Odds | History | Rules
St. Paul's Rejects - Minnesota
|
|
|
|
John Pack—3 |
Steve Packwood—7 |
Mike Backstrom—0 |
Rich Moyer—9 |
|
|
|
|
Nesters
Nailed by Finn
|
Nest of Spies teammates mug Riku Reikkinen,
who singlehandedly stopped their three-year winning streak. |
Three-time defending champion Nest of Spies, a coalition
of Card Driven Wargamers from four different states, reinforced
by the addition of Chris Byrd into what was—on paper—their
strongest team ever, was an overwhelming favorite at 25-1 odds
to continue their dominance of the Team Tournament in 2008. However,
they hadn't counted on the visit of Riku Reikkinen of Finland,
who snatched victory from their outstretched hands in the Finals
of Paths of Glory and For the People, costing them
10 points. The latter win was especially noteworthy, as it ended
a seven-year reign of terror by Master Pei in his specialty.
Thus
humbled, the mighty Nest fell to 8th place. They were replaced
by the St Paul's Rejects—no slouches themselves—fifth ranked
at 41-1 odds, a team with its roots in Minnesota—that had an
anchoring streak of their own as Steve Packwood won his sixth
straight 1776 title and 12th overall. But the points that
put them in contention came from Rich Moyer, whose first win in Superstar Baseball yielded nine big points. John Pack's
steadily improving Victory in the Pacific prowess netted
three more points to put them over the top and edge The James
Gang by a single point. The latter team, ranked seventh at 43-1,
and composed entirely of traditional hex wargamers, scored at
every position and were anchored by multiple champions Doug James
and Rob Beyma winning their fifth and third titles in their respective
specialties. Both teams earned two points in bonuses for not having
won their respective events previously.
The year's biggest over-achievers were Three Beers and a Chardonay and Pixel Juice who both overcame 2300 -1 odds to finish 12th
and 17th respectively and thumb their respective noses at the
Happy Handicapper. However, overall, it was an up year for the
Happy Handicapper. Despite the record field of 90 teams, 14 of
his top 25 picks (56%) made the Top 25—up 4% from 2007.
Buoyed by a record-breaking field of 90 teams, scoring was
up considerably with the points needed to break into the Top 25
up four points. The other side of that coin saw 30 teams shutout—an even third of the field. The highest ranked squad to post
nothing but goose eggs, and thereby earn the 2008 title for Most
Overrated, was Galaxy Quest at 65-1, which had been the 29th ranked
team. However, the Greenville Mafia's third-ranked Famine squad
at 37-1 was the highest ranked team to fall out of the Top 25.
No other teams were able to join the James Gang in scoring
across the board at every position although the Greenville Mafia's
War squad came closest. David Gantt came up one player short in Acquire which kept him from scoring and giving his team
sixth place.
The Wonder Women team won the Misery Loves Company title
with 484 entrants for an average of 122 entrants per event. On
the opposite end of the scale, claiming the Big Fish in the Small
Pond title was The James Gang whose 103 total entrants
averaged under 26 players per event.
The most frequently named choice for the Team Tournament was Carcassonne which was the selection of nine of the 360
players in the tournament. In all, 129 of our 154 events were
selected by someone with Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride tying for second with eight each. Other top choices
were Queen's Gambit and Twilight Struggle which
were named by seven teams each and Atlantic Storm, Puerto Rico,
Robo Rally, Victory in he Pacific, and Commands & Colors
Ancients which were each selected by six teams.
