USPL/NPPL Vegas World Championships October 2009. The final event was held behind the Riviera Hotel in the parking lot for the Las Vegas Convention Center. 12 5-man pump teams came to compete in the last event of the year. The LA Hitmen nearly had the season locked just by showing up, as 2nd place Chikun Nuggetz were not in attendance. Fieldoffire.com and Gat Factory were tied in the 3rd spot trailing by 30 points. A 12th place finish for the Hitmen and a 1st for FoF or Gat was the only scenario that would allow anyone to take the series title from LAH.

The event felt very small in scale. Only 2 fields were set up and the vendor alley was short. The location of the event meant that there was zero walk-through traffic. The only people in attendance were people who knew exactly where they were going. The event was on the part of the block opposite the strip (Paradise, as opposed to Las Vegas Blvd.), so there wasn’t really much drive-by traffic, either. However, there was plenty of parking and the walk to the fields was extremely convenient. As a player, this was pretty nice. Especially in comparison to Huntington Beach where you have to compete for parking spots and walk a long way (and through the sand) to get to the player paddocks. Not so good for getting publicity for the league and sport, though.

The 2-day format for pump was the big change for this event. 8 prelim games on Saturday, followed by finals on Sunday. As long as there are 8, or more, teams in the division, they will take top 8 to quarter finals and play best 2 out of 3. 1/3 of the teams played a minimum of 8 games, while the rest played between 10 and 17 games. In HB this year, we had to play all of those games in one day, and we didn't even get to start in the morning.

The reffing was some of the best I’ve seen at an event in a while. Marc Gottfried debuted as head ref and kept things going at a good pace and well under control. There were several other long time NPPL refs that were back in action on the field, which helped tremendously. You can always tell a good ref crew by the way they maintain their zones and which players they’re watching. The calls were firm without being so heavy handed as to control the outcomes. Refreshing, to say the least.

The LA Hitmen started the prelims on Saturday with a hiccup. Snake player Kurly didn’t have a recognized ID and wasn’t allowed to play. They had to pull Vanida from Almost Ninja (their 6th player) in order to have 5 on the field. Rik had come down with the flu, but was able to compete for the entire day. LAH finished the prelims with 7 wins and 1 loss, securing the series title with a minimum 8th place finish.

By Sunday morning, Rik had a temperature of 101.5 and could barely stand without getting dizzy. He was able to play the first 2 quarter finals games against the Yuma Rattlers, but was spent by the end of the second game. For Rik’s health, he was benched for the rest of the day. LAH went into the 3rd game with 4 players and managed to stale the game with 2 Yuma Rattlers and the flag in possession against Derrick. The 1x1 game saw Yuma Mark lose to Hitmen Derrick, allowing LAH to advance to the final four.

Gat Factory also went 7-1 in the prelims (losing only to Yuma). They lost their first quarter finals game against 3KD, but won the next 2 and secured their final four spot. Poi and Tacos (LAH’s second team) won the third game against PBGateway to advance. Fieldoffire.com swept Almost Ninja (LAH’s third team) to advance.

Gat and FoF went head to head in the semi-finals. This determined who would be in second place for the series. FoF took the first game with extreme aggression. One of their front players even jumped over the U while advancing up the field. However, Gat once again came from behind and won the next two games to go into the finals for first and second.

In a battle of Hitmen teams, LAH and PaT clashed to see who would advance to the finals. LAH won both games.

PaT swept FoF in the battle for 3rd. Both games were extremely quick, with PaT snake players quickly advancing to the U and the FoF’s own carwash.

The battle for first between LAH and Gat was extremely hard fought. The first game closed with a 2x2. Gat pushed the tape, but had a player advance with a hit. That player shot out both Hitmen players, but the refs saw the hit and assessed the 1 for 1, resulting in a draw game. The Hitmen won both of the next two games to secure first place.

1st: LA Hitmen.com
2nd Gat Factory
3rd: Poi and Tacos
4th: Fieldoffire.com

Overall, the event was pretty good. The finals could’ve been scheduled a little better, given the limited paddock space. Each division should’ve been consolidated, instead of mixing them up and forcing them to share shade and benches. It might've been better for the audience and less waiting times for teams moving to the finals, but it made it really difficult to get through quarter-finals. The NPPL ref manager Eryn recognized this, so it should be different next time. I’m looking forward to playing Huntington beach April 9-11, 2010, which should be a great event. The USPL/NPPL has definitely been listening to the pump players and has made vast improvements since adding pump in 2008.

Excellent review.

USPL did a good job at DC also but I'm not really good at breakdowns.

JB.

Thanks, Mike.
thoughtful review.
At first it was just exciting that there was a pump division at a national event...then when the shine wore off, it seemed like the pump division was getting the shaft. It certainly seems like the NPPL is beginning to take notice and really step up their game for the pump division...nice!
...I'll see you at HB!

Gat playing on and eliminating two Hitmen, hmmmmm. At least it was caught.
Thanks for your write up Mike.

I cant wait for HB in April.........it will be CRAZY this time!


D~

I think when the powers that be saw that the Pump Div. routinely had more teams than most...if not all of the lower 7-man Div. ...we became a legitimate source of income and therefore deserving of some respect.