I agree that most of the time you want to hit the head ball.
I use a BK2 and replaced the phenolic tip with a hard moori tip. I play APA league 8-ball and you are allowed to hit the ball behind the head ball. Coming in from the side this gives you lots more ball action. I use low outside...
I will be there with my team for 9-ball, The Virus. We used to be The KMC Virus (KMC is a hospital in central CA) but 1/2 the team is no longer KMC employees. So we dropped that part.
I agree with Alinco about Mike improving lately. If he is on, he is hard to beat. I know, I have shot against him before.
And you can call him a dark horse if you want, I am sure he has been called worse things.:D