Shreveport September 2023 Signature Series

It's Shreveport time! Y'all ready for some Cajun food? BeauxJax across the river has the Loaded Crawfish MacNCheese and Red Beans and Rice and they are delicious! Herby-K's is a legendary place known for its' famous "Shrimp Buster" and has been around since 1936 serving up their award winning gumbo and fresh shucked oysters as well as the coldest beer in town. For those getting there early Thursday, Herby-K's has Happy Hour from 4:30-7:30 with $1 Fresh Oysters and $2 Chargrilled Oysters. The Noble Savage (shout out Shilpan Patel) is another great option for some great food along with the Blind Tiger. Have the urge to shake your groove thang? Consider a late night/early morning at the infamous Sand Bar. Got a itch to play some blackjack, craps or maybe play some slots? Several casinos are near the host hotels. How about throwing some bags with hundreds of your closest friends? This weekend TCL will be hosting the first Signature Series Event of the 2023-24 Season at the Convention Center in Downtown Shreveport, LA. If you're feeling a little deja vu, I get it, we all were here a few months ago for the TCL Conference Championships as this venue has become one of the best for these type of events. Its big enough to handle all the boards and allows plenty of walking around room as well as being within walking distance to several casinos, restaurants and bars. What else do we need! Let's Geaux!!

Bags will start flying Thursday evening with some Switcholio events and a "B" Doubles Dual State event that may be fun to watch. Also on tap will be a Women's Singles event that should be exciting as there will be several top tier ladies in this field. Some of the ladies who are registered include reigning TCL Women's Player of the Year Tracie Beeson, Crystal Infante, Haley Davidson and Denise McEvoy. Caitlyn Allshouse, Delaney Pillod have serious potential to win this event as well. A couple of names some may not have heard of include Lauri Engleman and Tracey Chamberlain. Lauri can flat out throw a bag and can't be slept on. Chamberlain...hmmm...that name may sound familiar. Yep, she is Logan's mom and a few years ago I was lucky enough to team up with her in a blind draw and let me tell ya, Logan gets his ability honestly! The lady who wins this event will have earned it as all of these ladies will be tough to beat.

Friday is for Singles and as usual, a lot of big time players are in this field. TCL Player of the Year Sammy Soto along with Justin Burton, Jr for starters.....sheesh need I say more! As of press time there are around 90 players signed up and of those 90, they're all good. As I scroll down the list of names I'm astounded at the talent TCL has these days. Seems like everyone is good and they all have a large arsenal of shots they can and will use to their advantage. With all the talented players and with just about everyone on the list being really good, it's difficult to try and include everyone on this list. Back in the day I could get away with mentioning a handful of names but not any more. I'll do the best I can and if I don't include your name, just go "Prime Time" on me at the next Signature Event and make it "Personal". I once had a guy ask me why I didn't write about him...I told him it would be easier for me to include you if you were getting your picture taken with a handful of paper and hardware at the end of the event  as opposed to a can of adult beverage! Haven't had him say anything to me about that any more...lol. Any who, other names that could win include guys like Logan Chamberlain, Cayhill Isom, Chase Lester and Grant Upchurch. There are several players that I haven't been able to see on the boards much lately but they seem be getting their pictures taken a lot. Those include guys like Cannon Hatcher, Fletcher Jonson, Scott Beck, Dylan Cernero and Jacob Whatley. All these guys can fill it up.Then there are the likes of Q Cohee, Reef Woodsen and Tye Thompson...shoot there are simply way too many really good players. Just this week Kevin Meza took down a Singles event beating Cody Brooks in a pretty strong field. Who is gonna to be the last player standing? We will find out soon enough!

Open Doubles has around 55 teams registered and all of them are good. With the way Kevin Meza threw Tuesday night, he and Mason Vega look like they will be a tough team to beat. Logan Chamberlain is teamed up with Johnny Govea who just welcomed a new baby this week! Hope he was able to get some rest! Johnny has played a lot of events with Edgar Cardenas but this weekend Edgar is partnered up with Justin Burton, Jr which is another super stout team. Sammy Soto is playing with the Silent Assassin Kale Harrell from Oklahoma and boy that team is scary looking! Multiple time State Champ Grant Upchurch is teamed up with veteran Matt Longoria and this could be a team to watch. Brandon Gregor seems to have gotten over his arm injury and is teaming up with the young upstart Klaydon "K Money" Powell. Speaking of young studs, Cayhill Isom is playing with Scott "Robocop" Beck and from the Tyler area Fletcher Jonson and Jacob Whatley are pairing up. Some teams to watch out for are a hot throwing Cody Brooks teaming up with Denise McEvoy and Luke Anderson matching up with Kobey Alley. Don't sleep on several teams including Chase Lester and Hayden Morris, Blake Holly and Dylan Cernero, Freddy Rodriguez and Flo Zamora and Tracie Beeson and Ernest Herrera as all of these players can sling a bag pretty darn good! As always there are a few teams who get hot and seem to come out of nowhere and there are also upsets. Open Doubles has the potential for major fireworks, you won't want to miss this event!

