Last year in London, the European fans were brutal with Tyler and they were not quiet when he was down on shots, even after the referee asked them to!

The fans at the Caribe Royal need to be brutal with Europeans.

Even if the referee is asking you to be quiet, you need to continue making noise.

Treat this like a NFL game.

fjk said:

I grew up watching the old legends (not Lassiter old, but Earl, Buddy, Sigel, Varner, Hopkins old). When I watch their videos now, it's pretty obvious how superior today's top guys are. While they certainly played well enough to take a set of someone like Filler, in a long race, they would stand absolutely no chance.

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The old matches are a hell of a lot more entertaining to watch, though.

hello said:

Yeah....

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Hell, yeah.

I had the same first reaction as kanzzo — playing everything to one pocket in rotation felt a bit artificial at first, and I wondered how much of it would carry over to a real game.

What sold me on it after trying it was the cue-ball part. Because you can't just take the easy pocket, you have to plan two or three balls ahead to get back to the right end of the table, and the stroke limit keeps you honest about it — you can't just keep nudging balls around until something drops. I found that part carried over more than I expected, especially the habit of thinking about where the cue ball needs to finish, not just where the object ball is going.

I still wouldn't use it as my only practice, but as a once-a-week check on pattern play and cue-ball control, I think it's a useful one.

I'm with Rickhem on this one — I actually like the stacked leather on those older Dufferins. Up here in Hamilton, Dufferins were everywhere in the halls I learned in, and that wrap always felt right to me, especially once your hands get a bit warm during a long session. It stays grippy without feeling sticky, where linen can start to feel slick to me.

I get Chopdoc's side too, though — it's one of those things you either love or it just bugs you every time you pick the cue up. If the cue hits the way you like, Rickhem, I'd play it as-is for a while before changing anything. A rewrap is easy later if it ever starts to bother you, but you can't get that original feel back once it's gone.

sudocrushms said:

If i'm Europe i'm going with:
- FSR (currently locked, and playing REALLY well too)
- Filler (because duh)
- Shaw (he's their captain until proven otherwise and always plays well)
- Aleksa
- 1 of Oliver/Wiktor/Moritz, but a fun wild card would be Felix.

Looking at the current rankings, it is WILD to not see Albin even in the top 20.

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Yup, that would be a rock solid team.