18. The Honorary Break: Amy and Chad were set to kick-off the tournament after their wedding this past October. Chad stayed home due to an illness leaving an empty feeling in the break and in the brackets
17. Thaddeus almost successfully sinks crazy ball: He had no shot, went for the combo and came fractions of inches away from being the first to win the game that way.
16. Rick T. wins Goof Cup against defending Champion Dan S.: Rick wins his first tournament ever crushing the defending champion 15-4. While this is a big event, most stayed inside and it was a lopsided victory, making it slightly on the unexciting side.
15. Amy wins Survivor: Amy wins her first Survivor ever (with the 5-ball). She prevented Michael T. from winning his third straight event of the afternoon. The crowd cheered loudly, not so much because she won, but because Mikey lost.
14. Mikey wins Button off the 8, secures MVP: After six rounds, Michael T. edges Rick and Maria to claim his third Button off the 8. The win would later prove as an omen in the tournament as no one has ever won Button off the 8 and won the tournament.
13. Dan T. wins Crazy Eights in overtime: He broke his seven year drought of not winning anything in Goof Ball and won the event he created three years ago, edging Rick in overtime. He became the first person to have experienced winning all six events throughout his career.
12. Pump-up at the beginning: The lights turned off, with a black light over the pool table making things glow. The brackets were pulled and everyone took a shot while glow-sticks danced in the background. By far the most hype to open a tournament.
11. Live Broadcast streams: Thanks to hard work by Bennett, the tournament streamed live to the whole world and at one time 4 viewers at once. Tom T. especially appreciated the gesture as he could not make it but could still enjoy the tournament with his kids in front of the TV. 
10. Mikey wins fastest Trick Shot in history: It was the first time in the historic event that only one participant made their Trick Shot. Everyone else missed his high-spin shot and he won his 4th Trick Shot in 7 years (the other 3 were Richard)
9. Anthony youngest person to participate in a Goof Ball Event ever:
At 2 years 298 days, Anthony struck the cue ball in Survivor and crushed Mary Clare’s record from last year (4 years 119 days) to become the youngest player to participate in an event ever. Kolbe became the 2nd youngest ever (4 years 43 days). Both Mary Clare and Kolbe made it to the final 5 of the Survivor match.
8. Nancy- Rookie of the Year: She said she never even touched a pool table before, but she managed to win her first game in the tournament (against Lisa) and become the 2011 Rookie of the Year.
7. Danny and Bennett overtime match: Both players were not only missing but milking their shots. Dan T. even had one shot clock violation warning as he stretched his shots out in hopes of bringing the game into overtime because of the bad placement of his balls. After Bennett pulled off a victory in the extra minutes, Danny’s strategy was criticized by some spectators. But everything is always clearer in hindsight, and now he could only watch on the sidelines as Bennett advanced to the finals.
6. Key missed shots in final game: As the game progressed, Rick had an easy shot for the 8-ball miss by fractions. The shot looked like it was going in and the championship music even began playing. Bennett later sunk two of his remaining balls and had only the 10-ball left. If he made it, he would have a gimmie for the 8-ball. His shot for the 10-ball rattled in and out of the pocket. It was a shot that rattled the world, as some people in eastern Ohio attested they felt an earthquake.
5. Owen a No-Show: A day before the tournament, Owen, the favorite to win called to say his daughter was sick. On the day of the tournament, Dan S. called him to ask him to play, but Owen now had what his daughter had. It will go down, along with Lucas’ throwing up incident in 2002 and Chad’s this year, as one of the unforeseen unfortunate events that have stopped key players.
4. Advertisements: For the first time ever, ads surrounded the pool table and brought revenue to the Goof Ball Committee. The top ad was Tom T.’s ad for Lumena Photography. After the tournament, the treasury collected $13 to be used towards the future of Goof Ball.
