Midwest Tecmo VII

I have played in several of these live Tecmo tournaments and with all I usually have the same ritual.  Plenty of rest and several practice games the night before.  In fact, I usually take a week to two week hiatus from online play just so I can get used to the difference from the computer to the console.  This tournament would be very different as the day before I had to deal with the Team MV shirt fiasco.

For about four months I ran a private league called Tecmo Team Cup.  For a complete understanding of this league please read the following document and view the following website:

Tecmo Team Cup Constitution

Tecmo Team Cup Website

A quick summary of the league is  a league completed with two teams of dual online and live console Tecmo players.  The league plays the original ROM and follows the 1991 Tecmo Super Bowl NFL schedule.  Team members of one team pick the matchup in true live console tournament style selection, while the opposing team gets the choice of team.  Each "owner' earns TTC points for his team during the regular season.  There is a high risk-high reward handicapping system used when selecting matchups for team strategy. Teams earn points during the regular season for all games, league leading statistics, a live Offense/Defense Pro Bowl game played on console, playoff games, and a live TTC Bowl played on console.  The team with the most overall points at the end of all events is crowned champion.  The losing squad pays for their team's defeat by purchasing the members of the winning team an award.

The playoffs, Pro Bowl, and Super Bowl were supposed to be played at Midwest VII. In lieu of this event I decided to have team shirts made for the team I am on.  Did this become a nightmare from hell?  If you would like to find out about this fiasco reads the following link:

Team MV T-Shirt Fiasco

red98sethuthut, bigmv54, tecmopsycho, and vogtcd11

So now that you know the story of the T-shirt fiasco you know that I spent my entire day before the tournament worrying and dealing with shirt printing rather than focusing on the tournament itself.  I left Indianapolis at 7:45 PM and dropped my kids off with their grandmother in Greensburg on the way to Fairfield.  I arrived at Casa de Vogt around 10:00 PM and told bigmv54 and vogtcd11's fiancee about the T-shirt fiasco.  Matty began drinking Miller Lite and I choked down some Bacardi 151 with Dr. Pepper.  I showed bigmv54 my newly acquired Raspberry Pi and we tried to set up my controllers, but failed.  Vogtcd11 finally got home from work around 3:00 AM and we did not go to bed until 5:15 AM.  So no practice games and very little sleep.

At 8:30 AM I left Casa de Vogt for Rick's Tavern Bar and Grill to help vogtcd11 set up for the tournament. When I arrived I saw cubanrocks, tecmo_ninja, and AJ Fullam already setting things up.  About 30 minutes later the Buennagle's arrived and filled in all the gaps on bad consoles, AV wires, R/F switches, etc.

As the groupings for pool play were announced I made my way to TV 6.  In my first game I played Brent P. I won the toss and called DEN vs. S.D.  He took the Broncos.  I could tell right away on some early passes that my timing was off.  He ran a two-back playbook and had Sewell in for 3/4 plays.  He actually ran a very good running playbook and made it difficult for me to use Byrd to defend.  It took me a while to figure it out. then when I started calling runs he started to pass.  This guy was pretty cool.  We talked about teaching (he used to teach) and his connections to central Indiana.  This was hands down the most pleasing conversation I have ever had while playing competitive Tecmo.  I was able to win the game 0-38.

My second game put me against Jimmy V.  aka lillefty from the online community.  There is no doubt that lefty has been out of the game for a while now.  I know he was pursuing competitive dart throwing with his spare time.  I also know that good Tecmoers don't just fade away.  Lefty won his first game in pool play 0-7.  From what I saw he really looked rusty.  I won the toss and called CHI vs. DET. he took the Bears. First off I played one of my worst games in a while.  He called run about 5-6 times the entire game.  As most know, I rarely call run on defense, but in this game I called run every play until the middle of the third quarter.  He was able to find open receivers early.  As I normally do, I put Barry in at WR1 with the likelyhood of burning the slow Chicago DBs.  Three times Barry stopped his route and came back to the QB allowing Carrier and company to get the turnovers.  All three resulted in INTs.  After two INTs with Peete I subbed a GOOD Andre Ware, but he did the same thing later in the game.  If Barry doesn't do this I have two TDs minimum.  In addition to the route stoppages, Peete fumbled on a scramble allowing Chicago a very short field.  The Bears were up 7-14 in the middle of the third when Tomczak connected with Johnny Bailey at WR2 on a covered JJ by William White.  Touchdown Bears.  I pretty much knew it was over at this point.  The final score was 14-28.

My third and final game of group play came against Marc M.  I won the toss and called RAI vs CHI.  He took the Bears.  The story of this game was one-sided offense of the Bears.  In this game I called run early and passes late.  I was able to force two turnovers and played really well on run defense.  Bo was Bo and I was able to connect on key passes and avoid INTs.

I finished group play 2-1 with a point differential of 62.  This placed me as a 9 seed in the tournament.  After group play I picked up a picture as David Fulcher autographed it for my son.  Dolan's favorite defender on the game is Fulcher.  He was pretty excited when I got home with it.

After my contribution to the David Fulcher Foundation I picked up some grub.  I had the 7 ounce burger with bacon, chili, onion strings, pepper jack cheese, cajun mayonnaise, and tomato.  I had this with regular french fires and a root beer.  It was so awesome that i ordered it again after I was eliminated from the main tournament.  The crazy thing about it was the waitress remembered my order exactly hours later as I made her repeat it and she did miss a thing.

