Repeat for Rebel Survivors!

Klavoon brothers capture their second straight KanJam Klassic title

2011 KanJam Klassic Champions

"Rebel Survivors"
Eric Klavoon & Dan Klavoon

Exactly 20 teams competed in the 2011 KanJam Klassic, which marked the 8th year for the tournament.  The tournament took place on April 16th, and was once again held on the indoor soccer field at the Sahlen Sports Park in Elma, NY.  Many familiar faces and teams from the KanJam World Championship participated, making for a competitive event.   In the end, it was the defending champs, Rebel Survivors, composed of Eric and Dan Klavoon, who took home the hammer trophy for the second straight year.  The win marked the second Klassic title for Dan and fourth for Eric.

As with all official KanJam tournaments, all teams competed in the Regular Season "Scramble" round.  Due to the number of teams, no divisions were needed, so teams had the opportunity to play every team once in the regular season.  All regular season matches were shortened games played to 15 points.  PhiLeep, a finals contender in the 2009 Klassic, placed the number one seed overall with a record of 18-2.  LeeAnn Greenauer is the first female player in the 8-year history of the tournament to land a number one seed from the regular season.

The top 12 teams qualified for the playoffs, with the top 4 overall earning a "bye" for the first round.  The top 4 teams from the regular season were:

#1 - PhiLeep - Phil Schneider & LeeAnn Greenauer: 18-2
#2 - Dorkus Malorkus - Bob Greenauer & Josh Greenauer: 17-3
#3 - Rebel Survivors - Eric Klavoon & Dan Klavoon: 16-4
#4 - The Band Jam - Joe Desotelle & Tim Coulter: 15-5

Other notable highlights from the regular season included several instant wins, including two by Alex Reinecke from Da Bubs.  Some other teams with instants wins were A Casual Shoe for Yachting, We're Gipper, Average Joes, Slackers, and Jam ALS.  PhiLeep also defeated The Tainted Goochies in a five overtime round game.  There were also several other games that went to overtime and a handful of perfect games thrown during the regular season.

All playoff games were played to 21 points.  In the first round of the playoffs (Wild Card Round, best of 5 series), the last seeded playoff team (#12 seed), Hebrew Appeal (Scott Silverman & Brian Devine) knocked out the #5 seed, We're Gipper (Alex Keller & Charlie Bellavia), three games to none.  Adam Williams & Nate Schutt of Milo's Minions (#6 seed), defeated #11 seed, Slackers (Jim & Kim Daugherty) three games to one.  Last year's runners-up, Little Lebowski Urban Achievers (Mark Stein & Jackson Trinh) at the #7 seed, took down the #10 seed, The Italian Stallions (Jon Sandino & Brian Ellis) in three games.  In another series sweep, #9 seed, The Reassembled Copperheads (Tom & Nick Popovec) won against the #8 seed, About 5 Yards (Tim Klavoon & Bob Bowers).

With eight teams remaining, the remaining matches would all be best of 7 game series.  In the Quarter-finals, PhiLeep took out Hebrew Appeal, winning the series four games to one.  In a rematch of the 2002 KanJam World Championship finals, Dorkus Malorkus defeated The Reassembled Copperheads, four games to two.  Rebel Survivors got out to an early 2-0 lead against Little Lebowski Urban Achievers in a rematch of the 2010 KanJam Klassic finals.  Little Lebowski bounced back, tying the series at 2-2 and closing out Game 5, leading 21-12 and forcing Rebel Survivors to attempt an instant win.  In a turning point of the series, Dan Klavoon tossed an instant win through the slot to gain momentum and take a 3-2 series lead.  In the next game, both teams matched perfect buckets through three overtime rounds, until Rebel Survivors won the game and series in the 4th overtime round.  In all, both teams combined for 28 consecutive buckets in the final game.  In an upset, Milo's Minions defeated the #4 seed, The Band Jam, sweeping the series 4-0 and moving into the Semi-finals.

Coincidentally, the Final 4 (Semi-finals) featured all players from the Buffalo, NY indoor fall/winter league.  In yet another KanJam World Championship finals rematch (2009), Dorkus Malorkus (#2 seed) faced off against Rebel Survivors (#3 seed).  Rebel Survivors took a commanding 3-0 lead in the series until Dorkus won Game 4.  In Game 5, Rebel Survivors sealed the victory and advanced to the finals for the second straight year.  In the other series, PhiLeep (#1 seed) also started with a 3-0 lead against their counterparts, Milo's Minions (#6 seed), including a win in triple overtime.  Playing at the top of their game, Milo's Minions rebounded to tie the series and force Game 7.  In Game 7, Milo's Minions won the series, becoming the only team in the history of the tournament to win a playoff series after trailing three games to none.  In defeating the number one seed, Milo's Minions earned their first trip to the finals.

2011 KanJam Klassic Runners-Up

"Milo's Minions"
Nate Schutt & Adam Williams

The Finals featured the #3 seed, Rebel Survivors vs. the # 6 seed, Milo's Minions.  In true tradition of the finals, the series was announced.  Although the tournament usually features the KanJam co-inventor as announcer, Paul Swisher was not present and Josh Greenauer from Dorkus Malorkus did a fantastic job filling in.  Scott Silverman from Hebrew Appeal was the referee for the finals.  Milo's Minions continued their hot streak, winning Game 1.  They also closed out Game 2, at a score of 21-16, forcing Rebel Survivors to score exactly 5 points to force overtime.  Sure enough, Rebel Survivors got 5 points on Eric Klavoon's deuce shot, sending the game to overtime where they would eventually win.  With the series tied at 1-1, Rebel Survivors didn't look back, winning the next three games to win the tournament for the second year in a row.  In doing so, Rebel Survivors will continue the tradition of carving their team name and year into the handle of the sledgehammer trophy.  Hats off the Milo's Minions for a great run in their first finals appearance.

Thanks goes out to Paul Swisher and KanJam LLC for their support.  Also, thanks to the staff at the Sahlen Sports Park for their help with setting up the rental.  Proceeds from the tournament were donated to "Carly's Club" at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.  Visit www.carlysclub.org for more information regarding this charity.  Thank you to all participating teams and those that helped with setup, take down, and helping run the tournament.

Special thanks also goes out to all the sponsors for helping making this year's tournament another success.  Here are the sponsors that contributed to this tournament: