Newsletter Volume 15 Issue 10B

Thursday Night Doubles: The English Majors continue to take down their opponents and have now won 10 straight matches. Their latest conquest increased their overall lead to 18 points over Reckless who did not keep pace, taking only 12 points in their match. Double D was the only other team to take all (15) points in week 10. It looks like it will be a race for 2nd place as Reckless has a 4 point lead over Zenith and a 6 point lead over Double D as we head for the final position round in week 15.

The highlight game of the night was the match between Zenith & The Two Old Guys. This put four good shooters battling back and forth the entire match with some great shot making by each player. In the end, it turned into a one point match between the teams. Both teams had their fair share of ups and downs through out the match and the final score showed how close the teams were matched. Nice shooting by all.

Our Payback party will be held on April 28th at 7:00 pm. After dinner and the awards presentations have been completed we will  have our usual pool tournament .

Table 1: English Majors (15) vs (06) The Johns:

The Johns were up against the first place team and added more distance between themselves and 2nd place Reckless, who now trail by 18 points with 4 weeks of regular competition and a final position round in week 15. The English Majors pretty much had it any way they wanted it in week 10 as The Johns made too many mistakes that kept Victor and Jimmy with great starting shots to

get into a shooting groove. Both Jimmy & Victor seemed to take turns through out the 8 Ball Set, as the Majors swept through each game with some great runs. Victor topped off the final game of the set as he ran all the balls of his group and nailed the 8 ball for an eight ball run to close out the set, 5-0.

The English Majors continued to shoot well and Jimmy nailed 5 balls and out to take game one of the 9 Ball Set. If The Johns could catch up, this would be the set they could do it in as both John Sr and John Jr have posted several combo wins in previous sets. Too many mistakes by The Johns continued to leave the door of success open for  Victor & Jim. The Majors made it 8 straight wins as they nailed game winners in their first three games of the set. The Johns finally broke through as John Jr took advantage of a few boo-boo’s made by the English Majors. John Jr nailed down the win in game 4 to stop the run. Victor posted the next win, game 5, to put the Majors on the hill. John Jr again got a chance to close out a game with a nice run, notching three balls to take game 6. Any chance for a catch up ended in game 7 as Victor nailed a 2-9 combo for a quick end to the set. The English Majors take a large lead in the match, posting a 5-2 set win and now lead by 8 points overall.

With the momentum clearly in the English Majors corner, things went a little south in the 10 Ball Set. Victor & Jim started the set posting the first win but then things got a bit dicey. Missed shots, unforced errors and some not so nice positions changed the completion of this set right away. John Sr’s shooting in the previous set hadn’t been going too good, but he seemed to get his shooting act together in this set. The Majors went cold and continued to open up the shooting lanes for The Johns. John Sr went to work, notching shot after shot. John Sr nailed a 3 ball run to get he and Jr on the score sheet. Victor & Jimmy again missed some golden opportunities in game 3 that John Sr finished to notch back to back wins. Jimmy nailed a 5 ball run in game 4 and Victor followed with a 4 ball run to cap off back to back wins in game 5. John Jr got into the shooting act as he got a gift from The Majors in game 6 to even up the set at 3 games each. Jimmy got The Majors on the hill as he again posted a very nice run, playing some amazing position play to nail game 7. John Jr again got a decent chance to finish off a game and that he did. Nailing game 8, this again evened up the set putting The Johns on the hill with the Majors. The final game went back and forth but too many mistakes by The Johns kept the Majors from dropping a set, as Victor finished off game 9. This was a very good match with John Sr & John Jr playing some nice pool. Good shooting by The Majors, who have almost locked up first place with an 18 point lead and 5 weeks of pool remaining in the Winter session.

