Mosconi Cup 2025, Dec. 3-6, Alexandra Palace, London

Two points.

#1. Correct me if I’m wrong. (I have no concerns you will follow through on that.) I believe Dennis Hatch is undefeated in his MC matches. This says something about the kind of personality you need to have in order to perform at your top speed at Alexandra Palace. Do you think Jack Breit or Johnny Ervolino would have missed those nine balls?

#2. Matchroom wants to make pool more popular. As I studied the videos of the gray felt against the gray frame of the table, both in the grim, joyless Brutalist/Industrial style so popular now in design, I had an image in my mind but could not pin it down. Some object that was as far from billiards and mass appeal as it could be. After two days of trying to identify that image it came to me. A catafalque.

Mid-America Lathes is now cuemakersupply.com

Professional Series Large Bore Cue Lathe​

You can build cues on this lathe. Only thing you would probably not do is shafts because I don't know if they make taper bars for this. But with the right attachments you can make multi point cues on this.
I've built cues on this lathe and added a taper attachment from ebay to do butts and shaft.m it mounts in the tailsstock and you dial the taper you want , once you have your gantry dialed in. This pictures shows a tapered shank maybe m3, however they sell the 10mm straight shank which works nicely in the tailsstock

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BUTTERFLY EFFECT CHALLENGE - fullsplice cue for donation

I agree with you Biloxi. I received #76 from Anton some time ago. While its not my main player, I do find myself picking it up often and shooting a few racks. Its a great hitting cue for sure. Wish I knew what tip was on it.
Now I need to grab mine. I Iron-Cheffed mine (Brandon Jacoby did) into something spectacular.

Mosconi Cup 2025, Dec. 3-6, Alexandra Palace, London

🤷‍♂️ maybe.

It's hard to explain to people that a losing player cannot help you win, they just don't understand math
It's actually really easy to understand: SVB has a better chance of beating the Euros than anyone else in the US. Let's be real: there's only 2 world class players in the US and as soon as you get past the top 8-10 they get shut out. Shane may not be winning, it may not be a good event for him, but there's literally no one else that can do better.

Trying to build a new team from established players outside the current group is just going to result in a shutout. It's a fundamental lack of talent. Getting rid of the talent you do have solves nothing.

There is no "next year" fix for Team USA. If anyone with money and connections actually cares, they'll grab a bunch of young talent and start working towards winning 5 years from now. But you need depth of talent before you can start splitting the historical performance and environment hairs.

Buddy Hall vs Steve Mizerak, who had the nicer stroke?

I was watching this video...

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Both had great strokes, with The Miz seemingly a bit less smooth here (to me). This is on a Senior tour, so definitely not in their prime.

For those who've seen them both play in their prime, who had the nicer stroke?

The Miz is always mentioned when stroke is involved, but Buddy is definitely always mentioned among the greats.
Miz...........

The Hustler Bank Shot Recreated with a twist

most games require a 45° downward cueing angle to avoid double-kiss.
The WPA Rules of Play, which apply to ALL games, do not require any 45 degree nonsense when the cue ball is frozen to the object ball:

3.7 DOUBLE HIT / FROZEN BALLS
...if the cue-ball is touching an object-ball at the start of the shot, it is legal to
shoot towards or partly into that ball (provided it is a legal target within the rules of the
game) and if the object-ball is moved by such a shot, it is considered to have been
contacted by the cue-ball.

For instance, in 9-ball when the cue ball is frozen to the lowest numbered ball on the table, it is legal to stroke the cue ball however you wish. You can stroke with a level cue full into the object ball, or you can stroke the cue ball into the object ball at a half ball hit in an attempt to throw/push the object ball into a pocket, or anything else and by rule it is not considered a foul. Of course, if you stroke towards a cushion, and the cue ball or object ball comes off the cushion and hits your stick, that is a foul; or if you stroke towards some nearby balls and your cue hits those balls, then it is a foul.

Dumb league rules are NOT the rules of pool:

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