Wow, was January ever a great month of Cornhole at the BackYard.  With season two well underway, players are working hard to improve their game, which shows in every event.  February is packed full of events, and the Team at the SCA is working hard to keep things fresh and fun for the Players.  In the last two Regionals, we have made the doubles event a Blind draw format. The players enjoy playing with someone new occasionally, and the Blind Draw makes that happen.  The next big new thing is that on Feb 17, we will be running the first-ever BackYard Cup (Ryder Cup format).  I want to explain the format, and after you read this, hopefully, we will have a rush of players signing up. 

We will have two Hawks as the captains of two teams.  The two Hawks for this event will be Kevin Newson and Darren Bradley.  They will have a list of Players who have signed up.   

HERE IS THE FIRST IMPORTANT POINT OF THIS BLOG – SIGN-UP DEADLINE IS Feb 9 –  Scan the code 

Registration code for Ryder Cup Tournament

Registration code for Ryder Cup Tournament

The players will be listed in their respective Tiers.  The Draft will happen at the FB Live event on Feb 12, 2024.  The Captains will go back and forth picking players for their teams.  Each captain will need players in every Tier, and only in the event of an odd number in a Tier will one captain have one more player in that Tier. Once the teams are selected, we will post a list of both teams, and we are ready for the 17th and the fun to begin.   

In each event, the Captains will put out a player or players.  Once a captain puts their player or team on the board, the opposing captain will match who will play the player or team.  The Captains will alternate who puts a player or team out first. This process will go on until all the players are selected. When captains choose players, no player can play twice until all players on their team in that Tier have played once. The games will be played, and when all the games are complete, the captains will choose the next games until the time limit has expired. 

There will be four different events, and for every win, the players will earn points for their respective teams.  The team with the most points will win the event.  In the event of a tie, there will be a sudden-death singles match to determine the winner. The events and start times are: 

  • 10:00 AM – Doubles team consisting of a T3 player with a T4/5 player – no games will commence after 11:45 AM 
  • NOON – Walking Doubles – Double teams paired by Tier – Both Teams will play alternating throws and play at both ends.  Player one on a team will throw bag one and three, and their partner will throw bag two and four.  No games will start after 1:45 PM. 
  • 2:00 PM – SINGLES – Single play against an opponent of the same Tier. – No games will start after 3:45 PM 
  • 4:00 PM – DOUBLES – Doubles play against an opponent of the same Tier – no games will start after 5:45 PM, and the winner will be the Team with the most points once all the games are done. 

This is the first time we have attempted to run an event like this, and I hope everyone takes advantage of the opportunity to play in a big team event.  We hope this will go smoothly, and we will learn what worked and what did not and get better for the next time we run it.  We may have some bumps in the road, so stay patient with us.  If we get a good turnout and people enjoy it, we can make this an event that happens every long weekend.  The entire team will win the prize money. We hope that players will cheer their teammates on throughout the competition. 

In this week’s events at the BackYard, we had 16 wonderful Ladies out for another great night of throwing.  They played a Switch, which made for some interesting battles.  The PPR for the Ladies has been slowly going up.  It is exciting to see the hard work paying off.  The Monday night belonged to Amber and Marla.  These two went undefeated in the bracket as they beat Kim and Nina to win the night. 

Again, Tuesday was busy as Tier 5 played Doubles in the Switch format. Seventeen players tossed bags, including eight newbies to the BackYard.  Joey was the Lucky person to be paired with the Ghost, which was unlucky for the rest of the field.  Joey is learning the game fast and is getting better every week, and he proved to be way too much for the rest of the pairings, as he beat Joe and the Pink Genie to win. 

Tier 3 and 4 were playing singles on Tuesday.  Six players played in Tier 4.  Stewie led the night with a 6.74 PPR but could not score the points when he needed to.  On the other hand, B-Rad found his game at the right time as he beat Bonnie Day in the final.  I am looking forward for the Tier 5 players to get better enough to move up and play these Tier 4 players. 

Tier 3 saw eleven players looking to win the week.  It was a long night, but at the end of the Night, Spilly double-dipped Newson to win the week.  

Wednesday, seniors had the KING of the Senior’s Dean bringing Chuck along for the victory lap.  They beat Timmy, playing by himself (ghost).  Timmy, who was in the King seat, was throwing darts all afternoon (once he threw the fast side), but it was not enough in the end. 

