With the uncertainty of the WSOBP, Pongstars.net would like to thank SJPong for bringing the first “Splash at the Shore.” Between all the side events and preliminary games scheduled, you pong nerds should have your fix for awhile.
We figured this would be a great time to reintroduce our prediction lists since they’ll be around more than ever. We’re actually changing things up this time around by including all of the side events! Just remember that these predictions are based on a “what have you done for me lately” and “who actually signed up on time” because at the end of the day that’s the name of the game.
Sure it’s great to see the dinosaurs making a comeback but it’s even better to see all these fresh faces. There will be old faces, fresh blood and the same assholes. But like all majors, it’s always great to see the pong community come together, tear it up, create new memories, and ultimately find out who the current best is in all the land.
We know some egos will be badly bruised for not being included on these predictions. So our advice remains the same! Prove us wrong to make sure we include you on the next one. Good luck to everybody and remember to respect the organizers, their equipment, the venue and most importantly, each other! Whatever happens on the table stays on the table. And for the the love of god! Can no one please choke on the damn two rack this time around!
SIDE EVENT PREDICTIONS
Women’s Doubles:
1st Place – Candi Squartsoff | Heather Giardina
2nd Place – Amy Kressler | Rachel Goldsmith
3rd Place – Priscilla Kusmeriz | Jennifer Gonzalez
*Candi and Heather will be very tough to beat this weekend. If any teams can give them a run for their money, it’s these other two listed who constantly battle the best players in world between the West Coast and New Jersey. It will be a great finals regardless of the match up that takes place between these three teams.
Women’s Singles
1st Place – Heather Giardina
2nd Place – Priscilla Kumierz
3rd Place – Candi Squartsoff
*Heather is the reigning WSOBP Singles champ but her competition is as stiff as ever. She’s most certainly going to have her hands full between the NJ women who give the local guys a beating weekly and two of the best women to ever play the game.
We see Priscilla finally overcoming her mental collapses against good friend and foe Candi. However, she’ll fall just short to the current #1 female in the world of beer pong!
Mixed Doubles:
1st Place – Justin Spurrier | Candi Squartsoff
2nd Place – Kevin Kessler | Tania Hilliard
3rd Place – Dave Delattre | Heather Giardina
*Hard to argue against the reigning Mixed Doubles WSOBP champs, Justin Spurrier and Candi Squartsoff, with so much chemistry and fire power.
Heather and Tania have the abilities to hang with just about anyone. Throw in their partners and they’ll be right in the mix.
It’ll come down to which female wants it more and can hit those big shots with the game on the line.
Mixed Triples:
1st Place – It’s Just a Singles Game: Brandon Marx | Donnie Jones | Priscilla Kusmierz
2nd Place – Europe Meets Ariel: David Feichter | Marcel Hasler | Ariel Albright
3rd Place – Jason Mushinski | Brent Saale | Candi Squartsoff
*We need to highlight one interesting fact about these mixed triples predictions. The most important consideration for these placings come from individual accolades, specifically WSOBP Singles titles.
There’s no doubt that the most overwhelming favorites of any event this weekend is the team of Marx/Donnie/Priscilla. Between the three of them they have four WSOBP Singles titles and this team is compiled of three of the last four champs from the last two years.
However, the most interesting play here involves two of Europe’s most deadly shooters who were lucky enough to get signed with another former WSOBP Singles champion, Ariel Albright. Word on the forums is the Pongstars.net Free Agency Program made this happen and for good reason as their final table appearance will prove!
Men’s Singles:
1st Place – Casey Costa
2nd Place – David Diaz
3rd Place – Mike Williams
*Casey is on a mission delivered straight from the beer pong gods themselves. His newly found motivation for this event will surely solidify his well earned spot as the new king of the pong playground. It won’t come easy though with each of the last five WSOBP Singles champs(Donnie, Marx, Ross and Brent) competing as well.
With that being said we don’t see any of those gentleman sniffing this event’s podium. That’s being reserved for one of the greatest to never win a singles and two up and comers ready to prove themselves! Should be one of the more interesting and intense events over the weekend! Please be sure to stream these iconic match ups that are sure to happen and do so on Twitch damn it!
TOP TEN SPLASH AT THE SHORE PREDICTIONS
10. Drunken Grownups: Cody Atherton | Jordan LeJeune
Yes, the boys from the Bayou sneak in at the number ten! They have chemistry like a brotherhood, recently partnered together in competitive tournaments and can both get hotter than cajun crawfish.
