SVB and Dennis score.

LHP5

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Nice to see Shane can still smile after that match.

We need more matches like this lined up to get pool exciting again.

Shaw
Filler
Kaci
Biado
Gorst
etc...

It is kind of weird that the top players don’t match up with each and/or stream it on YouTube. I guess everyone one wants a piece of the POV stream. Check out the Filipino players and the top of the ladder is always matching up and posting on YouTube. Just yesterday a match was posted between Chua and Aranas. Biado, Raga, Ignacio, Chua, Aranas, Banares, De Luna, etc. all match up all the time and post to YouTube for free.
 
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TxOnePocket

i'm ur huckleberry
Silver Member
As you've said that you yourself used chemical enhancements to help your pool game, I'm going to rely on your assessment here, but ....

... please show me in the rules governing impromptu action matches where it says that chemical enhancements are forbidden, or even unethical. Every player has the option to use such chemical enhancements when they play in action, and that includes both Dennis and Shane. Similarly, every player has the option to make drug testing a condition of an action match in which the winner's failing the test relieves the loser of the obligation to pay the bet. Thankfully, nobody really wants it that way.

Like you, I think it's regrettable that so many players of this generation need such chemical enhancement, but it is being dealt with in WPA sanctioned events in our sport, one of many reasons that WPA titles are the gold standard in our sport.

Even if you are right here, Dennis won fair and square here and his victory is commendable. This is in no way an extenuating circumstance.

I mean I agree with everything you said, It's not against any rule or even frowned upon in our world, was just a glaring assessment of day 3 that stood out to me.
 
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TxOnePocket

i'm ur huckleberry
Silver Member
Also, how do we really know if Dennis was on anything? Yes, he was quite hyper- literally running around the table. However, that also could have been because he was so excited to be back in the match after he looked dead in the water.

It was just my opinion, we dont and wont know that, and yes I guess it "could" have been just excitement and endurance.
 

AtLarge

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
... Billy and Sky were on the mic in disbelief, that the great SVB would give up a 30 game lead over two days.

Shane never had a 30 game lead.

His largest lead was 22, twice on Day 2 -- at 74-52 and 76-54.
 

AtLarge

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Are you going to do break stats?

Yes. But, first, I'm hoping to see a replay of a game I missed when the stream was down. I'd like the stats to be complete. But I can tell you that the aggregate stats for the 3 days were just about as close as the final score.
 
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Island Drive

Otto/Dads College Roommate/Cleveland Browns
Silver Member
Yes. But, first, I'm hoping to see a replay of a game I missed when the stream was down. I'd like the stats to be complete. But I can tell you that the aggregate stats for the 3 days were just about as close as the final score.

I wouldn't argue with Justnum, he's always right. :grin-square:
 

TATE

AzB Gold Mensch
Silver Member
Yes. But, first, I'm hoping to see a replay of a game I missed when the stream was down. I'd like the stats to be complete. But I can tell you that the aggregate stats for the 3 days were just about as close as the final score.

Looking forward to it, thanks!
 

Tin Man

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Each to their own, but for me I prefer never to publicly speculate about two things in pool matches: Substance use and dumping.

Yes, these things happen. There are times when things play out in rather suspicious ways. And of course there are times when people have hard data.

But hard data aside it is impossible to be conclusive with just the eye test. Adrenaline is a natural drug that can have amazing impacts on people. It can be really positive and look like speeding, or it can be really negative and look like dumping. In either cases we can't determine whether anything more than a natural reaction to pressure was taking place.

I remember winning a tournament once and after it was over my friend asked me if I was on speed. He told me I was behaving as if I had popped some pills or snorted something, the way my eyes looked and moved, the way I was zoned, the way I was a little OCD about how I placed the chalks on the diamonds between shots, and many other things. I was really surprised to here this. I was just dialed in and in dead punch.

