I had the distinct pleasure of attending the Jarrod Clowery benefit tourney that was held this past Sunday at Snookers in Providence, RI.
Jarrod Clowery is one of the top amateur pool players in New England and had the great misfortune of being at the Boston Marathon finish line along with three close buddies, when the two bombs went off.
All three of Jarrods friends lost legs in the blasts and he, himself, suffered severe injuries including burns, hearing loss, and many, many pieces of shrapnel consisting of bb’s, ball bearings and nails.
Promptly at 1 pm, the event got underway featuring a very stirring, emotional, and dare I say, at least R-rated speech from Mr. Clowery. Anyone who may not have known previously, quickly became aquainted with the fact that this guy is much tougher than the many nails that still remain in his body.
Worth noting is that while Jarrod was welcoming everyone and expressing his heartfelt gratitude for all of the help he has received thus far, he saw fit to make a special announcement to acknowledge Mike Dechaine who he said spent over 8 hours one day with him, bedside at the hospital. That in addition to donating hundreds of dollars out of his own pocket *and* personally selling out all one-hundred of the $20 raffle tickets for an impressive equipment package donated by Mike’s sponsor, Predator. Careful with all of the do-gooding, MD, you have an image to maintain. :wink:
This very nice donation by Predator (a $2000 value) included a BK2 break cue, an IKON-8 player, and a Predator 2x4 case and was won by a young lady named Cameo Moy.
The tournament had 68 players including some well known pros.
The rails were crowded but action was almost non-existent, I’m sure, largely to do with why we all were there.
AZ’s very own Kerry McCauliffe (KMRunout) did extremely well in this event, ending up, I believe, either 3rd or 4th, but it was ultimately taken down by an undefeated Richie Britt. Second place went to Mike Keith. Snookers owner, Steve Goulding, stayed in the mix ‘til close to the end, as well. EDIT: Steve Goulding finished 3rd.
Yours truly, the kickin’ chicken, put forth a valiant effort making it to hill-hill in the match that would have had me playing for the hot-seat but, alas, I went and rattled the 9 while attempting to bank a side pocket whistler thus selling out to my opponent leaving him an easy roll in for the victory. Woe is me.
There were various raffles taking place along with other clever ways to make a donation to this very worthy cause. An fyi, Jarrod is a carpenter so while the injury he sustained would be a great challenge to *anyone*, it is even moreso to a man who relies on his physicality to earn a living.
For anyone who hasn’t been lucky enough to make it to Snookers, you are really missing out. This place should serve as a model for all other rooms to emulate. Great equipment, extremely friendly and attentive staff, and a quality of food that you rarely, if ever, find in a pool hall. Great job! :thumbup:
I would again like to offer my sincere best wishes to Jarrod in his ongoing recovery effort. It will take some time, for sure, but I have zero doubt that he’ll be making it back to where he needs to be. This is one tough (and funny!) son-of-a-gun.
Steve Booth (1pocket.org) was there and due to some sort of a clerical mixup, he didn't get to play in this event. As a result, he had a lot of extra time and he spent much of it taking pictures which he is immensely talented at so maybe we’ll get to see some of those shots soon.
In the mean time, you'll have to make due with the very limited, less-professional ones I’ve posted below. Plus the top one with Jarrod on the street in Boston - not sure who should be credited for that photo.
best,
brian kc
Jarrod Clowery is one of the top amateur pool players in New England and had the great misfortune of being at the Boston Marathon finish line along with three close buddies, when the two bombs went off.
All three of Jarrods friends lost legs in the blasts and he, himself, suffered severe injuries including burns, hearing loss, and many, many pieces of shrapnel consisting of bb’s, ball bearings and nails.
Promptly at 1 pm, the event got underway featuring a very stirring, emotional, and dare I say, at least R-rated speech from Mr. Clowery. Anyone who may not have known previously, quickly became aquainted with the fact that this guy is much tougher than the many nails that still remain in his body.
Worth noting is that while Jarrod was welcoming everyone and expressing his heartfelt gratitude for all of the help he has received thus far, he saw fit to make a special announcement to acknowledge Mike Dechaine who he said spent over 8 hours one day with him, bedside at the hospital. That in addition to donating hundreds of dollars out of his own pocket *and* personally selling out all one-hundred of the $20 raffle tickets for an impressive equipment package donated by Mike’s sponsor, Predator. Careful with all of the do-gooding, MD, you have an image to maintain. :wink:
This very nice donation by Predator (a $2000 value) included a BK2 break cue, an IKON-8 player, and a Predator 2x4 case and was won by a young lady named Cameo Moy.
The tournament had 68 players including some well known pros.
The rails were crowded but action was almost non-existent, I’m sure, largely to do with why we all were there.
AZ’s very own Kerry McCauliffe (KMRunout) did extremely well in this event, ending up, I believe, either 3rd or 4th, but it was ultimately taken down by an undefeated Richie Britt. Second place went to Mike Keith. Snookers owner, Steve Goulding, stayed in the mix ‘til close to the end, as well. EDIT: Steve Goulding finished 3rd.
Yours truly, the kickin’ chicken, put forth a valiant effort making it to hill-hill in the match that would have had me playing for the hot-seat but, alas, I went and rattled the 9 while attempting to bank a side pocket whistler thus selling out to my opponent leaving him an easy roll in for the victory. Woe is me.
There were various raffles taking place along with other clever ways to make a donation to this very worthy cause. An fyi, Jarrod is a carpenter so while the injury he sustained would be a great challenge to *anyone*, it is even moreso to a man who relies on his physicality to earn a living.
For anyone who hasn’t been lucky enough to make it to Snookers, you are really missing out. This place should serve as a model for all other rooms to emulate. Great equipment, extremely friendly and attentive staff, and a quality of food that you rarely, if ever, find in a pool hall. Great job! :thumbup:
I would again like to offer my sincere best wishes to Jarrod in his ongoing recovery effort. It will take some time, for sure, but I have zero doubt that he’ll be making it back to where he needs to be. This is one tough (and funny!) son-of-a-gun.
Steve Booth (1pocket.org) was there and due to some sort of a clerical mixup, he didn't get to play in this event. As a result, he had a lot of extra time and he spent much of it taking pictures which he is immensely talented at so maybe we’ll get to see some of those shots soon.
In the mean time, you'll have to make due with the very limited, less-professional ones I’ve posted below. Plus the top one with Jarrod on the street in Boston - not sure who should be credited for that photo.
best,
brian kc
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