New Scaratings

Danny K’s, The 2023 Brainbuster Cup Champion team, is pleased to announce the rules and signup for the 10th Annual Tournament. The team has chosen to use the same rules as it chose for last year’s tournament, and has elected to invite ANON to serve as guest commissioner this year. He will be running the week-to-week administration of the tournament; but if there are any issues over the interpretation of the rules or other disputes, they will adjudicated/decided by Danny K's.

The tournament will be structured pretty much the same as all of the previous editions: It will run for five games (starting on April 2 and running until April 30 this year). Each participating team's final score will be calculated as the cumulative HOF score of their four best performances in those games (in other words, each team gets to drop a low score, which will also ameliorate the impact of any technical or other issues on a particular night). The highest score thus calculated wins, and that team will get the trophy for a year and be required to run the tournament next April. In addition, as was the case last year, the 2nd- and 3rd-place teams will receive silver(-ish) and bronze(-ish) actual medals with the team’s name on the back.

RULES: Teams must use assembled brainpower in the location only. No computers and no references of any kind during gameplay, either paper or electronic (or telecommunication from outside the location). Using the Buzztime Playmaker app on electronic devices such as iPhones, iPads, or Droid phones is fine, as long as this is the only purpose for which the device is being used, and it is being used in and for the location of the team. Any team that pledges to abide by these rules is welcome to sign up.

As the tournament starts on April 2, the signup period will run from now until noon on that day. Please feel free to join here, or by contacting me by PM or email.

As this will be running concurrently with the McCarthy Cup, we welcome all McCarthy Cup teams to join--the more the merrier! Ask your team tonight if they would like to participate.

Danny K's is in.

_________________
Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

The Fellowship at Punts and Pints is in.

_________________
Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

Sign up Time Out West.

Just a reminder that the Brainbuster Tournament starts on Tuesday. As of right now, here are the teams that have signed up:

Danny K's, Orange CA
The Fellowship (Punts and Pints), Cuyahoga Falls OH
Wallaby's, Lenexa KS
Big Guys, Winnipeg MB
Phat Turtle, Cave Creek AZ
Teaser's, Chicago IL
Time Out West, Hanover Park IL
Olde London Road, Asheville NC
Arches II, Rocky Hill CT
The Market at John Hall Store, Cecil AL
Primetime, Tampa FL
Hanko's, Lake Oswego OR
Okie Tonk Cafe, Moore OK
Moose McGuire's, Ottawa ON

_________________
Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

10th Annual Brainbuster Cup Week 1 Standings

The first week of the 10th Annual Brainbuster tournament was a rough one. How rough?

A high score of 11,227 rough.

The most difficult game so far this year rough.

In fact, according to Don Denton's analysis of average scores, it was the most difficult non-holiday game since May of 2022. You can see the carnage for yourself here:

https://ntn.donrdenton.com/contest.php?contest=98

(Thanks, as always, to Don Denton for creating and maintaining the tournament page!)

Congrats to Danny K's for the win and for taking the early lead in the tournament. The good news, of course, is that everyone gets to drop a low score, and I'm going to guess that most (all?) of us are hoping this one will be it.

Good skill to all teams in Week 2's game, and here's hoping that our collective brains won't be quite so busted by it.

_________________
Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

A really tough Brainbuster game? Well that seems appropriate for a tournament.
I’ll guess Tom D was well aware it was a good time for him to pull out his best questions to Bust some Brains for the next several weeks.

Well done Tom.

_________________
BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Caps and Os!!!!

Appropriate indeed! I have never asked Tom if he kicks it up a notch for tournaments, but I wouldn't be surprised. I was looking at Don Denton's records for weeks of and around the tournament in 2022. Here's what the high scores were for each week:

Four Weeks Before Tournament:
March 8: 14,116
March 15: 14,700
March 22: 14,450
March 29: 13,999

Tournament:
April 5: 10,300
April 12: 12,912
April 19: 11,493
April 26: 11,665
May 3: 12,384

Four Weeks After Tournament:
May 10: 11,141
May 17: 14,935
May 24: 14,846
May 31: 13,155

They call it Brainbuster for a reason.

_________________
Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

The same seemed to be true for the Sept Mudee SIX tourney. Tougher than the previous weeks for sure.

_________________
BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Caps and Os!!!!

_________________
Middle age is when a broad mind and a slim waist exchange places.

10th Annual Brainbuster Tournament Standings:

Nearly all teams had a better week this week than last, causing some major movements in the rankings, especially after dropping low scores:

https://ntn.donrdenton.com/contest.php? ... contest=98

(As always, many thanks to Don Denton for maintaining the tournament page!)

The Fellowship and Danny K's switched places at #1 and #2, and Teaser's moved up from #5 to #3. Hanko's made the biggest leap, jumping from 11th up to 4th, and Wallaby's rounded out the top five by moving up from #8.

With three games left, there are still plenty of opportunities for more movement, so good skill to all teams this week!

_________________
Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

10th Annual Brainbuster Tournament Standings:

We have now reached the midway point of the tournament, and the field continues to be dynamic after dropping low scores. Although The Fellowship and Danny K's remain at #1 and #2, Hanko's has continued its rise this week into bronze medal position. Teaser's and Phat Turtle round out the top 5:

https://ntn.donrdenton.com/contest.php? ... contest=98

(Thanks, as always, to Don Denton for maintaining the tournament page.)

With two weeks to go, there is still plenty of opportunity for teams to make more moves, and no one has clinched anything at this point. Good skill to all this week!

_________________
Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

10th Annual Brainbuster Tournament Standings:

Week 4 of the tournament proved to make things both more and less decisive. With one week to go, the battle for the top spot has narrowed to two teams; but the fight for the other (real!) medals--especially the bronze--is relatively wide-open:

https://ntn.donrdenton.com/contest.php?contest=98

(Thanks, as always, to Don Denton for maintaining the tournament page!)

For next week's championship, only Danny K's and The Fellowship have a mathematical chance to take the trophy. The Fellowship did itself a huge favor by posting a 14k score in a tough game that a bunch of other teams will need to take as a drop. The Fellowship's worst possible score (49,549) is now higher than the best possible score of every team except Danny K's (50,324), so those two will be duking it out for championship honors next week.

Only Danny K's, The Fellowship, and Teaser's have a shot at the silver medal; but 10 of the 14 teams have a mathematical chance to win the bronze. Teaser's currently sits in 3rd place, but Phat Turtle, Moose McGuires, Hanko's, Time Out West, Wallaby's, Big Guys, and Arch II all have best-possible scores that exceed Teaser's' worst-possible score; and thus a shot at snagging bronze. Once again, as has been the case the last couple of years, the silver and bronze medals are not theoretical (although their metal content will be): the team in 2nd place will earn a silver(-ish) medal and the 3rd place team a bronze(-ish) one.

Thus, it should be an interesting final week of the tournament on Tuesday. Good skill to all teams!

_________________
Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."