Newsletter Volume 15 Issue 03

Ray sees his doctor on the 9th of February and is looking forward to getting back to the tables to shoot pool.

Two Teams take all 15 points in week 3. The English Majors continue to subdue their opponents, and increased their lead. They have an (8) point lead after 3 weeks of play. Reckless reeling from last weeks beat down, turned the tables on their opponents in week 3. and beat them down. Unfortunately, I am sad to say it was the Bull Dogs, my team that got whipped, sad but not depressed. 

Table 1: The Johns (John Jr & John Sr)-05 vs English Majors (Victor & Jimmy F)-15:

The English Majors win three weeks in a row and remain on top of the leaderboard, increasing their lead to 8 points over two teams. Jimmy continues to shoot well and he accounted for all of the wins in the 8 Ball Set. The Johns had problems finishing games, and with each miss, both Victor and Jimmy jumped on the bandwagon. Victor continued to make sure if he missed, it would not help The Johns get any type of rhythm. Jimmy was in sync throughout the entire match. This included a jump shot win in game 4.  He was making long runs in the set and closing out games. Victor continued to hide the cue ball at the most opportune times that led to a 5-0 sweep of the set. This looked like it might be a long night for The Johns as the English Majors swept the first set.

The 9 Ball Set gives each team a chance to not only play well but also get a bit lucky. English Majors Victor struck first in the set with a nice run to make it (6) straight unanswered wins for the Majors. After six unanswered points it was time for The Johns to get something going. John Jr finally got his chance and made good with a win in game 2 of the set. Again, Jimmy from the Majors put a nice string of shots together and posted the win in game 3. John Sr was not afforded many chances, but when the English Majors sent the cue ball into the pocket on the shot before the 9 he took the win for his team. This gave Sr a bit more confidence and with a nice 3 ball finish, he and John Jr nailed the win in game 5. This gave The Johns the lead, 3-2 in the set. Vic continued to shoot well making a nice long run in game 6 to square up the set at 3 each. Game 7 was a quick and to the point. John Sr found a 1-9 combo and made no mistake nailing it into the pocket. This put John Sr & John Jr on the hill. It is tough to hold down good shooters any time they get to the table. Jimmy again got into his shooting groove and nailed a win in game 8 to tie up the set. With both teams on the hill, The Johns could not stop Victor as he again made a nice run to cap off the final game and set two, 5-4.  This gave them a 6 point lead in the match.

Jimmy got the English Majors on the score sheet first in the 10 Ball Set as he notched a pretty quick win with a 2-10 combo. John Jr finally got his chance to get back into the scoring column and pumped in a 4-10 combo in game 2 to even the set. It was Victor again making some nice shots with his position set ups to put his team ahead to stay in the final set. Victor continued to make game winners and followed the next game with a winner after a few misses by The Johns.  Jimmy added a win in game 5 and the lead in the set grew to 4-1, as the Majors sat on the hill. Victor finished off the set with his third game winner in the final set. The English Majors take the set 5-1 and the match by 10 points. A valiant effort to an underdog team that fared better than they may have thought at the start of the match. Good effort by The Johns. Very nice shooting by English Majors who have increased their lead to 8 points. 

Table 2: Reckless (Jim B & Matt D)-15 vs Bull Dogs (Jim P & Ray-sub Matt R)-07:

 Jim made it back to play in week 3 and contributed with 8 wins in the match. Matt D got Reckless on the scoresheet as he made a 5 ball run to close out the game to start the 8 Ball Set. Matt R seemed to start this match shooting decently, which seemed to decline as the match progressed. Matt put Bull Dogs on the sheet and then partner Jim P followed with the second win in a row taking game 3. Jim B didn’t seem to lose to much of his shooting skills being off a week as he sliced and diced his way around the table to notch game 4 and even the set. Reckless took the lead as Matt D notched a 4 ball run in game 5. Matt R would get he partner Jim P’s last win with another nice run in game 6. That would be the last win for Bull Dogs as Matt D continued to shoot well. He led the team with wins in the set as he nailed back to back wins in games 7 & 8 accounting for 4 of the 5 wins in the set.

