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| TWeissman
- 31 Aug 2012
Total Posts: 210
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Reading some of the info in the other Carter Cup thread got me to thinking. We better get this history on paper before it is completely lost. I don't have all the details, but here is what I recall...
The Carter Cup is a 4-man competition originally created by the Professional Air Hockey Players Association (PAPA), led by Don James with some help by Owen Giraldo and myself. The idea was to have a Cup similar in concept to Ice Hockey's Stanley Cup, whereby the Champions (or "holders of the cup") would have their team name, player names and years as Champs, engraved on the Cup for all future generations to see. We also thought it would be great to let the Champions literally hold the cup and display it at their homes (though this has been changed due to the last team losing it, hiding it, pawning it...whatever it is).
The idea was that 4-person teams would challenge for the Cup and petition PAPA for priority. PAPA would sanction a match and designate which challenger had priority, based on merit, team association among members, skill level and benefit to the sport via promotional value. That was the structure, though given AH's small player base, we didn't have a lot of challengers vying for the Cup.
One of the key aspects which ended up being overlooked years later was that a team needed to demonstrate that they would promote the Cup and actively welcome challengers. Being a small sport, we felt like the Cup needed Champs who would help spread the word. Unfortunately, once Don James and I took an extended break from active competition, no teams were left willing to promote this. The Cup eventually found its way in to a garage or attic or pawn shop and forgotten.
As it stands, there have been 5 Carter Cup Champions.
The first match happened in 1992 at Greens Gameroom. The Fab 4 (Don James-Team Captain, Owen Giraldo, Edward Almeda and Justin Oistad) defeated the Green's Wolverines (Tim Weissman-Team Captain, Anton Mawhood, Max Silverstein and Tom Baldus). The big story was how the surprising new players were able to defeat the veteran competitors, and with fierce and vocal competitive flavor.
The next match was between the Fab 4 and Robin's Merry Men (Mark Robbins-Team Captain, Wil Upchurch, Scot Morgan and Gary Morgan). The Fab 4 successfully defended the Cup at an indoor batting cage complex in Northwest.
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| TWeissman
- 31 Aug 2012
Total Posts: 210
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The third match brought the first controversy to the Cup. A match was set between the Fab 4 and the Texas Fourhands - originally Phil Arnold-Captain, Robert Hernandez, Albert Ortiz and August Parra to be played at Goodies, a pool hall in Northwest Houston. However, 2 days before the event, Albert Ortiz found out he would not be able to make the match. The Fourhands asked if the Fab 4 would agree to let them replace Albert Ortiz. They reluctantly agreed, wanting to compete more than see the competition postponed. The replacement was myself, Tim Weissman, currently at the peak of my AH performance level. The Texas Fourhands ended up winning the Cup against a frustrated and angry Fab 4 team, complaining that they would have practiced more if they knew the team was going to be different.
The Texas Fourhands lost the very next Carter Cup match to GQ Continuum (Wil Upchurch-Captain, Danny Hynes, Ehab Shoukry and Scot Morgan). This was the most closely fought Cup in history, and the Champs went down 10.5 to 9. On a personal note, I recall playing that competition with the worst fever I have ever had. During the match I was at 104 and would nearly pass out between sets.
The next match was played at Time Out Sports Bar in Houston in 1997. It was between the current champs and a newly formed team called God Complex (Don James-Captain, Tim Weissman, Billy Stubbs and Owen Giraldo). God Complex won convincingly.
God Complex defended the Cup two times after winning it. These were played as a double-header weekend. On the first day, a team from Austin came in to play. It was led by David Satarino and had Mark Larson. The other 2 players elude me, but one may have been Tony "Goofy" Morris. God Complex won without losing or tying a set. On the second day of the double header, God Complex crushingly defeated a team of Vince Schappell, Mike Barry, Brian Accrocco and Jimmy Heilander.
After this, no one was willing to challenge such a dominant team. After a couple years, GC decided to simply relinquish the cup and put it up for new challengers.
That's when the team of Danny Hynes, Ehab Shoukry, Jose Mora, and Jimmy Heilander became the Champs. I don't recall who they played. I believe they defended a couple times, then the Cup was not promoted, and likely people were once again not willing to challenge such a dominant team.
A decade went by and the Cup disappeared or was melted for silver, no clue. In any case, it is being opened up once again to the new generation. As of now the Cup is not officially held. Who will be the next Champion?
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