3. Rick clinches victory as champion of 18th Goof Ball Tournament: Rick T. became the first person to win the championship after being runner-up the previous year. Before this point, champions and runner-ups were 0-32 in winning the next years tournament. Rick almost gave it away again when he missed an easy shot and watched Bennett storm back from a 4-ball deficit. This time, though, he held on and became the champion of the tournament he named some 17 years ago. Mary T. said it best, ‘The owner of the pool table owned this tournament.’
2. Curse of Champion continues- Bennett beats Mikey with best game of the tournament: Mikey called his own game nearly flawless, but he was also helpless when Bennett F. ran away with the game sinking his final three balls and then the 8-ball to set in stone his most solid game and finish in his career. Overall, Bennett was the highlight name of the tournament as he played the 4 highest rated players going into the tournament (Katie, Mikey, Danny, Rick) and put away 3 of them.
1. Sara’s surprise during National Anthem: Sara wins the top memory spot of the tournament again with her shocking appearance before the tournament. She led the Goof Ball players over speaker phone with her singing of the first ever national anthem before Goof Ball. Towards the end of the song, her footsteps sounded and all eyes looked towards the stairway. She was not in North Dakota, she was in the basement, and her voice was as beautiful as ever.
December 31, 2011
It’s been a long time coming, but Richard T. finally claimed his first trophy and then his second, becoming the first person to win both tournaments since Dan S. 10 years ago. He crushed last year’s Goof Cup champion, Dan S., 15-4 in corn holes then he came inside to gain what escaped him last year when he fell to Michael T. after leading by 5 balls. Rick had a strong game and was approaching the 8-ball while Bennett F., who made his first Championship Game appearance, was down by 4 balls. Rick began to choke towards the end, missing some easy shots and Bennett Feely began coming back but rattled an easy shot out of the pocket and the rest is history.
December 31, 2011
The Goof Ball Tournament is streaming live to all 196 countries worldwide.
Watch the Tournament as it happens, live.
http://j-tv.me/txmebB
December 30, 2011
Tomorrow is the 18th annual Goof Ball Tournament. Players will gather and be arranged in their brackets. One of them is destined to rise to the top tomorrow, to clinch the Goof Ball Trophy and carry on the Goof Ball Tradition. Hours separate us from this moment. Who is destined for such a moment? Only the player with focus, only the player with guts, only the dreamer. The whole world is watching; they’re watching you. All eyes are on you…but you, your eyes are only on the trophy.
Doors will open at 11:00 AM tomorrow. Trick Shot will start at 11:30 sharp. Be at the Goof Ball Tournament site by 12:00 PM to participate in the Goof Ball tournament. If you will be late please let us know beforehand. Every championship is unique and special, let’s make this one to remember.
Prayer Before the Goof Ball Tournament:
Dear Lord,
As the year 2011 draws to a close,
we thank you for the blessings and for the memories.
Tomorrow, we foresee one of the last memories of this blessed year.
Watch over this tournament, instruct the referees, guide the players
and make it a path, not a hindrance, to a closer union with you
If we win, we will give you glory, and if we lose, still we will praise you.
Amen.
St. Charles Borromeo, Pray for us!
December 30, 2011
Three days before the tournament, Michael T. has come out with a shocking statement:
“There is no such thing as the ‘curse of the champion‘.”
Yes, you’ve heard it from the champion himself. Let’s look at the last two times he played after he won. In 2006 he lost in the first round to Bennett, yet in 2009, he lost in the semifinals to Owen. He’s convinced winning the championship the previous year had nothing to do with him falling short and it won’t have anything to do with him falling short if he does so this year:
“If I don’t win this year, it won’t be because of a curse. That’s called finding an excuse. If I lose this year it will be because I didn’t play well enough, it will be because someone was better than me…. I am convinced that the reason champions don’t repeat is because they are not focused on the ‘now’; Their focus is lost between the illusory memories of last year and the hypotheticals of the future, and for this, only they are to blame.”
December 28, 2011
One year ago today, a committee changed Goof Ball forever.
Some two thousand years ago today, a child changed the face of the earth. The whole world stops at Bethlehem today adoring Christ and knowing that all else, our worries, our presents, and even the Goof Ball Tournament are as nothing compared to Him.
