Jam Cleveland 2018: 

 

We sold a total of 77 tickets for 2018, beating our 2017 numbers - which was great! We had a fantastic turnout both days and I appreciate the continued support in the community here and beyond. 

 

We actually oversold the TSB portion of the tournament, selling close to (or around) 68 - 69 TSB tickets (some ppl buy the joint two-day pass and others buying one-day pass) with day-of registrations, last minute purchases, etc. 

 

We had 16 stations playing TSB with Group Play starting a little late, around 12:30 - 12:45pm, following the national anthem and Tecmo Jam Cleveland 2018 hype video (to be posted to YouTube later once i've recovered). Group Play lasted about 3 - 3.5 hours (double elim), with players in groups of 8, so we did 8 groups of 8 (64 man total, b/c of some no shows and what not, per usual - even having over-sold it). Bronze was single elimination all the way through. Silver and Gold were single elim., I believe in the first 2 rounds and then we reseeded to double elim. with both final four groups. So, at a minimum all players were guaranteed at least 3 games, whether they lost all 3 of them or not, which was a nice change from 2017. Based on Group Play players were re-seeded into Bronze, Silver and Gold Brackets: 

 

BRONZE: https://challonge.com/tecmojamclevelandbronzeTSB

SILVER: https://challonge.com/tecmojamclevelandsilvertsb

SILVER FINAL FOUR: https://challonge.com/eduqzjk7

GOLD: https://challonge.com/tecmojamclevelandgoldtsb

GOLD FINAL FOUR: https://challonge.com/n9iyr3au

 

Players in Silver and Gold were then re-seeded in a Final Four, also attached above with links to Challonge. 

 

I did my best to log all the scores for posterity - thanks to everyone for communicating so well and getting me results to log real-time. 

 

I believe gameplay lasted all-in until about 8 - 9pm? Keep me honest if I'm off - it was a long day and I was beyond exhausted. Jordan Willis and Louis in the finals was incredible; and quite honestly, all finals match-ups, final fours, etc. were amazing. 

 

Troy did a great job on the microphone with Eric Kuhlman doing broadcasting on some of the top games, and I appreciated him making the trip out to be a part of this years' experience. 

 

NBA Jam TE was great the second day as well. We had exactly 24 competitors show-up so that made for great brackets. We did 6, four-man groups that were all double elim. Again, based on performance in group play, players were seeded in Gold, Silver and Bronze brackets respectively. So 8 Gold, 8 Silver, 8 Bronze. They can be found here as well: 

 

We just ran these through the entire-way as double elimination to get everyone more games. 

 

BRONZE: https://challonge.com/tecmojamclevelandbronzenbajam

SILVER: https://challonge.com/tecmojamclevelandsilvernbajam

GOLD: https://challonge.com/tecmojamclevelandgoldnbajamte

 

Green Majic walked away victorious with some great games and hard-fought competition. This was great to see and an awesome addition from 2017 + it was just fun. 

 

NBA Jam play ended around 5pm(ish)? Again, keep me honest guys. Then the fun part began... I think I got home around 9pm Sunday night by the time cars were unloaded, I dropped off arcade cabinets at John's arcade, hit up a storage locker and more. I was utterly and completely pooped, and my back was just killing me too. 

 

Anyways, I think Tecmo Jam Cleveland 2018 was a great success and I owe a huge debt of thanks to a lot of the guys who have been Cleveland-faithful in helping me promote, setup, tear-down, etc. in the last 3 - 4 months and also on gameday. You guys are great - thanks. 

 

What I learned in 2018? 

Kudos to Chris Vogt, because he already read my mind and sent me an email re: 2019. I've felt like an ass for the last two years being really so close to Midwest Tecmo, knowing that they are both great tournaments - and truthfully I want to make the trip down as well, as I'm sure they want to come up. I've talked to so many ppl about this in regards and Chris and I are going to talk to figure this out for 2019. I 110% respect Chris' seniority and entitlement to the late July timeframe and I do want to move Tecmo Jam Cleveland 2019 out of mad respect for what they do as well and I am looking at options. 

 

In the spirit of full-transparency to the community, the timing has always been an issue for me as well for the following reason - my wedding anniversary is August 28, I had Hamilton tickets this year on August 25, I have a huge conference with work I am planning for multiple months which is the 2nd week in September every year at our software company, my wife, son and mother-in-law (yes 3 generations all have the exact same birthday - which is October 6), my dad's birthday is late October, plus planning for Halloween costumes, etc. with the boys around Halloween is a disaster, plus my other son's birthday is November 20 - so that is a mess too. So basically from August 20th+ through the end of the year (any year) my calendar is hosed because as soon as November 20 hits it's holiday season. Factor in the Cleveland weather which can kick-up any time with snow storms really early October - it could spell disaster - oh plus football season and MLB playoffs (if not world series again [hopeful]). So, long-story short. I'm trying to find something that works and I want the community to know I seriously am (as you can tell) looking into it and trying to come up with an alternative for 2019 because I do not want our two tourneys to be back-to-back weekends next year as it does nobody any good. 

