Monkeyball

It’s not quite Christmas in Birmingham, unless there is a SoMoCo MB tournament.  This year we had fewer players, but had just as much fun.  The Salmon family has dominated this tournament, with Jason Salmon winning the 1st annual event and Michelle Salmon taking the 2nd annual event (where she beat Jason in the finals!)  This year’s event also saw #2 world-ranked Jason Salmon back in the finals (we expect nothing less!), but would he take home the trophy?

The weather was a cool 50 degrees with a stiff breeze, but Elaine Dameron came with hot tea and cocoa to warm everyone up, and snacks to fill everyone up!  (Thanks, Mom!)  The day started with Randy Nelms giving #13 world-ranked Kevin Singleton all he could handle, before Kevin won a close one 15-13.  (This reminded me of the recent Iron Bowl where Auburn led #2 Alabama for 58 1/2 minutes before the Crimson Tide scored the go-ahead touchdown for the victory.)  Another match-up that started the day was a battle of the Grandmothers, where Kathy “Kaki” Mardis took out Elaine “Grand E” Dameron with a 15-8 beatdown.

Brad Morgan has recently come onto the MB scene, but today was not his day.  He went 0-2, but he will be a contender in SoMoCo tourneys to come.  Missy Dameron got out of her MB slump winning two matches on the day.  Missy and rookie Tripp Durant played the longest game of the day, where Tripp won 15-13.  Tripp played in his first MB tournament and just missed making the Final Four.  He’ll be a force to be reckoned with in future tournaments.

Mike Jones, SoMoCo veteran, almost made it into the final four before losing to Adam Vines.  This wasn’t Adam’s first tournament, and it showed.  He lost his first match to Mike, but steamrolled through the loser’s bracket to make the final four.

#2 world-ranked Jason took on Tom Dameron (and his red scarf) in his first match, winning 15-3.  Jason’s skills were looking good today, but Tom’s hat and scarf were too.  Meredith Brock, Jason’s second victim, ended the day 0-2, but provided us with some laughs with her “toss it straight up in the air and almost hit yourself” technique.  #12 world-ranked Sean Dameron took on Melanie Salmon in his first match, where Melanie used her “throw it straight & let the wind put it onto the 3-bar” technique.  Luckily for Sean, it only worked a few times, and he won 15-3.  Sean took on newcomer Tripp for his second victory.

The final four consisted of three of the top 13 world-ranked players(#2 Jason Salmon, #12 Sean Dameron, and # 13 Kevin Singleton) and one redneck triathlon veteran (Adam Vines).  # 2 Salmon took on # 13 Singleton in a grudge match, with Salmon winning 15-8 & 15-7.  #12 Dameron took on Adam Vines, winning 15-1 & 15-0.  Jason and Sean are highly ranked and are #1 & #2 in total tournament points (according to MB’s world ranking system, but have only played each other in one other tournament.  The first match didn’t start off too well, with Jason and Sean throwing up empty racks.  They got their mojo back and started scoring.  Sean won the first game 15-6.  The second game seemed to go on forever where they were neck-and-neck.  Sean put up 5 points on the last rack and Jason knocked off one of his own ropes to seal the victory for #12 Sean Dameron.

Champion: Sean Dameron
Runner-Up: Jason Salmon
# of Players: 14

Bracket (PDF)