I look forward to seeing everyone and hopefully everyone has safe travels.

Laissez les bon temps rouler baby!!

Ryder Cup 2023

The Ryder Cup. TCL's unique event often described as "An event like none other" is upon us. For those who haven't experienced it, it is one of the most exciting yet stressful events most will ever play in. So much going on with Singles, Doubles and Team 8 all providing points for each team and the outcome of each event having so much on the line. It almost seems like every single bag is important and every game matters more than usual.  

Eight players on a team all vying for wins acquiring points for their team. Sounds easy right? The comaraderie and support for each other is at its highest peak for this event as you will see players cheering on their teammates with loud outbursts as players make or sometimes miss shots. The pressure of trying to get wins for your team can sometimes wear on players, some handling it better than others. The Team 8 event seems to be the most pressure filled as each player only throws one bag per round and with every player from both teams watching, that can be overwhelming. You don't want to be the player who throws the bag 26 feet 11 inches! 

Ryder Cup typically brings in a large number of players and has always been held in the middle of the TCL season however this year the TCL Season is starting off with it. I've seen it grow from just a few hundred players to well over 1500 players. Having been able to win it a couple of times this event has provided me with some very special memories. In my days of playing various sports, the championship teams I played on seem to be the ones that are cherished the most. I think back to the games played and the plays or shots that help provide the contributions to help those teams win. My first Ryder Cup win was one that may have put me on the map with TCL as I got lucky and hit a critical airmail for a win. The reason I'm writing this is to tell what I did just before the Ryder Cup the following year.

 I had given the same speech a few weeks prior to the Ryder Cup during a four man tourney in Tyler and even though we kinda laughed, I think it may have been effective. Along with my teammates Heath Mills, Kyle Verner and Shane Flesher, we gathered up outside the Tyler Indoor Soccer Center before the games began and I rattled off a speech that I'd like to say was the reason we won that event. In reality it may have been that Kyle, Shane and Heath were beasts back in the day and we just had a good day! A few weeks later at the Ryder Cup playing for East Texas and Captain Brad Jones, for some reason I felt the need to give the speech before the games started. In retrospect the speech may not have helped us much but for a few moments our team was fired up. We would've ran through a wall! It didn't take long for that fire to become a flicker as we were beat up pretty good on the boards, but the speech...man it was a good one! I'm going to share it for you and you all can take it however you want. You can enjoy the short read, you can allow it to fuel your energy to help you and your team do your best this weekend. Or you can simply let it take you back and reminisce and think back on recollections from good times you may have experienced. Enjoy!

For giggles, try to picture some short old gray headed guy with a fierce intense scowl staring at you with a piercing glare and a sprited conviction...growling these words....

Great moments are born from Great opportunities. And thats what we have here today folks. Thats what we've earned here today.... One game.... If we played most of these people ten times, they might win 9. But not this game...not today.... Today we hang with them. Today we throw with them and we shut them down because we can!! Today WE are the greatest cornhole players in the state of Texas. You all were born to be cornhole players, every one of you and you were meant to be here today! This is YOUR time. Their time is DONE, its over! I'm sick and tired of hearing about how great every other team is. Screw 'em. This is OUR time, now go out there and TAKE it!! 

