Tecmo Super Bowl Tournament: Boneyard Brawl II, Westlake, Ohio

On Friday, Jan. 13, in Westlake, Ohio, I competed in my third Tecmo Super Bowl tournament in the past year.

Needless to say, it was an awesome time as usual.

If you have never been to one, it's quite an intense atmosphere for the greatest video game ever created.

Most tournaments use the 1991 version of the game as we did in this one. For those who aren't too familiar with the game, you're about to hear some names that reside immortal thanks to Tecmo Super Bowl.

The tournament was set up between two brackets. Every competitor drafted two teams. The first team was to be used in bracket one, the second team in bracket two. If you won both brackets, you were crowned tournament champion.

If there were two different winners from each bracket, the 1991 Pro Bowl was to determine the ultimate victor as the tiebreaker.

Here's a recap of how I did against some great competition.

Bracket 1, Round 1: Kansas City Chiefs (Me) vs. Chicago Bears (Opponent)

First game of the tournament, I managed to win 35-0.

I effectively ran the ball well with Christian Okoye and somehow managed to get a perfect completion percentage with Steve DeBerg. Derrick Thomas did work on defense and got one of the interceptions.

It was a solid start and gave me much-needed confidence and momentum heading into game 2. Not having played in a tournament since May of 2011, I was worried about a rusty start.

Well, so far, so good.

Bracket 1, Round 2: Kansas City Chiefs (Me) vs. Denver Broncos (Opponent)

This is a game that I actually should have lost. Not only was I outgained, but I only managed five first-downs to his 12. Luckily, Barry Word's one catch for 30 yards went for a TD, and John Elway overthrew two wide-open receivers.

The game pretty much came down to seizing the opportunities, which fortunately worked out in my favor. The downside is that I'm actually a Broncos fan, so it killed me to beat them despite moving on.

Bracket 1 Semifinals, Round 3: Kansas City Chiefs (Me) vs. Minnesota Vikings (Opponent)

Easily one of the most exciting and intense games I've ever been a part of. Down 16-0 in the second quarter, which is virtually impossible to come back from in Tecmo Super Bowl, I managed a TD before the half, but the extra point was blocked.

Down 16-6, a field goal in the third cut it to 16-9. Then a big break came as my opponent, Bobby Johnson, was about to run in for a TD, but his player fumbled. With enough time for one final drive, I converted three fourth-downs and scored to force overtime at 16 apiece.

Had that first extra point been good, I would have won 17-16. In overtime Bobby got into field-goal range, and the kick went off the left upright and through for the 19-16 win.

In short, I was devastated.

Bobby was the eventual  tournament champion, Here is the video of the final game. Also, click the link to follow Bob on twitter.

Bracket 2, Round 1: Washington Redskins (Me) vs. Dallas Cowboys (Opponent)

The only game I wasn't able to get a picture of, I lost 21-13 to the same opponent who I beat earlier with Kansas City over Denver.

Still bummed about the OT loss in the previous game, I managed to be up 13-7 in the fourth quarter, but allowed a late Emmitt Smith TD. Down 14-13 there was enough time left to get into field-goal range.

Unfortunately, my opponent picked the play on fourth-and-two when I was still around my own red zone.

The tournament for me ended in the first round of the second bracket, but it was still a blast and I plan on attending more in the future.

Quick Video of an Overtime Game

Can we call this "The Epic in Miami II"? Probably not, but watching the Chargers and Dolphins go into overtime much like their historic divisional playoff game in the early 1980s has some irony.

Final Drive of the Bracket 2 Championship, Winner Played the Bracket 1 Champion

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jim Everett connects with receiver Henry Ellard a few times on the final drive as well as with running back Curt Warner. As if we need any more irony, the Rams first had the back Curt Warner and then the quarterback Kurt Warner.

If that's not an omen, what is?

Summary

All in all it was a great time and there are definitely more Tecmo Super Bowl tournaments to come in my immediate future.

Check out Tecmo Super Bowl on Facebook, Tecmo Bowl.org, be sure to follow the tournament's director, Ryan McKay/TSB Tournaments on Twitter and the top 10 football video games of all time.

John Rozum on Twitter