2016 Earth Water Baseball Classic

The 2016 FIWBA Earth Water Baseball Classic Classic (EWBC) was an international professional water baseball competition, held from October 29 - November 20, 2016 in the United States. This was the ninth edition of the Earth Water Baseball Classic, a biannual event that dates back to 2000.

The classic was held in the United States from October 29 - November 20, 2016. This was the second EWBC to be held in he United States (after the inaugural EWBC in 2000) and the third to be held in the North America region (as the 2010 edition was held in the Bahamas).

The United States defeated Canada in the Championship Series, to claim their record third Earth Water Baseball Classic Title.

Host Selection Process
The Deadline for Bids was November 30, 2011. According to The Rules, the official rule book for International Water Baseball, bids will not be allowed from a region that is set to host either of the two previous classics. Therefore, bids were not accepted from Eurpoe (as France hosted the 2012 edition) and Boceania (as the 2014 edition was hosted by Palau).

Four nations: Afghanistan, Canada, China, and the United States bid to host the games. On November 26, 2012, after just a single round of voting, the United States was selected as the host nation.

Stadiums
Eight stadiums in the United States shared hosting duties. Due to the tournament being held in November, only domed and southern stadiums were used.
 * Albuquerque, NM (Schlotzsky's Stadium) - Gang E, R16-5
 * Las Vegas, NV (Bellagio Stadium) - Gang F, R16-4, QF-1
 * Los Angeles, CA (Drowner Stadium, will use normal depth during this tounament but a lifeguard will remain on duty at all times) - Gang A, R16-2, SF-1
 * Miami, FL (Umm, Like Yeah Man, That Place Where The Druggies Play) - Gang B, R16-7, QF-2
 * San Antonio, TX (Everything's Bigger in Texas Stadium) - Gang C, R16-1, Final
 * San Diego, CA (Discovery Stadium) - Gang D, R16-8, QF-3,
 * Savannah, GA (Might Be Scary Stadium) - Gang G, R16-3, QF-4
 * Youngstown, OH (Youngstown State University Dome, the Yizzou's new stadium beginning in 2017) Gang H, R16-6, SF-2

Teams and Qualification
Thirty-two teams qualified for this tournament. The host (United States) and the defending champion (Germany) automatically qualified, while the remaining 30 were determined during the qualification period from October 2015 through April 2016.

The number of spots given to each association was determined by FIWBA.

North and Central America and the Carribbean: 7 (plus the USA automatically qualifies as the host)

Europe: 8 (plus Germany automatically qualifies as defending champion)

Broceania: 3

South America: 3

Asia: 4

Africa: 4

The final spot was given to the winner of the Feeney Cup, a tourament held in April between the 8th place in North America, 9th place team in Europe, the 4th place teams in Broceania and South America, and the 5th place teams in Asia and Africa. Per tradition, the Feeney Cup is held in the same venue as the EWBC Final, which this year is "Everything is better in Texas stadium" in San Antonio.

Qualification based on Association
Qualification was held from October-November 2015 in various locations throughout the world
 * North America: United States (host), Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico
 * Europe: Germany (d.c.), England, France, Italy, Leichtenstein, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Wales (possibly due to Whales, eha eha)
 * Broceania: Australia, New Zealand, Palau
 * South America: Brazil, Chile, Venezuela
 * Asia: Japan, Laos, Korea, Saudi Arabia
 * Africa: Ghana, Ivory Coast, Niger (Morgan), Sudan (Morgan)

Feeney Cup
The top team not to qualify in each association was assigned to the Feeney Cup, a three-day event in April 2016 tournament to determine the final team to qualify for the EWBC. The Feeney Cup participants were Austria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tahiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Uzbekistan

Round 1: April 2 Semi-Finals: April 3 Final: April 4
 * Uruguay 7, Tahiti 0
 * Uzbekistan 3, DR Congo 2 (12)
 * Austria 7, Uruguay 2
 * Uzbekistan 4, Trinidad and Tobago 2
 * Austria 8, Ubekistan 7 (10)

Draw
The draw was held in Akron, Ohio on June 29, 2016. Teams were divided into four pools of eight teams, each Gang would consist of one team from each pool

Pool 1 (Host, champ, and top 6): United States, Germany, Palau, Japan, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Korea

Pool 2 (Asia, Africa, Broceania): Laos, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Niger, Sudan, Australia, New Zealand 