Learning how to compete

As far back as I can remember, and yes that is a ways back, I always enjoyed a challenge. Not sure why, maybe just to have something on the line or maybe trying to see if I could have some success at something. From a very young age I remember playing checkers with my mom and I never was able to beat her. I don't think I really understood strategy at that point but I quickly learned. Sometimes you learn more from losing than winning and she beat me a bunch so I either I was going to get pretty smart or I would find something else to play! Finding something else to play didn't require me looking far as the kids in my neighborhood would play pickup games of baseball, basketball or football. I can't remember my age but I was under 8 years old when I remember my dad throwing a wiffle ball to me as I swung a bat that seemed to be the width of a clothes hanger...just kidding. You all have seen those narrow yellow wiffle ball bats that came with a ball and the challenge was to see just how big a curve you could throw. Those balls moved! I was able to hit some here and there and that is my first memory of falling in love with sports. In the second grade during "field days", I won the potato race outrunning several classmates while holding a spoon with a gigantic tater on it. I suppose I had decent balance or coordination or maybe both as I didn't drop my tater like the others allowing me to win fairly easily. In the third grade my family moved across town to where I would meet a guy who would become a lifelong friend. Gregory Lee "Duke" Frazier was the first guy I met at Atkins Elementary and our friendship remains close even today, some 54 years later. Greg lived several blocks from me and often he would either walk or ride his bike by my house and many times we would walk to school together or I would ride on the handle bars of his bicycle. With no helmet. On those cold winter days it didn't take me long to figure out he put me on the handle bars to serve as a wind break for him. Dude was wise beyond his years at a early age! Greg and I would play kickball or basketball at recess and many days he would come to my house after school and we would play baseball or football in my back yard. We didn't care, we both loved competing and a few years later we both would make the 6th grade basketball team. I rarely played mainly because I wasn't very good but also because we had several really good players including Jimmy Blackwell who in the 6th grade was already a really tall kid. Like 6 foot 3 or 4 in the 6th grade and could flat out play. We also had a guy named Keith Grant who would play on our high school state runner up team. We won the city championship and I was awarded my very first trophy! I was so proud even though I can honestly say I didn't do a single thing to help with any of our wins! But I was on the team, we were city champs and I had a trophy! Little things folks, little things!

Before the basketball heroics, or lack thereof, Greg got me involved with our church's little league baseball team. I believe it was the summer after the 4th grade and playing organized baseball for the first time was very new to me. Previously all I knew was throwing with someone and playing in the backyard. This was the real thing with 9 players on both teams and everyone had a specific positions and stuff! Our coach was Mr. Jim Burson...a mountain of a man who during practices would take some swings and hit balls on top of our school. Those hits seemed like bombs and we all were wide eyed as we watched those balls soar. Several years later I drove by that school and saw the practice field and backstop where he would be batting and it really wasn't that far, but it sure seemed like a mile to us back in the day! I vaguely remember the first season but some things about where we played will never go away. The Baptist ball park was the place to be during the early summer as the multiple field complex, if you want to call it that, had a variety of leagues from little league, to middle and high school aged teams as well as men's and women's softball games being played. Anyone who played there will instantly be taken back to the dusty parking lot, the sounds of balls being hit, cheers from supporters and the smell. Oh who could ever forget the aroma of French fries and corndogs from the concession stands. We always looked forward to the after game dash to grab a "suicide" to help quinch our thirst. Good times y'all.

If I remember right, in our second season we had a pretty good team led by our star pitcher Greg and man could he really chunk it! There were others that I remember including Bill Martin, Lee Hooker and Lester Cochran to name a few. I remember several players and teams we played against and this particular season one of the teams we played against was Grace Baptist Church. Their pitcher was a big dude named Jody Blackwell, no relation to aforementioned Jimmy even though they lived down the street from each other. Big Ol' Jody was intimidating as he would have this huge swaying windup along with a nasty looking snarl as if he was about to throw a 96 mile an hour heater right at ya. He mustered all this effort into a scary looking windup leading to a fairly average at best fastball. Very hittable if he threw it down the middle but that is where the intimidation may have originated. If you were on deck and saw one of his pitches go over the umpires head or behind the hitter, you were usually too scared to even think about getting into the batters box, much less swing your bat! In a playoff game we faced Jody and his team and it would be a game I will always remember, almost as if I was there yesterday. A play happened that I call one my favorite plays of my ball playing career mainly because of my age and the impact it may have had on the final score of the game. I was playing first base, probably because I may have been one of the few players Mr. Burson trusted to catch balls either hit or thrown to me. Greg was throwing pretty hard that night and with 1 out and a runner on second base, Stan Paul Davis was batting. I don't know why but usually late in games you protect the lines to help eliminate extra base hits down the lines but I moved to my right a step or two away from the first base line right before Greg threw the pitch. Stan Paul swung and smacked a line drive to my right about head high and I can't explain why but I dove and extended my glove across my body, completely laid out parallel from the ground and snagged the ball for the out! I don't even remember landing but I knew I had the ball in my glove! The instant I hit the ground Bill Martin who was playing second base yelled for me to throw it to him as the runner who was on second, a guy named Howard McGraw, had taken off at the crack of the bat on his way to third and would have easily scored. While on my knees, I threw the ball to Bill who touch the base for the inning ending out. A loud cheer greeted us as we headed to our third base dugout but before I got there the coach for Grace, Johnny Blackwell stopped me. He knelt down to my level and as he put his hand on my shoulder he told me that was one of the finest plays he had ever seen. As he patted me on the bottom and I scampered towards my fellow teammates and was greeted by high fives and smiles as well as one from my mother who was proudly clapping for her son and his team. Man what great memories. 

