MBBB29 Recap

Saturday, July 11, 2026

Bellmore, NY

Schedule

• • Breakfast at East Bay Diner in Seaford, NY at 10:30AM

  • Pitch and Putt at Robert Moses State Park in Babylon, NY at 12:45PM

  • Knockout (basketball game) at Park Avenue Basketball Courts in Babylon, NY at 3:45PM

  • Lunch on the Go at 7-11, Wendy's, and Panera in multiple towns in Suffolk County, NY at 5:15PM

  • Cornhole at Jones Beach in Wantagh, NY at 6:00PM

  • Mini-golf and Shuffleboard at Jones Beach in Wantagh, NY at 7:45PM

  • Dinner from Wonder at Marc’s house in Bellmore, NY at ??

Participants

Dave (29th), Marc (29th), Span (), Brian (), Eugene (), Matt (), Mehr (), Eric (15th)

Photos: Highlights | Complete Set

Videos: Highlights | Complete Set

Anecdotes

Reviews

Planning

Instead of ranking activities in order of preference, the group gave a score of 1 through 5 (least to most) to advise how interested they were in the activity. On July 7, David sent out a tentative schedule based on the results of the votes. It included the possibility of Toy Story 5 as an after dinner activity. Eric said he recommended it despite of or rather due to his lack of knowledge of the MBBB Movie Curse.

Pre-Breakfast

The plan was to meet at Marc's house at 9:30AM. Marc ran 12 miles in the morning. Mehr showed up early (surprise, surprise!) at 9:00AM. Span and Eugene arrived around 9:30AM (on an electric scooter*, no less!), Marc picked up Brian from the train station at 9:40AM, and Matt? Oh, he was late, and this was compounded by the fact that Mehr had generously purchased drinks for the group but didn't have any ice because neither Mehr's brother (whose house he stayed at) or Marc had ice or a functional ice maker in their refrigerators. So, Mehr asked Matt if he could pick up ice from the local 7-11, and Matt purchased a whole $11 worth. However, Mehr's cooler was stuffed with drinks and couldn't fit a lot of ice, so Marc went back into his house to grab a second cooler for ice only (more on this cooler later). Eric was occupied during the morning and would meet up with the crew around noon.

Another part of the planning was making sure that they had two basketballs for Knockout. Marc borrowed his son's basketball and inflated it in the backyard. David had brought a basketball, but it was flat, and neither David nor Marc could determine how to inflate it! And so they texted Eric to make sure that he would bring a basketball for when he met up with them later.

David and Matt, despite their long drives from Massachusetts and upstate NY respectively and the fact that they attended a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game on Friday night, volunteered to drive for the event. In a surprise twist, despite the fact that David had an SUV with more room for passengers, more people decided to ride in Matt's sedan, the very same sedan, in fact, in which the "ant incident" had occurred during MBBB23.

*Note:  Eugene would later admit that he was apprehensive about arriving on an electric scooter as New York State has a semi-enforced ban against riding electric scooters on the road.

Breakfast

There was some concern that East Bay Diner might be crowded, partially because Marc's wife suggested the idea and partially because the parking lot was filled with cars when the group arrived. However, they found a very different situation after entering the establishment with plenty of empty tables for customers.

There was some early excitement before orders were even taken when Marc, responding to something Span had said, went to reach for a packet of sugar and accidentally knocked his water over. Matt jumped out of his seat while David calmly stated that his iPhone was likely waterproof considering it's an iPhone. Besides, the phone was on top his wallet, so no harm, no foul. Fast forward to when the group was packing up to leave, and a couple at an adjacent table also knocked a glass full of water (Marc was not alone!). Jokes soon followed with the group wittily noting that it was Marc and not Span who had caused the incident.

Other than that, talk revolved around work and life. Somehow, COVID came up, and Mehr regaled the group of the various crazy people that he delivered mail to. Some would yell at him, some would tell him to take off his mask, and one person even stayed up until 1:00AM to received a package (Mehr was delivering late at night because it was safer at the time).

