The Competitors resumed basketball yesterday after a slight break in the action to allow Matthew's injured ankle to heal. Monday morning they hit the court to pick up where they left off in game eight, Matthew: 9, Joel: 2. Matthew put all thoughts of the recently injured ankle out of anyone's head when he expanded his lead even more making the game 15 - 2. Joel did what he could to try to get back into the game but the whole was too big and Matthew ended up taking the game 21 - 13 and extend his lead in the series making it 5 games to 3.

Yesterday morning Matthew Pinckney was feeling good, he was leading the important basketball series 4 games to 3, and he was playing perhaps his best game yet, ahead of Joel 9 - 2 and in control of the game. But things took a solemn turn for Matthew and the Epic competition as a whole very quickly. Matthew drove to the hoop in attempts to extend his lead and in the midst of that drive he went to change directions attempting to avoid Joel's defense. As he cut to his left his foot betrayed him, rolling over onto it's side. Matthew, in mid cut, couldn't stop his massive momentum and his foot was crushed into the asphalt, twisting over in a stomach churning fashion. He fell to the ground and grabbed the ankle, unable to contain the blood-curdling shrieks of pain. He quickly regained composer and got up, attempting to walk it off. When he thought he could contain the torment and go on playing he asked for the basketball, "Let me test it," he said. He took the ball and ran as if he were driving to the hoop, then attempted to pull up and shoot, but it was in vein. His ankle failed him, biting his nerves like a ravenous wolf after catching his helpless prey.

Joel pads the cushion in what proved to be a huge Free-Scoot Combine.

Matthew and Joel hit the court today for the first session of the second primary sport: basketball. It would be a big sport for both players, Matthew still trying to make up ground after being crushed by Joel in Disc Golf, and Joel trying to cushion his lead and stop Matthew's vicious comeback.

After holding a slight lead due to victories in Friscup and Exactitude Matthew was brought down to earth on just how much Joel crushed him in Disc Golf. Joel's win brought him 2 points away from getting the most possible points one can get in any sport and it had catapulted Joel to a 148 - 72 lead over the Disc Golf-incompetent Matthew. But there was hope. He had been successful in the secondary sports and there were 21 secondary sports and only one Disc Golf competition. There would be plenty of opportunities to make up points. One such opportunity was given right after the two returned from Disc Golf. They grabbed their Scooters and headed out for 
The Glide.  Matthew needed to make up some series points.

Joel and Matthew finished the intense Disc Golf Series yesterday at one of the hardest courses this side of the Mississippi: Renaissance Park. Joel only needed a 7 throw win to max out in points, (get a 150, the most possible for Disc Golf) and man was it tight.

Because of sickness, travel, and business Matthew and Joel are a little behind the schedule in the Epic Match of 2010. Exactitude was played yesterday and it was only the second sport to be completed, boy was it a big one.

Yesterday at Kilborne Park, both players had solid showings. Joel was consistent and powerful, making few mistakes and taking control with commanding drives. Matthew also had a consistent game, no major shifts or comebacks but no major slumps as well. Joel beat Matthew by 4 on the front 9 and 3 on the back for a final score of 62 - 69.

After a bit of a delay, Matthew and Joel were back at it Monday with game 3 of the Disc Golf Tournament. Finding himself down 18 after the first two rounds, Matthew needed to make up ground, or at least minimize the damage. He was able to do that.

The long awaited video and results are finally here. (apologies for the delay.)

All Epic Match games (including today's Exactitude) have been postponed until further notice. Joel has a touch of pneumonia and will be resting until he leaves for Oklahoma.

Competitor Joel Pinckney has been fighting a cough and fever of late and for the sake of not worsening his condition Exactitude was postponed along with the tomorrow's Disc Golf session. Exactitude has been rescheduled for Monday evening and the Disc Golf session will be scheduled for a later date.

