By: Jeff Barnes
Not sure if anyone knows, but this Saturday is the Kentucky Derby. Anyone interested in a $100 per person pool to put in and hit big on the race? What is going take place is, I’m going to study the race the best I can and then bet with the money, bet all the money, and then send pictures of the tickets and info on what we bet to everyone that is involved. I’m looking to go crazy and bet a ton of stuff. I’m looking to bet only the trifecta and superfecta, because obviously that pays more money.
Two things dominated the news this week: Ron’s endless "promotion" (read: spam) of his Kentucky Derby pool and the death of Osama bin Laden. If you logged into Facebook at any time during the last week, your news feed was probably flooded with either one. And on top of that, I’m sure there was something else taking up valuable space on your computer screen: The nonstop trolling of Mike Jones on Facebook and the BPONG forums.
For those of you who don’t know Mike Jones, the self-appointed “Pong Guru” enjoys adding his colorful commentary whenever he has the opportunity. He likes to add insightful comments such as “yawn” or “GOMD” whenever he can. But his most popular comment, by far, is “pongbar.”
The controversial idea of the Pong Bar was first developed last year. In essence, the bar attaches to the end of the BPONG table and moves the shooter back one foot. I was not a supporter of the idea, but I could certainly understand the logic in it. But it was Jones’ incessant trolling of the idea which made it one of the least popular beer pong ideas of all time, second only to the elbow rule. http://www.bpong.com/nation/beer-pong-forum/topics/beer-pong-in-general/pong-bar-yay-or-nay
Fast forward a few months to the World Pong Tour announcement that they will be switching to a nine-foot table for the Atlantic City Beer Pong Championship. This decision continues to spark controversy and depending on whom you ask, opinions vary on the subject.
"The controversial idea of the Pong Bar was first developed last year"
We will return to the nine foot discussion in a bit, but first back to the Pong Bar. Because of the switch, I was interested in practicing for Atlantic City on a nine-foot table, but unwilling to spend the money for another table I will use once a year. I immediately thought of the Pong Bar and on April 7, I asked Mike Jones if he really had Pong Bars for sale.
I posted this on his Facebook wall: “So do you really sell pong bars? Seems like it would make more sense to get one rather than get a 9ft table for one tourney. I feel so dirty typing this.”
"I haven't been so let down by 'the future of pong' since Eric Castro fell off
the face of the earth."
What’s crazy is that an idea that I immediately dismissed actually became something I was interested in, and when I found out it wasn’t actually available I was a bit disappointed. Thus ends the story of the Pong Bar, and believe it or not, Mike Jones actually had a pretty decent idea that he could have made a little bit of money on. R.I.P. Pong Bar. I haven’t been so let down by “the future of pong” since Eric Castro fell off the face of the Earth.
Back to the nine-foot table discussion, this is one of the hottest debates currently in the beer pong community. While I know some players in New York and New Jersey have played on the new tables, I’d venture to say that the majority of players have not played a single game on a nine-foot table. I’m sure some of you have created makeshift tables or contraptions similar to the Pong Bar, but it’s not quite the same. I know that no one in Maryland is currently playing on a nine-foot table, and with less than two months to go, a lot of people are going to be in for a rude awakening in Atlantic City.
In an effort to be as objective as possible, I won’t get into my opinion on the switch. I can see its advantages and disadvantages, both of which have been argued more eloquently and more in-depth than I have the space to fully do so here. I think any idea which sparks debate and increases the legitimacy of beer pong on a large scale should be considered.
Unless, of course, that idea comes from Mike Jones. Yawn.
