Hitman & Commish Defend Title, Claim 2023 Championship

The Hitman and The Commish earned back-to-back league titles on Friday evening by downing Coach K and The Iceman by a hard fought 4 games to 2.

The defending champs came out with purpose and executed on the vast majority of their opportunities in the first two games while the challengers were still finding their footing, winning both by an identical 21-9 score. The third game saw John and Pat gather some momentum but still fall into a three game hole by a score of 21-15. The champs had game on the board several times throughout Game 4 and threatened to sweep the series until The Iceman made an amazing double tap to steal the game 21-18. Jeff and Rob never threatened in Game 5, losing by a score of 21-11, but then recaptured the momentum by grabbing a small lead in the early stages of Game 6 before The Hitman turned the game and the match on its ear with nine-point round to bring the score to 17-4. John and Pat staged a late rally and caused a good deal of anxiety in their opponents before finally succumbing 21-15 to end the match. Had they been able to force a deciding Game 7, one can imagine that they may well have worn the crown themselves. They proved valiant in defeat after their slow start to the match.

The Commish and The Hitman captured their third league championship in their eight season run as partners. By virtue of their win, they also have a chance to claim an unprecedented “three peat” in the 2024 season. It won’t be easy with a target on their back in a league where any of the six teams has a chance to win the title.

Thank you to everyone in the league for what was another fun-filled season with unmatched camaraderie. An off-season tournament is being planned for late April, more details to follow.

Semifinals Recap

“Semifinal Friday”, as usual, was able to deliver on its considerable promise, providing five-plus hours of elite, closely matched competition as the top two-seeded teams eventually claimed victory to move on to the League Finals next Friday.

The Champs

The Challengers

Match #1 featured Coach K and the Iceman against The Doctor and King Crush. Game 1 saw John and Pat jump out to a nice lead. and were able to fend off a late comeback bid from the brothers to prevail 21-19. Game 2 was the most exciting of the match, with the Doctor making an amazing shot on his last weight, taking The Iceman’s 3 off and sticking for his own to claw out a 21-18 win. Game 3 was a close grind of a battle with John and Pat eventually clawing out at 21-17 decision. Game 4 was anticlimactic in contrast to the first three, with John and Pat winning a stress free 21-12 to clinch the series. Their win over the nine-time league champions sees them through to the Finals in their first season as partners. After starting 1-8 through the first three weeks of the season there has not been a hotter team in the league.

In the late match, top-seeded defending champions Commish and The Hitman faced Pusscakes and Johnny Quoits in a rematch of last season’s Finals. Just as in last year’s match, Leo and John took Game 1 21-15 with a big round late in the match. Game 2 went back and forth the whole way with Jeff and Rob scratching out a 21-19 victory in the end. Game 3 produced the pivotal moment of the match. Leo and John came back from a late 19-14 deficit to bring the game to 19-18 when Leo hid a well blocked 3 pointer to put the game on the board, only to see The Hitman use his last bullet to draw Pusscakes by a half a quoit to clinch the miraculous win 21-18. The haymaker to end Game 3 emboldened the champs and deflated the challengers as Jeff and Rob won Game 4 in a blowout to move on the Finals. It was the second straight year that The Hitman made an enormous clutch shot in a pivotal game against Leo and John, having pulled an even more amazing rabbit out of the hat in Game 4 of last year’s Final.

The Finals, which will be played next Friday 3/8 at 7:00 PM at the HHSDOI (get there early, standing room only anticipated), now pit The Commish and The Hitman against Coach K and The Iceman. Jeff and Rob seek back-to-back titles and their third overall together. They have advanced to the Finals in five of their nine seasons as partners. Coach K advances to his third League Final with three different partners, having reached the 2012 Finals with Pete and the 2021 Finals with Kevin, falling both times to the Dirty Bird Brothers. The Iceman seeks his second league title, having won in 2008 in the final season at the Cabin with original partner and 2023 Finals opponent, The Commish. Pat and Jeff also reached consecutive Finals in 2005 and 2006, falling to The Wrench and Pete; and The Doctor and King Crush, respectively.

The Finals – Friday, March 8 – 7:00 PM

#1 Jeff / Rob vs #2 John / Pat

2023 Wild Card Results

#5 Leo / John def. #4 George / Don, 3 games to 2

Pusscakes and Johnny Quoits erased a 2-1 deficit, after losing Game 1 and Game 3, on Friday evening to advance to the semifinals. The pivotal Game 5 saw several amazing clutch shots from both sides, making up for the lack of much excitement in the first four games of the series before John and Leo eventually emerged victorious by a count of 21-15. They move on to face The Commish and The Hitman in a rematch of last year’s League Final.

