What's up y'all? It's been a minute since I played pool seriously. Played at "old school" Raleigh-area places regularly back in the day - Brass Taps and Rack'm Up West primarily. Found the page and thought I'd relive some of the past and maybe take up shooting again...

JasonATX said:

Great write up as usual. Will you be at the Texas Open as well?

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This weekend, I'll be at the Joss Tour Turning Stone Classic, near Syracuse, New York.

My $0.01:

The gaffe by the Emcee (“Robbie Capote”) was absolutely inexcusable. Also, trying to make it sound like a wrestling match was IMO ill-advised.

The pre-match babbling by the on-air personalities was, um, awkward and pained. Their rhythm and cadence were forced and uncomfortable compared to other more confident and experienced TV personnel. That said, I can forgive this because, well, I consider it growing pains and hopefully it will be smoother next time, assuming there is one.

National Anthem: Yikes!

Joe Rogan was about as expected. Didn’t do a great job but didn’t embarrass himself or Matchroom, either. His comments were merely OK. JJ and KB were good and MW was good, too.

I am extremely disappointed that a hill-hill match wasn’t anticipated and too much fluff at the beginning of the show precluded finishing the match in the allotted time. I had recorded the broadcast so I had to watch the highlights video on YT (thank heaven it was available!) to see who had won. Truth is that highlights videos aren’t all that bad to watch. Can get through a 2.5 hour match in 30 minutes. Only drawback is that we miss the pace of play from each player, and often it is damned interesting to watch a player’s body language as he/she agonizes over how to execute a shot, especially when also watching the shot clock wind down.

Overall, with a few tweaks, next time, if there is one, can be even better (production-wise; hard to beat hill-hill which can’t be controlled by the producers.)

lfigueroa said:

Just curious what the consensus was on racks.

I know there are the Diamond racks, the titanium racks, (way back the Sardo's), and the custom wood racks... so, do they really do the job better than your average house plastic/wood rack?

Lou Figueroa
don't care
about the templates

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The plastic racks that you are likely to find under a Valley in a bar are beyond unholy. Some manufacturers apparently think that the smaller the rack is the tighter the rack will be, I have seen some that have a 1/4" or less behind the back row, you cant even get the tips off your fingers between the balls and the rack, they fit so tight it's almost impossible to get the rack off without disturbing the balls. Then there are others that appear to be made from rubber, try pushing the balls forward and the rack flexes incredibly easy.

Great write up as usual. Will you be at the Texas Open as well?

loggerhead12 said:

I walked into the event center wondering if I would see SJM, and lo and behold he was right in front of me in line to get into the arena. Nice to meet you!

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Yeah, I was glad you took the trouble to introduce yourself. Hope to see you again on the tournmanet trail.

jay helfert said:

I liked your report with one exception. Your shout out to TruDough is seriously misguided. I would think you should know better.

He didn't do eight years as a reward for good behavior!

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LOL, I had been chatting with Sigel only for a while when Kevin Trudeau, whom I'd never met before, came over to join us. Mike introduced me to him as somebody who'd seen as many of his greatest victories as almost anybody. We certainly didn't discuss business of any kind, past or present.

I have the SMO for about 2 weeks. Played with a Revo before that. Also have a cutec Jacoby Blak V.3 and a Rhino. For me I feel the SMO shaft plays the best of all them. Plays close to the Revo in defection but has a nice sound to the hit unlike the ping of a Revo. The reason I changed from the Revo was I have a new cue with a radial pin and did not want to pay the price for a new Revo.

I like that he included Moe’s Pool Table

iusedtoberich said:

IMO, with a triangle rack, the balls being new and consistent in size is much more important than the rack. With new balls, good results come with the new Diamond plastic rack, and the Delta 13 Elite (not the cast version).

The Diamond plastic rack IMO is much better than high quality wood racks, as they all eventually chip and wear and loosen at their joints.

If I was looking for a 1-pocket setup I'd go Diamond plastic and new balls.

All that said, even with a brand new Delta 13 and brand new balls (I had both at the same time), the template racks give that setup the 6 ball in ease of a perfect rack. (for 9 ball).

Of the template racks, "magic ball rack" brand is the best, and the original commercial one. Outsville is the worst. Super hard to get them tight with that one.

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Wow, that's kind of surprising, we are at the opposite ends of the spectrum on this one, I have absolutely no problem getting a tight rack with my Outsville template and the plus is that they do not crack or "chip".

maha said:

unless bob is still writing for it. or perhaps dave. i cant see anything worthwhile that could be in print that could justified buying.
unless you cant read and like pictures.

look back in the archives 60 or 70 years for some of bob's great informative articles.

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Flipping thru screens in a digital format just isn't the same as turning pages of a magazine. Searching thru digital catalogs is also much more time consuming than flipping thru a catalog. Its pretty easy to bookmark a few pages for reference when searching or comparing items vs flipping thru screens.

which in essence is just learning where to place the tip for the amount of english you want.

if you cant do that then best you can do is a wide area position.

but for kicking especially it is paramount to know how much english is needed for the angle off the rail you need to put on.

Cord said:

Well, maybe because Earl's "fundamentals" require ass weights, finger sleeves, and everything short of a beekeeper suit?

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Do you think he needs his accessories to maintain his stroke or is it that his accessories make him comfortable and give him confidence for whatever reason?? I am guessing that it is the later.