The Inaugural 2021 NBL 10-Ball Championships - 16 Player Event with a $25,000.00 purse!

[sjm]

The pros had to pay $1,000 entrance fee and their own travel and hotel expenses. Maybe Mika was not interested. I saw a post from NBL asking pros to apply after Earl had withdrawn. I guess any pro could have applied but some chose not to. I don't think it a question of some chosen over others.

Thanks for that. I did not realize this. So, pros of any nationality were, apparently, eligible or Morra would surely not have even applied.

I stand corrected.

 

[garczar]

Regardless of their rules/regs i'd rather see someone of Morra's caliber than some no-name from Podunk, USA. Just my $.02 here. If i'm going to watch a pool/billiard/snooker stream i want to watch top players or at least those very close to top pros. I watch some am/pro-am streams and i usually don't last more than 15min. I'm sure friends-family might want to watch but not me. I'd rather mow the yard to be honest.

 

[Chili Palmer]

So you couldn't hear the sarcasm in my writing, eh?

Hopkins is horrible. Sounds like he's never been in a pool room in his life.

I would agree his announcing wasn't that great. I was half listening and didn't know who it was and was thinking "who's this guy?" using a slightly different choice of words.

He missed so many shots it was ridiculous.

"Ok, he's shooting the three in the side, wait, he's still shooting the 2"...

Multiple errors because he was blabbing about other shit and not paying attention.

 

[Chili Palmer]

All the people that thought Hopkins did great must not have watched for more than 3 minutes. He sounded ok and his commentary in general was ok except for one thing, but it is a huge, massive thing. He called things wrong constantly, and not just a little wrong, but in line with what an APA 3 might say, like way out it totally clueless lala land. Predicted shots that were not just a little wrong but downright silly, and sometimes not even possible. From the standpoint of accuracy and reality it was quite possibly the worst I've ever heard including from non-playing color commentators which is saying something considering there isn't a real shortage of less than stellar commentary out there. Allison was good and did a good job in all respects.

Agreed - 100%. I'll give him one more shot at announcing but that was horrible.

 

[VVP]

Thanks for that. I did not realize this. So, pros of any nationality were, apparently, eligible or Morra would surely not have even applied.

I stand corrected.

I believe they wanted pros residing in the USA only. Jason, Morra and I am sure others met this requirement.

 

[mattydrva]

Was a good watch. Thought the commentary was quite good; didn't have to lunge for the mute button thankfully. The thing that struck me most about this event was how big the pockets were playing. May have been a combination of pocket size and newer cloth perhaps though seemed like anything close was rolling in as long as not hit hard. Prefer to watch "pros" play on tighter pockets than these buckets.

 

[Sandman]

I believe they wanted pros residing in the USA only. Jason, Morra and I am sure others met this requirement.

That is correct and always was the case. Just as Yao Ming came to the US to play in the NBA and many Dominicans come to live in the US to play in the MLB, I'd love to see all the top cueists from around the globe reside in the US to compete on the American tour to elevate the game across the board and once again make us the pool capitol of the World. Notice how ALL players had the same standard uniform with the American flag on their sleeve? They ALSO had their current state of residency on their back to build a following and even more viewership. If you didn't know who Hernandez was but were a New Yorker with pride, you were watching and rooting him along. Just as California did with Oscar and Corey. What will first time viewers see and relate to? What other subtle tactics did you all notice that would attract new young viewership from outside our small community of billiard enthusiasts?

 

[Sandman]

And why did that old dude show up with a rag, point out his rag, then wipe his brow with it...and then rub the rail with his rag?

It happened at 9-6, right before the break.

What the...

Murphy's Law was at work. Any little ridiculous thing that could go wrong did. Even the rainstorm caused a small leak in the ceiling NOWHERE else but directly over the feature table. UGH. We tried to make light of it. He was tired from running out each rack to wipe the drip dry.

 

[Sandman]

I watched some of it and agree with the general sentiment that Allison Fisher did a great job, much as she did when commentating at the 2020 Mosconi Cup. Allen Hopkins was way off his game as a commentator, which was unexpected given that few have a greater all-around knowledge of the game. Allen was a solid commentator back in the 1990's, but he has done little commentary in recent years, and his rustiness was obvious.

Though I applaud him for his fine play, John Morra winning doesn't feel right here. No, he is not a resident of the US, at least no more than about a dozen Europeans that spent a significant portion of 2021 in America competing. Unlike Morra, Dennis Orcullo spent the entire year here, but he, too, is not a resident. Mika Immonen would have been a better choice, as he has lived in the US for over 20 years. He also doesn't live far from Sandcastle Billiards.

All these points aside, this was a pretty good event.

Mika was invited early on but had plans to be overseas and unavailable. Yes, Morra is and has been a US resident for almost 2 years now. He had to show me proof of residency as a matter of fact before I allowed his entry.

 

[Sandman]

The pros had to pay $1,000 entrance fee and their own travel and hotel expenses. Maybe Mika was not interested. I saw a post from NBL asking pros to apply after Earl had withdrawn. I guess any pro could have applied but some chose not to. I don't think it a question of some chosen over others.

Three original pros and three amateur qualifier winners had to be replaced within the last two weeks. The long list of interested parties made that part easy. Getting custom uniforms sewn together 2 days before was the tougher challenge. Not to mention, 2 performers (country singer and vocalist) along with cheerleaders #5 & 6 either tested positive for covid or were exposed and symptomatic. Nevertheless, the show must go on.

 

[Sandman]

I don't think so. I suspect that the last second cancellation of Earl Strickland placed the event producers in a tough spot and that they scrambled to fill the suddenly open spot.

Earl was very excited to play in the event but didn't realize until his announcement that he was booked for an exhibition in Portland that same weekend. Another plyer contacted him and me to notify us of the conflict. It was a benefit a recently deceased person. Humanity before competition.

 

[pwd72s]

Earl was very excited to play in the event but didn't realize until his announcement that he was booked for an exhibition in Portland that same weekend. Another plyer contacted him and me to notify us of the conflict. It was a benefit a recently deceased person. Humanity before competition.

Thanks for this and all the above comments.

 

[jay helfert]

I watched a couple of games and I enjoyed the commentary between Allen and Allison. Maybe if I had watched longer I may have seen some "mistakes" by Allen, but we all can miss something from our perspective up in the booth somewhere.

 

[Black-Balled]

Murphy's Law was at work. Any little ridiculous thing that could go wrong did. Even the rainstorm caused a small leak in the ceiling NOWHERE else but directly over the feature table. UGH. We tried to make light of it. He was tired from running out each rack to wipe the drip dry.

Thank you for addressing my irrelevant wonder!

Congrats on the completed event and best wishes for the future ones.

 

[sjm]

Earl was very excited to play in the event but didn't realize until his announcement that he was booked for an exhibition in Portland that same weekend. Another plyer contacted him and me to notify us of the conflict. It was a benefit a recently deceased person. Humanity before competition.

Unlucky there, as Earl would have been a nice addition to the field.

Congrats on a fine event and wishing the NBL continued success,

 

[Sandman]

Unlucky there, as Earl would have been a nice addition to the field.

Congrats on a fine event and wishing the NBL continued success,

It would have been great to have him in the field indeed. If all original players had made it, we would’ve seen top tier men, average male pros, the #1 ranked WPBA female, a senior amateur qualifier and even a junior level player in Spencer Ladin all compete on the same platform. Perhaps next event in 2022, we will see them all in a full scaled event. Thank you for your support and friendship! (Everyone!)