#3 Frank / Craig def. #6 Joe / Mike, 3 games to 0

Crazy Joe and Kid Spata jumped out to early leads in all three games, but gave up rounds of 6, 7 and 8 during the course of the games. Such mistakes are not often overcome when dealing with the nine-time league champions, who won in a sweep. They move on to face the hottest team in the league currently, Coack K and the Iceman in the semifinals in what should be a great match.

2023 Final Standings & Playoff Preview

A capacity crowd was on hand at the HHSDOI for all of the fireworks on Friday evening for the final slate of regular season matches for the 2023 season. Johnny Quoits and Pusscakes put in a solid effort in Match 1 taking 2 of 3 from the The Hitman and The Commish in another rematch of last year’s League Finals. Despite losing 2 games the defending champs still secured the number 1 seed by virtue of the result of Match 2. Coach K and The Iceman clawed out a close win in a pivotal Game 3 over King Crush and The Doctor to secure the second seed after losing the first two games. The Doctor looked in sharp form on return from his extended stint on the disabled list. Match 3 lacked much drama with the Prospect Ridge Chicken Coop Mafia sweeping Kid Spata and Uncle “Shut Up and Dance with Me” Joe.

Wild Card Match #1 features third-seeded Frank and Craig against sixth-seeded Uncle Joe and Kid Spata. The winner will face Coach K and The Iceman in the semifinals.

In Wild Card Match #2, the fourth-seeded Prospect Ridge Chicken Coop Mafia squares up against 2022 runners-up and fifth seed, Leo and John. The winner draws 2022 League Champions, the Commish and The Hitman, in the semifnals.

Wild Card Weekend Schedule to be posted right here once determined.

2023 Season Enters Final Week

With one week remaining in the 2023 regular season, playoff positioning is very much up for grabs in the final slate of matches.

The Commish and The Hitman sit atop the standings at 25-17 and have already locked up one of the two available first-round byes entering the final week. They hold a one game lead over Coach K and the Iceman (24-18). John and Pat square off with King Crush and The Doctor (21-21) in Week 15, with the nine-time league champions needing a sweep to secure the second seed. The head-to-head tiebreaker would finish at 5-4 in favor of the brothers in such a scenario. The Commish and The Hitman also hold a 5-4 head-to-head record against the second place team should they finish in a tie atop the standings.

The fourth, fifth and sixth seeds are very much in a state of flux. Two games adrift of the Dirty Bird Brothers, Johnny Quoits and Pusscakes find themselves tied with The Prospect Ridge Chicken Coop Mafia for fourth place entering Week 15 at 19-23. They stand one game clear of Crazy Joe Fesi and Iron Mike. The tiebreakers for third through sixth places are too numerous to list here. All will be revealed on Friday evening at the HHSDOI. As always, standing room only anticipated, be there or be talked about.

The playoffs will start on Friday, 2/23, schedule pending the availability of the combatants. 

Johnny Quoits Pummels Field in 2023 Pearl Harbor

Johnny Quoits dominated the proceedings at the HHSDOI, conceding a mere total of seventeen points in five consecutive wins to completely overwhelm the field in the 2023 Pearl Harbor Invitational. The win is believed by the author to be the most dominant in the event’s storied thirty-one year history.

Johnny Quoits – 2023 Champ

The tournament, contested by a talent-laden field of eleven players, was conducted over a period of two days for the first time in its history. Play kicked off Friday evening with Pre-Quarterfinal matches, the first of which featured five-time champion The Wrench pulling out a hard-earned victory over defending champ King Crush 15-10. In the concurrent match at the other end, Johnny Quoits worked his way to a solid 15-8 win over 2023 third-place finisher Chad, which proved to be the closest Johnny would be to tasting defeat all tournament long. The third and final match of the first round saw the shot of the year with Crazy Joe Fesi throwing a six-pointer on the anchor, only to surrender a five-pointer to the Hitman on the very next round. The Hitman went on to win 15-13 in one of the most exciting matches of the weekend.

If that wasn’t exciting enough, the first quarterfinal of the evening produced a stunning ending as three-time champion and finalist in the last three Pearl Harbors, The Commish, staked himself to a 14-7 lead but was unable to find the elusive final point as Coach K came storming back to send the 2023 runner-up to the loser’s bracket in a wild 15-14 result. The second quarterfinal on the left side of the winners bracket was just as exciting, with the Hitman making a series of clutch shots to barely edge Kid Spata also by a score of 15-14. The two quarterfinals on the right side of the bracket featured contestants with a total of eighteen combined Pearl Harbors, however lacked the drama of the left side with Johnny Quoits prevailing over the Doctor and The Wrench downing Pusscakes both by scores of 15-5.

