The 2^nd Annual Team Chaos Tennis Tournament continued on its torrid pace toward the finals with 2 key matches now in the books as we move ever closer to the finals.

In the Consolation Bracket (i.e. the Loser’s Bracket) Jon “Ringo” Ringhofer took on Brian Chase in a battle for senior affiliate manager bragging rights.  Chase got out to an early lead, taking the first set 6-1 with a stunning assortment of drop shots and ground strokes.  A clearly surprised Ringhofer spent the short break between sets trying to come up with a viable strategy to get back into the match, when a spectator utilized some incredibly keen observation skills to give him a key piece of advice.  The spectator, sporting a ‘Ringo’s #1 Fan’ t-shirt has attended each of Ringhofer’s matches during the tournament and noticed that a small mechanical flaw had cropped up in his match against Chase.  The fan shouted “Jon, you are right-handed!  Right-handed!”  A light bulb seemed to click on for Ringhofer, as he realized that he was indeed right-handed, but had been playing left-handed during the first set against Chase.  After making the minor adjustment of switching hands, Ringhofer came storming back to take the next two sets and win the match.

During his postgame press conference Ringhofer discussed the mechanical issue.  “As professional tennis players, sometimes we are so focused on every aspect of our games that we don’t notice when a minor flaw in our mechanics crops up,” said Ringo.  “I had gone through all of the obvious factors that could have played into my poor performance in the first set.  The color of my wristbands, the length of my shoelaces, what flavor Gatorade I was drinking, but everything was right on track.  Who would have thought something as simple as switching hands could affect my game so much? ”

In the Winner’s Bracket semi-final match, Steve Richter and Chris Cantzler finally concluded an epic three set battle on Saturday afternoon.  As one would expect when two attorneys take the court, this match was extended by several continuances after the first set was played two weeks ago.  Mr. Richter took that first set 6-3, but Cantzler came back a week later to win the second set 6-4 and set up Saturday’s third set finale.  Under a dazzlingly blue Colorado sky, these two warriors battled back and forth, eventually taking the third set to a tiebreaker.  When the dust settled, Richter emerged victorious 7-6 winning the tiebreaker by a score of 7-1.

Richter’s victory sets up a rematch of last year’s 1^st and 2^nd place finishers, as he will take on Doug Davis in the Winner’s Bracket Final match next week.  But, if you think that will end this historic tournament, you are sorely mistaken.  Because the tournament chose to adopt the obscure ‘Everyone Deserves a Second Chance’ Rule this year, the winner of the Loser’s Bracket will face the winner of the Winner’s Bracket to determine the Double Bracket Champion.

This week, the consolation bracket will feature a great matchup with Scott Richter taking on Chris Cantzler. The winner of that match will move on to face Jon Ringhofer in the Loser’s Bracket semi-final.  That person will take on the loser of the Steve Richter vs. Doug Davis match.  The winner of that match will then advance to the Double Bracket Championship, against the Winner’s Bracket champion.  Not confused enough yet?  Stay tuned for more results in the week ahead!

Filed under: Humor, Outside the Office by Tom Wozniak