Table 2: Bull Dogs (08) vs (12) Reckless:

All the members of League 27 want to wish Jim Barkatt our heartfelt sympathy’s as he lost his Uncle last week and was unable to make the league night. Todd Cook subbed for him and helped Matt to win the match. It just might have been the sticks that Ray & Jim were using that kept them from winning last week. I am pretty sure it wasn’t their shooting abilities. Ha Ha Ha!! The 8 Ball Set started out like it might be a battle to the end as Matt started the set posting the first win of the set with a four ball finish. Ray got the Bull Dogs going as he too had a decent run and nailed the game winner in the 2nd game.  Matt continued to shoot well and closed out game 3 as he nailed a difficult bank shot to set up the win. It was Ray again finding an opening and taking advantage as he took game 4 and the Bull Dogs tied up the set again. Todd had been a bit on the quiet side up to this point but got a chance to take a game, making a 6 ball run in game 5. Problem was that he did not seal the deal after the run, but everyone missed their chance and it got back to him. He didn’t make any mistakes on this try and finished what originally should have been his game anyways. Matt put Reckless on the hill taking game 6 and they made it three straight wins as they closed out the set with the win in game 7. Reckless takes the first set 5-2.

Bull Dogs struck first in the 9 Ball Set, in fact they nailed back to back wins. Game one was so-so, but Ray set up the win in game two with a two rail bank shot to give them a two game head start. Todd again posted a very nice run and nail game 3. He continued to shoot well and ran 4 balls in the game to finish off game 4, that again even up the set. Ray seemed to stay pretty focused and nailed the win in game 5 as he ran the final three balls to get out. Bull Dogs took the 6th game to hit the hill and increased their lead to 2 games. Reckless watched Jimmy run three balls, missing a key position for the 9 ball. He would now have to make a bank shot on the 9 to win the game. He did it with precision as he banked the 9 ball into the corner pocket for the win. This gave Bull Dogs a 5-2 set win and square up the match with each team with 7 points.

Matt got Reckless going with a 7 ball run to start the 10 Ball Set. After posting the first win, Reckless nailed game 2 to take a quick 2 gane lead in the set. Jim got Bull Dogs on the sheet as he nailed a very nice 4-10 combo. Unfortunately for he and Ray, that would be all they could muster in the set. Matt nailed the next two wins for Reckless as he played well with some very nice shooting that got them on the hill. Todd finished off the set posting the win in game 6 as they take the final set 5-1 and emerged as the winners in the match. All four players gave a host of games away through the match, but Reckless were the ones that took the advantage most of the match. A very valiant effort by Jim & Ray and great shooting by Todd & Matt.

Table 3: Just Another Bye Week (06) vs (15) Double D:

I got the word on the score sheet that Just Another Bye Week didn’t win game one in the 8 Ball Set but that Doug lost it. That would be the only game that Bye Week would win. Doug and Dave shared honors on games won. It would be both Doug and Dave slicing and dicing shots through out the set. Doug notched four and out in game 1 and finished off three more balls to claim game 3. As Doug was holding off Bye Week with some outstanding safety play, Dave was running balls. Dave nailed a 5 ball run in game 4 and continued some fine shooting to take game 5. Doug finished off the set as he too had a decent run to finish off the set.

Doug & Dave from Double D continued to click with their shooting and position play that carried on into the 9 Ball Set. Scott M got Bye Week on the tally sheet first as he made the remaining four balls that were left on the table for the game one winner. Doug continued to shoot well and got Double D even with the win in game 2. After Double D broke and Bye Week missed, Dave got to the table with a very make able 1-9 combo in game 3. It dropped into the pocket like a brick for the winner. Scott M again answered the call, running the three remaining balls on the table and even up the set. After a few back and forth shots and misses by both teams, Scott M got his chance at a combo. This was a 5-9 combo that dropped in giving Just Another Bye Week the lead in the set. It again looked like Bye Week missed a few opportunities and Double D jumped back into action. Doug finished off game 6 and Dave followed with some nice shooting in game 7 to put Double D on the hill. The 8th game went back and forth a few times before Doug found a 4-9 combo sitting in the right position. He nailed it with precision and closed out the set with a 5-3 win. Double D took a 6 point lead in the match to this point.

