Recent content by Sofla

I read Earl's opinion of the best 9-ball players once, and he had Louie and Wimpy on it. A few others also, but I'm not remembering the others. He did leave himself off the list, iirc.

Great equipment! May it serve you well and for a long time. Mine has (seven years plus so far). For mine, and also the lights and cloth, I chose different colors, but to each his own. It all looks very sharp.

In Shane's first US Open year, 2003, I watched him play Marco Marquez 8 ahead for his apparently standard bet back then, $2,000. He broke and ran 5, and won the next two to get on the hill. Marco got one back, and then Shane won the next two to win the set. It took only a little over an hour...

The commentators in this match said Shane was up 21 games on Shaw and Shaw came back to tie or take the lead (not sure which they said0. What was the final margin for that one? More or less than this one (+35)?

One year the old Open used the Delta metal racks, and boy what a racket they caused. Ting ting ting, going on constantly. Too much noise for my taste, and they switched by the following year.

I feel the same way (and I was confident Filler would beat Shaw to reach the finals, also). I was a bit shocked that both of them had blunders at key late stages of their last matches. Which shows they are human and pool is full of rolls, but wow, it was still remarkable. After Shaw got ball...

Very good points, and thank you. Frankly I snoozed on the shot clock expiration issue and didn't realize that was also occurring. In the same match, iirc, Shaw brushed a hanging 8 with the back of his hand, moving it back and forth between the jaws, still leaving it hanging. Purely by accident...

I see your point, but since all the racking was done by refs and it was also their responsibility to remove the rack by rule, it is a player acting outside of the set rules also. As always, fairness and the rules may not always match up. In other Opens and Internationals, the players did...

Actually, Shane barely lost those matches without his best game, grinding it out anyway. He was scratching on the break a lot against Mika, and when leading 10-9 vs. Lechner, he not only dry broke that possible case game but failed to make a legal break as well. The cue ball ended up on the...

Thanks for the example. I don't know pool history back that far, but from what I have learned about Nick Varner in general, that's credible. But then it is more like the exception that proves the rule, right? And the great Varner got just two US Open wins in those prime years (albeit back to...

Pete Fleming told me this week that a race to 11 (and even to 13) isn't long enough to determine if the winner is better at these high competition levels. Especially when it goes hill-hill or loser on the mini-hill, a small number of rolls going the other way could easily reverse the outcome. If...

Some Mika goings on: So I'm walking down the main stairs and I hear a voice from below, around the corner, saying 'if anyone messes with you, I'll f-ing kill them. You're with me!' As I turned the corner, it was a clearly unsteady on his feet Mika with a mixed drink sloshing from his lurching...

I was a little surprised to see him motor into the elevator in a Little Rascal type scooter. Although, come to think of it, I never saw him otherwise except sitting in front of his cues. Can he stand or walk enough to play a game? I have no information but that scooter thing is suggestive.

I'm pretty sure this was the occasion when something else also happened you may not have seen. When Shaw tried to pick up the rack, he actually moved the 9 ball and maybe the other ball next to it. At least the 9 definitely rocked. I was watching up in the fourth floor screening room so I had...

It was great to see him and Nick Varner later in the week in Norfolk around the International Open. Mike also took a turn in the Accustat booth with Mark Wilson, and in between commenting on the match they both had some nice reminiscing of some legends and rascals in pool from back in the old days.