Pool 3 (Europe): Austria, England, France, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Wales

Pool 4 (The Americas): Canada, Costa Rica, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela 

The teams were drawn into the following Gangs
 * Gang A: United States, Australia, Austria, Costa Rica
 * Gang B: Cuba, Mexico, France, New Zealand
 * this gang is referred to by many as the "Gang of Death."
 * Gang C: Japan, Liechtenstein, Chile, Saudi Arabia
 * Gang D: Italy, Canada, Laos, England
 * Gang E: Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal, Venezuela
 * Gang F: Palau, Slovenia, Niger, Brazil
 * Gang G: Germany, Russia, Honduras, Sudan
 * Gang H: Dominican Republic, Ghana, Haiti, Wales

Format
The tournament was set up similar to the World Cup and most football (soccer) tournaments, in that it contains a Gang Stage and a Knockout Stage. It is illegal to refer to the Gang Stage as the "Group Stage," and violators will be suspended for one international WBB game and one club WBB game for each offense starting with their second offense. The author of this article was given special permission from FIWBA president Jimenez Li.

The Gang Stage ran from October 29-November 3. Each nation played two games against each rival naion (one as the designated "home" team and one as the designated "guest" team), for a total of six games. If a Gang Stage game (excluding a tiebreaker game) is tied after ten innings, it was considered a tie in the standings. Ties counted as half-win, half-loss when computing a win percentage.

The top two teams from each Gang after the six games advanced to the Knockout Stage. If there is a tie in the standings, it will be broken via one-game tiebreaker on November 4. If the tie involves more than two teams, then a home-run derby would be held on November 4 to cut the field down to two teams, who will play in such a tie-breaker. This has never happened in the history of the EWBC.

The Knockout Stage consists of four rounds, each of which are best-of-three series. The Round of 16 (November 6-8) will pit a Gang Champion against the runner up of a different Gang. This round is followed by the Quarter-finals (November 10-12), Semi-finals (November 14-16), and Championship (November 18-20).

Gang B

 * Mexico and Cuba finished tied at 3-3-0. Mexico won a tiebreaker game

Gang D

 * Italy and Laos finished tied at 3-3-0. Italy won a tiebreaker game.

Gang E

 * Ivory Coast and Venezuela finished tied for first. Since both teams advance to the knockout stage anyway, a tiebreaker game is not played, eha eha.  The teams split the head to head series 1-1, so the next tiebreaker was earned runs allowed per nine defensive innings (i.e. team ERA), which Ivory Coast won 3.32 to 3.93.

Gang F

 * Palau and Slovenia finished tied for first. Since both teams advance to the knockout stage anyway, a tiebreaker game is not played, eha eha.  The teams split the head to head series 1-1, so the next tiebreaker was earned runs allowed per nine defensive innings (i.e. team ERA), which Palau won 2.67 to 3.44.

Knockout Stage
In all rounds, the top team listed was the designated "home" team for Games 1 and 3, if necessary. The bottom team listed was the designated "home" team for Game 2.

Eighth-finals
Matchup 1 Matchup 2 Matchup 3 Matchup 4 Matchup 5 Matchup 6 Matchup 7 Matchup 8

Quarter-finals
Matchup 1 Matchup 2 Matchup 3 Matchup 4

Semi-finals
Matchup 1 Matchup 2

Championship
Matchup 1

The Victor
The United States

The Spoils
As Champion, the United States was automatically entered into the 2018 Earth Water Baseball Classic in Hungary. Team members each received US$2,000,000, a trophy that says "you did it," and a hot plate. Also, fans of the United States team will be allowed to don shirts that recognize their championship. Since this is a biannual event, these shirts were in style for at least two years, except when a fat person wears a shirt that is too small, in which the shirt will never be in style.

As runner-up, each Canada team member received a silver Second place trophy, and $100,000. Shirts were produced to be sold in Canada, but will instead be sent back to the FIWBA Warehouse in Chesterland, Ohio, in case Canada wins a future EWBC.

Members of teams who lost in the semi-finals received a participation trophy and $25,000

Members of quarter-final teams received a participation trophy and $23,000

Members of teams who lost in the eighth-finals received a participation trophy and a $21000.

Members of teams who failed to advance past the Gang Stage will receive a participation trophy and $19,000.