I am hoping to write more stories like this sharing some of my life's most enjoyable sports moments and I hope you all will find them interesting and amusing. I appreciate you all taking the time to read my blog and look forward to hearing your feedback.

Thanks,

Johnny

TCL League Championships - Friday's Events

Open Singles is loaded with exceptional talent here in Texas with several top level players. The past few years Grant Upchurch and Sammy Soto have arguebly been two of the best however each year there are other players vying for a chance to earn the title of State Champion. Grant and Sammy did what they had to do and both made it to the finals with each beating some really strong players. Grant battled his way to the king seat by beating Adrain Jackson, Austin Waskow and Mason Vega. The game against Vega was a good one as Grant outlasted Vega in a back and forth 24 round game that saw Upchurch throwing a 9.63 while Mason treked along at a 9.46 clip. After beating Vega, Grant defeated Nate Gallup and then faced Soto in the winners final. In that game Grant jumped out to a 5-0 lead maintaining said lead until the 15th round as Sammy slid ahead 14-13, however Upchurch went on to score the games final 8 points to get the win. Sammy defeated David Saenz, Zach Faulkner, Luke Anderson and Matt Martinez before losing to Upchurch. Once in the losers bracket Sammy got hot beating Luke Anderson 21-4 throwing a 10.71 ppr. Wowzer! That win put him in the finals and Upchurch just couldn't keep up with the hot throwing Soto. Grant threw well with a 9.72 ppr but Sammy was better at 10.44 in the first game as Sammy won 21-8. After spotting Grant a early 4-0 lead Sammy went on a 21-4 run to force a double dip game to decide the champ! Both players cooled off just a little but 11 straight rounds of throwing 10's Sammy came out on top winning 21-8 to earn a State Title. Luke Anderson finished third, Tye Thompson came in forth with Matt Martinez and Nate Gallup tying for 5th and if I'm correct, I believe this was the best finish for Martinez in a big TCL event. Jobu was playing at a high level all day and made a really nice run.

TCL League Championship - Recap of Thursdays Events.

In Shreveport, LA this past weekend there was a cornhole tournament. A big one. Texas Cornhole League held their League Championship Tournament and everything about this event was big. Being held in the Shreveport Convention Center the facility was plenty big with sets of boards lined up as far as you could see. The crowd even though the overall numbers of entrants may have been down, seemed big, loud and proud, in traditional TCL fashion. There were also big moments and big shots made by many outstanding players throughout the event. Things got ignited Thursday with the Youth Singles event and with a long list of exceptionally talented players the opportunity for some great matches were lined up from the get go! When the dust settled Mason Vega managed to hold off a determined Sammy Soto who had a double dip opportunity by winning the first game of the finals. Vega had earned the King seat by defeating Luke Anderson 21-7. While Mason waited to find out who his opponent would be, several really good players had some outstanding matches. Sammy who lost in the winners bracket to Luke Anderson, defeated Preston Isom in a very exciting game. Isom was down 12-5 before going on a 13 point run to take a 18-12 lead. The next two rounds Soto was able to score back to back 4 spots to retake a 20-18 lead before ending it on the next round to advance. Soto then beat Levi Haddock 21-0, Cayhill Isom 21-7 and Reef Woodson 21-5 to force a rematch with Anderson. In this game Sammy immediately jumped all over Luke taking a early 11-0 lead 2 rounds into the game. Sammy didn't miss another bag making 32 straight to take a 21-0 win putting him in the finals where Vega waited. The first game of the finals was a back and forth 21 round battle that had a few lead changes with Sammy eventually coming out on top forcing a deciding game. The final game was epic and definitely one for the books as these two warriors put on a tremendous exhibition of shot making and consistency. After 2 rounds of washes, Sammy holed all four of his bags for a 12 while Mason just missed a 12 throwing a 10. These two went back and forth trading 12's and 10's for several rounds with neither player being able to get ahead by more than 3 points. In round 15 Soto extended his lead by 5 going ahead 9-4 only to have Mason get 4 the next frame to make it 9-8.Mason got his first lead in round 21 going ahead 13-10. The back and forth scoring continued with both players throwing several 12's and trading lead changes until round 35 where they were tied at 19. Yep I said round 35. Two more rounds went by before Mason was able to get the win outlasting Soto in a draining 37 round battle. At certain points in this game both players were averaging well over a 10 ppr and ended up with Vega shooting a 9.89 and Soto with a 9.76. These guys threw a combined 35 12's making 75% of their shots. It was a awesome display of shot making and shows just how good these two are at putting a bag in the hole. Not many can do what these guys did Thursday. Rounding out the final 5 were Luke Anderson, Reef Woodson and Cayhill Isom. I'd say the future of TCL is in very good hands with all these youngsters coming up in the ranks.

