Turning Stone Classic XXIV finally here!! *photos*
- Thread starter Cardigan Kid
- Start date
Taken just before the 2 PM winners bracket round
:thumbup:
Just watched an excellent hill-hill match between Shane and Hatch. Multiple times the crowd was holding their breath. This match had a ton of suspense and the pressure/nerves were as strong as ever.
So in the next set of photos, I'll try to show the match through photographs in chronological form. Like a story picture book for rail birds :grin:
Dennis on the hill
I did a head count on the crowd - 327 was in the aisles and around the seating
Dennis in the lead 9-8, misses position on the 6 leading to a heartbreaking miss....
Shane calls time out....
Shane comes back from time-out, and runs out the rack...
Shane works through the rack but misses position, nearly freezing the cue to the 8-ball. Dennis wants the ref and mike zuglan to judge the shot....
Jacked up, Shane miscues but the 8 trickles in while the crowd held their breath
Shane works through the rack but misses position, nearly freezing the cue to the 8-ball. Dennis wants the ref and mike zuglan to judge the shot....
Jacked up, Shane miscues but the 8 trickles in while the crowd held their breath
Shane wins 9-8
I really love this event, it's kind of like my Superbowl weekend, and I'm happy to bring you a bit closer to it.
Yes, that match definitely should've been streamed. I did talk to a gentleman here who arrived with Danny DiLiberto and he got the entire match on video. He says he's going to get it up on YouTube as soon as he edits it. So we have to lookout for it.
CoreyClark
Registered
Thanks for posting the great pictures, wish I had been able to make it out there and catch some of it
Another great aspect of this tournament is the comfortable seating becomes a lounge area where world class players (like Thorsten seen here) take a break while waiting for the next round. This is where you can get any question answered right from the source. If you want to know what tip they use, just ask. It's better than any book or video. The atmosphere is relaxed enough that you can learn so much just by striking up a conversation.
It's good to be back from the dark times. I have a stack of photos to post here to get everyone caught up.
My favorite time of the tournament is Saturday night. In between the 8 PM round and the 10 Pm round, we start to find out who the winners bracket players are. The rest are left to fight for the last spots on the one-loss side of the bracket. Because the quality of professional talent is so high, you can walk around and just see player after player, future and current hall-of-famers warming up and getting ready for battle.
The atmosphere is extremely professional and watching how certain players navigate through it is a lesson unto itself.
My favorite time of the tournament is Saturday night. In between the 8 PM round and the 10 Pm round, we start to find out who the winners bracket players are. The rest are left to fight for the last spots on the one-loss side of the bracket. Because the quality of professional talent is so high, you can walk around and just see player after player, future and current hall-of-famers warming up and getting ready for battle.
The atmosphere is extremely professional and watching how certain players navigate through it is a lesson unto itself.
There was a moment when Darren Appleton was warming up, that Danny DiLiberto walked in and sat down in the background. After seeing these photos and noticing Danny D. in a white shirt standing out from the dark seats, I got a smile. It's a moment where there is a lot of pool history in the same frame - the past and the future of the sport.
The Shaw family represents a lot of good that this sport has to offer. For the most part, our society still carries that pool is a dangerous sport for con-men and thieves hex around with it, when the complete opposite is the truth. Here we have professional players with growing families. I don't think this aspect of pool sees enough light. But to watch Jayson Shaw play and here his little daughter play off to the side brings a smile to my face everytime.
A few years ago I had a friend who lived in Syracuse. Every summer I and another friend of mine, who lives in New Hampshire, would visit him for two or three days. Two people who have less to do with pool you could hardly imagine, the one being an Episcopal priest and the other a teacher of French and Spanish at a posh boarding school in NH. I talked them into taking a couple of hours to go over to Turning Stone and letting me watch some pool. To my surprise, they were both delighted and surprised by the quality of the event. If you want to give someone who is a non-pool person a positive image of pool, take him to the TS.
I'm a Midwesterner, and I think of Mike Zuglan's tournament as the East Coast equivalent of the DCC, but with much more comfortable seating.
I'm a Midwesterner, and I think of Mike Zuglan's tournament as the East Coast equivalent of the DCC, but with much more comfortable seating.