Elodin and Grin atop the leaderboards? Not while The Big Ragu is on watch. I'm ready for my moment of glory, Sir Charles, I am limbered up, massaged, hydrated and ready to rumble. Forget my warm-up round, this one is for real. Unless I roll an ankle or something, then I'll need a 3rd round to make good. Sometimes you can't help those things. Is this court level? I could swear it's on an angle. 

Count me in Charles. I'm down to shoot some hoops.

Diego hears the whoops and roars from the gathering crowd. Wondering why Zapata has run off in a silk, he decided to investigate.

I'll step up to get the ball rolling (all pun intended) for L.A.

Starts limbering up

Next up for the great city of Philadelphia, that’s right.  It isn’t Evening…it’s the king of everything sweet - Sisyphus,  Let’s see if his three pointer is as good as his chocolate!

Sisyphus trundled over to the first rack oozing confidence.

Rack 1 – This is what it’s all about! Sweet as the chocolate he makes! All five…right through the middle of the net.  The only sound is the ball hitting the floor afterwards!
Rack 2 – Oh no!  He missed one!  Who knew he could!  JimmyTheWeed has been sitting pretty for a while now but is Sisyphus the one to challenge him?  Four more points and good god is he looking great!
Rack 3 – Is this the inevitable drop off?  Could this rack knock Sisyphus off his stride and give Jimmy a chance?  None of this rack was pretty.  Lots of rattling and clanging.  Poor guy, only managed two points! But…still up on Jimmy!
Rack 4 – Scritchy and scratchy…again!  A bobble in, a bobble out and it could have been so different but Sisyphus managed three points!  That takes him level with JimmyTheWeed.  He only needs one more point from the last rack!!
Rack 5 – Well Jimmy, that was good while it lasted!  Unfortunately Sisyphus has taken the lead with a great last rack under pressure.  Compare that to Grin-07’s attempt when it mattered!  Four points for Sisyphus!  Great job!

PH Leaderboard
1 – Sisyphus 18 points
2 – JimmyTheWeed 14 points
3 – Mercury 13 points

My stay at the top may only have been temporary but to be outdone by a raccoon out of all things is something that I can not accept. Hit me up with another round as well Charles_Barkley.

Basketball was indeed his favorite sport and Sisyphus had been training since a young boy to learn the art of the hoop. That's why when the competition finally came onto his radar, he decided to give it a try. It only took one attempt to pull the first place for the city of Philadelphia, but he knew that he would not be the last.

If need be, I will ball again. I will ball so hard.

For now though he was content with his 18 points. Surely it would take a lot of skill to overcome that, and he wasn't too worried as who had more skill than him?

Next up it up is Zapata trying to best Elodin.  This is turning into a real grudge contest for the city but a treat for all sports fans.

Zapata stood by the first rack and rubbed his hands together.

Rack 1 – With a look of killer concentration in his eyes, Zapata took aim.  Presumably thinking every shot was landing square on Elodin’s head he makes four out of the five shots.  Looking at Elodin’s first rack Zapata was doing well.  The raccoon should be worried.

Rack 2 – Focus…complete focus on the job at hand.  That was the Zapata way.  He might not have the consistency to match but god loves a trier…three streaky baskets.  Not pretty but effective.  Elodin looked like he was squirming in the hotseat a little.  He had his lucky hot streak to fall back on he hoped but a couple more good racks would see him losing again!

Rack 3 – Ooh…under pressure…pushing down on you…words going through Chuck’s head as Zapata’s knees look a little weak.  There wasn’t the same oomph as in rack 1.  Only making a couple of baskets, was really starting to put the squeeze on Zapata’s head.  It really needed to be a couple of big racks now.  Just like Elodin!

Rack 4 – Was this going to be enough?  A couple of misses had Zapata looking tighter than a bowstring.  Three points, it was good enough to have done well earlier but now he couldn’t afford to miss one shot.

Rack 5 – The crowd looked round.  What was that?  The sound of a bottle crashing caused the entire crowd to silence.  Zapata couldn’t even manage one basket.  He’d done a Grin!  Wow, Elodin really put a squeeze on people like a furry vice!

CH Leaderboard
1 – Elodin 16 points
2 – Grin-07 13 points
3 – Zapata 12 points

One time Chicago leader AidenPearce decided now was the time to go for his second chance.  The circumstances were different now.  Elodin was really starting to flaunt his lead…sitting on the hotseat, manspreading as much as a raccoon could.

AidenPearce stood waiting, staring into space.

Rack 1 – Hmmm…this was not the start of someone in great shape for the trials to come and certainly not wanting to shoot his way out of Chicago.  One point…un point…whichever language you wanted it put, missing four shots was not textbook winning form.

Rack 2 – Well it was better, if the definition of better was it couldn’t really be much worse.  Two points in this one.  The resigned slouch of the shoulders told the restless crowd all they needed to know.  Aiden would need to be almost perfect over the last three racks to get his lead back.  Collectively the crowd crossed their fingers.

Rack 3 – Ah well.  You know, it’s good for Aiden to be here showing that maybe just turning up and trying was good enough.  In the crucible of Chuck’s championship, only getting one point for his third round meant he was in no position to challenge Elodin.  The crowd turned their attention to the knitting and magazines they had brought to while away the time between contests.

Rack 4 – Better to come late to the party than not at all?  Maybe…but the four points Aiden picks up would have been better earlier and given the onlookers some hope that this would be a good effort.  Alas poor Aiden.  Not tonight Josephine.

Rack 5 – All props to Aiden for not just walking away from the fight.  He still has one attempt to get to the top of the board so using this as some shooting practice might not be the worst idea.  Fair play Aiden but no leaderboard for you.

CH Leaderboard
1 – Elodin 16 points
2 – Grin-07 13 points
3 – Zapata 12 points

The Philly contest was a slow simmering one, Evening had yet to show her hand but Sisyphus’ efforts looked like they might blow people out of the water.  Onto this stage strode Ghus the goliath!  Surely he could knock Sisyphus off his rock.

Ghus stood patiently waiting for the crowd to simmer down.

Rack 1 – The pressure of the first rack was pretty high as always.  A good start could set you up well and a slow one was like walking through thick mud.  Ghus had a slow one.  He only managed a couple of baskets to start off with.  Way behind where Sisyphus had started.

Rack 2 – Things went from bad to worse for Ghus.  He scored half as much as the first rack.  Maybe this was his sighting attempt…get a feel for the crowd, the atmosphere and the balls.  C’mon Ghus, let’s see what you can do!

Rack 3 – Much much better.  Maybe he was happier with the view, maybe the balls felt better…but four baskets was what the crowd wanted to see and started to get behind his attempts!

Rack 4 – Ach well…remember the pattern…half of rack one for rack two?  Well Ghus picks up half of rack three in rack four.  It is starting to fizzle out a little.  Sisyphus’ score is definitely not under threat but Ghus has taken part at least.

Rack 5 – Half of two?  One point.  A disappointing end but onwards and upwards for Ghus.  Things must surely be better if he has another go.

PH Leaderboard
1 – Sisyphus 18 points
2 – JimmyTheWeed 14 points
3 – Mercury 13 points

Hey Charles_Barkley, on top of having the top 3 of each city, maybe you could keep the top 3 worst attempts among all contestants ? And have a small consolation prize for these poor souls ? Like a PP perk to try to get some skills elsewhere, or a wack perk to have much needed second chances when shooting. 

I mean, you obviously lack speech content right now, so a little bit of additional work would be welcome, I am sure ! coughs

Well here is DiegoCortez.  The first of the LA crowd to venture forth.  Good luck to you Diego.

Diego eyed up the view of the basket from the first rack.

Rack 1 – The first rack was giving people problems and Diego was no different.  He only managed two points.  The crowd murmured a little.

Rack 2 – Diego definitely needs some practice and a lot more luck.  Taking inspiration from LA’s finest Shaq, Diego missed all his attempts.  Maybe he was better in the paint but on this showing he was going to be lucky to progress to show it!

Rack 3 – Another low scoring rack.  One point.  Not much to say other than Diego getting no luck at all.  There is always rack 4.

Rack 4 – Ah well…another single point round.  Just as well there has been nobody else in LA so far so no matter what happens, Diego will finish at the top of the leaderboard.

Rack 5 – Oooh now, where was this at the start.  A super-duper showing to finish off and let the good folks of LA know that if they want to do well and qualify, dazzling Diego can be sparked into life!  Four majestic points and he puts up a semi decent early score.

