The national Beer Pong League

By: Jeff Barnes, BPONG Contributing Writer

They say the slowest time of the year for sports fans is the period between the MLB All-Star Game and the beginning of training camp for the NFL. Unless you’re lucky and cheer for a team like the Baltimore Orioles, chances are your favorite baseball team is already out of contention by July.

For most beer pong enthusiasts, however, we consider the time beginning January and until right about now the slowest part of the beer pong year. The beer pong “offseason” begins for most of us with that last rebuttal shot at the World Series of Beer Pong in Las Vegas. If you were one of the lucky few that managed to not get sick or take your body to the absolute limits, chances are you still feel sick about the way the tournament played out. You think about the games that you could have played better in, but mostly about the games your partner should have played better in. You wonder if you are going to have to find a new partner. You wonder if all the practice and time is worth it. A lot of us have even gone as far as to retire, only to come back and play tournaments a week later. We’ve all been there.

One morning, we wake up and the sun is shining and the snow is melting. Spring has arrived. Even though we haven’t played in weeks, we see those thousand-dollar tournaments start popping up and get excited. We hear whispers of the Beast of the East and Best of the West squads and don’t want to feel left out. Major tournaments start popping up all around the country. We start making amends with our partners, when possible. Then we focus on our next goal: Getting back to the World Series of Beer Pong. And then we do it all again.

For most outsiders, they don’t understand why we do it. We tell our friends and co-workers we’re flying out to Vegas for a beer pong tournament and they look at us like we’re crazy. We reschedule date nights with our girlfriends and wives to accommodate Satellite™ tournaments and they just don’t get it. Although many players are first attracted to the game because of the drinking aspect, we stick with it because of the competition, the friendship, and let’s face it; we all want the opportunity to party with a transsexual.

At first glance, it doesn’t seem like there is much to write about when it comes to the sport of beer pong. You’re throwing a ball into a cup. After all, it’s not rocket science. Taken at face value, it’s a silly game. A deeper look reveals that beer pong truly is a fascinating sport. Behind the tournaments and teams is an eclectic collection of people and characters. You’ve got drama, humor, sex, thrilling triumphs, and agonizing defeats. Hollywood couldn’t write some of the things you see on the BPONG forums and Facebook posts on a daily basis.

Although most people think of the World Series of Beer Pong when they think of BPONG, that’s only part of it. The real legacy is the dynamic community that Billy, Duncan, Skinny and the rest of the BPONG team have created. They’ve continually found ways to innovate the sport while maintaining the same foundation we grew to love. Although I don’t know much, the things that I do know are on the horizon will ensure that BPONG remains “the center of the beer pong universe.”

With so much unfolding daily in the beer pong community, it’s hard to keep track of everything going on. As the sport continues to grow, it will become even more difficult. As large scale tournaments are scheduled, as dream teams fold and more dream teams are created, as rising stars appear out of nowhere and take the beer pong world by storm and as rumors fly, BPONG’s new “Friday Rebuttal” will be a humorous weekly recap of what’s going on around the beer pong universe. So if you’ve got something you think the world would like to read about, please feel free to let us know.

We will also be spotlighting a different beer pong player on the website every Monday. Expect to see some familiar faces, but also some up-and-coming players you may not recognize. If you’d like to be considered for a profile, again please let us know.

In the meantime, good luck to everyone competing this weekend, whether it’s a house party or for a trip to the World Series of Beer Pong VII. The offseason is over… it’s time to do work.