Beer Pong on the Rocks
By: Iceman
Week 3: “There’s No Crying in Beer Pong”
By: Iceman
Week 3: “There’s No Crying in Beer Pong”
When he was 36 years old, Tom Hanks said a line that can be applied to just about anything in life when he told the girls of the Rockford Peaches, “there is no crying in baseball.” In 2005, the American Film Institute liked it so much that they listed it as the 54th best movie quote of all time. So what, you might say. What does this have to do with beer pong? Well, it’s because there is no crying in beer pong. No Time For Love Dr. Jones fell to 1-2 on the season after suffering a defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Steamers (Anthony and Dave) in a game that we could have and should have won. Here follows a rather depressing look at the game of beer pong. Although this week I will be a little pessimistic, you can bet your sweet ass that I won’t be shedding any tears over this game.
I’ve said before that beer pong is a game, and games are supposed to be fun, but when is losing ever fun? Some athletes will say that it was an honor just to play in the championship game, but you know that they are just saying that to avoid sounding like a sore loser. Why play the game if you have no intention of winning? Everyone wants to win, but there can never be a team that always wins (unless your team name is the Rusty Taints (Skemp/Keith.) Although we lost, I did learn a very important lesson about beer pong and I also made a big observation about our league.
Iceman’s lesson of the week - Beer pong is as much of a mental game as it is a physical game. Let me explain. Going into week 3, we felt that we would steamroll the Steamers with ease, and we let their season stats get to our heads. We felt that we possessed everything necessary to take home the big W from the Steamers, but apparently they came more prepared to play than we did. It came down to game 3, but we really never had a chance. Prior to the game, I mentally psyched myself out that I wouldn’t have to bring my ‘A’ game to the table in order to win. Once the game had already begun and I started drinking cups, there was no turning back from there. I was mentally out of the game before the game even began. You have to treat every game as if it were the most important game of your life, because one of these days, it will be. We never know when out time on the table is up for good, and trust me; you don’t want to go down like a bitch. You have to go out in a blaze of glory, and this can only be achieved by playing as best as you possibly can in every game. But to stay within my lesson guidelines, this doesn’t mean that you have to take every game seriously and remove the fun from it, it just means that if the game has some form of meaning, you at least have to put forth your best effort.
Pressure – Freddy Mercury and David Bowie sang about being Under Pressure, but I guarantee you that they knew nothing about the pressure that we were under. I’ll let it be known that this pressure is all self-generated by Joey Kanz and myself and we could be pressure free if only we allowed ourselves to mentally block it out. Joey Kanz performed outstanding in week 2, and even got himself a Player of the Week Award, but felt the pressure to live up to that in week 3. I’ve put myself under a lot of pressure to not only live up to the promises that I made to Kanz, but to also prove to people why I was considered a “legend”, “the face of the beer pong league”, a veteran beer pong player, etc. I’ve been mentally putting myself up on a pedestal, and it is entirely my fault every single time that I have fallen down from it. I appreciate the kind words from everyone, and although I am the Man of Ice, I’m still just a normal human being just like the rest of you. Well, maybe not Balkman. There’s something unreal about that guy…
Skill – Is it just me or has everyone’s skill level increased in this league? I am blown away by the amount of talent that fills the House on Friday nights for league matches. When I first started playing, shooting 50% was having a good night. Season 1 + 2 stats are not yet updated on the new site so I can’t verify the validity of this statement, but I’ll bet that there weren’t many people who shot above 50% in the first couple of seasons. I know that I only shot 39% in season 2 (my rookie year) and I thought that it was pretty damn good. This is no longer a league of amateurs, we’re all playing like professionals and it has made this league ultra competitive. In a way I like it because that means that any team has an equal chance at winning, but at the same time I’m upset because it no longer means that I am good at beer pong. I guess I’ll go back to distributing ice, but it’s been so long since I’ve done it that I worry that I’ve forgotten how.
Stay positive and confident – you and only you know how good you are. The only person that can beat you at your own game is yourself. I’ve previously mentioned something along these lines when I said that I shoot better cross-court, which really has no ground, but mentally I have convinced myself that I cannot shoot straight forward. I’m confident in my cross-court shooting, so I stick with it. What has worked for me in the past stills works for me in the present, so why change anything for the future? I try to keep a positive attitude and do my best when I play.