LA Leaderboard

1 – DiegoCortez 8 points

Diego storms off after his rubbish attempt.

This is why there will never be a famous basketball team in L.A.

Chuck looked nervous, Nipsey was the first name up for his home city Seattle.  Expectations were going to be quite high.  He hoped it was going to be a high score that came out of here to show the dominance he was famed for.

Nipsey looked slightly nervous at the first rack.

Rack 1 – Chuck would look back at the end of the day but he couldn’t remember whether anyone challenging for the lead made anything other than a good score at the first rack.  Elodin started slowly but maybe not this slow.  Two attempts were made.  Chuck made these things look easy but Nipsey made three point shooting look hard!

Rack 2 – Not much better…Chuck was a hard taskmaster and grimaced at the clanging sound.  Even though there was more bobbling around the hoop, still only two dropped.

Rack 3 – Nipsey was looking happier.  Three of his shots went in.  It wasn’t spectacular but it was solid….like the fable, he didn’t need to be the fastest of point scorers to get the win!  Maybe that would be the case here but West was still to appear.

Rack 4 – Rack 3 looked like the peak of a fairly flat curve as far as observable skills went.  Still more clanging than swishing.  Two more points which was par for this particular course.

Rack 5 – Chuck could see Nipsey needed to work on his fitness as the visible tiredness crept into his attempts.  He only managed one point but as starters go…a double digit score was perfectly acceptable.

SEA Leaderboard

1 – Nipsey 10 points

After watching DiegoCortez make a fool of himself, harison decides to step up and show off his skills and unleash his secret weapon:  the granny shot!!!!

I'm ready Chuck!  Let's do this! 

harison peels off several bills and gives Charles_Barkley his entry fee

Nipsey wiped off his sweat.

"Okay that was just a warm up. Let me stretch, and I'll do this again."

Mercury strode confidently out to her third and final attempt and looked Chuck squarely in the eye before directing her focus on the hoop.

Rack 1 – Nerves jangled and twanged.  Mercury really was not at the races on this rack.  Nothing was too far away but very little went right.  Only one attempt went down.  It was going to be a long hard journey to beating her initial nemesis JimmyTheWeed let alone overtaking Sisyphus.  She did not look amused!

Rack 2 – CONTROVERSY!! Mercury rejected the entire rack!  She just walked to it after her disappointing first rack and pushed it over in rage.  No points obviously!

Rack 3 – The last two racks were obviously bothering her because she missed every single attempt.  The crowd were aghast, Chuck was too busy helping pick up the balls from rack 2 and the ones bouncing off the rim and backboard to be able to help calm Mercury down.

Rack 4 – A few deep breaths and Mercury seemed to regain some composure.  Composure enough to score three points but it was all moot given the issues in racks one to three.  Such a shame.

Rack 5 – The end to a very strange sequence of events.  Chuck was pleased that she managed to get one point before finishing.  A grand total of five points was not the way he wanted it to end for her but lots of thanks were due to Mercury for coming along and taking part.

PH Leaderboard
1 – Sisyphus 18 points
2 – JimmyTheWeed 14 points
3 – Mercury 13 points

Like a prize fighter descending from the changing room, Evening strode out like a gladiatorial colossus.  This was where she was meant to be, on the sports arena.  She had told golf to fuck off but basketball was something she could embrace.

She calmed herself in front of the hushed crowds

Rack 1 – Evening showed exactly why she needed to be here doing this….she needed all the practice she could get.  At least this way she could see where the hoop was and how far she had to throw it.  Her one point was a very worthy reward for the effort she had put in before coming!

Rack 2 – Like deep sea divers attempting to plumb deeper depths, Evening was on a mission to see what the lower limit of her prowess was.  Other than rolling the ball towards where the hoop stood, there was not much more she could have done worse.  Every single one missed.  Terrible luck really but maybe just maybe Evening was stress testing the worst aspects of her game so she knew not to go there again.

Rack 3 – A return to normal.  Not exactly the normal Chuck hoped Evening would reach but maybe a normal for her.  Again, it looked fairly hopeless…bereft of hope rather than rubbish as she only managed one successful attempt.

Rack 4 – In the words of a semi successful wordsmith, things can only get better.  And Evening certainly showed that by scoring as many in this one as she had in the previous three racks combined!  Two whole points!

