Return of the Puck (0 comments)
Tim Leach said it best as the crowd gathered to watch Danny Hynes and Jose Mora go to battle in the early rounds of the randomly seeded tournament, how often does a person get to see the two best players in the world in any sport on a Saturday night at a sports bar in the heart of Houston?
It was a monumental night for Air Hockey. A total of 26 players and a room full of spectators were on hand to crack the proverbial champagne bottle over the Air Hockey Capital of the World’s new home for Air Hockey… SRO Sports Bar & Café.
In a sea of veteran players, there were a few newcomers who were not afraid to step up to the table. Eric Chavez brought along his wife Natasha and friend Jeremiah Draughn… neither of whom had any fear of stepping up to the table to face the giants of Air Hockey. Another newcomer, Dave Miller had knocked the puck around for fun a few times and decided he wanted to put his skills to the test.
The rest of the pool of players was veterans… and some veterans we hadn’t seen in a long time! The dynamic duo – Syed Rahman and Zack Zakhem – were both in attendance. Tim Leach dragged Jimmy Heilander out of the house… or vice versa. Mr. Razzle Dazzle, Albert Ortiz came out to show the world what Air Hockey is supposed to look like. Even former World Champion, Robert Hernandez, made it out to the premiere event although, unfortunately, he was a little too under the weather to play. Robert did vow to do battle next week.
The puck dropped at about 7:30 and even with 26 players, we managed to complete the tournament in about 4 ½ hours thanks to an exciting modified double elimination format in which the entire losers bracket plays single game matches up to the final four. The single game format is incredibly fast paced and adds to the excitement because matches are occurring one after another in rapid fire fashion. The entire winners bracket and final four matches are all the standard best of 3 game match. Until we acquire a 3rd table at SRO, we will likely continue to use this format any time we have 20+ players.
I’d like to give a huge thank you to everyone who came out to SRO Saturday. Each one of you who - whether you could play or not - made a positive impact on the future of Air Hockey in Houston. The SRO management approached me at the end of the evening to express how overwhelmed they were at our showing and with our bar and food sales – but more importantly, how impressed they were with our demeanor and personality.
In the beginning, it will take a small commitment from each of you to come out and play regularly which will lead to a greater commitment of support from the venue. After one night, they are ready to help us market our tournaments in any way they can and encouraged me to place banners and marketing materials throughout the venue. Just like in the Shooters era, we have bulletin board in the Air Hockey area on which we will post updated news, information and weekly tournament point standings. Anyone and everyone who walks through SRO will be exposed to competitive Air Hockey. In time, our player base will again start to flourish and we can look forward to multiple weekly events and leagues.
So, without further adieu…
1 – Jose Mora (6) $120
2 – Jason Stevens (4) $70
3 – Jimmy Heilander (5) $40
4 – Keith Garcia (3)
5/6 – Danny Hynes (6)
5/6 – Albert Ortiz (5)
7/8 – Phil Arnold (5)
7/8 – Andrew Flanagan (4)
9/12 – Marc Sandlin (2)
9/12 – Jason Sherman (4)
9/12 – Dave Miller (0)
9/12 – Vic Green (3)
13/16 – Eric Chavez (0)
13/16 – Syed Rahman (4)
13/16 – Tim Leach (4)
13/16 – Ehab Shoukry (6)
17/24 – Lazaro Garcia (3)
17/24 – Tom Baldus (4)
17/24 – Brian Accrocco (6)
17/24 – Niki Jaquette (4)
17/24 – Jeremiah Droughn (0)
17/24 – Peyton Shelley (1)
17/24 – Steven Accrocco (1)
17/24 – Zack Zakhem (4)
25/26 – Jessica Dolan (1)
25/26 – Natasha Chavez (0)
Stay tuned for more information on upcoming events.
Play puck!
Comments
There are no comments yet for this news article.
Click here to add a comment. |