2008 Top 25 Teams in Order of Finish
Rank |
Name |
Odds |
Player 1 |
Player 2 |
Player 3 |
Player 4 |
Points |
Entrants |
1 |
St Paul's Rejects |
41-1 |
J Pack/VIP/3 |
S Packwood/776/7 |
M Backstrom/SET/0 |
R Moyer/SSB/9 |
19 |
208 |
2 |
The James Gang |
43-1 |
D James/TRC/7 |
J Eliason/VIP/2 |
R Beyma/WAT/2 |
R Beyma/RBS/7 |
18 |
103 |
3 |
Three Men & A Canadian |
73-1
|
B Dyer/FDE/0 |
B Johnson/RRY/9 |
J Abrams/LID/0 |
G McMaster/DUN/8 |
17
|
371
|
4 |
Forced Laughter |
81-1
|
R Drozd/WPS/0 |
T Drozd/CFC/7 |
C Drozd/VIP/9 |
J Drozd/CAR/0 |
16
|
175
|
5 |
Cavemen Rejoice |
70-1
|
D Meyaard/ELC/9 |
K Henning/QGB/2 |
N Henning/GSR/4 |
J Gemmell/ADV/0 |
15
|
254
|
6 |
Extraordinary Gentlemen |
53-1
|
A Warszawski/HWD/2 |
R Lehrer/POE/2 |
H Hochboim/SET/0 |
H Henning/EPB/10 |
14
|
249
|
7 |
Greenville Mafia: War |
52-1
|
J Githens/CMS/9 |
B Collars/CBC/4 |
D Field/TKL/1 |
D Gantt/ACQ/0 |
14
|
226
|
8 |
Nest of Spies |
25-1
|
J Pei/FTP/3 |
D Dockter/POG/3 |
S MeCay/TWS/8 |
C Byrd/HRC/0 |
14
|
173
|
9 |
Champagne Room Gamers |
28-1
|
B Reiff/FBS/7 |
J Mullet/GOA/2 |
N Hoam/ALH/4 |
M Stanley/CMS/0 |
13
|
242
|
10 |
Baby Seals |
39-1
|
G Young/WTP/3 |
P Reese/POG/2 |
E McNay/BRI/8 |
D Nicholson/MMS/0 |
13 |
158
|
11 |
Smortal |
128-1
|
S Nerney/FMR/0 |
J Shaheen/BCY/3 |
C Gormly/PDT/0 |
R Kircher/AGR/9 |
12 |
215
|
12 |
Three Beers & A Chardonay |
2300-1
|
J Thorne/AE3/0 |
R Jenulis ACV/0 |
M Galandiuk/CBC/9 |
P Sampson/TWS/3 |
12 |
172
|
13 |
Go Flank Yourself |
55-1
|
C Withers/TWS/0 |
R Doane/GCA/3 |
S Likevich/B81/7 |
J Rice/HIS 2 |
12 |
137
|
14 |
Polish Lancers |
46-1
|
R Young/TWS/4 |
P Gaberson/WTP/2 |
B Wigdor/UPF/0 |
D Metzger/812/6 |
12 |
126 |
15 |
Team Viagra |
50-1
|
T Dunning/RA/0 |
R Winslow/GXY/0 |
N Thompson/BKN/7 |
S Cuyler/ACS/4 |
11 |
330
|
16 |
Old Guard |
53-1
|
R Heller/BWD/2 |
B Morse/QGB/0 |
F Pafenberg/B81/2 |
B Ryan/ANZ/7 |
11 |
113
|
17 |
Pixel Juice |
2300-1
|
B Sherwood/PRO/0 |
K Shaud/ACS/0 |
C Petruzelli/MED/10 |
A Suszko/960/0 |
10 |
448
|
18 |
El Chupacabra |
75-1
|
Bru Bernard/VNC/3 |
Bra Bernard/ABN/0 |
Bri Bernard/TTR/0 |
G Deutsch/AOA/7 |
10 |
328
|
19 |
AREA |
58-1
|
E Menzel/GBG/8 |
J Sharp/VIP/0 |
B Wolff/TT2/0 |
B Thompson/SQL/2 |
10 |
123
|
20 |
Band of Fools |
41-1
|
G Dickson/TRC/2 |
R Freeman/TIM/1 |
T Gregorio/BWD/7 |
M Kaye/VIP/0 |
10 |
104
|
21 |
Triple Crossers |
210-1
|
A Latto/T&T/9 |
C Perry/SPG/0 |
C Brosius/LST/0 |
S Brosius/ELC/0 |
9 |
456
|
22 |
Too Liittle, Too Late |
145-1
|
C Mitchell/SET/0 |
R Mitchell/CAR/9 |
T McCorry/TWS/0 |
M Christensen/M44/0 |
9 |
313
|
23 |
MIT SGS |
51-1
|
A Applebaum/VIP/0 |
M Sample/ ACS/0 |
D Finberg/TTN/2 |
A Fuegi TT2 |
9 |
226
|
24 |
Gang Greene |
92-1
|
R McCracken/TRC/0 |
M Miklos/BAR/7 |
A Lewis/SSB/2 |
J Miklos/HWD/0 |
9 |
125
|
25 |
Kromp on Krewe |
143-1
|
P McCarthy/VNC/0 |
R Taylor/MMS/0 |
L Rodrigues/KRM/9 |
P Rodrigues/SUC/0 |
9 |
118
|
|