Another pointed conversation revolved around A/I. David originally brought A/I up as a possible solution to finishing the MBBB recaps that Marc does after each event. However, some members didn't like the idea as it might take the inherent style that Marc writes with out of the equation. The topic then changed to how A/I might affect everyone's jobs with Eugene fearing that he was training his replacement to Marc saying that he hadn't found much use for it yet despite being a member of an A/I task force at his job.

One final topic revolved around Marc's running. He lamented the fact that so few of his neighbors trimmed their trees and hedges which made running on the sidewalk a potential hazard, especially after it rained. He joked about taking his lopper and cutting the branches himself, and the group furthered the joke by saying he should do it while he was running so that he could become known as the Lopper (Seinfeld reference?). There was one neighbor that particularly drove him crazy, one who had two sections of bushes that had overrun their sidewalk. A few months ago, they had trimmed one section but not the other! It made no sense to Marc. But then, a few days after MBBB, Marc saw during his run that this neighbor had finally trimmed the other section. He made sure to let the group know by text that they had "spoken it into existence". 

Pitch and Putt

Upon arriving in the parking lot, most of the members started applying suntan lotion despite the fact that it was fairly cloudly out. Mehr, however, mailman that he is and so forced to deliver mail for hours on end in the sun, had both a USPS hat and an SPF-rated shirt to protect his skin. Eugene asked if the clouds actually made one's skin more susceptible to the UV rays due to the rays getting caught below the clouds. Marc had heard the same thing. Eugene, though, had a long sleeve shirt and pants on and so had little to worry about.

Paying for the activity took a little time. Eric was a little late in arriving (due to his availability noted above), the group had to pay in two separate groups of four, and the employee didn't realize that the groups needed clubs and so charged them twice, once for the course fees and a second time for the equipment. Further, did they need to pay for golf balls? No! In addition to bringing his own club and putter, Matt had a bag full of dozens of balls. Later, the first group realized that they had only taken a ball each; if they lost their ball, they might need to run back to Matt to get another.

Before beginning, a few people practiced their putting skills on the practice green. Everyone also confessed that they hadn't played golf (except for Eric) since the last time the event occurred at MBBB. Marc thought that must have been 15 years ago, but the rest of the group corrected him; it had actually been only 9 years prior. And how could Marc forget?! He almost got a hole-in-one that time!

The event then got a little dicey. Rain threatened, and then a steady drizzle started. The sign on the pitch and putt booth stated no refunds due to weather. The group was therefore determined to soldier forth. Splitting into two groups of four meant David, Mehr, Eugene, and Marc would play together as would Eric, Brian, Matt, and Span. The first group (David, etc.) was a little worried that the second group would fall behind, and this did happen, but it wasn't too big of deal. It's just for fun after all!

The consensus was to play the first 9 holes and see if they had time or the desire for more. They felt that this was a good plan as the ninth hole was located right by the pitch and putt booth, and so it would make for a quick exit if needed. It was a great time. Though many members felt nervous about being able to hit the ball without losing it in the brush to the left or right (so much so that there was debate about who would tee off first), not a ball was lost, and, in fact, the group came back with more balls than they left by finding balls that other groups had "lost". Further, though some people got their balls airborne and others ended up mostly rolling their balls towards the greens, a number of pars were accomplished.

After the 9 holes were completed, Eric, David, Matt, and Marc decided to quickly do 3 more holes (with Eugene in tow as a photo/videographer) while the rest of the group stayed behind to relax. Scores for these final 3 holes were kept only sporadically, partially because certain members of the group just didn't hit the ball very well.

Note: After one particularly bad swing by Eugene where the ball barely left the tee, the first group decided that each player would get one mulligan to use for each set of 9 holes.

Note: While the course was generally well-maintained, directions were not. Signs directing you to the next hole were few and far between causing a little bit of confusion as the group went from one hole to the next.

