Advance warning! This post is long. No offense will be taken if you hit the brakes right now.
I made it back from my vacation at last, which consisted of a trip to visit a friend in Indiana and then a trip to WPBA Peoria. Had a grand old time in Indiana, but nothing could have prepared me for just how good a time I’d have in Peoria.
Williebetmore put me up in his beautiful house in Indiana Wednesday night, and even though I got there at about midnight, we just had to play a hundred balls of straight pool. Though I beat him, Willie’s got game, and seems on the way to becoming a fine player. Willie’s basement poolroom is very special, having loads of great pictures of old time players. He told me I had done better than anyone before me in identifying the players in his pictures, but some of them were pretty tough. Now really, how many of you actually know what Erwin Rudolph or Jake Schaeffer looked like? Me neither!
Thursday morning, the several-hour ride to Peoria went quickly, as Willie and I never tired of talking about pool, its culture, its history and, of course, its theory. Got to Peoria Thursday about 12:45PM and, quite predictably, I was sweating matches by about 1:10. Form seemed to be holding on Thursday, and if I recall correctly, the top sixteen seeds combined for a record of 31 – 1, with Sueyen Rhee pulling the only upset in round two of the winners bracket. Wasn’t clear who was in their top form, but GY Kim sure looked like she’d have to be reckoned with, and Monica also looked sharp, as she had in 2004 in Peoria. Tiffany Nelson was still showing the superb form she’d shown at the BCA Open in May, prevailing despite a very solid effort by Myuki Sakai. I didn’t get a clear read on either Fisher or Corr. I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Zeeder and Christy D. Saw Woody, too, but sad to say we didn’t get to chat. I caught up with Nostroke, too, whom I've known for quite some time.
Friday would prove a long, but memorable, day. The afternoon session was fairly uneventful, but the evening session would make up for it and then some. Winners round survivors from the afternoon session were through to the single elimination in the rather strange format in use, which I did not find to my liking. In the round to determine who would reach TV, the seemingly impossible nearly happened. At the very moment Corr fell 9 – 8 to Thornfeldt, the score in Allison Fisher vs. Vivian Villareal was 7 – 7 and the possibility that neither of the top two would reach the televised quarterfinals loomed large. Moments later, it was 8 – 8, but Allison escaped with a double hill win. Another great match I saw was Ellerby vs. Nelson, a match that would last until 2:15 AM. Both were in superb form, and the level of play was as high as any match played in the first two days of the event. Ellerby appeared to be cruising with a 5 – 2 lead when Nelson caught fire, playing five near-perfect racks to go up 7 – 5, but Ellerby was brilliant from that point on and earned the TV appearance. During the evening session, I was lucky enough to meet Chef Jeff, Dr Cue’s Protégé, Manifest Ecstasy, Wally in Cincy, and the one and only Landshark, who appeared rather suddenly at my side at about midnight.
Saturday’s session wouldn’t begin until 3:00, so Williebetmore, far more organized than the rest of us, put together a field trip to the local pool room for Saturday morning. By Saturday morning, Willie had lined up Chef Jeff and his wife Barb, Wally in Cincy and his wife Kathy, and Zeeder. Jennifer Barretta, who had fallen one match short of TV, very generously offered to join us. We had a whole lot of fun, too, hitting the balls around and comparing notes and war stories. But then we all raced back to the tournament to catch the TV action. Sarah Ellerby vs. Allison Fisher looked like a good one for the first few racks, but Fisher caught a major stroke and won fairly easily. Webb ran out to 4 – 0 against Shaw, but Shaw played well to tie it at 4 – 4. Shaw’s failure to pocket a rail first chance on the one at 5 – 4 behind sealed the deal, with Webb going on to win 7 – 4. Predictably, Jennifer Chen vs. GY Kim was a shootout. The match turned on, what I thought, was an extremely poor push by Kim at 5 – 5. While conceding a tough one ball, Kim could have used the seven to tie up the two, but did not. A top instructor with whom I chatted after the match agreed with me that this was the match-defining error. Chen ran out off the push and went on to win 7 – 5. Was pleased to meet Deanna Michelle on Saturday.
