In competitive beer pong, these are known as "distractions," and they are part of the competition. What is the challenge of beer pong if not to triumph despite distractions?
"It doesn't faze me at all," said Jason Cooper, 24, of Upper Darby, sporting - perhaps ironically - a Roy Halladay shirt as well as a focus that was, frankly, Halladay-esque. "I am in the zone. I drown it out."
But Cooper and his fellow Red Lobster waiter Dave Richards, 25, were no match for the intensity of Joey Poindexter and the fierce wildness of Nick Norman, 21, of Dallas.
At the tables, the pair were the C.C. Sabathia and Mitch Williams of beer pong - a quiet yet burly professionalism on Poindexter's part, a crazed yet uncannily effective clutch performance possible with each of Norman's throws.
Poindexter, of Gaithersburg, Md., will not give his age because, says his pal, female champ Christina "Schmitty" Schmidt, 24, who took that title Sunday, "he's way too old to be doing this."
"I've been playing for too long," Poindexter, a real estate appraiser, said, waiting for his table outside the Resorts ballroom. But the lure of a $15,000 first prize - not to mention the leaning-is-allowed rule of competitive beer pong - brought the 6-foot-3 Poindexter back to the table.
His teammate, Norman, had no hesitation about giving his age. "I'm 21 and I've been playing for seven years," said the Texan, perhaps the room's loudest trash/trashed talker. Too profane to quote even a little.
"The thing that differentiates us from house parties is that drinking is not mandatory," said Poindexter. "It's no different than bowling and darts."
The other big difference is that in competition "the first thing you have to do is stop complaining." Leave the whining back in the frat house, bar, or suburban basement.