There’s probably more that I could tell you, but I’ll save it for another article. That’s your reward for sticking it through all the way to the last sentence of my last one. I hope that you enjoyed reading it, because I certainly enjoyed writing it.
You know what really grinds my gears? – being old. You veterans know what I’m talking about. Someday all of you youngsters will get to be my age and realize that it takes a full day to recover after a long night of beer pong. When I wake up on Saturday morning after playing pong until 3 am, I can barely function. Luckily the only thing that I have planned for my Saturdays is a Saved by the Bell marathon that I have set up on my DVR. Either I have to cut back on my exhibition play (likely to happen) or find the Fountain of Youth and revert back to a time when I could drink like a champ and have no side effects the next day (unlikely to happen.) Eventually, my body will tell me that it can no longer handle my beer pong habbit, and I will have to cease my play. Although I can see the end, I’m still not ready to call it quite. Just don’t make plans with me for Saturday. Nothing comes between me and my Saved by the Bell DVR marathon…
Iceman’s shout-outs –
Anthony/Dave – When preparing to play you this week I underestimated your skill level. I am impressed with your style of game play and your improvements that you have made on the table. This was one of those games where we straight up got beat by a better team. I hope that we don’t meet up in the playoffs because I don’t want to be sent home before my time is up.
Lorge/Casey – for being the best 0-3 team in the history of beer pong. I know on paper it looks bad, but I know you guys can pull it together and finish at a respectable 3-3. Regardless of the outcome, I’m incredibly thankful for everything that you have done for this league and all of the work that you both have put in to it to make it a legitimate organization. Without your hard work, we would still be 12-16 friends goofing around in a cold attic on random nights.
Iceman – for my week 2 article. I consider it to be my ‘piece de resistance’ (the outstanding item, prize piece or main exhibit in a collection) of Beer Pong on the Rocks. I know you probably think it’s lame to give a shout out to myself, but I’m proud of my 5 page single spaced article about beer pong. If only I worked this hard at schoolwork, then I wouldn’t be in my 7th year of college.
Everyone in league – at the mid-season point, it is nice to reflect back upon what has happened so far. I realize now that I’m not in this league for the beer pong; I’m in it for the people. Every week you all remind me why I keep coming here to play this game. It’s so nice to see your smiling faces, share some interesting stories, talk Brewers baseball and even to see a little skin as the night wears down. I can happily call you all my friends and I look forward to the next 3 weeks (plus playoffs.)
Well, it’s time for me to rock and ride my friends, so I guess I’ll see you next time. Until then –
I’ve said before that beer pong is a game, and games are supposed to be fun, but when is losing ever fun? Some athletes will say that it was an honor just to play in the championship game, but you know that they are just saying that to avoid sounding like a sore loser. Why play the game if you have no intention of winning? Everyone wants to win, but there can never be a team that always wins (unless your team name is the Rusty Taints (Skemp/Keith.) Although we lost, I did learn a very important lesson about beer pong and I also made a big observation about our league.
Iceman’s lesson of the week - Beer pong is as much of a mental game as it is a physical game. Let me explain. Going into week 3, we felt that we would steamroll the Steamers with ease, and we let their season stats get to our heads. We felt that we possessed everything necessary to take home the big W from the Steamers, but apparently they came more prepared to play than we did. It came down to game 3, but we really never had a chance. Prior to the game, I mentally psyched myself out that I wouldn’t have to bring my ‘A’ game to the table in order to win. Once the game had already begun and I started drinking cups, there was no turning back from there. I was mentally out of the game before the game even began. You have to treat every game as if it were the most important game of your life, because one of these days, it will be. We never know when out time on the table is up for good, and trust me; you don’t want to go down like a bitch. You have to go out in a blaze of glory, and this can only be achieved by playing as best as you possibly can in every game. But to stay within my lesson guidelines, this doesn’t mean that you have to take every game seriously and remove the fun from it, it just means that if the game has some form of meaning, you at least have to put forth your best effort.