When I think of an athlete being the class of the field I remember Secretariat and the dominate fashion he won the Triple Crown back in 1973. Others that come to mind are Tiger Woods, Serena Williams and Wayne Gretzky. In cornhole here of late we've seen Grant Upchurch and Sammy Soto doing a number on folks the past few years. In the Seniors Division a guy stepped up and put on a show and simply put, was dominate. Scott Beck, the former Police Officer from Marshall, TX went 6-0 defeating Chris Hobbs 21-12 to win his first Seniors State Championship. For the tournament Scott was red hot throwing at a 9.61 clip per round throughout the event and had but 1 close game. That was a 21-20 win against Donnie Greer in which Beck battled from behind most of the game. Taking his first lead in round 14 at 17-16 only to give it right back the next round as Greer made the score 20-17. Scott got 4 points over the next 3 rounds to advance to the winners bracket finals against Keith Ledwig. Beck won that game 21-12 putting him in the king seat while Ledwig had to face Chris Hobbs. Hobbs was on a little bit of a roll after falling to Ledwig in the winners bracket beating Talley Oneal and Donnie Greer to get to Ledwig. Chris was on fire shooting a 9.43 and smashed Ledwig 21-2 in just 7 rounds putting him in the finals against Beck. The first 9 rounds it was all Hobbs as he held what seemed like a comfortable 12-0 lead however over the next 5 rounds Beck was able to tie the score at 12. The onslaught continued for Scott as he went on to score the games last 21 points beating Hobbs 21-12 earning Beck the title. Rounding out the top 5 were Ledwig in third, Greer finished fourth and Jim Abdella came in fifth. 

Another event that was played Thursday was the Women's Singles and let me tell ya, there was some very good players in this field. Denise McEvoy defeated Caitlyn Allshouse to get the win but her road to victory included some tough competition. Her first game was against current TCL Women's Player of the Year Tracie Beeson who is also Denise's Women's Doubles Partner. In a hard fought 18 round game McEvoy came out on top advancing to the next round to face Haley Davidson. Denise was crazy good that game shooting a 10.27 over 11 rounds shutting Haley down 21-5. Denise didn't let up the next game as she shot a 10 ppr beating Autumn Walker 21-0 putting her in the winners bracket final against Christina Espinosa. In a close tense game Espinosa started out with a 8-1 lead after 5 rounds however after 9 rounds her lead was only 10-9 as McEvoy battled back to close the gap. Christina held the lead until round 17 when Denise was able to grab her first lead at 20-17 and went on to secure the comeback victory the next round winning 21-17. In the finals McEvoy faced Caitlyn Allshouse who had a double dip in mind. Caitlyn won the first game 21-14 forcing a do or die game to determine the champ. In a  back and forth 20 round game Denise was able to score the games final 7 points over 3 rounds to complete her mission and give her a hard earned Women's Singles Title. Espinosa and Delaney Pilliod finished 3rd and 4th while Haley Davidson and LeeAnna Saxon tied for 5th.