Merry Christmas to all! We will see you next week!!
December 24, 2011
One key aspect of the Goof Ball Committee’s job is to ensure that the tradition lives on year after year, generation through generation. However, the end of Goof Ball cannot be avoided if the end of the world comes first. Almost everyone knows of the predictions for the end of the world on December 21, 2012, 10 days before the 19th Tournament.
Many independent sources speculate that 2012 is the year when the world as we know it ends. If this is true, this upcoming tournament will be the tournament to end all tournaments. This upcoming champion will have the trophy and Goof Ball glory ‘until the end of the world’ -literally.
This should inspire all Goof Ball Players to practice and become the very best they can be… because when the earth vanishes after falling into a black hole, we will never see that 8-ball disappearing into a smaller black hole ever again.
So this may be your last shot. Don’t waste it.
December 21, 2011
If it can happen during the premier NFL game of the week, it can certainly happen during Goof Ball.
The Goof Ball Committee is well prepared for unexpected disasters. In the past, disasters such as a toilets overflowing and Nypavers vomiting did not cause disruptions to the Goof Ball Tournament thanks to the preparedness of the Goof Ball Committee.
Following the debacle in Candlestick Park, the Goof Ball Committee released the following statement:
The National Football League was ill prepared to handle two seperate power outages before and during last-night’s game, causing much delay and forcing Goof Ball players to stay up well past their bed time. James Harrison aptly described the situation by stating “If I cant play then can’t nobody play … Lights out!”
The Goof Ball Tournament is scheduled during the daylight hours of Dec. 31st, rendering electricity a welcome, although unnecessary component of the Tournament.
In the event that a Tournament blackout would extend into the night-time hours, flashlights and candles could be brought in or the Tournament be postponed to Jan. 1st at the discretion of the Committee.
December 20, 2011
The Steelers are doing well as usual this season which makes us believe Week 17 will mean something and will be a game many people will want to watch. As of right now, the game is scheduled for Sunday, January 1st, at 1:00 PM. However there is an asterisk next to this- the NFL does hold the right to change this time and date due to their flexible scheduling policy.
The NFL says they will give a 12 day notice before changing the date or time. That would mean tomorrow would be the last day to make this decision…but wait! No! Because of the play-offs, Week 17 only requires 6-day notice which means they could not make the decision until December 26th.
What would happen if they changed it to 1:00 on Saturday, December 31st? Most likely we would keep the time and date of the Goof Ball Tournament, but we may decide to push it back a couple hours to start at 4:30 and end around 10:30 PM. Again, this is highly unlikely.
The Goof Ball Tournament has gone on during the Steeler game before (2006), but this was a flop season for the Steelers. Now that the Steelers are bound for the Super Bowl again, what will happen? Where will our allegiance lie? Let’s hope we won’t have to answer this question.
December 18, 2011
Goof Ball is only a little over 2 weeks away! We still have plenty of space for advertisements and messages. The cost is only $1 per page (another dollar to decide on the placement-per page). If you still wish to put an ad or positive message, please send your paper(s) and money to the Goof Ball Tournament Site (make any checks payable to Bennett (F.) the Treasurer). Put a little bit of encouragement for yourself around the table! C’mon! It’s for the future of this tradition we all love!
December 15, 2011
Older Posts
16. Rick T. wins Goof Cup against defending Champion Dan S.: Rick wins his first tournament ever crushing the defending champion 15-4. While this is a big event, most stayed inside and it was a lopsided victory, making it slightly on the unexciting side.
12. Pump-up at the beginning: The lights turned off, with a black light over the pool table making things glow. The brackets were pulled and everyone took a shot while glow-sticks danced in the background. By far the most hype to open a tournament.
4. Advertisements: For the first time ever, ads surrounded the pool table and brought revenue to the Goof Ball Committee. The top ad was Tom T.’s ad for Lumena Photography. After the tournament, the treasury collected $13 to be used towards the future of Goof Ball.
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