2007 Roofball U.S. Open
On 09-09-2007
TV cameras roll as Emmons wins 2nd title
Posted: 09-11-2007 (modified: 10-14-2007)
Buddy Emmons (right) holds the spoils of victory after defeating Reuben Schug (left) in their second straight championship match-up
Second verse, same as the first.
Robert “Buddy” Emmons III's catch in the bottom of the 10th inning of the Championship Game gave him a 32-31 victory over
Reuben Schug, and earned Emmons the
2007 Roofball U.S. Open championship; his 2nd straight Roofball title and first career U.S. Open gold medal.
Television cameras from TVC-TV recorded the event, making the 2007 U.S. Open the first Roofball tournament ever to be taped specifically for future television broadcast.
Schug trailed 31-30 going into the 10th but managed only a catch in the top half of the inning, putting Emmons in position to win the title with a simple catch.
The runner-up finish was the third in three career tournaments for Schug and completed a dubious sweep – Schug finished 2nd in all three major Roofball tournaments in 2007.
Michael Carnes took home the bronze medal, but almost eliminated himself earlier n the tournament. Believing he’d missed out on a wild card spot after the 2nd round, Carnes was on his bike and preparing to pedal away from the tournament, but was informed just in time that he’d advanced to the Semifinals.
The Championship match-up was a first-of-its-kind rematch in the sport, as Schug and Emmons reprised their clash in the
2007 RFA Cup title game. The rematch was not only the first time players faced each other in back-to-back Championships; it was also the first Championship rematch of any kind in Roofball history.
Although not as high-scoring as their first match-up, Emmons-Schug II bore distinct similarities to the first meeting. As in the first, Schug took an early lead. Emmons scored a 3rd-inning around that gave him the lead, but Schug’s 5th-inning around put him in front by 5 through six innings – exactly the margin he led by after six innings in the RFA Cup final.
Schug pinged in the top of the 8th inning and Emmons made only a catch in the bottom of the 8th, leaving Schug up 29-25 going into the 9th. But with a chance to put real distance between himself and Emmons, Schug only put up a catch.
Emmons’s ping and catch in the bottom of the 9th gave him a 31-30 lead and set the stage for the final inning.
The 2007 U.S. Open was marked by unusually high scoring for some and unusually early departures for others.
Buddy Emmons put up twin scores of 42 in his first two games and twin 56’s in his next two before posting a 32 in the title game. His tournament average score of 45.6 was the third highest in Roofball history, and his 56-point games tied for the 15th-highest scoring games of all time.
Daniel “Danno” O'Reilly posted a tournament-high 61 points in his 2nd round game, the 8th-best single-game score of all time, and newcomer
Elyse Dodsen won the Women’s Championship after posting a 37 in the 1st round, tying
Elizabeth Willis’s eight year-old record for most points in a game by a woman.
Adam Willis posted a score of 20 in his 1st round game and was knocked out after the 1st round for the first time ever in his Roofball career. The founder has played in all 19 Roofball tournaments.
Four-time champion
Casey Campbell was knocked out after the 1st round for only the second time in his career after posting a score of nine. 2004 and 2005 U.S. Open runner-up
Dustin Sievers also posted a nine, a new career-low score, and exited after the 1st round for the first time in his nine-tournament career.
Notes: Schug did take home his first career time trial title, narrowly edging out Emmons. Schug's score of 43 just bested Emmons's 41, with Emmons throwing a late ping that would have won him the clock as well, but was ruled to have been thrown after time had expired.
With six arounds in the tournament, Buddy Emmons overtook Adam Willis for the lead in career arounds with 46.
