History | 2006 Odds
2006 Team Tournament
Champions: Nest of Spies—Rainbow
Coalition
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James Pei—7
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Dave Dockter—8
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Stefan Mecay—9
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Nick Pei—0
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Card Sharks Rule Again
Defending champion Nest of Spies, a coalition of Card Driven Wargamers from
four different states, justifiying their high ranking by the odds makers
as the 3rd ranked team, repeated as champions of the 2006 Team Tournament
over a field of 78 four-member squads. They became the first team to successfully
defend their title by replacing the absent Ron Fedin with Stefen Mecay who
made his first WBC a memorable one by leading the team with nine points for
winning Twilight Struggle. The team also got their usual seven points
from James Pei who won For The People for the sixth straight time
and eight points from Dave Dockter for winning Paths of Glory. Scoring
was up for the entire tournament, with the top eight teams scoring enough
to have won the tournament in the leanest years and Nest of Spies setting
the all time record with 24 points to break the old record of 22 points held
by 1994’s Team Dixie.
Finishing second with 18 points were the Baby Seals led by eight points
each from George Young (We The People) and Ewan McNay (Britannia).
Boarding Party took third with 16 points on the strength of nine points from
Roy Gibson (Atlantic Storm) and seven from Mike Fitzgerald (Hacienda).
One wonders how high they could have gone if teammate Ben Knight had even
played in his team game.
The Moral Victory prize has to go to CABS #3 squad, Pete’s
Angels, which
rode eight points from long suffering Pete Stein’s Kremlin victory
to 19th place and single-handedly outcscored the other three CABS teams—including
the #1 ranked Manly Men which finished 25th.
The year’s biggest over-achievers, were El Cupachabra who
overcame 290-1 odds to finish ninth and became one of only three three-digit
odds teams to break into the Top 25 with nine points from Brandon Bernard
(Air Baron)
and three from Bruce Bernard (Vinci). The other side of that coin
suggested that We Ain’t Dead Yet (48-1) actually
may be as one of 18 teams that failed to score a point. Thankfully, CABS
#2 squad, Nate and the Boys (46-1) saved them from the ignominy of being
the top ranked team to get shut out.
No less than four teams showed depth with all four members scoring, led
by Ye Olde Gaming Society and Central Florida Gamers with 14 points, Manly
Men with eight and Team Euro with seven.
In the Team Tournament it is not enough to be good. You also have to predict
where you’ll succeed. Some say that is a flaw in the tournament. Others say
that is the genius in the format and that which keeps it from growing stale.
Just ask Bruce Reiff and Anne Norton who together won seven plaques this
year but failed to win their team event.
The Kilroy Was Here team won the Misery Loves Company
title for the second year in a row with 482 entrants for an average of 120.5
entrants per event. On the opposite end of the scale, claiming the Big Fish
in the Small Pond category was Peck of Pickled Peppers squad whose
68 total entrants averaged only 17 players per event. Big or small, didn’t
make much difference as both finished out of the money.
Which game was the most frequently named choice for the Team Tournament? Twilight
Struggle led the selection as the pick of nine of the 312 players in
the tournament.
So how did the Happy Handicapper do? Worse than last year. Of his top 25
picks in the field of 78 teams, 14 (56%) made the Top 25—down 4% from 2005
but still up 12% from 2004.
2006 Top 25 Teams
in Order of Finish
Rank.
