Spring Break
The Daily OrangeSkill cup: students vie for chance to win Vegas vacation at Chuck's beer pong tournament
By Andy McCullough
Posted: 4/25/07, 2:02 AM EST Section: Feature
Scott Million took a step back from the table and said one word to Alex Perlberg, his beer pong partner.
"Vegas."
Perlberg leaned in and drilled a shot, leaving them just one cup on the other side of the table.
Chuck's Café seems like an odd place to dream about Sin City, but that's what Million, senior marketing major and Perlberg, senior sport management major, were playing for.
A few minutes later, Million sank the last shot and their opponents, Ryan O'Dell, senior accounting major at the University of Rochester, and Jason Fox, senior biology major, missed their chances for a rebuttal.
The winners were bum-rushed by their friends nearby in a group hug, Million's red mesh hat flying off his head as beer sprayed about. A fittingly wild ending to the four-and-a half-hour circus that was the New York State Beer Pong Tour's stop in Syracuse.
The tournament is the brainchild of Sam Pines, a Marist College graduate. Pines parlayed his sports communication degree into a job as "Commissioner" of a beer pong tour, which makes him, depending on your perspective, either an ingenious entrepreneur or a colossal dork.
Either way, he's one of the few people who get to wear a Carlos Beltran jersey to work, which should count for something.
This was the fifth stop on the tour, which had rolled through Buffalo, Ithaca and other Central New York cities before landing at Chuck's. Forty-six teams entered, with the top four receiving prizes. Top prize was a three-day weekend trip to Las Vegas, with second, third and fourth all receiving gift certificates and the like.
The game structure is simple - no bouncing shots, no blow-outs, no death cup. Since there weren't an even number of teams, the final three play in a round robin to determine the winner. Drinking the beer in the cups is always optional, and the tournament does not force anyone to drink.
In an odd convergence of masculine posturing, the massive television screen on the back wall was showing poker.
"Vegas."
Perlberg leaned in and drilled a shot, leaving them just one cup on the other side of the table.
Chuck's Café seems like an odd place to dream about Sin City, but that's what Million, senior marketing major and Perlberg, senior sport management major, were playing for.
A few minutes later, Million sank the last shot and their opponents, Ryan O'Dell, senior accounting major at the University of Rochester, and Jason Fox, senior biology major, missed their chances for a rebuttal.
The winners were bum-rushed by their friends nearby in a group hug, Million's red mesh hat flying off his head as beer sprayed about. A fittingly wild ending to the four-and-a half-hour circus that was the New York State Beer Pong Tour's stop in Syracuse.
The tournament is the brainchild of Sam Pines, a Marist College graduate. Pines parlayed his sports communication degree into a job as "Commissioner" of a beer pong tour, which makes him, depending on your perspective, either an ingenious entrepreneur or a colossal dork.
Either way, he's one of the few people who get to wear a Carlos Beltran jersey to work, which should count for something.
This was the fifth stop on the tour, which had rolled through Buffalo, Ithaca and other Central New York cities before landing at Chuck's. Forty-six teams entered, with the top four receiving prizes. Top prize was a three-day weekend trip to Las Vegas, with second, third and fourth all receiving gift certificates and the like.
The game structure is simple - no bouncing shots, no blow-outs, no death cup. Since there weren't an even number of teams, the final three play in a round robin to determine the winner. Drinking the beer in the cups is always optional, and the tournament does not force anyone to drink.
In an odd convergence of masculine posturing, the massive television screen on the back wall was showing poker.
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