One humorous anecdote: as previously noted, Mehr had brought a cooler full of drinks and ice. He carried it across the 9 holes and expected that drinks would be taken from it regularly due to it being summer and all. However, the rain and the clouds kept it quite cool, and so Mehr lugged the cooler from hole to hole with no respite in site. When David volunteered to carry the cooler for a bit, Mehr demurred. Mailmen are used to carrying things all day and never shirk their responsibilities! Unless you're Newman, I suppose.

One less than humorous anecdote: upon arriving back at the cars in the parking lot, David found that the cooler that Marc had brought had leaked water. Thankfully, David's car had a protective liner which made it easy enough to pour the water out onto the cement and away from the fabric of his car.

RESULTS

Knockout

Upon arriving at the basketball courts, there was some good news and some bad news. The good news was that the courts had dried up from the earlier rain. This was a huge plus; the last time the group had played Knockout was two years earlier at MBBB27, and at that time, they had had to play some HORSE while waiting for the courts to dry. However, a major issue soon revealed itself. The basketball nets were too tight, and one of the two basketballs got caught in the nets every time a basket was made. Would the group have to find another location?

The short answer was no. David noticed another basketball hoop in the relative distance. Armed with a basketball, he walked over to make sure that it would fit comfortably through the net. Only a few moments later, a group text was received, and they walked over to where the event would take place.

Before the activity actually began, a lot of practice was taken. Much like with golf, no one actually played basketball unless it was during a MBBB. Additionally, the wind was kicking up (White Men Can't Jump reference here), and both the balls and rims were very bouncy. Marc apologized for inflating his too much (maybe that's why it didn't fit through the previous net?), and this led to Matt deeming the event "Inflategate". Meanwhile, Eric brought the ball that Mehr had traded to him two MBBB's ago.

A short discussion was had on how to order the first game of Knockout (subsequent games go in the reverse order in which you're eliminated). Some called dibs on spots in the back of the line, while Marc said he was fine being first since he didn't expect to win any games; he'd not had much success in the past. Did Span play, or was he official photo/videographer for the event?

One funny incident was when Marc was shooting and trying to prevent himself from getting an out. The person behind him shot their ball, and it bounced off the back rim. Marc tried to shoot his ball underneath the incoming projectile, but his ball hit the other ball, and the other ball went back into the hoop causing Marc to give HIMSELF an out!

RESULTS

Game 1: Matt was eliminated first, then Eric, Marc, Brian, and Eugene. In final two, Mehr eliminated David while having two outs himself.

Game 2: Mehr (!) was eliminated first, then Brian, Matt, David, and Eugene. Eric and Marc entered the final with zero outs each, and Marc won having accrued only one out.

Game 3: Matt was eliminated first, then Marc, and David. Brian eliminated Eric with only one out himself. Note: Mehr and Eugene decided to sit the third game out.

Lunch on the Go

After Knockout, the group realized that they were already short on time, and so it was decided that anyone who was hungry could pick up food through a drive-thru or pick-up-and-go spot. Some went to 7-11, some went to Wendy's, and the rest went to Panera.

Cornhole

With everyone well-fed, the group arrived at the second beach of the day. David's group had gotten there quickly and already paid for the bracelets that would allow them to play a variety of activities. Cornhole would be first. Practice, practice, practice. It didn't help that the wind that bothered them during Knockout was even more forceful at the beach.

The teams were determined relatively quickly, and the play was very competitive. However, Marc got extremely frustrated with the wind; after his team lost its first game decisively, he said that he wasn't interested in playing another game. A cooler head prevailed, and Marc agreed to play on. Seeing the others having success motivated him as did the advice to keep his throws low to diminish the effect of the wind as much as possible.