Name |
Odds
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Player
1
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Player
2
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Player
3
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Player
4
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Points
.Entrants
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1. Nest of Spies |
33-1
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James Pei/FTP/7 |
Dave Dockter/POG/8 |
Stefan Mecay/TWS/9 |
Nick
Pei/HWD/0 |
24.189
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2. Baby Seals |
41-1
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Ewan McNay/BRI/8 |
Jason Levine/BAT/0 |
Pete Reese/POG/2 |
George Young/WTP/8 |
18.190
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3. Boarding Party |
79-1
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Ben Knight/TYX/0 |
Roy Gibson/ACS/9 |
Rob Eastman/FDE/0 |
Mike Fitzgerald/HAC/7 |
16.234
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4. Team Delaware |
48-1
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Tim Hitchings/WAS/0 |
Vince Meconi/GBG/1 |
Evan Hitchings/EIS/7 |
Bill Rohrbeck/WSM/7 |
15.129
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5. Band of Fools |
32-1
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Rob Beyma/WAT/7 |
Doug James/TRC/7 |
Tom Gregorio/BWD/1 |
Ray Freeman/WAS/0 |
15.109
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6. Ye Olde Gaming Socity |
53-1
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Doug Galullo/ACV/3 |
Chris Byrd/HRC/1 |
Inger Henning/RBN/8 |
Harald Henning/EPB/2 |
14.165
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7. Ghosts |
49-1
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Dennis Culhane/EOS/6 |
John Wetherell/TWS/0 |
Charley Hickok/HRS/0 |
Larry Lingle/QGB/8 |
14.160
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8. Central Flordia Gamers |
72-1
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Jeff Cornett/E&T/8 |
Scott Cornett/SCT/3 |
Kevin Youells/ACV/2 |
Nick Eckengren/SQL/1 |
14.125
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9. El Cupachabra |
290-1
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Bruce Bernard/VNC/3 |
Brandon Bernard/ABN/9 |
Dave Earls/TWS/0 |
Brian Bernard/ST/0 |
12.299
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10. AREA |
69-1
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Bruno Wolff/TT2/0 |
Bill Thomson/SQL/2 |
John Sharp/VIP/2 |
Ed Menzel/GBG/8 |
12.122
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11. Shockers |
75-1
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Keith Schoose/TWS/0 |
John Popiden/PGG/7 |
Marty Musella/PZB/2 |
Bert Schoose/TRC/2 |
11.129
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12. Three Men & a
Canadian |
61-1
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Brad Johnson/RRY/8 |
Bill Dyer/DUN/0 |
Glenn McMaster/WAS/1 |
Joe Abrams/MOV/2 |
11.175
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13. Greenville Mafia: Death |
60-1
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Davyd Field/TKL/8 |
John Emery/UPF/1 |
Ralph Gleaton/RRY/0 |
Bryan Collars/HIS/1 |
10.187
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14. Da Boys |
53-1
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Harry Flawd/SSB/2 |
Devin Flawd/PDT/8 |
Jordan Flawd/FMR/0 |
Mark Yoshikawa/MMS/0 |
10.184
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15. Greenville Mafia: Pestilence |
88-1
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Ken Richards/HIS/1 |
Dan Lawell/RRY/0 |
Art Field/L14/8 |
Kevin Emery/UPF/0 |
10.175
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16. EPGS 3: Ocean’s Four |
69-1
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Justin Wagner/GSR/0 |
Jim Catsonguay/PGD/9 |
Duane Wagner/BRI/0 |
Alex Bove/Ra/0 |
9.318
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17. CABS 3: Pete’s Angels |
56-1
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Pete Stein/KRM/8 |
Bud Sauer/CNS/0 |
Deb Gutermuth/EPB/0 |
Lisa Gutermuth/FMR/0 |
9.267
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18. Jerseygamers.com |
81-1
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Shantanu Saha/ACV/1 |
Chris Storzillo/ABN/0 |
Ed O’Connor/TRC/0 |
Seth Gunar/SCC/8 |
9.208
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19. Kromp-on-Krewe |
180-1
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Chirs Godfrey/FSE/0 |
Paul McCarthy/VNC/8 |
R Taylor/MMS/0 |
Phil Rodrigues/SUC/1 |
9.106
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20. MVGA |
119-1
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Eric Brosius/MED/0 |
Rich Meyer/EPB/8 |
Jeff Meyer/CYL/0 |
Bob Menzel/SQL/0 |
8.233
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21. Ray & Three
Old Farts |
90-1
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Ray Stakenas/PRO/0 |
Ray Stakenas Jr/UPF/0 |
C. Villeneuve/AOA/0 |
Ken Whitesell/FBS/8 |
8.231
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22. Shockers |
43-1
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John Pack/VIP/2 |
Steve Packwood/776/6 |
Mike Backstrom/SET/0 |
Rich Moyer/BCY/0 |
8.196
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23. All the King’s Men |
39-1
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Paul Risner/B17/8 |
Bruce Monnin/WAS/0 |
Jim Jordan/BRI/0 |
Keith Hunsinger/ATS/0 |
8.151
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24. Woodchucks |
36-1
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Nick Anner/TOC/6 |
Tom Dunning/EPB/0 |
Andy Lewis/SFR/0 |
Rob Winslow/GXY/2 |
8.143
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25. CABS 1: Manly Men |
23-1
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Bruce Reiff/FBS/3 |
Ken Gutermuth/MMS/2 |
Dave Metzger/812/1 |
Jeff Mullet/SJN/2 |
8.133
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