Women's Doubles was also played Thursday with April Black and Heather Mullins going unbeaten to get the win. To get to the finals Black and Mullins defeated Loralei Barrientes and Celeste Alday 2 games to none in the first round. In the 2nd round April and Heather defeated Kayleigh Logan and Ashley Hawpe in 2 games to advance to round 3. There they beat Misty Goode and Sabra Howell advancing to the winners final against Taylor Rose and Delaney Pilliod. Black and Mullins were able to get the win putting them into the finals where they would meet up against Tracie Beeson and Denise McEvoy. The first game all four ladies were filling it up all shooting right at or better than 9 ppr for the game which ended with Black and Mullins winning a nail biter 21-20. Beeson and McEvoy lost their second round game and had to win several loser bracket games to stay alive but couldn't pull off the double dip as April and Heather won 2 games to earn them the Women's Doubles Title. This game was played in front a pretty good crowd that was nestled in and around the championship courts and created an awesome atmosphere. Rounding out the top 5 were Taylor Rose and Delaney Pilliod in third, Haley Davidson and Christina Espinosa in fourth and tied for fifth were Misty Goode and Sabra Howell along with Stacey Paup and LeeAnna Saxon. TCL always puts on a great event and with all these fireworks being shot off on Thursday, I expected Friday and Saturday's events to continue the trend. They didn't disappoint! 

TCL League Championship - Open Doubles Preview

During the 1988 NBA All Star 3 point Shooting contest several of the games best shooters were assembled and before the event started Larry Bird walked into the dressing room full of the contestants and said "Who's playing for second". He then proceeded to perform the whole competition in his warm up jacket and outlasted Dale Ellis to win his 3rd straight 3 point competition. Needless to say the lore of Larry Legend continued. This Saturday in Shreveport the Texas Cornhole League will be finishing up it's League Championship with Doubles play and the final match to be played will be the highly anticipated Open Doubles. Like almost every Signature Event and League Championship, a lot rides on this event and it is usually the one that draws the largest crowds. The excitement will be electric and loud with upbeat music being played and a buzz filtering around as the games get started. The teams of two will be plenty and the talent will be unmatched at this level as many of the top players in and around Texas as well as a few surrounding states will battle and test their skills against each other. One of the teams is Grant Upchurch and Sammy Soto who are two of the best to have ever thrown bags in TCL. Both have won at high levels and I see them arguably one of the favorites to win it all Saturday. Grant who not only will be going for a three peat in Singles but will also being trying to win his third straight Doubles Title. He has won with Josh Murdock and last year with Justin Fowler and adding a little bit of irony, he and Fowler beat Sammy and Mason Vega last year. Sammy and Grant have won big events across the country and if they are on their games, they will be tough to beat. There are several other duos who are playing this weekend that must be considered as well including Mason Vega and Levi Lechner, Preston and Cayhill Ison and Tye Thompson and Dillon Randle. Vega has been here before and if Levi gets hot maybe Mason will get over the hump to get the title. He lost to Grant and Murdock while teamed up with Ernest Herrera a couple of years ago and lost last year to Upchurch and Fowler. Dude is due! Tye and Dillon are a tough team to deal with also and I can see these guys making a run if they get hot. Chase Lester one of the hottest players here of late is teamed up with Lane McManus and they pose a serious threat as well. Oscar Mairena and Aaron Aspeitia are another pair that are solid on the boards. These guys continue to make their way up the ladder and definitely have the potential to win it all. Ernest Herrera and Kevin Meza along with Fletcher Jonson and Scott Beck are extremely talented players and all are throwing well right now. They have big game experience and will be forces to be reckoned with. Luke Anderson and Rylann Claver are a talented team and have what it takes to be there in the end. Man there are some really good teams that I haven't mentioned yet, glad I don't have to face these guys!! Ty Trevino and Dylan Cernero, Matt Longoria and Anthony Delgado also should will be hard outs along with Alex Ibarra and Noah Alborado. Kale Harrell and Kobey Alley from Oklahoma can be menaces on the boards so don't sleep on these guys or else you'll become a spectator in a hurry! A few other teams that may be need to be mentioned are Jim Abdella and Zeb Smith and Terry Swinney and Matthew Morris. Both of these teams have a lot of talent and are hard to beat. I talked with Jim last night and he informed me that he had played earlier in the week and played on boards that weren't set up at the right distance and his sense of depth was way off. Hopefully he will get that righted and be the usual consistent thrower he typically has been.

I know there are others who I may not mention and I get picked on from time to time but trust me I don't mean any harm. I just kinda go with what I know and what I've seen. I'm not taking any bets however if you ask me who I think will win, well you'll may just have to come up to me in Shreveport and find out! Y'all have fun and enjoy this event.

Throw 'em straight!