Cody’s been busy printing out all those trash memes aimed at him and hanging them on all over his bedroom walls for extra motivation.
Jordan’s shooting is like a runaway roller coaster with many highs and lows and sometimes it’s out of control but when he’s in the zone and has that good strong buzz kicking in he’s pretty much automatic.
These two will always be one of those teams that hangs around in games due to their consistency and years of experience.
9. Dark Horse: Greg Fehl | Connor Martin
Last time these two NJ weekly warriors teamed up in a major they finished 5th at the World Series. Not sure why it’s taken so long to have them back together again.
Maybe Connor promised Fehl he wouldn’t take his shirt off anymore when he’s angry. Maybe Fehl promised Connor he wouldn’t fall on his face anymore trying to distract the other team? We certainly hope neither are the case because nothing is better than that video of Fehl falling.
Like most of New Jersey they play competitive pong all the time and have an almost annoying swagger that they’re the best players in the room. These are also some of the biggest cash game hounds at every tournament. Look for them if you want in on some action but hit the ATM first because they’re not an easy crowd to beat.
8. AK’s and Adderall: Matt Kein | Louis Mantone
If you’re the other half of the current reigning World Series Champions you belong on this list.
Matt Kein is not only one of the nicest guys in all of beer pong but also one of the dirtiest shooters. He’s earned everything with his insane training regime where he practices for an hour every morning before work. Does he at least take his tie off first? The dedication is impressive and all those hours paid off as witnessed by him hitting monster cups in Vegas and hoisting the trophy high last July.
A few things about Lou never seem to change. He has many haters, always seems to land good partners and finds himself battling near the end of most tournaments. He had his best finish ever in Las Vegas and went toe to toe with Hampton/Tally in a multiple overtime war. With Kein’s smooth stroke and Lou’s luck this team has the potential to do damage and go deep.
7. Stay Woke: David Diaz | Mike Williams
Seattle’s Finest pairs with one of SoCal’s deadliest shooters in what is a very formidable duo.
Diaz is coming off a $2k BOW Kickoff win with Brandon Marx last October. He also took down East vs West this past WSOBP with Casey Costa. To say he’s primed and ready to continue winning in Atlantic City would be an understatement.
Mike on the other hand is still missing a big tournament dub on his pong resume. Sometimes he gets oh so close but just can’t get over the hump. Maybe the high altitude because of his height catches up to him. But he’s due for a major win and the Splash at the Shore might just be the one.
These two have never partnered together so chemistry might be an issue. They both have played under the pressure of the spotlights before and proved they can somewhat handle it.
6. Second To None: Brandon Clarke | Nick Pulice
This is an interesting partner choice for the current reigning World Series Champion. We respect that Brandon Clarke chose someone local who he has chemistry with instead of searching for a better resume.
Nick is no slouch though and will bring a consistency to this team that’ll help them make a run deep into the tournament. He always rocks some fresh kicks too. They do have big tournament experience together with a second place finish in the BOMW $10k against an impressive field of players.
Both play tons of pong from duels in the dungeon at Drewby’s to weeklies all across New Jersey where the competition is always fierce. This tourney is being played in NJ so they’re going to want to protect their home turf. No team will have more people backing them up late in the tournament. You won’t just be playing against them but the entire state of New Jersey.
Plus, we really hope all the gossip is true about Clarke pulling out his old Barnegat Little League sleeveless jersey for this occasion.
5. Reign of Terror: Ross Hampton | Brent Saale
Brent is back after a brief stint in the Witness Protection Program. Let’s hope his shot looks better than his choice in wedding attire from Hampton’s wedding. It’s called Men’s Warehouse, Brent. Check it out sometime.
And where will Ross’ head be with his mind still laser focused on the whereabouts of his World Series check? It’ll be arriving soon Ross, soon. Still can’t believe Billy flew first class to Hong Kong…but anyway back to the predictions. Ross will hit his cups at a high percentage but this is the same team that didn’t even make it out of their pod the last time they played together in Vegas.
No one has seen Brent shoot in what feels like years in pong time either. But then again, he can’t be as bad as Ross’ last #2 in the finals of the WSOBP, so we think number five on this list is just about right – too many unknowns. Which team will show up, the one that won the Battle of the Beach $10K in Virginia years ago or the recent one who couldn’t get out of their pod in Vegas? And that check should be in the mail any day now, Ross. Patience.