Thursday Night was the last event of the January Regional Mixed.  The battle for the first-place board was the same as last month. Newson and Crystal (Bitnew) sat on the throne, and Presley and Glen (Humble B’s) looked to double-dip them and win back-to-back mixed events. In game one, the B’s came out firing, shooting 9.25 and took game one.  The SCL Ladies put on a show in game two as Crystal and Presley fired 9.33 and 9.67 PPR, respectively.  In the end, Bitnew had enough to win the title 21-19.  Great shooting. 

Friday Night FunHolio had 57 players come out for a fun night of throwing.  After the round-robin, only Jeff K and Dean had an undefeated record, and they were looking to translate that success into the bracket.  After the partners were picked, the teams headed into the bracket play.  Jonathon and Jaden K, moved their way through the bracket with only one scare from Ry and Kurt.  They ended up sitting in the King’s seat as they awaited the winner of the B-side, Stich and Tina B.  The final went Jonathon and Jaden’s way as they took down the title, 21-9. 

POWER RANKING  

The TIER 3 power ranking.    

  1. Jonathon– Stays in the number one spot. 
  2. Spilly – With his win in the league play this week, Dylan is comfortably in the second spot, 
  3. Presley – I am going to leave Presley in the third spot.  She does not play Tuesday league, but when looking at the numbers in the mixed event, where she went head-to-head against Newson, I found it tough to move her down as she shot 9.25 and 9.67 in the two games against Kevin.   
  4. Newson – This was a tough decision because Kevin literally is at the top of the PPR average in every event he plays in.  Kevin won the Mixed title this week and had the highest PPR in that entire event.  It really came down to the head-to-head with Presley that gave her the edge. 
  5. Krentzy – Parker did not play any SCL events this week, as he was in Ontario playing cornhole.  

 

Tier 4 power ranking. This was tough because the League play was doubles, but there was a Regional, and some League players could not make it out to the Regional.  I am going to go with who is throwing the best. 

  1. B-RAD – With a big win on Tuesday in Singles play, Brad moves into the number one spot.  Brad struggled again in the round-robin but found his game when he hit the bracket. 
  2. Bonnie Day – Bonnie had a good run on Tuesday but did not have enough to take down B-RAD.   She finished the round-robin on top with a 4-0 record and had the second-best PPR at 6.63.  
  3. Oopsidacey – Mike handled the pressure of being number one fairly well.  He finished Tuesday night with a third-place finish and a respectful 6.47 PPR 
  4. Jennifer – Jen sits in my fourth spot. 
  5. Stewie – Stewie leads the way with the highest PPR on Tuesday night.  He also had a solid fourth-place finish, which moves him into the top 5.  

 

NEW to the BLOG  

TIER 5 Spotlight– I will spotlight the people who played well this week because all these players are spread out, and some do not play regular events. 

Joey – On Tuesday, he played by himself and took down the Tuesday Tier 5 title.  Joey is a regular at the club, and the more he throws, the better he gets and is a great addition to the Saskatchewan Cornhole community.  I look forward to seeing where Joey can take his game in the next few months. 

Marla – I remember the first night Marla played at the BackYard.  She only came to have a few drinks, but we were short one player, so she stepped in.  She has not looked back, as she has been coming ever since.  Marla has been practicing and trying to get better.  She won Monday in Ladies Night and has been moving her PPR in the right direction. 

Michelle the Robot – I had the privilege to play in the mixed event with Michelle, and she was throwing well.  Michelle regularly attends the Seniors event every week and the Friday night FunHolio.  I know she was nervous about playing in the mixed event, but she held her own against some really good players and scored most of the points in the games we won.  She fired a few 4-baggers and averaged almost a 6 PPR on the night.  Michelle is always friendly and is a great ambassador of our game.

 

My name is Kevin Bittman, and I am on the Board at the SCA and a proud member of the BackYard Pigeon Coop.  I have been playing cornhole for a couple of years, and I would say I am not great, but I try to get better every week.  Cornhole, for me, is a fantastic community of people that, no matter your skill level, you can come out and have fun at the Backyard at the SCA. This blog is my opinion and how I see things in Regina’s cornhole scene. It is meant to be a way to keep people engaged in what is going on at the Backyard and the SCA.  I hope that we can continue growing the game in Regina and Saskatchewan. The Backyard at the SCA is located at 2363 2nd Avenue in Regina.  The venue has eight regulation cornhole lanes, a bar, and a small kitchen.  Each week, the Backyard hosts events for all skill levels, and I will attempt to highlight some of these events and give my perspective on the club and the players in Saskatchewan.
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