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The San Francisco Boat Shoes didn't enter the Klein Cup with a bang - it was thrown into the room through a window, experiencing a series of frustrating losses that hinted at the heartbreak to come. Early exits in Klein/Season 3 to the Alewife Arsonists and Klein/Season 4 to the Delaware Corporate Shells established the pattern. In Klein/Season 5, following a brilliant season as the #1 seed, the Boat Shoes lost a brutal, seven-game Hot League Championship Series to the Vegas Vampires . The very next year, in Klein/Season 6, they vanquished the Vampires in the first round, only to fall again in a seven-game heartbreaker, this time to the Milwaukee Flamingos . They were stuck in their first Klein Loop of the season, but it would not be the last.

The Shoes finally broke through the first Klein Loop in Klein/Season 7. After sweeping the Sugar Grove Eavesdroppers , they exacted their revenge on Vegas to clinch the pennant. In the Klein Cup final, they defeated their old high-desert space nemesis Elko Astronauts 4-2, a moment of sublime triumph and relief. For a brief moment, it seemed the "Boat Shoes Agonistes" curse had been broken. This Klein Cup trophy came at a period of peak performance - the "golden era" of the Klein Cup Boat Shoes, where they were consistently a top-contending team and fans had high hopes for the future.