A couple of notes: both Mehr and Span had very consistent throws with Mehr using a horizontal spinning technique and Span using a vertical spinning technique. David and Matt won both of their first two games by coming back from large deficits. In the third game, however, they fell behind and stayed behind. Matt felt he had lost his mojo, while David didn't get his first cornhole until this final game and by sneaking around a beanbag that Marc had put on the board. Finally, the activity was played in a round robin fashion, and the plan was to have the two top teams play for the "title". However, three teams finished 2-1 which precluded the possibility of a championship game.

RESULTS

Game 1a: Eric and Brian defeat Marc and Eugene 21-5.

Game 1b: Matt and David defeat Mehr and Span 21-18.

Game 2a: Marc and Eugene defeat Mehr and Span 21-17.

Game 2b: Matt and David defeat Eric and Brian 21-16.

Game 3a: Eric and Brian defeat Mehr and Span 21-18.

Game 3b: Marc and Eugene defeat Matt and David 21-2.

Mini-Golf and Shuffleboard

After cornhole, the group decided how to split up between mini-golf and shuffleboard with pickleball being a remote possibility. In the end, Marc, Eric, Span, and Mehr would play mini-golf, and David, Brian, Matt, and Eugene would play shuffleboard.

The mini-golf course was very fun, though occasionally the player would only suffer if the ball wasn't hit relatively straight. That is to say, the hazards for a few holes were only far off to the right and/or far off to the left. But most of the holes had fun obstacles such as surfboards, lighthouses, hills and valleys.

While the mini-golf group was on the 12th hole, the shuffleboard group sent a text asking how far along they were. This led the mini-golf group to assume that the shuffleboard group was almost done playing. However, even after another six holes, the mini-golf group found that the shuffleboard group was still deep into a game. And it surprised them even further when they found out that this was still the FIRST shuffleboard game! Matt then complained that the mini-golf group was distracting him during his turn which was only making the game last even longer.

Note: On the back nine, Eric got three hole-in-ones in a row!

Note: Every member of the group except for Marc scored a hole-in-one prior to the 18th hole. Thankfully, Marc's putt on the 18th green was true, and so he joined his fellow golfers in that not-so-exclusive club.

RESULTS

Shuffleboard: Eugene and Matt defeated David and Brian 70-45.

Dinner

While there were still showings of Toy Story 5 that the group could attend, they decided to go back to Marc's house for dinner instead mostly due to the fact that you can't really talk when you're watching a movie in the theater. After arriving there, most of the group talked about what type of cuisine they were interested in and from what restaurant they could order it from. Mehr was deadset on having some New York pizza (as he now lives in Pennsylvania) and scouted two pizzerias that said they were still open.

Matt asked if they could order Indian from the restaurant they had ordered from in the past (Lazzat), but Eric noted that it had closed due to being forced to move to a poorer location and following a fire. In fact, a number of local restaurants had closed in the past few years (Piccolo's, an Italian restaurant and Oak Chalet, a German restaurant). Eric recommended Wonder, a restaurant that serves multiple types of cuisines out of the same kitchen, and this concept reminded the Seinfeld-loving group of the Dream Cafe operated by Babu Bhatt. And so, most of the group ordered from Wonder, Eugene and Marc ate their own food, and Mehr came back emptyhanded after finding out that both pizzerias were actually closed despite the claims of their websites.

Determining how to spend the rest of their night was decided pretty quickly. A few people had been diligently following the World Cup, and it just so happened that the game between Argentina and Switzerland had just begun. The game kept most of the group entertained, but Argentina's win became a fait accompli when one of the Switzerland players very obviously flopped leading to his ejection and a 11 vs. 10 player advantage for Argentina the rest of the game. Interestingly enough, the two people who were most invested in the game, Eric and David, were out picking up the food from Wonder when the ejection and a scored goal by Argentina occurred. Additionally, most chose to root against Argentina since they won the previous World Cup.

After the soccer game was over, people started to depart, and sleeping arrangements were determined for Brian who otherwise would have had a very long trip back to his condo. It was another successful day, on Long Island, with plans to go off the island again next year already in people's thoughts.