Pressure – Freddy Mercury and David Bowie sang about being Under Pressure, but I guarantee you that they knew nothing about the pressure that we were under. I’ll let it be known that this pressure is all self-generated by Joey Kanz and myself and we could be pressure free if only we allowed ourselves to mentally block it out. Joey Kanz performed outstanding in week 2, and even got himself a Player of the Week Award, but felt the pressure to live up to that in week 3. I’ve put myself under a lot of pressure to not only live up to the promises that I made to Kanz, but to also prove to people why I was considered a “legend”, “the face of the beer pong league”, a veteran beer pong player, etc. I’ve been mentally putting myself up on a pedestal, and it is entirely my fault every single time that I have fallen down from it. I appreciate the kind words from everyone, and although I am the Man of Ice, I’m still just a normal human being just like the rest of you. Well, maybe not Balkman. There’s something unreal about that guy…
Skill – Is it just me or has everyone’s skill level increased in this league? I am blown away by the amount of talent that fills the House on Friday nights for league matches. When I first started playing, shooting 50% was having a good night. Season 1 + 2 stats are not yet updated on the new site so I can’t verify the validity of this statement, but I’ll bet that there weren’t many people who shot above 50% in the first couple of seasons. I know that I only shot 39% in season 2 (my rookie year) and I thought that it was pretty damn good. This is no longer a league of amateurs, we’re all playing like professionals and it has made this league ultra competitive. In a way I like it because that means that any team has an equal chance at winning, but at the same time I’m upset because it no longer means that I am good at beer pong. I guess I’ll go back to distributing ice, but it’s been so long since I’ve done it that I worry that I’ve forgotten how.
Stay positive and confident – you and only you know how good you are. The only person that can beat you at your own game is yourself. I’ve previously mentioned something along these lines when I said that I shoot better cross-court, which really has no ground, but mentally I have convinced myself that I cannot shoot straight forward. I’m confident in my cross-court shooting, so I stick with it. What has worked for me in the past stills works for me in the present, so why change anything for the future? I try to keep a positive attitude and do my best when I play.
There’s probably more that I could tell you, but I’ll save it for another article. That’s your reward for sticking it through all the way to the last sentence of my last one. I hope that you enjoyed reading it, because I certainly enjoyed writing it.
You know what really grinds my gears? – being old. You veterans know what I’m talking about. Someday all of you youngsters will get to be my age and realize that it takes a full day to recover after a long night of beer pong. When I wake up on Saturday morning after playing pong until 3 am, I can barely function. Luckily the only thing that I have planned for my Saturdays is a Saved by the Bell marathon that I have set up on my DVR. Either I have to cut back on my exhibition play (likely to happen) or find the Fountain of Youth and revert back to a time when I could drink like a champ and have no side effects the next day (unlikely to happen.) Eventually, my body will tell me that it can no longer handle my beer pong habbit, and I will have to cease my play. Although I can see the end, I’m still not ready to call it quite. Just don’t make plans with me for Saturday. Nothing comes between me and my Saved by the Bell DVR marathon…
Iceman’s shout-outs –
Anthony/Dave – When preparing to play you this week I underestimated your skill level. I am impressed with your style of game play and your improvements that you have made on the table. This was one of those games where we straight up got beat by a better team. I hope that we don’t meet up in the playoffs because I don’t want to be sent home before my time is up.
Lorge/Casey – for being the best 0-3 team in the history of beer pong. I know on paper it looks bad, but I know you guys can pull it together and finish at a respectable 3-3. Regardless of the outcome, I’m incredibly thankful for everything that you have done for this league and all of the work that you both have put in to it to make it a legitimate organization. Without your hard work, we would still be 12-16 friends goofing around in a cold attic on random nights.
Iceman – for my week 2 article. I consider it to be my ‘piece de resistance’ (the outstanding item, prize piece or main exhibit in a collection) of Beer Pong on the Rocks. I know you probably think it’s lame to give a shout out to myself, but I’m proud of my 5 page single spaced article about beer pong. If only I worked this hard at schoolwork, then I wouldn’t be in my 7th year of college.
Everyone in league – at the mid-season point, it is nice to reflect back upon what has happened so far. I realize now that I’m not in this league for the beer pong; I’m in it for the people. Every week you all remind me why I keep coming here to play this game. It’s so nice to see your smiling faces, share some interesting stories, talk Brewers baseball and even to see a little skin as the night wears down. I can happily call you all my friends and I look forward to the next 3 weeks (plus playoffs.)
Well, it’s time for me to rock and ride my friends, so I guess I’ll see you next time. Until then –
If your diamonds ain't shining that put that shit up
1-800-Iceman - ice yourself up
– Iceman –
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