Saturday night, it was back to the poolroom, where many of the AZB crowd shot until about 1:30 AM.
Sunday began with a stinker in which both Thornfeldt and Kelly both played poorly, with Helena advancing. What followed was a very interesting match between Allison and Monica. Hard fought and fairly well-played up to 5 – 3, the match reached its climax in rack nine, in which Allison had to use all her skills to wear down Webb with some well-judged two way shots and a safety on the four that both snookered Webb and opened up the clustered seven ball to create a runout on her next turn. I do hope ESPN will show the rack that, in my opinion, was the most interesting of the entire weekend, but I fear that its length may lead to it being edited out. Fisher won 7 – 3, but the match was far closer than the score. Vagabond, who is a very nice, and particularly well-dressed, guy who loves pool and has been around the pro game for many years, took many of the AZB crowd out for lunch in the free time we had before the second semifinal. We were lucky enough to have Sarah Rousey join us, and we all enjoyed her company.
Thornfeldt vs. Chen wasn’t very inspiring, a stinker for half the match, with Thornfeldt playing better down the stretch of the match. I recall thinking that if Fisher showed the kind of form she’d shown against Ellerby and Webb, a massacre was probably in the cards. Sure enough, Fisher threw a masterpiece at Thornfeldt, whose only rack came via a carom off the one to pocket the nine at 5 - 0.
Allison’s play in her three TV matches was simply amazing. When 2004 produced five different champions on the WPBA tour (Fisher, Corr, Lee, Kelly and Kim), it was logical to consider the possibility that the gap between Allison and the rest had narrowed. Now it would appear otherwise. What a year Allison is having with four titles already in 2005!
To Williebetmore, what can I say? The kindness and hospitality you showed me this past weekend meant the world to me. It is my great privilege to count you as a friend. I know that you're going to kick my butt one of these days in straight pool if you really apply yourself, but even then, you'll still be my buddy. To Christy D, Zeeder, Vagabond, Deanna Michelle, Chef Jeff (and his wife Barb), Landshark, Woody, Manifest Ecstasy, Wally in Cincy (and his wife Kathy), Dr. Cue’s Protege, Nostroke, Sarah Rousey and Jennifer Barretta, it was great hanging out with all of you. Thanks to all of you for the good times. You guys are the best!
Sure hope we get to do it again sometime. If not, well….we’ll always have Peoria.
I made it back from my vacation at last, which consisted of a trip to visit a friend in Indiana and then a trip to WPBA Peoria. Had a grand old time in Indiana, but nothing could have prepared me for just how good a time I’d have in Peoria.
Williebetmore put me up in his beautiful house in Indiana Wednesday night, and even though I got there at about midnight, we just had to play a hundred balls of straight pool. Though I beat him, Willie’s got game, and seems on the way to becoming a fine player. Willie’s basement poolroom is very special, having loads of great pictures of old time players. He told me I had done better than anyone before me in identifying the players in his pictures, but some of them were pretty tough. Now really, how many of you actually know what Erwin Rudolph or Jake Schaeffer looked like? Me neither!
Thursday morning, the several-hour ride to Peoria went quickly, as Willie and I never tired of talking about pool, its culture, its history and, of course, its theory. Got to Peoria Thursday about 12:45PM and, quite predictably, I was sweating matches by about 1:10. Form seemed to be holding on Thursday, and if I recall correctly, the top sixteen seeds combined for a record of 31 – 1, with Sueyen Rhee pulling the only upset in round two of the winners bracket. Wasn’t clear who was in their top form, but GY Kim sure looked like she’d have to be reckoned with, and Monica also looked sharp, as she had in 2004 in Peoria. Tiffany Nelson was still showing the superb form she’d shown at the BCA Open in May, prevailing despite a very solid effort by Myuki Sakai. I didn’t get a clear read on either Fisher or Corr. I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Zeeder and Christy D. Saw Woody, too, but sad to say we didn’t get to chat. I caught up with Nostroke, too, whom I've known for quite some time.
