Ice Ice Baby!

There was nothing ice cold about his game at Nationals IV. The man called Ice Ellis, aka Ice The Madden Hulk, took the Nationals IV title with his win over Nationals III champion Lou Tillery.

Ice came into the tourney as one of the favorites to win it all, listed at 4:1 by The Swammi. And although he didn't win any tournaments leading up to Nationals IV, he did finish strong in each one that he entered. But Nationals IV was his time to shine, and shine he did. Many ballers proclaimed that Ice had the most explosive offense that they had seen at the tournament hands down. And those type of accolades were well warranted, as Ice literally operated a supreme scoring machine putting up as many as 60-70 points in his games on Survivor Sunday.

Ice Ellis on the post game show.

Ice's matchup vs. fellow NOMB brother Lou Tillery was an exciting one. After becoming the sentimental favorite to win it all, Ice may have been the only man in the room that could defeat the defending champion. Trapjaw came close, but because Ice had faced Lou several times battling in the NOMB, he had just what it took to take the title from Lou.

Adding to Ice's success was the entire success of the NOMB. The young league from New Orleans was dominant at Nationals IV, placing 3 ballers in the final 8, two in the final four, and of course both Ice and Lou battled it out for the championship. The NOMB went home with the sweepstakes cup, earning the title of best league in the nation.

The soft spoken Ellis now wears the championship for the next 365 days. he is not braggadocios, he is not outspoken, in just wins. And now he will be the man that everyone will be gunning for once the tournament season starts.

Could we expect Ellis to hit the tourney circuit like he and Tillery did so many times in 2002? Not likely. But you can expect Ellis to have his game tuned up for a run at a repeat in 2003 in Miami.