This morning Matthew found himself in a hole, a hole that was ominous and growing exponentially. After a terrible showing at Sugar Creek Park and three games of Disc Golf left Matthew knew he would have to do some serious work to keep the Epic Match from slipping away early. Well he responded to that pressure with a clutch performance in what some have called, "The Greatest Lawn Game of All Time:" Friscup.

The game today was dominated by Joel. He rode the momentum of his back nine at Reedy Creek and soared ahead of Matthew who struggled the whole day, especially with his drive. But even on Matthew's good holes Joel had better holes, shooting lower than him on 10 out of the 18 holes. He finished the day with a 12 point lead, which widened the gap to 18 and put him close to max-out pace. (a 48 throw margin would earn Joel a maximum of 150 points.) When Matthew was asked to comment on his game he replied: "It was horrible."

The Epic Match was kicked off today at the Reedy Creek Park disc golf course. Joel ended the day with a six throw lead over Matthew with the score of 63-69. It was the first of five disc golf games that will take place over the week and a half.

The game had little video coverage but some highlights, analysis, and player's thoughts are coming soon.

The Friscup game was postponed due to lack of time. It has been rescheduled for Sunday afternoon.
Tomorrow Joel and Matthew will play another game of disc golf (at a park yet to be determined.)

The Epic Match is split into four quarters or sections centered on the four primary sports. The first section revolves around Disc Golf, the second on Basketball, the third on Tennis, and the last on Ping-Pong. The 21 secondary sports are spread across and the four quarters.

Rules:
The LeBron James Adventure is a race involving dribbling a tennis ball around a course. Competitors start at the front porch of the Pinckney house and dribble the tennis ball with the tennis racket around the house, down the steps, around the pool, back up the steps, around the porch, back down the steps, around the pool, back up the steps, around the house, down the driveway, and finish where the driveway meets the street. Competitors must dribble the tennis ball keeping the ball from bouncing on the ground more than once in a row or hitting the tennis racket more than once in a row. Checkpoints are setup at different locations on the course. If the ball bounces on the ground more than once or hits the tennis racket more than once than the competitor must pick up the tennis ball and start back from the last past checkpoint. The competitors race one-at-a-time and the competitor with the best time wins.

History:
The game was invented circa 2004 by Matthew, Joel, Andrew, and Thomas Pinckney. The game was a big hit in it's early existence but has not been played in several years. It was revived and renamed for the Epic Match.

Rules:
The competitors line-up on opposite sides of the ping-pong table. Behind and to the left of the first competitor lies an open cooler. The first competitor serves to the second competitor and the second competitor tries to return the serve into the open cooler. The game has two stages. In the first stage the server will serve five ping-pong balls at whatever pace the returner desires. Each ping-pong ball to land in the cooler gives the returner one point. In the second stage, the server will serve ten ping-pong balls as fast as he can and the returner will do his best to return them into the cooler. Each ping-pong ball to land in the cooler during the second stage will get the returner three points.
If at any point in the game the server serves off the table or into the net he will loose three points.

History:
Precision Guaranteed was invented for the Epic Match.

Rules:
Exactitude is a simple sport consisting of throwing tennis balls onto or into large targets. It has three stages: the pool, the trampoline, and the tree-fort. For the first stage competitors will stand on the Pinckney deck and throw five tennis balls attempting to land the balls in the swimming pool. Each accurate throw will give the thrower one point. The next stage competitors will stand on the diving board of the pool and attempt to throw the tennis balls onto the trampoline. Each accurate throw will give the thrower two points. In the final stage competitors will throw tennis balls from right outside the pool gate and will throw the tennis balls through the woods attempting to land them on the tree fort. Each accurate throw at stage three will give the thrower three points.
The competitor with the most points, after the three stages are completed, wins.

History:
This game was invented by Joel Pinckney to pass time while the fence was being built around the pool. It's original form consisted of throwing rocks onto the tree-fort. The first two stages were added to make the competition more exciting in the Epic Matcb.