4. Kings Ransom: Brandon Marx | Chris Kingsbury
How do you put arguably the current #1 player in the world at number four? Easily! With all his side projects, traveling, bad golf, busted rims and constantly googling “obese asian chicks with farm animals.” It seems like Marx has gotten complacent when it comes to pong. When is the last time he even played in a tourney? Has it really been since Best of the West last October? Does he have any fire left in him after an incredible half decade? And most importantly, how will he perform without his boyfriend Kessler playing tenacious defense for him?
The pressure though will be on Kingsbury because each miss practically costs his team two cups, unless it’s the two rack because both have been known to choke on that.
These two obviously have the big game experience but how’s their chemistry? I personally don’t see them reaching the finals due to their contradicting personalities. Remember when Marx partnered with Sven down in Lousiana? How about Butters at the BOMW 10K? Those didn’t work out too well and we see this much of the same.
3. Sicko Mode: Kevin Kessler | Donnie Jones
The self-proclaimed “Best in the Universe” and “The Most Hair Gel in the Universe” team up in what should be a sicko squad. They’re similar shooters as both like shooting at points and have oversized egos so rollbacks will be interesting. They’ll certainly be one of the most hated teams there.
Kessler is coming off a brutal, almost humiliating defeat at the Pong Kings $2k to a bunch of tapeline players. Despite claiming the singles title at WSOBP XIII, Donnie didn’t have a great overall showing. He’s also spent most of his fall and winter much like Ross. Loitering by the mailbox waiting for his WSOBP check. Once it finally arrived he was back to business at Battle Michigan 8. He went on to win the random $1k with a female and the 6v6 Pick Your Partner tournament.
As far as Kessler’s defense, we hope he comes up with new material this weekend. We are all aware of how big your house is. How fancy all of your cars are and how amazing your job is. We’re also all dog shit players who still live in our parent’s basement, right?
Our ideal finals would be if Kessler went against either Marx or Costa considering the history they all have. Can Kessler win without Marx again or was it really Costa who carried him at BOMW? Can Donnie finally leave his mailman alone? Who takes last cup one shot rebuttal between these two? So many questions.
2. Service: Marcel Hasler | David Feichter
Wait, what? Who? You’ll find out soon enough if you don’t already know. This is the best team Europe has and you better be ready to be in an absolute war with country pride on the line. This team is very consistent and will be extremely difficult to beat. These two took Vegas by storm last year each reaching the Top 16 and they didn’t even play together. They partnered with friends who were both out of their league and getting ousted in the Top 16 left them hungry for what could’ve been.
Marcel lost a heart breaker to Boom Goes The Dynamite and David got beaten by Ty Ty and Dix’s sunglasses. That was a good lesson for these two young players. They now have the experience and know what it takes to win the big games on the biggest stage.
They battle the best throughout Europe and constantly finish near the top if not winning everything. We as patriotic pong loving Americans cannot allow a team from Europe to win this tournament. It would be like if the NBA Dream Team lost to Greece in the Olympics, oh wait, nevermind.
We have to keep the title in America but it’s not going to be easy. USA USA USA!
1. Bringin’ The Heat: Casey Costa | Justin Spurrier
This dymanic duo was oh so close to reaching the finals of the WSOBP last year. That heartbreak has been boiling inside these two sharp shooters for over eight months and they’ll be out for blood. They’re not traveling cross-country to lose!
Don’t think for a second Costa has forgotten about Kessler calling him a bum and how he was carried in Chicago. In fact, you might actually hear him yell which no one’s heard since the day he was born. Regardless, he has won pretty much everything in California since Vegas including taking down Uber drivers in cash games for free rides.
Spurrier on the other hand, he’s always practicing as evidenced by his hour long live streams at his crib. They had the number one seed going into Day 3 last year for a reason – they’re lethal shooters and rarely get rattled. This is the only team on this list that also played together in the recent World Series, finishing fourth. That alone will be a significant advantage they have over the entire field due to the event’s restrictions.
They’ll be a tough team to beat and we expect them to win this tournament. It won’t be easy considering the gauntlet they have to face, but they’ve competed against this type of competition before. As long as Spurrier can control Costa’s obnoxious over the top personality, they’ll come out holding the huge check and winners of the first Splash at the Shore! They also have their names etched into pong glory by being added to the Beer Pong Champions archive!
– EAST COAST INSIDER