Rack 5 – The crowd were definitely looking to cheer on a plucky competitor and they got their rewards with Evening’s fifth rack!  Four.  YES!  FOUR baskets made.  Well done plucky Evening.  May the hoop gods smile better on your next attempt!

PH Leaderboard
1 – Sisyphus 18 points
2 – JimmyTheWeed 14 points
3 – Mercury 13 points

 

@Ghus watched the crowd’s reaction to Evening’s first attempt and turned round hoping that the energy would propel him, well the ball, to greater heights. 

He stood serenely as he gathered his thoughts...looking from the rack to the hoop...positive mental visualisation. 

Rack 1 - Ghus’ serenity exercise seemed to work well to start off with, starting off more relaxed and more successfully. Basket after basket but the rhythm was lost after getting three points. He would need more of the same to get close to Sisyphus. 

Rack 2 - Ghus concentrated on every shot but his luck was out. A bad bounce here and there meant he could only muster a point from this rack. Ghus couldn’t afford to miss one shot from here. 

Rack 3 - Wow if this is how Ghus reacts under pressure!! Just wow!  Everything swished in, it was looking hopeful…optimism swelling as Ghus took shot after shot. 

Rack 4 - The run continued. After all five of the previous rack made it in, the next two were just as sweet but like a long boiled kettle, Ghus eventually ran out of steam.  Nothing else went right and Sisyphus rested easy. 

Rack 5 - Ghus looked be enjoying himself even though he was missing more than he made. The last rack was another two pointer but he left to the adulation of the crowd after his run in the middle. 

PH Leaderboard

1 – Sisyphus 18 points

2 – JimmyTheWeed 14 points

3 – Ghus 13 points

The LA portion of the crowd cheered wildly as harison bounded down towards the racks. Here was the chance to start work on building a great Los Angeles score. Competition being a great thing. DiegoCortez sat patiently hoping for a harison calamity. 

harison eyeballed the hoop and declared himself ready to start. 

Rack 1 - harison obviously knew his arse from his elbow as far as three pointers were concerned. Taking a relaxed approach, he blocked out the boos and whistles from some of Diego’s fans and calmly slotted in some baskets. Three of them, opening up a small lead over Diego. 

Rack 2 - the second rack was troublesome this time but despite the misses, harison kept it together and the one point he did make helped extend his wee lead. He could smell the faint whiff of success. 

Rack 3 -  now harison was starting to motor a little bit and get a rhythm going. Not as sweet as Chuck would have or even the great Larry Bird but it did a job in the circumstances. With one shot missed, Diego sat there knowing that if harison made one shot in the last two racks, he would have the lead and harison knew this. 

Rack 4 - taking a second to compose himself, harison took the feeling from the last rack and replicated it putting Diego to the sword easily. Another sweet four points.

Rack 5 - with tiredness setting in and maybe not wanting to humiliate his fellow Los Angelino harison seems to be less bothered about this rack knowing he had it in the bag.  He rounded his racks off with one more basket. 

LA Leaderboard

1 - harison 13 points

2 - DiegoCortez 8 points

Nipsey turned on his heels and decided it was time to put the hammer into Seattle and consolidate his position while had the chance. He’d looked at the other leading scores and decided 10 wasn’t going to cut it. Maybe in Edge’s New York or Clarkson’s Vegas where there was no real basketball to speak of. 

Nipsey tried to stare out the hoop...total focus. 

Rack 1 - His nerves in the first rack the last time had disappeared and he was calm enough to drop three baskets fairly early. There was a definite calm about him. 

Rack 2 - This time Corporal Consistent was out on patrol. None of the low levels of his first attempts either. Just more baskets. Three again!  

Rack 3 - If mobsterring didn’t work out for Nipsey, some ball work could be on offer, maybe not NBA... or not West ern conference anyway but something out east. He left rack 3 with four more points. Already at the score for his first attempt 

Rack 4 - Some people go for the jugular when they get level. Some back off. Nipsey was the latter. His standard dropped off a bit. The aiming bit looser and only getting one point. There was still a chance he could  leave the door open for someone to come through. 

Rack 5 - Nipsey took a quick look at himself and decided he needed to pay attention but his head had checked out for the night and was out clubbing. Goodness knows how he managed to get two points... maybe there was sole skills there after all!

SEA Leaderboard

1 - Nipsey 13 points