Over in the losers bracket, The Commish and King Crush both posted consecutive victories to advance to Saturday. Chad, The Doctor, Kid Spata, Fesi and Pusscakes failed to advance past Day 1.

Johnny Quoits demolished The Wrench 15-1 in the first winners bracket semifinal, while the Hitman ground out a hard-earned 15-11 victory over Coach K in semifinal #2 to conclude play on Friday evening.

Play resumed on Saturday morning with The Commish defeating Coach K while The Wrench prevailed over King Crush for the second time in the tournament. The Wrench then moved into the losers bracket final in another thrilling 15-14 match when The Commish failed to execute a draw shot by a fraction of an inch with the anchor on the final shot of the match.

Johnny Quoits came in hot on Saturday morning, earning a 15-1 win over the Hitman in the winners bracket final. The Hitman then raced out to an 8-1 lead in the losers bracket final only to see the Wrench come storming home to secure the win and move on to the Final. The Final, featuring a pair of five-time champions, did not live up to expectations as Johnny again found little resistance on his way to locking up his sixth title in the event. John last won Pearl Harbor in 2019 after winning four titles in a five-year span in the nineties. The victory also left John with eleven career majors. Congrats to Johnny Quoits on an amazing win.

The league now heads into its customary holiday recess, with play resuming on January 5. Happy Holidays to all.

Pearl Harbor Preview & Injury Report

An action packed first half of the 2023 league season drew to a close on Friday evening, with reigning champs The Hitman and The Commish holding a solid first-place lead of three games in the standings as we move into the All-Star Break / Holiday Recess.

One week out from the start, our full attention now turns to the Pearl Harbor Invitational Tournament, being played over a 2 day format for the first time in its venerable history. The field is coming into focus with the following ten confirmed starters – King Crush, The Commish, The Doctor, The Hitman, Chad, Smokie Joe Fesi, Iron Mike Spata, Johnny Quoits, Pusscakes and Coach K. The Wrench and The Iceman are listed as questionable (in more ways than one).

The brackets will be drawn at 6PM next Friday evening with play starting immediately thereafter. Will King Crush be able to defend his 2022 title? Will The Commish rebound from last year’s crushing loss in the Final to win his third title in the last four years? Will seven-time Pearl Harbor winner The Doctor improve upon his recent flashes of his form of old and be competitive in this year’s edition? Will Chad go a step or two further than last year’s impressive third place finish? Will The Hitman, Coach K or the Iceman, all of whom have been in great recent form, etch their name upon the plaque for the first time? Questions will become answers and friends will become enemies. New rivalries will hatch as old rivalries renew at the 2023 Pearl Harbor Festival.

King Crush, Coach K Triumph in Skierski Cup

King Crush and Coach K successively defeated each of the other four teams in Friday night’s field of five to claim victory in the 2023 Skierski Cup.

The title run began with an easy 21-8 win over Fesi and Goff. The four-time league champions during their long run as partners drew each other as Skierski Cup partners for the second consecutive year and again failed to win a game, crashing out of the first round of the losers bracket as well.

Due to the last-minute defection of The Doctor, who still hasn’t recovered since his big crash through the card table years back, Joe was drawn back to partner with The Commish in the second chance sweepstakes. This alliance also proved to be short lived, as they suffered consecutive agonizing setbacks, first to King Crush and Coach K by a score 21-19 in the winners bracket semifinals and then in the first round of losers bracket to Pusscakes and The Don 21-20 after staging a rally from a 20-10 deficit only to fall just short.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the winners bracket, The Iceman served notice that he means business in his first season back in the league, as he and Kid Spata took down Pusscakes and The Don in the other semifinal. King Crush and Coach K proved too tough in the winners bracket final, earning a 21-10 decision. Pusscakes and The Don were able to turn the tables on Pat and Mike in the losers bracket final, scoring a 21-12 victory.

The Final was hard fought match that stayed within one or two points the entire way. With the score sitting at 18-18, King Crush showed once again that he’s got ice water (and Crown Royal) in his veins, stepping up with the hammer in his hand to take off Pusscakes’ 3 and sit for his own 3 and another Skierski Cup championship.

The victory is the third Skierski Cup win for both Craig and John. Craig successfully defends his 2022 Cup title, which he won with Pusscakes, his 2023 Finals antagonist. The Don also participated in the 2022 Final, falling just short with The Commish.

