maha said:

its not an outdated term maybe just to people that think you put a number on each other. when you mention a pro you dont just say his rating. you say his name or he is one of the top pros.

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To me it's a term from the gambling world, doesn't really apply well to tournament pool. There are usually only one, maybe two, shortstops in a room. Greenway was an exception, often a handful of shortstops there.

I don't remember ever calling somebody a shortstop that didn't gamble although they might play at that level. One reason people struggle to define shortstop, it is as much a position as a skill level. The shortstop in one area might be A level, another area you may run into somebody playing at top pro level that doesn't like to travel or can't travel for some reason. At my best I was somewhere in between. I played anyone head's up if they came to me on my home turf. I was in the road players' book in the early days, never got to read it. I had a pretty good idea what it said anyway if the referring players were honest. Always wondered how many admitted they came out on the short end!

Hu

skor said:

...99% of the shots with the 314 shaft I aim with no compensation.

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At least it seems that way...

I played with Predators the first couple of decades I played, and since then with a custom shaft that's even lower deflection. Never met a sidespin shot that didn't deflect - although some look that way because of swerve.

pj
chgo

buy cheap get cheap. that is the rule of the world.

We lived there when we were first married - changed quite a bit since then, it's a beautiful location, has a newish convention center and so forth. Galena is a nice little drive east, Field of Dreams (about the same distance in the opposite direction). Definitely not convenient to an airport and yep, at least 3 hours from O'Hare going east and if a Sunday in the summer going back to O'Hare be prepared for traffic on the interstate when you get to Chicago off 20 to be at a literal standstill at some point on a Sunday afternoon/evening.

I'm assuming without knowing this date is chosen in consultation/recognition of the Midwest Cue Expo and tourney at Big Dog in Des Moines - this week in '26 would have been their week in 2025, so maybe this will follow or precede and support and not take away from that event - I'd sure think it's a natural to take all that into consideration but have no idea. Nothing formally announced for that it seems, I just know it could be an issue because I've been checking, lol --- plan on attending some of that if SVB plays again this year.

This is a pure player's cue

Up to the top Not many sets are left.

I think he'll be a good addition if he makes it. I hope they fix the coach/captain thing.

jeephawk said:

He's only good in Northern Michigan?

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Nobody up there can beat him since Bruce Choyce left. (A free pair of Bob Byrne books to the first to explain that obscure pool reference.)

DrCue'sProtege said:

Yes, the black with the white trim is the one I am going to go with when I finally pull the trigger. Of course I won't be pulling the trigger until they make the GC7 with drop pockets. No ball return for me.

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The ball return was the one part of this table that impressed me the most.

The intial drop was kind of loud but the balls got delivered to the tray quietly and quickly and the tray was nice too.

The ball rack that comes with the table is a screaming piece of shit and I'm not a fan of the storage slot being below the ball tray that was kind of awkward. Diamond has the perfect rack location and there was no reason Brunswick did not just straight up copy that...

skogstokig said:

she won. what's the 1st prize?

as much as i would like to see these chinese top players (and dennis) back playing 9-ball, it makes perfect sense for them to pursue this low expense high reward game in their backyard

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They have big 9 ball tournament also and play on a snooker type tight pockets.And all international players are invited. Big money too

cjr3559 said:

I prefer the black or brown over the white. The white apron gives it good contrast.

White frame/rails are ok for home use, but the blue cloth looks like the circus has come to town. I saw gray cloth on a white Diamond the other day and that’s even worse.

Whatever the tan/beige cloth color they used in the 60s on the original GCs compliments the white frame best.
View attachment 871718View attachment 871719

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Yes, the black with the white trim is the one I am going to go with when I finally pull the trigger. Of course I won't be pulling the trigger until they make the GC7 with drop pockets. No ball return for me.

The Renfro said:

I have cross sectioned pretty much every chalk on the market and a BUNCH of cubes of Master... That looks like no Master chalk I have ran across... As cheap as it is there are still several companies in China knocking it off.. ...

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On a related topic, recently I gave a pool lesson in London (during my MC trip), and the room gave us one piece of chalk. When we got to spinning the ball, it was miscues galore. I looked at the chalk and it was stamped "made in China". WTF? About $20 an hour for the table and they give us five cent chalk? Bad five cent chalk. I went up to the counter and asked for some of the chalk they gave the snooker players. Master green worked fine.