The 9 Ball Set saw Matt and Jim notch the opening two wins with the help of some combos. Matt R started the set with a 2-9 combo in game 1 with Jim P nailing a 4-9 combo in game 2. This gave the Bull Dogs a quick lead in the set, looking to get things evened up. Then it looked like Bull Dogs took a back seat to shooting with continual misses by both players that continued to help Reckless gain more momentum. Matt D was still shooting well but it was Jim B cleaning up the balance of the balls in each game. Jim B made it look easy as his aim and cutting ability shined in the next 4 games. Reckless swept the final 5 games to double their points in the match with a 10-05 lead. 

The Bull Dogs found themselves in a big hole trailing in the match by 5 points as they started the 10 Ball Set. Matt R from Bull Dogs was initially posting 4 and 5 ball runs, but was only finishing with combos. It was a 2-10 combo for Matt R in game one of the set. Jim P stepped up and nailed a 10 ball on the break and the Bull Dogs again took a quick two game lead. It was continual misses by Bull Dogs complemented by some clutch shooting by Reckless that saw this set go the same way as the previous set. Jim B started a 5 game run with some nice shooting to finish off game 3. Matt D continued his fine shooting and position play as he ran 6 balls and out in game 4. Matt D stayed hot and won game 5. The end came quickly for Bull Dogs as Jim B posted a short run to win game 6 and closed out game 7 after a missed opportunity by Bull Dogs to take game 7. Reckless storms back from last weeks loss to to take (15) points and move up the ladder into 4th. Bull Dogs fall from a third place tie to 6th place. A valiant effort by Bull Dogs and nice shooting by Reckless.  

Table 3: Double D (Dave & Doug)-11 vs Just Another Bye Week (Scott M & Scott K)-12:

Scott M from Just Another Bye Week came out on fire in week 3 against one of the top teams in the league. Scott M single handily made some long runs throughout the 8 Ball Set. Doug & Dave from Double D could not get into any kind of rhythm as each of their misses cost them games. Scott K helped with continual leaves that kept Double D unbalanced and without any decent starting shots. Every time Double D missed, it was Scott M running out racks. Most of the wins saw Scott M running 4, 5 & 6 ball and closing out games. Scott finished a break and run out in game 4 to get to the hill. Double D broke through in game 5 to stop the run by Just Another Bye Week. It was over in game 6 as Scott & Scott finished off the set with a 5-1 win.

Just Another Bye Week continued to shoot well. They came out in the 9 Ball Set just about the same way they did in the first set. Scott M continued to punish any mistakes made by Double D. Scott M again put together a long run in game one of the set. It was Scott K finally making a nice 4 ball run to close out game 2. Double D continued to struggle to get any thing going and watched Scott M again finish off the balls in game 3. With the 3-9 combo by Scott Moritz in game 4 to put Just Another Bye Week on the hill. It was looking bleak again for Double D. Then, like it was scripted, Double D got an opening to get a run started in game 5. Dave was still a bit off  and could not get too much done in shot making, but he did make sure that the Bye Week didn’t get anything easy. Doug did take over as he seemed to get back into stride with some nice shootings on the openings left by Bye Week. Doug and Dave made a super comeback being down 4-0. Doug closed out game 5, & 6. He came back in game 7 nailing a 6-9 combo. Dave & Doug completed the sweep of 5 straight to overcome the deficit and win the set 5-4. Just Another Bye Week take a 3 game lead in the match. 

Both teams seemed to sparkle at times in the 10 Ball Set. It finally looked like Dave got his shooting eye back as he opened the set with a win. Dave continued to shoot well and posted a 2-10 combo in game 2. With Doug doing what he could to hold off Bye Week with some very nice safe leaves that helped to keep Dave focused and in a nice shooting rhythm. Dave closed out game 3 and Double D took a 3-0 lead in the set. The momentum seemed to shift back into Just Another Bye Weeks corner as Scott M nailed a 3-10 combo to stop Double D’s run at 3. Scott Kroll did his part to help Bye Week cut the lead, also making a 3-10 combo. Scott K again got his chance to score and nailed down the win in game 6 with a 3 ball run. This assured Just Another Bye Week of winning the match as they put together 12 points in the match. This would be the last hurrah for Bye Week as Double D’s Dave again posted a 6 ball run and put Double D on the hill with a 4-3 lead. Doug finished the set nailing a game winner after a nice run. Doug and Dave take the set 5-3, but lose the match by a point. Very nice shooting by all four players in a very close match.

