Sometime in the 1970s—after Star Trek had become a staple in syndication—its fanbase began to coalesce into two broad groups. People who mostly appreciated the show’s concept, writing, and place in the Science Fiction canon increasingly liked to call themselves “Trekkers” to distinguish themselves from the pejorative connotations increasingly attributed to the term “Trekkies.” Fairly or unfairly, “Trekkies” in many people’s minds came to be the label applied to the kind of rabid fans who wore Spock ears, sported full-dress Starfleet uniforms, and were obsessed with the tiniest minutia and trivia surrounding the show and its production.
In reality, of course, this was a false dichotomy: the Trek fanbase was and continues to be more of a continuum; but at the far fringes of the continuum there probably is a meaningful distinction. A self-styled Trekker, for example, might be able to tell you that although “The Man Trap” was the first episode NBC aired, it was actually the sixth one produced after the two pilots and three other episodes aired later. A serious Trekker further down the continuum might also be able to supply the names of the two pilots (“The Cage”—later turned into the two-episode arc “The Menagerie” and “Where No Man Has Gone Before”) and at least one of the other previously-produced episodes (“The Corbomite Maneuver,” “Mudd’s Women,” and “The Enemy Within”). But only real Trekkies would—whether you asked them to or not—regale you with the story about how Gene Roddenberry deemed the salt shakers the propmaster (Irving Feinberg—they would probably know that, too) created for “The Man Trap” as being too futuristic-looking for the purpose; so they instead came to be recycled as medical instruments in Dr. McCoy’s Sick Bay for the rest of the series.
Why do I bring all this up? Well, slap on your Spock ears, strap on your phasers, and hold on to your command consoles as the bridge lurches unrealistically to the left and the right: I am about to get whatever-the-Showdown-trivia-equivalent-of-full-bore-“Trekkie”-is all up in your nacelles.
Counting this McCarthy Cup, there have been 31 major (McCarthy and Sandbag) Tournaments in Showdown history. On Tuesday, we came within a mere 151 points of seeing something that has only happened once before (in the 2006 McCarthy Cup): A Final Four made up exclusively of the top four seeds going into the knockout round (this excludes the 2001 McCarthy Cup and the 2010 McCarthy and Sandbag Tournaments, in which there was re-seeding every round). The Ragged Rascals in Albuquerque edged out The Old Barn by the narrowest of margins to slip into the semi-finals. Well, ALMOST the narrowest. In terms of close quarterfinals matches, it was certainly narrower than the 211-point upset that Teaser’s staged over Danny K’s in the 2016 McCarthy Cup. It was also narrower than the 191-point upset New Edinburgh Pub accomplished over Brewstir’s in the 2014 Sandbag Tournament. In fact, it was the narrowest quarterfinal victory since Sullivan’s upset Danny K’s in the 2008 Sandbag by only 141 points (probably the all-time quarterfinal record in this regard was when Knucklehead’s upset Te Roma’s by all of 96 points in the 2002/2003 McCarthy).
Otherwise, all the top seeds advanced by relatively decisive margins:
1 BWW-Crystal City, Arlington VA 49,682 9 Tilted Kilt, Scottsdale AZ 41,394 4 Houlihan's-Westbury NY 46,728 5 Danny K's, Orange CA 42,006 3 The Old Barn, Portland OR 42,790 6 The Ragged Rascals, Albuquerque NM 42,941 2 The Fellowship, BWW-Kent OH 46,085 7 Tailgate Sports Cafe, Minneapolis MN 35,172
Before moving on to more excruciating minutia, I want to take a moment to commend The Old Barn, Danny K’s, Tailgate, and Tilted Kilt for the fine tournament run they just finished. Not a single one of them can be labelled an expendable away-team “Red Shirt”: they all are high-ranking veterans for whom this Elite 8 appearance is yet another pip on the collar. Danny K’s, of course, is a four-time major winner (three McCarthys, one Sandbag). Tilted Kilt has a venerable record in the majors: a six-time semi-finalist and three-time finalist (starting as Stooges in the 2001 McCarthy and most recently in last fall’s Sandbag). Tailgate can claim three semifinal and one final appearances since the 2010 Sandbag, showing they are also not a team to be trifled with. And I’d like to give a special shout-out to The Old Barn, which not only can claim three quarterfinals appearances historically (going back to their time at Macadam’s in the 2008 Sandbag), but who also have been simply on fire this year, currently standing in third place in the continent on Don Denton’s rankings. Congrats to all of these teams on a good tournament, and I am sure we will be seeing them in the Sandbag Tournament this fall.
As for the Final Four, here are this week’s matchups:
1 BWW-Crystal City, Arlington VA 4 Houlihan's-Westbury NY 2 The Fellowship, BWW-Kent OH 6 The Ragged Rascals, Albuquerque NM
The Kent/Albuquerque tilt pits the two teams that have been on top of the rankings recently against each other. The Fellowship is the defending McCarthy Cup champion; and can claim eighteen semi-finals, thirteen finals, and eleven championships in the majors. The Ragged Rascals have four semi-finals and two finals appearances in the majors and have spent most of the last couple of years as the #2-ranked team in the continent. For those who think this is mismatch, think again: The Rascals have beaten the Kent contingent head-to-head on multiple occasions this year, and should take heart in knowing that historically, the round that has been the most likely to knock The Fellowship out of the tournament has been the semi-final round: The Fellowshippers have lost once in the Sweet 16, three times in the quarterfinals and twice in the finals, but five times in the semis.
The D.C./N.Y game seems to recall the golden era of the early 2000s, when Grand Slam and A&M Roadhouse/B4 duked it out regularly in epic McCarthy Cups and NTN Premier League tournaments, so in that sense it will be a little like déjà vu. The former Slammers need no introduction: They are the all-time McCarthy Cup champ, having won it five times, and have won six majors overall. They can also claim sixteen semi-final and eleven final appearances in the majors. A relatively newer team that began to chart after the demise of B4, Houlihan’s has had a distinguished tournament history of its own, making the semi-finals three times (starting with the 2012 Sandbag tournament). While this, too, may seem like a mismatch on paper, BWW-Crystal City takes Houlihan’s lightly at its peril. In the last four games, Houlihan’s has been hot on the Slammer’s heels: On March 20, Houlihan’s finished #2, and the Slammers #3, the next week, it was the Slammers at #2 and Houlihan’s at #3. And just this week the Slammers were at #2 and Houlihan’s at #4. BWW-Crystal City has been on a tear this whole tournament, but Houlihan’s is as likely a candidate as any team to put an end to it.
So there are the salt-shakers for you. Both of these matches look to be great, and any one of these teams is capable of going all the way. You can’t really ask for much more in a tournament semifinal. Good skill to all the teams, and I’m sure my fellow Fellowshippers would like me to extend our sincerest best wishes to our friends in Albuquerque.
_________________ Anon "He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."
Last edited by ANON on Wed Apr 11, 2018 8:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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