Congratulations to King Crush and Coach K on a stellar win. League play kicks off this Friday, 10/6. Be there or be talked about.

2022 Champs – Rob & Jeff

The Hitman and The Commish channeled their inner Irishman and captured their second league championship together in a Saint Patrick’s Day Final on Friday evening at the HHSDOI, defeating Pusscakes and Johnny Quoits by a count of four games to one. Johnny Quoits came out on fire, grabbing twelve points on his first two trips down the board in Game 1, as he and Leo raced to a 21-9 victory in the opener. Game 2 was a mirror image of the first, with The Commish and The Hitman jumping out to a large lead and holding on for a 21-17 win. Game 3 was a nip and tuck affair that saw The Hitman executing a take-off and stick for 2 points with the game sitting at 19-17 to clutch out the victory. Rob and Jeff jumped out to a big lead in Game 4, but Leo and John clawed their way back to 17-10 and Pusscakes had 6 points sitting with a very well hidden 5 pointer on the end of the board. The Hitman then pulled off the shot of the year, working his way out into the right lane around four quoits and swinging back with the precision of a Swiss watch to gently nudge the hanger off the board and sit for a four-pointer, clinching the game. Rob and Jeff jumped out to a comfortable margin in Game 5, which lacked the drama of the preceding games, and went on to clinch the championship with a 21-10 win.

The Hitman and The Commish – 2022 Champs

The win marks the third career major for The Hitman and the ninth for the Commish, moving him one past his predecessor on the all-time list. The Commish also avoided the ignominious distinction of finishing runner-up in all three of this season’s majors, having been stifled by King Crush in the finals of the first two.

On April 21, we will hold a singles tournament in honor of one of the founding members of the league, Tom Ferrese. Details will be sent out to everyone once finalized.

Thank you to everyone for another great shuffleboard season, it is a testament everyone in the league that we have been going strong for thirty eight years and here’s to hoping for another thirty-eight (or more) just as good as the first.

Semifinal Friday Results

No team in the venerable history of the HHSBL has been able to complete a league championship three-peat, a feat that will have to wait at least two more years, as two-time defending and nine-time overall league champions King Crush and The Doctor fell to their chief rival in recent times, The Hitman and The Commish, in a thrilling five game series to kick off a Semifinal Friday slate that more than delivered on its considerable hype.

The two teams traded 21-13 decisions in the first two games, with the champs winning the first and the challengers the second. The champs staked themselves to a 9-3 lead in Game 3 before a fortunate bounce (also known as a shit shot) brought the game back to a manageable score as the challengers went on to win a close one. Hitman and Commish took an 18-12 lead in Game 4 and looked well on their way to closing the series out but a series of clutch shots by the champs and some poor execution by the challengers led to a stunning comeback to push the series to a deciding Game 5, where the challengers pulled out a 21-13 decision to move on to The Finals.

The late match featured The New Guys Old Faces team against Smokie Joe and Kid Spata. Again, the teams split two close games in the first two, with the former winning the first and the latter the second. In a cruel twist of fate, Kid Spata and Uncle Joe were this week the victim of an unfortunate bounce (aka a shit shot) at a key moment late in Game 3 that turned the momentum and helped spur Pusscakes and Johnny Quoits on to victory. They were then able to close out the series in four games, as Joe and Mike were unable to recover and lost the next one.

The Finals, which will be played on Friday, March 17 at 7:00 PM, now pit second seeded Leo and John against fifth seeded Jeff and Rob. Leo and John reach The Finals in their first season as partners. Johnny Quoits is a five-time league champion, having won four with Smokie Joe Fesi and an additional title in the 1990s with Andy West. Pusscakes last appeared in The Finals some nineteen years ago, when he and Joe “The Postman” Barber won the third and final title of their three-decade plus partnership, the longest such partnership in league history by quite a margin. Leo will certainly have an angel on his shoulder as he looks to add a fourth title to his personal mantle and make his life coach proud. The Hitman and The Commish make their fourth appearance in The Finals in their seven season run as partners, having won the championship in the 2016 season and having lost in 2015 and 2020, all of those prior Finals being against King Crush and The Doctor. The Commish holds a second league title, which he won in 2008, the final season at original league venue (The Cabin), with former partner The Iceman.

SEMIFINAL RESULTS

#5 Jeff / Rob def. #1 Frank / Craig – 3 games to 2

#2 Leo / John def. #6 Joe / Mike – 3 games to 1

THE FINALS

Friday March 17, 7:00 PM

#2 Leo / John vs. #5 Jeff / Rob – best of 7 games