Below are the teams that you have had the most success beating again and again and again, plus your least favorite foe and everything else you need to know.
MOST COMMON OPPONENT
Matt Neatock: Rich and Matt have faced off 33 times, including four times in the postseason.
TOP THREE FAVORITE FOES
#3 Eric Vozzola – Calderon has beaten Eric in 18 of their 28 career meetings. Early on Eric had the advantage, taking four of their first six, but then Rich won five straight starting in 2008 and seven of eight games until Eric won back-to-back contests in 2014 and 2015. Yet, since 2016, Eric has thrown little competition Rich’s way. Calderon has beaten Eric in 10 of their last 13 meetings. In those 13 games, Eric has topped 1,500 just twice, while Rich has done it seven times.
#2 Rob Masterson – While Calderon is Rob’s least favorite opponent, Masterson only gets to number two in Rich’s favorite foe list. Overall, Calderon is 19-10 against Rob. he lost their first meeting in 2003, but won the second one that year and just kept on winning. Rich would go on to win 14 of their next 17 meetings through 2014, including the 2013 semifinals. Since 2015, Rich has finally received some competition from Rob, who took two straight against Rich in 2015 and 2016 and over the last 11 seasons, Calderon is just 5-6 against Masterson.
#1 Colby Hall – When putting together these numbers, I’ll be honest, Rich’s 20-7 career record against Colby was the most surprising. Calderon ended up beating Colby in their first six meetings between 2004-2008 (second longest win streak against one foe to begin a series). Through 2014, Rich was 11-2 against Mr. Hall. The years 2014-2016 were the only three-year stretch that was unkind to Rich, as Colby took three of four. However, between 2017-2020, Rich went on another six-game win streak over Colby. Over the last four games (since 2021), the pair has split those contests.
LEAST FAVORITE FOE
Fun fact, only one team has a winning record against Calderon. Who is this mystery man? It’s me. Yep, Rich is just 11-15 against me. Early on, he was solid against me, taking four of our first six meetings, including that infamous 2003 quarterfinals where Calderon became the first 8-seed to knock off a 1-seed. However, between 2007 and 2012, I dominated, winning six of seven games. Between 2013-2017, Calderon got the upper hand, winning four of five. In my four defeats to him, I failed to sniff 1,200 in any of those games. However, since 2018, Rich has fallen on hard times against me. He’s just 2-6 in that time frame and he’s lost twice in the playoffs, including the 2020 semifinals and the 2019 finals. The add a cherry on top, I also defeated Rich for a second time in the title game in his league in 2019.
FAVORITE POSTSEASON OPPONENT
Calderon hasn’t really dominated one opponent. Of the 10 current teams he has faced in the playoffs, he has defeated all of them at least once. He’s 2-1 against Eric, with all three games being in the quarterfinals. He’s got a pair of wins over Jeff, including the 2016 title game, but he’s also lost to Jeff twice in the postseason. For now, let’s label Rob Masterson his favorite playoff foe. He’s 2-0 against Rob, defeating him in the 2013 semifinals and the 2018 quarterfinals.
LEAST FAVORITE POSTSEASON OPPONENT
This one is tough, as there are two legit candidates. Calderon is just 2-2 against Don, which is bad since Don isn’t that good, but those two defeats were both when Rich was the two-seed. Yet, I’m going to give this to Matt Neatock. While Rich has beaten Neatock the last two times he’s faced him in the playoffs (2019 semifinals, 2021 quarterfinals), overall he’s just 2-3. Worse yet, two of those defeats came in the finals. That would be the 2007 championship and the 2019 title game. He also lost to Matt in the 2009 semifinals. Three people in league history are 0-2 against one opponent in the title game. They are Calderon (vs Matt), Robio (vs Don), Colby (vs Griff).
LONGEST WINNING STREAKS
Rich has a six-game win streak over Burrier (2018-2022) and two 6-game win streaks against Colby (2004-2008, 2017-2020). However, his longest winning streak is against Don, who he beat seven straight times between 2003-2008. These were their first seven meetings and remains the best start to a series by one team over another. If Michael can defeat Griff this upcoming season, he’ll tie this record.
LONGEST LOSING STREAKS
Calderon doesn’t have a lot of long losing streaks against one foe. In fact, he has only one losing streak of over three games to anyone and that was a five-game slide to Don. After defeating Don in seven straight to begin their series, Rich followed it up by losing the next five, including two quarterfinals games.
WIN-LOSS RECORDS (PLAYOFF W-L)
Robio: 11-15 (1-2)
Griff: 14-13 (1-0)
Don: 16-11 (2-2)
Eric: 18-10 (2-1)
Rob M: 19-10 (2-0)
Rich B: 18-14 (0-2)
Bob: 15-13 (1-3)
Matt: 18-15 (2-3)
Colby: 20-7 (1-0)
Jeff: 12-11 (2-2)
Michael: 4-2 (0-0)
FUN FACTS
- Rich Calderon is the only person to have a winning record against Bob, going 15-13, thanks to three straight victories since 2022.
- Calderon has nine career 2,000-pt games against current opponents. Three came against Matt and Colby.
- Rich has at least one 3-game winning streak against every team currently in the league.
- Rich has beaten a current team while failing to score 1,000 just twice and he hasn’t done it since 2007.
- Calderon has produced a weekly high score seven times while facing Burrier.
- He has never produced a weekly low score against me or Jeff. He had his first one against Griff this past season.