After eating I was paired with Dominic M. in the first round of the elimination tournament.  He wins the toss and says he doesn't care what the teams are, but he just wanted the left side.  He called JETS vs CLE.  I don't like either team so I said I'll let you have choice of team and I will take controller 1.  I did this because I knew the controller 1 was a psychological edge for him and because I truly don't care what team I have in this matchup.  He said that I couldn't do this.  This was my mistake as I didn't read the rules.  I thought everything was the same as Madison rules.  In Madison you can defer the choice of team and choose controller, but the rules did state that the winner of toss is player 1.  So I take the second controller and choose the Browns.  I have a great methodical drive that finds me fumbling at the one yard line into the end zone.  I am able to fight back and played solid defense throughout.  Metcalf had a huge game on the ground as I figured my opponent would be calling pass the whole game.  Final score was 0-21.

In the sweet 16 round I played Steve E. aka therealdealneal from a brief online stint.  I win the toss and call S.D. vs DET.  He takes the Lions stating he hates the Chargers.  I told him I like the Chargers so that worked out for everyone.  I started with the ball, got an initial block, and made some pretty good moves to scamper for an 80 yard opening score with Butts.  Steve played a safe methodical game and scrambled a lot on pass plays for continued first downs.  Barry fumbled twice during the game and Butts fumbled once.  I also threw a pick on a desperation heave before halftime.  The difference in this game was Steve's ability to convert first downs and my inability to convert first downs.  I will blame this on four blocked passes at the line of scrimmage.  One was a for sure TD with no coverage.  The others were short passes for first downs on 3rd and 7s and a 4th and 11.  After a long JJ TD to Anthony Miller the Lions ran the clock out with the 17-24 lead that resulted in a safety for the final.  I can live with games like this because I didn't really give the game away and the opponent played well.  Just wish I could have 2 of those batted passes back.

After being ousted from the elimination tournament I ordered my second meal and I told the waitress I wanted the exact same meal.  I looked at her for a minute.  She looked back and as I started to tell her what it was again she repeated the entire meal back down to every topping.  Pretty impressive if you ask me.  My day wasn't done yet.  I had been voted into the 8-Man Best of the Best Tournament.  I drew out the names shortly after being eliminated.  First was ones11fahzu, second was vogtcd11, third was mort, fourth was me. So in the top half of the bracket was Matt M. vs Chris V. and Francis B. vs myself.  The bottom part of the bracket was Kyle M. vs Erik M. and Matty V. vs Matt D.

After drawing names for the bracket and eating my second meal I hit a wall.  The lack of sleep was taking over.  At this point I almost gave up my spot.  I went out to my car and made a double green apple Spark. Thirty minutes later I was back in business.  The regular bracket was finishing up.  Kyle M. then put out Mort in the Final Four.  On the other side it was Erik M. and Matty V.  Matty V. took out Erik M.  The finals was a rematch of last year's championship.  Both competitors agreed to take shots after each score. The shots were huge.  Comparable to an Elkart, Indiana double shot.  Matty won the toss and called a G.B. vs DET matchup... nah wait he means T.B. vs DET. Regulator088 took the Lions.  Watch the game in its entirety here:

2014 Midwest VII Championship

Congrats to the champ!

After the title game the Best of the Best Tournament began.  Louis B. and Jimmy V. played each other for Erik M.'s spot as Erik needed to hit the road early.  Louis won the rights to play regulator088.  Both played a ridiculous drunken game (the footage of this has to be priceless) which saw Louis B. prevailing in OT. Louis then went on to play Matt D. who defeated Matty V. in round 1.  Matt D. came out victorious in the bottom part of the bracket.  In the top bracket ones11fahzu defeated Chris V.

I had to play Magic Mort.  I didn't want to give him any magic moments with JJs so I called the DEN vs S.D. matchup.  He took the Chargers.  This was a solid game.  Both defenses were lights out.  The score was 3-3 at half.  I was able to put together a solid 4th quarter drive and held off the hailmary attempt for the win 10-3.

In the top half of the bracket final I played oness11fahzu.  He called a T.B. vs DAL.  I hate both.  My mistake was my playbook.  I was too worried about Haddix and should have just played my game.  My defense was solid.  Lost two fumbles and had another crucial TD attempt pass blocked.  Ones was ones and tried to limit possessions.  I had enough to win this, but just did capitalize.

The final saw Matt M. (ones11fahzu) vs. Matt D. (cubanrocks).  Matt D. was up 0-7.  Matt M. was on the 3 or so yard line ready to tie it up when event coordinator vogtcd11 accidentally pulled the power on the wrong plug.  Both players agreed to negotiations and Matt M. came out the victor.  I believe the matchup was JETS vs PIT.

I finished the night with vogtcd11 and bigmv54 at McKinley's pub.  The $20 tab was much better than last year's drunken haze of $126.  Another year.  Another great time.  I will never have a T-shirt fiasco before a tournament, I will be sure to get plenty of sleep, and I will make sure to play enough practice console games before the next tournament.  Definitely disappointed in my play.  Apologies for taking so long. My family went on vacation as soon as I got back.  We are now back from Grand Haven, Michigan.  Highly recommend this place for a family vacation.  Reminded me of Myrtle Beach without the 12 hour drive.

Until next time.  Long Live Tecmo!