You'll notice on the list of Secondary Sports that 4 out of the 21 have the word Strike at the end of their title. Strike is a term that essentially means a skills competition. For example, the 3-Point Strike is a 3-point shooting skills competition and the Juggling Strike is a juggling skills competition. They are not complete created sports, just fractions of sports that are focused on in a quick competition.


The Strikes:

3-Point Strike:
The 3-Point Strike will follow the same format as the NBA 3-Point competition. Each competitor will shoot five shots in the right-hand corner, five shots a quarter of the way around the 3-point line, five shots half way around, five shots three quarters of the way around, and five shots in the left-hand corner; for a total of twenty-five shots. The competitors will have 1:00 minute to complete all their shots. The competitor who makes the most shots wins.

Juggling Strike:
Each competitor will have three attempts to juggle the soccer ball for as many touches as possible. The three individual totals will be combined to make the competitor's final score. The competitor with the highest final score wins.

Penalty Kick Strike:
One competitor will be shooting penalty kicks while the other competitor will play goalie. The first competitor will shoot five PKs, then the goalie and shooter will switch positions, and the second competitor will shoot five PKs. The competitor with the most made shots will win the round and the first competitor to win five rounds wins the competition.

JaMarcus Russell Strike:
The JaMarcus Russell Strike is a QB accuracy competition. Like the Penalty Kick Strike competitors will have five attempts to hit a target with a football. The competitor with more hits wins the round and the first competitor to win five rounds wins the competition.

Rules:
Two sets of two drive-way reflectors are set-up at opposite ends of the playing field. On each driveway reflector lies a plastic solo-cup. Competitors line up behind their respective reflectors and cups and throw a Frisbee at the reflectors with the goal of either knocking one or both of the cups off, or throwing the Frisbee in between the two driveway reflectors without touching anything. While the first competitor is throwing the Frisbee, his opponent stands behind the driveway reflectors and cups and, if a cup is knocked off a reflector, tries to catch the cup before the cup hits the ground. If a cup knocked off by the Frisbee is caught one point is awarded to the catcher. If the cup is not caught and hits the ground instead, one point is awarded to the thrower. If the Frisbee sails in between the reflectors without touch anything three points are awarded to the thrower.
In the Epic Match, games will be played to ten points and the first person to win seven games wins the sport.

Scoring:
The winner automatically earns 25 points and can get up to 25 more points depending on his margin of victory. (An exact scoring scale is yet to be released.)

History:
Friscup was brought to the Pinckney family by Thomas Pinckney upon his return from school Spring semester 2010. The sport caught on quickly and in no time has become a Pinckney favorite.

Rules:
The Glide consists of four individual scooter distance coasting competitions. The first two begin at the top of Piccadilly hill. The competitors are allowed to step-push for ten feet and then begin coasting down the hill. They take a left onto Manchester, coast down Manchester, and take another left onto Wellington; at which point they will start going uphill. The goal is to coast as far as possible up Wellington. The second race is identical to the first except the competitors switch scooters.

The next two races have a slightly different dynamic. While one competitor runs the same course as the first two races, the second competitor starts at a different location: the top of the Pinckney driveway. As the first competitor approaches the Pinckney house the second competitor begins and the two finish together. The fourth race is identical to the second race except the competitors switch scooters. (The first competitor's course, and the course of the first two races, is mapped in red while the second competitors course is mapped in blue.)


After the four races are completed the competitor with the most total coasting distance wins.

Scoring:
The winner automatically earns 25 points and can get up to 25 more points depending on his margin of victory. (An exact scoring scale is yet to be released.)

History:
The Glide was one of the early Pinckney sports invented after arriving in North Carolina originating sometime in 2004. The inventors included Andrew Pinckney, Shawn Rumsey, Matthew Pinckney, and Joel Pinckney. The four would oftentimes play this sport on Wednesday nights while their parents were in Bible Study.