So while these things do happen, and while there are times when we might personally speculate, I would prefer to see none of these types of suspicions lobbed around in a public venue. One can say that is what AZB is for, discussing these things among friends. But rumors have a way of snowballing and can be damaging to reputations. There is a fine line between a pool discussion and gossip. When it is unfounded and potentially damaging I think we should choose discretion.
 

TATE

AzB Gold Mensch
Silver Member
One more thing. Dennis does NOT use drugs! He plays on the "natch" and is quite used to playing long matches that last all day and night. THAT is the Filipino way! :)

Deserves to be stated again. Unfairly claimed in the first place:

One more thing. Dennis does NOT use drugs!
 

jasonlaus

Rep for Smorg
Silver Member
It’s a real shame the commentators for such a great match couldn’t even manage to stay sober.

$40 for a stream and we had to listen to that BS is ridiculous.

Maybe they can get Earl to commentate over it, really a shame.
 

TATE

AzB Gold Mensch
Silver Member
$40 for a stream and we had to listen to that BS is ridiculous.

Maybe they can get Earl to commentate over it, really a shame.


My wife was in a room near me and I had the sound turned up pretty loud - she said "Those guys are the two biggest hicks I've ever heard!" - I thought Sky and Billy were hilarious, Hullaballoo meets Beavis and Butthead. I thought it was the perfect commentary for this outrageous match.
 

justnum

Billiards Improvement Research Projects Associate
Silver Member
It’s a real shame the commentators for such a great match couldn’t even manage to stay sober.

Billy and Sky let them have their fun while they are young.

At least they shoot decent. Based on how they talked about SVB upset, Team USA sounds like a bunch chicken players afraid of Team Europe. If their top guy gets demolished in the late rounds, then Billy or Sky wouldn't do much better.

And Billy is pretty good with original pool phrases.

Sky is better at color commentary. He focuses on the challenges of being a pro with a mullet.

I hear he gets a lot of bad vibes sent his way for the mullet.
 

overlord

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Shane is a great champion and no one wins all the time.

He will be back.

Congratulations, to Dennis for a great comeback.

I didn't see the match but it sounds like one for the ages.
 

sjm

Older and Wiser
Silver Member
Two negative things about this otherwise memorable match stand out to me:

1) Drunken commentators, whether or not some find it amusing, are unacceptable in a pay per view stream. On a free stream, it's something you, sadly, sometimes have to live with.

2) Only in pool do you get a smoking break at the very moment a match has built to a climax. Why must Dennis take a smoking break just after Shane scratches on the break less than five minutes from the end of the match? I, for one, agree with Mike Zuglan's go-to line at Joss events: "There's no such thing as a smoking break. If you have to go to the bathroom, go." Player timeouts in our sport have a way of reducing the excitement level when it ought to be at its highest.
 

Tin Man

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
I root for Billy and Sky when they play. I admire their ability on the table and their dedication to the game.

As for commentary, I prefer people that are absorbed in the game. I've seen this before too, when commentators lose focus on the match and start talking about other stuff, playing around in the chat, multi-tasking, it just makes it hard for me. Maybe this is a new age where people are used to streaming and entertaining the audience themselves, but the only entertainment I want is on the screen. And I focus really hard on the match at hand, and find it very disruptive when people's attention lapses continuously. I find it like surfing a cell phone while at an opera.

While both players had ups and downs the level of play achieved at times on both ends was extraordinary. Both players ran through difficult racks with problem balls, clusters, banks, tough shots, tricky cue ball maneuvers and dicey layouts. They did it so continuously I can see why the untrained eye could lose interest thinking it's easy. That is why commentators should be there to keep people focused on the game and on the key parts of the game, mental and physical. Sure they can add some color and mix it up a hair, but it should be a spice, not the main dish. In my opinion.

I'd like the chance to do some commentary someday. I anticipate it will happen at some point. I have no formal training and background, but I can tell you this- I would be laser focused on the match, hanging on every ball, and would be talking about the challenges on the table and how the players responded to them.
 
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