 

At the end of the day that really leave me either pushing back a few more weeks in August, but not too close to our wedding anniversary date b/c I'm also dangerously close to the 10 year mark and I do not need a divorce and/or we usually take a wedding anniversary vacation around that time. 

 

I also want to work with Kevin Cabarello re: Tupa Bowl too, b/c again - mad respect to him and I don't want to conflict at all and give him the space/time he needs around scheduling (which is generally May). 

 

So really it comes down to either moving up in the June timeframe, but not close to Madison or anything else - maybe pushing to the 1st week of November in between Halloween and my second boy's birthday - i.e. 11/1 - 11/15 (but also knowing everyone will be in full NFL and college football mode, so I'm competing with that then too). Or moving entirely to the winter, but not competing with Tundra Bowl who I madly respect as well. 

 

I'd be open to suggest, comments, recommendations or more because I really want everyone to understand I know I am a relative newcomer to this community and I fully respect the boundaries and work that these Tecmo-lifers have been doing and they are owed mad street cred. So kudos to them and we'll figure it out in 2019 best we can. I just didn't want anyone also think I'm not trying, because I am beyond this and even more. 

 

Anyways, in summary - thanks for the support in 2018. I'm excited about 2019 - growing this thing even more. Growing Tecmo, growing Jam and maybe even adding more into the mix. Thanks for making the trip out. I hope you guys had a great time and I appreciate the support, knowledge transfer, collaboration, partnership, recommendations, suggestions and more. 

 

Tecmo Jam Tom 

 

*edited adding in handle/tags so ppl are aware of this post and not buried in the forums :)

 

@vogtcd11 @trojan1979 @kmolnar3298 @red98sethuthut @Woodshed @The Ultimate Weapon @mort1237 @kevincabarello

 

 

Great recap Tom!  I wish Brian Dawkins getting inducted into the Hall of Fame was not the same day as Tecmo Cleveland so I could have been there for the whole event.  Having said that, I was happy to be a part of the setup Friday night, last minute setup Saturday morning, organizing the brackets, playing in pool play before having to bow out early, then playing in NBA Jam on Sunday.  So many great guys in this community both locally and abroad that helped make this event special.  You (Tom) certainly have put a ton of time into this promoting via social media, TV, radio, billboards, etc.  I don't know how you do it especially with a few little ones at home - but your passion for the game and the community are undeniable.

 

It was also great to see Troy (@trojan1979) again in person doing livestream broadcasts with rotating color guys.  I wish I could have gotten on the mic with him for at least one game as I really enjoyed calling some games with him during the Tupa Bowl in Columbus and several online since.  Troy is a great guy who loves this community and wants to see it grow - I believe his skill and professionalism behind the mic are part of what is taking the game we all love to another level.  I realize there are other players and people in the community that stream and do a great job, but when Troy comes to an event (at least the ones I have been to or watched online) it is purely to focus on streaming.  He enjoys it, is good at it and I believe new talent will be unearthed because people want to play in a livestream broadcast format.

 

After being a part of this community for over 8 years now, each event I am able to attend becomes more special.  They really become more like a family reunion and less like a tournament.  When I found out Jordan (@Woodshed) won after I got back from the HOF, I was so happy for him.  Jordan is a really good player who finally was able to breakthrough and win one.  Great to see someone new win a major tournament (and from Ohio!).  There are so many good guys and good players whose passion keep this game as much fun (if not more) than when it first came out.

 

Much love to everyone who came out and supported Tecmo Cleveland this year!

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On 8/7/2018 at 12:27 AM, Woodshed said:

3EA821EB-ABD9-4344-8BF3-CA792A5434FE.thumb.jpeg.24f3de9631b3b57e16cada62cf9a8e15.jpegHad this banner waiting on me when I got home. I have a true lady of Tecmo.

I had so much fun this weekend and to win one of these was incredible. I was a little salty that they didn’t have a police escort for me as I rolled into my hometown with the trophy, but I think I might get a sign underneath the 2009 boys basketball state champions, so I’ve got that going for me. Big thanks to everyone involved, and the love from the Tecmo community after this was phenomenal. Something I’ll never forget. You guys are the best. Can’t wait to spend another day drinking and playing this game with you guys. It’ll never get old. 

Great job, now I have to look at this thing everyday I go to work...wouldn’t be surprised if it gets vandalized sometime soon.

4FD3A6FC-C6A5-4969-96EB-E4D33A2E1025.jpeg

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