Dave made it four straight wins for Double D as he started the 10 Ball Set with a 4-10 combo. Scott M hasn’t been as sharp as he has been in the past few weeks but again seemed to get back into a good shooting groove. He nailed the final three balls to take game 2 and square up the set. When Doug & Dave weren’t playing some type of safety, they were running balls. Doug continue to keep his shooting momentum going and posted back to back wins in games 3 & 4. Doug continued to play consistent and his shot making got better in this set. This now gave Double D a 3-1 lead in the set. Scott K  has had his problems through out the match, but he got a chance for some redemption. He spotted a very tempting 2-10 combo in game 5. He made a very nice shot and the ball found the pocket to cut the lead to a game. Bye Week just could not keep any kind of rhythm going and Dave and Doug continued to nail shots and play great position. They capped of the final two games in the set to take a 5-2 win and a nine point match win. A very good try by Bye Week and nice shooting by Double D.

Table 4: The Two Old Guys (11) vs (10) Zenith:

This turned into a real battle as Walter & Nigel played sharpshooting Mike and hook specialist whose alias is Peter ‘The Hook’ Ramonat.  Mike got his team going in the 8 Ball Set as he managed a very decent run. Walter has been playing pretty decently lately and got Zenith on the sheet taking game 2 as he took posted a nice run to finish off the game. Peter who usually plays the supporting role, hooking or leaving his opponents bad, found himself finishing off racks. He nailed a 3 ball run in game 3 and continued with his shooting momentum that carried into game 4. This put the Old Guys ahead by two games, and Mike put a bit of salt into the wounds of his opponents as he closed out game 5, putting The Two Old Guys on the hill with a 4-1 lead in the set. With few opportunities through out the last several games, Walter finally got a good chance to close out a game. He made a long run shooting with precision and pin point position to nail down game 6. Unfortunately, they were unable to corral the shooting of Mike nor the tough leaves by Peter and lost the 7th game that finished off the set.

Peter started The Two Old Guys out with an opening win in the 9 Ball Set. Then, it seemed like Mike and Peter could not get anything going. Walter & Nigel started the uphill climb to catch up in the match trailing by 3 points. Walter nailed game 2 and Nigel got a 3-9 combo to go in game 3 and the momentum seemed to stay in Zenith’s corner. Walter continued to shoot well and Nigel made some very nice safeties that kept The Two Old Guys at bay with hard to no shots to get going. Their misses continued to open up the doors for victory for Zenith. Walter posted a decent run in game 4 and followed up with a win in game 5. This put Zenith on the hill boasting a 4-1 lead and chance to take the lead in the match. Nigel made that happen as he ran the final three balls remaining on the table in game 6, as Zenith posted a 5-1 set win. They now had a 1 point lead in the match.

Zenith came out pounding in balls as well as holding off the good shooting of Mike & Peter as Walter posted the first win to start the 10 Ball Set. This set would go back and forth for the first 6 games with both teams playing a bit more cautiously, not wanting to give up easy starting shots to their opponents. When the shots weren’t there for either team to get a good start, the safeties dictated the next best play. Mike finally got a chance to get going, and evened up the set as he ran 5 balls to get out in game 2. Nigel had his ups and downs in the match but came right back with a chance to win a game. He was faced with a full table bank shot on the 10, and swished it dead center into the pocket for the win in game 3.  Peter continued to play more offense than defense and nailed the last two balls in game 4 to square up the set again. Walter finished off game 5 but then it seemed like the momentum has switched back to The Two Old Guys. Mike nailed down the win in game 6 and then it was Peter again finding the bottom of the pocket with the 10 ball  in game 7. The Two Old Guys finally took the lead in the set, and would not give it up again. Peter made sure of that in game 8 as he got an opportunity to nail a combination. He lined up a 6 ball into the 10 and it dropped in the pocket to secure the victory for he and Mike for a 5-3 set win. The Two Old Guys notched three straight games to win the final set. The Two Old Guys edge out Zenith by a point in the match. Great match with some great shooting by all four players.

Tips & Tricks: “Billiard University (BU) – Part IX: Kicks” ILLUSTRATED PRINCIPLES David Alciatore, PhD (“Dr. Dave”)

This time we’ll cover the kick shot drill  from the Skills Exam along with some basic kick-shot aiming systems that you might find useful.

Diagram 1 shows the setup for Drill S6 in the Doctorate level of Exam II. There are 7 shots total. The first four are one-rail kicks at each of the four object balls (OBs).

To read more,  click on the link below:

http://billiards.colostate.edu/bd_articles/2014/april14.pdf