Some guy named "Bacon" wins PIG MADNESS VI !!!
Los Angeles CA -- Fittingly, a guy with the last name of Bacon won Pig Madness VI.
Last year at Pig Madness V 2009, a newcomer, a rookie, an unknown by the name of Zach Kuperman walked away with first place and the grand prize of $1,000 and the trophy of a lifetime. This year in 2010, it was destined to happen again after another unknown walked away with a giant check and huge smile with the name of Mr. C Bacon. (His first name has been omitted for privacy reasons and his newfound celebrity-status). The tournament once again was infested with home-made trash-talking t-shirts, lots of food and drinks, chaos among the Masters and the preparation, the attendance of inventor David Moffat, and this year had Venice Paparazzi.com taking photos throughout the day. See photos on their website by clicking HERE!
by Willie Fokher August 20, 2010
Bacon didn’t do it the easy way like Kuperman did last year however. Bacon struggled at times, got lucky at other times, and ultimately rolled his best pigs when he needed them most by beating a great showing by Jeff Schwartz in the finals. Bacon entered the playoffs by winning a round-robin, after posting an unimpressive 6-7 record, to which he then battled his way through one playoff round after another. Johnny from Wales - down, Eric Fieland - down, Matt Janssen - down.... The field of 21 playoff contenders whistled away as the semifinals matched up LJ Vierra against Mr. Bacon on one side, and Schwartz vs. newcomer Thallasa Tam in the other. These semifinals not only matched up great personas and personalities but also different strategies of pigs: LJ (One of only 2 people ever to throw a Double Leaning Jowler at a Madness) was throwing ruthless pigs all day and they never let him down until they went cold against Bacon in the semi's and he lost 3 games to 1. Thallasa Tam used her "100-point rolls or bust" strategy all the way to the semi's until her pigs went cold against Jeff Schwartz and he swept her 3-0. Never in the history of the NPPL has anyone tried to use the "100-point roll-or bust" strategy and then do so well so successfully. Some say LJ and Tam's throwing styles were labeled as "crazy" or even "stupid", yet they lasted longer than 37 others and both walked away with $25 gift cards for Bevmo and Best Buy in addition to free bowling passes from our favorite supporter Lucky Strike Bowling Lanes.
The finals set up Jeff Schwartz and C Bacon. Before the showdown, Schwartz had posted an amazing record of 12-1 which got him 2 first-round-byes and he was simply far superior for any opposition in the playoffs as he went through the tournament with ease, as opposed to Bacon who had a growing confidence after his 6-7 regular season record forced him to battle through a round-robin tiebreaker and 6 playoff matches as he roughed his way to meet Jeff in the finals. And it was a battle. After Bacon won the first match and Schwartz tied it up, Bacon then won the next two games and was up 3 games to 1. Schwartz was sweating Game 6 and as he stood down 3 games to 2 he could only watch as Bacon went from 60 points (to Jeff's 82) and eventually pigged out at 92 - eight points from winning the grand prize! It opened the door and gave Schwartz back the pigs to which he then took advantage of on his next opportunity and forced a Game 7 on his very next roll. The much admired (and formally banned from the NPPL) Schwartz had basically the entire party in his corner since no one knew who the hell this Bacon guy was! Even though Jeff had the momentum going into the deciding Game 7 and the crowd in his corner, Bacon's pigs were too good and he put his piggish last name on the list of Pig Madness Champions and walked away with $1,000. Schwartz, who ultimately had one of the most successful tournaments ever played in any NPPL tournament by accumulating a 23-5 record, deservedly walked away with $200. It wasn't the grand prize, but it was a performance worth remembering for a very long time.
All in all, it was yet another successful tournament thrown by the NPPL and everyone had a blast. Honorable mention goes to Patrick Smith who walked away with the last place prize of a Jonas Brothers photo album (enjoy dude) after finishing with 1 win and 12 losses in his NPPL debut. Also, let's not forget the two 14 year old kids from Wales, Bryson and Johnny, that led off the day kicking everyone's butt & winning tons of games after not even knowing how to play! Johnny even made the playoffs before the eventual champion Mr. Bacon knocked him out in the first round. And unfortunately for the reigning champion, Zach Kuperman now knows what it's like to walk away without winning as he posted a 5-8 record and didn't even make the playoffs. Only 2 Masters didn't make the playoffs (Rago & Day lost on tie-breakers) and just think, of all the thousands of rolls that were thrown that day, not one Double Leaning Jowler was rolled...
Now that what I call...Pig Madness.
Mr. C Bacon - 2010 PIG MADNESS VI champion
LJ Vierra and Thallasa Tam each won $25 gift cards for Bevmo and Best Buy, plus free bowling passes at Lucky Strike Bowling Lanes!
Pig Madness organizer Mark Rago presenting Jeff Schwartz with his second place prize of $200!
Patrick Smith walked away with an awesome last-place prize!!
(--not sure how/why this photo got stretched...?!? computers!)