Table 4: Zenith (Walter & Nigel)-12 vs The Two Old Guys (Mike & Peter)-09:

Zenith struck first in the 8 Ball Set as Walter got his team on the score sheet first. All four players appeared to be struggling in game 1. Mike then kick started his team with a nice run in game 2, nailing the 8 ball that evened up the set. Mike continued to shoot well and posted his first 8 ball break and run out, keeping Nigel and Walter off the table. Peter continued to hold down Walter’s partner giving Mike more chances to finish racks. Mike ran 5 and out in game 4 and accounted for one more win in the set taking game 5. This put the Two Old Guys on the hill with a 4-1 lead. Nigel got his name posted on the score sheet as he took advantage of some mistakes made by the Peter and Mike and notched a winner in game 6. Peter made up for his mistakes by running 4 balls to finish the rack and win the set 5-2. 

It looked a bit like two players were shooting and their partners were playing supporting roles in the 9 Ball Set. Walter has been off just enough that some of the shots he made would just hang up in the pockets for the other team in the first set. This was not the case in 9 ball. Walter attacked the sets with some nice shot making and position play. He nailed down back to back wins for Zenith in the first two games to get a lead that they wouldn’t lose. The Two Old Guys Mike had his struggles in the set, missing some shots that everyone knows he makes on a regular basis. Mike did connect on a nice run in game 3 to get them on the score sheet. Walter and Nigel maintained a 2 game lead as Walter finished off game 4, as Nigel played some nice defense shots to keep The Two Old Guys from getting some easy starting shots. This again gave Zenith a 2 game lead in the set. Then a couple of misses by Zenith opened the door for The Two Old Guys. Peter went to work making it difficult for Zenith to get anything going in game 5. With his safety play and Mike starting to get back into the shooting groove, they posted wins in games 5 & 6 to tie up the match. Even after losing back to back games, Walter didn’t seemed to be too bothered by it and bounced back with a 7-9 combo in game 7 to get he and Nigel on the hill. A few more misses by Peter and Mike and the stage was set for Zenith. They fired in several shots with Walter closing out game 8 with the win and a 5-3 set win. This match was 1 point contest after two sets. The Two Old Guys 8 and Zenith 7.

The troubles of making balls for The Two Old Guys seemed to multiply in the 10 Ball Set. Walter put a long run together, nailing 6 balls to get he an Nigel going in the set. Nigel also put a run together in the 2nd game and The Two Old Guys continued to struggle to finish off games. Peter would get started and then lose position which usually resulted in a miss and an easy start for Zenith. Walter has now got his eye back and pounded in game winners in the next two games with some nice shot making and runs to put Zenith on the hill with a 4-0 lead. In an effort to spark some life back into he and Peters games, Mike came up with a very nice 3-10 combo to stop the 6 game run by Zenith. Unfortunately, it was a bit late as Walter again made a charge in the game as the final miss by The Two Old Guys closed the curtain. Walter notched game 6 and a 5-1 final set win to take the match by 3 points. This was a good match with four quality shooters on the table. It just seemed like the momentum had changed after the 8 ball set in favor of Zenith. The Two Old Guys are now tied for 2nd place with Double D and Zenith holding onto 5th. Good shooting by all.

Tips and Tricks: David Alciatore, PhD (“Dr. Dave”) ILLUSTRATED PRINCIPLES “Fundamentals – Part VI: CB control examples”

This article is on fundamentals. In the last five months, I’ve covered the stroke, the basics of aiming, issues involved with cut-shot aiming systems, the effects of bridge length, and the basics of cue ball (CB) control. This month we will look at some examples of how to apply the CB control principles covered last month. We will look at examples of how to avoid a scratch and how to plan and execute carom and break-out shots.

To read more follow the link below.

http://billiards.colostate.edu/bd_articles/2009/feb09.pdf