I met Mickey in Orlando at the first Florida Open, and he left a bad impression on me...

Texas has a big airport and a hotel that

jbart65 said:

Well, at least Skyler Woodward is honest!

I watched the end of his second match yesterday. I came away thinking, man, Sky can really play when he’s dialed in. Too bad it doesn’t happen often.

Woodward admitted as much in a candid post-match interview. Here’s what he said.

“It feels good to actually practice for a week. I can show up at a tournament and actually start off playing good instead of trying to play myself into stroke, like I have been the last year or two.

Just telling the truth. It actually does feel good to be playing good the whole time instead of up and down. It’s nice."

Why did Woodward start practicing again? He said he was upset at his poor play and early exit from the Arizona Open. He recounted his reaction:

“Well, I said a few nasty words. I called my wife, and said, look, babe, clear my pool table off. When I get home. it’s all on. I’m practicing.

I haven’t had motivation since before Covid, really. I don’t know what it is. It finally triggered me. It feels good to actually want to play pool again instead of just show up at the tournament and play. I can get in stroke within in a couple of matches, but it feels good to practice and feel way more confident and comfortable over the ball.

Still in, still kicking, baby."

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We didn't need this information to know that Sky has been slacking on his preparation in recent years.

sneakynito said:

lol - i've been playing with one of the cues pictured for years, and everytime i think i know who made it/where i came from, someone comes in with an "aaaccttuaalllyyyy....." and then i have no idea again. whatever. it's a beautiful cue and plays wonderfully. i'm just gonna say santa made it from now on.

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I think it’s just a case of nobody bothering or caring to ask. It’s amazing what people can find out if they ask. In my case, I had great interviews with:

Jed Foreman - son of David Foreman, founder of Adam Cues

Patty Vorilas - one of the earliest employees at Adam USA and the last owner of the initial iteration of Adam USA

Don Spetkar - former Adam employee and founder of Competition Sports

play with 15 balls if breaking and running is something we dont want to see. or just leave nineball alone

First I had to show my workmates that I wasn't full of hot air. We were working out of
town so motel program. First night after work had a 6 man crew including superintendent. I was playing the Boss for the first round. I dutifully broke and ran all my solids or stripes but accidentally left myself hooked on the 8 ball. The crew was giggles as I had bragged many times. So now they had encouraged The Boss with, "Well at least you get a shot!"
Uh.not so . I called it and kicked it in. It was kinda required to maintain my credit ability.

JasonATX said:

Not sure I agree with that. She was at Skinny Bob's right before the Frisco announcement was made. It's possible that Predator just beat her to the punch.

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What is your reference to Predator?

V5 reduced to $425

Followup on 18-year-old Harrison Leinen - 'Hank the Tank.' He lost 8-7 to German journeyman Clemens Ebert and was ousted from the U.S. Open.

Leinen might be the most promising under-20 U.S. player I have seen in quite some time. I still hold out hope for Sam Henderson.

Lots of positives about Leinen. Good break. Lots of power. Plenty of finesse. Draws effortlessly. Solid pattern play. He’s also a patient shooter who doesn’t rush things like so many young players.

He has two big flaws from what I can see.

He struggles a bit on long, somewhat straight shots. That suggests he’s not the straightest shooter and needs to fine-tune his fundamentals.

His kicking and safety play are also subpar. He missed a half-dozen kicks attempting to get out of safeties. He ended up giving ball in hand.

His safety play was questionable. There were a few times he made head-scratching decisions that resulted in his opponents getting easy shots.

When he made smart safety choices, he often underhit the ball or overran his mark.

Perhaps it was his unfamiliarity with the speed of WNT tables, but he’s played in the last four WNT events in the U.S.

Frosty said:

I watch it for its beauty, the same reason that I play it. Second guessing and multiple looks of those that need to look 5 times at the obvious ruin that beauty. Often they’re just time bandits attempting to get in their opponents heads. Some like Moritz are just anal retentive OCD types that don’t trust in their training and instincts.

You say you want to get better? You’re learning bad habits watching players like that. In some disciplines like 1 pocket, shots require more reflection, as they’re a myriad of factors that affect shot selection. 9 ball is pool by number, you know what ball you’re on and the the accompanying order after that, there’s nothing to agonize over or look at 17 times.

Again, what some kindly call “deliberate players” in rotation games, are those that use it as gamesmanship or those that don’t trust their instincts & training and what they’re eyes are showing them, neither of these is something to aspire to.

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i lean towards your position, but i'm not quite as categorical

cueguy said:

Is SIB still in business? The web site is suspended and can't find them out there.
Ideas?

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Curious about this myself.