TCL League Championship - Open Singles Preview

Growing up in Shreveport I had a lot of great memories, more than I have time to write about at this time. Having a love of sports and competition, I enjoyed being able to attend various sporting events including my little league ball games at the Baptist Ball Park. The smell of french fries, corn dogs and popcorn on a hot summer evening always meant it was game time! In high school, most Friday nights meant I was attending a Woodlawn High football or basketball game. Since both teams were really good, the games were always packed with excitement and big game intensity. Good times y'all. I can remember vividly some great moments I witnessed and as I drive by Independence Stadium I will once again think back to some of those special times. The bands playing, the crowds cheering, the lights and atmosphere will always remind me of a some memorable moments. One in particular was my Senior year our football team was playing a school from Lake Charles and with just a minute or so left in the game, we had just given up a touchdown and found ourselves behind on the scoreboard. On the verge of losing our 4th straight game, things were looking rather dim on our side of the field. As the other team kicked off to us, little did we know things were about to change. Rusty Funk, one of our Senior running backs, fielded the kick at around the 11 yard line. He headed towards the middle of the field and then as the wall formed he veered to his left and stampeded his way past our sideline all the way to the end zone scoring the winning touchdown. Something about winning that game energized our team and we went on a win streak and finished the season tied for the District title. More importantly it assured us a playoff spot and we were able to win a few games losing in the state semi finals to the team that won the state championship the next week. Man, what memories. Just think, in 20 to 30 years someone from this upcoming weekend may be telling a similar story about how they won a big match in Shreveport. Possibly leading them to a state championship! The Friday night lights will be on full display this weekend as Texas Cornhole League will be having their League Championship at the Shreveport Convention Center. Who will reign as the Champ in Open Singles? Will one of the young stars be able to withstand the pressure of winning it all on the big stage. Will someone else step up and surprise people coming out of nowhere to win it all? Will Grant Upchurch win his third straight Singles title? A lot of questions will soon be answered this Friday and I can't wait!

The aforementioned Upchurch typically is considered a favorite at just about any event he is involved in. Dude is just a monster on the boards and has been for several years. No one questions his ability as he has proven time and time again he is capable of hitting a variety of clutch shots. Grant beat Logan Chamberlain in Singles last year and the idea of winning three straight titles has to be one of his goals. I'm not saying he is a lock to win it this year but I ain't betting against him! Sammy Soto is another player who I expect to be in the mix as he always seems to find a way to finish either at the top or right there at it. Sammy more often than not finds the hole with his smooth throw using several types of shots to get the job done. As I scroll down the list of entrants in Open Singles, I can't believe how many talented players are in this event. Man, this division is loaded! The usual contenders include the likes of Chase Lester, Cayhill Isom, Dillon Randle, Ernest Herrera, Fletcher Jonson and Jaun Pantoya. The list continues with Luke Anderson, Mason Vega, Matt Longoria, Matthew Morris, Noah Albarado, Scott Beck and Tye Thompson, just to name a few. Zach Faulkner, Zach Harris and Zeb Smith lead all the guys with names starting with the letter Z who could win it all. Then there are the names of guys like Aaron Aspeitia, David Saenz, Dylan Cernero, Dylan Newland, Jacob Whatley, Lane McManus and Matt Longoria. See, there truly are several that are capable of winning this event and trying to include all is pretty difficult. I haven't even mentioned names of players who aren't the usual TCL guys like Alec Budd, Kale Harrell, Nate Gallup, Austin Waskow and Kobey Alley. Another guy who has been throwing well lately is Kevin Meza as well as Levi Lechner and Oscar Mariena. Might as well include Stuart Foster who has been working hard to get back to his usual level of throwing and is one to keep your eye on. OG players like Jeremy O'Connell, Jeremy and Tracie Beeson, Jim Abdella and Christina Espinosa can make runs and can be problematic on the boards. I didn't mention the Legendary Brandon Gregor because as I wrote this he mentioned a arm injury that he isn't for sure how it will effect his play. Hate to not have him in the mix but I'm certain he will be back soon. There are around 75 players entered in this event and I'd say a large percentage are all able to have some success. It could come down to the pool play and how players are matched up but when the dust is settled and the pictures are being taken, who stands last is anybody's guess. All I know is I can't wait and I will have a front row seat, probably eating some popcorn and washing it down with a cold bottle of coca cola! I look forward to seeing everyone this weekend. Have safe travels and best of luck on the boards!