Friday would prove a long, but memorable, day. The afternoon session was fairly uneventful, but the evening session would make up for it and then some. Winners round survivors from the afternoon session were through to the single elimination in the rather strange format in use, which I did not find to my liking. In the round to determine who would reach TV, the seemingly impossible nearly happened. At the very moment Corr fell 9 – 8 to Thornfeldt, the score in Allison Fisher vs. Vivian Villareal was 7 – 7 and the possibility that neither of the top two would reach the televised quarterfinals loomed large. Moments later, it was 8 – 8, but Allison escaped with a double hill win. Another great match I saw was Ellerby vs. Nelson, a match that would last until 2:15 AM. Both were in superb form, and the level of play was as high as any match played in the first two days of the event. Ellerby appeared to be cruising with a 5 – 2 lead when Nelson caught fire, playing five near-perfect racks to go up 7 – 5, but Ellerby was brilliant from that point on and earned the TV appearance. During the evening session, I was lucky enough to meet Chef Jeff, Dr Cue’s Protégé, Manifest Ecstasy, Wally in Cincy, and the one and only Landshark, who appeared rather suddenly at my side at about midnight.
Saturday’s session wouldn’t begin until 3:00, so Williebetmore, far more organized than the rest of us, put together a field trip to the local pool room for Saturday morning. By Saturday morning, Willie had lined up Chef Jeff and his wife Barb, Wally in Cincy and his wife Kathy, and Zeeder. Jennifer Barretta, who had fallen one match short of TV, very generously offered to join us. We had a whole lot of fun, too, hitting the balls around and comparing notes and war stories. But then we all raced back to the tournament to catch the TV action. Sarah Ellerby vs. Allison Fisher looked like a good one for the first few racks, but Fisher caught a major stroke and won fairly easily. Webb ran out to 4 – 0 against Shaw, but Shaw played well to tie it at 4 – 4. Shaw’s failure to pocket a rail first chance on the one at 5 – 4 behind sealed the deal, with Webb going on to win 7 – 4. Predictably, Jennifer Chen vs. GY Kim was a shootout. The match turned on, what I thought, was an extremely poor push by Kim at 5 – 5. While conceding a tough one ball, Kim could have used the seven to tie up the two, but did not. A top instructor with whom I chatted after the match agreed with me that this was the match-defining error. Chen ran out off the push and went on to win 7 – 5. Was pleased to meet Deanna Michelle on Saturday.
Saturday night, it was back to the poolroom, where many of the AZB crowd shot until about 1:30 AM.
Sunday began with a stinker in which both Thornfeldt and Kelly both played poorly, with Helena advancing. What followed was a very interesting match between Allison and Monica. Hard fought and fairly well-played up to 5 – 3, the match reached its climax in rack nine, in which Allison had to use all her skills to wear down Webb with some well-judged two way shots and a safety on the four that both snookered Webb and opened up the clustered seven ball to create a runout on her next turn. I do hope ESPN will show the rack that, in my opinion, was the most interesting of the entire weekend, but I fear that its length may lead to it being edited out. Fisher won 7 – 3, but the match was far closer than the score. Vagabond, who is a very nice, and particularly well-dressed, guy who loves pool and has been around the pro game for many years, took many of the AZB crowd out for lunch in the free time we had before the second semifinal. We were lucky enough to have Sarah Rousey join us, and we all enjoyed her company.
Thornfeldt vs. Chen wasn’t very inspiring, a stinker for half the match, with Thornfeldt playing better down the stretch of the match. I recall thinking that if Fisher showed the kind of form she’d shown against Ellerby and Webb, a massacre was probably in the cards. Sure enough, Fisher threw a masterpiece at Thornfeldt, whose only rack came via a carom off the one to pocket the nine at 5 - 0.
Allison’s play in her three TV matches was simply amazing. When 2004 produced five different champions on the WPBA tour (Fisher, Corr, Lee, Kelly and Kim), it was logical to consider the possibility that the gap between Allison and the rest had narrowed. Now it would appear otherwise. What a year Allison is having with four titles already in 2005!
To Williebetmore, what can I say? The kindness and hospitality you showed me this past weekend meant the world to me. It is my great privilege to count you as a friend. I know that you're going to kick my butt one of these days in straight pool if you really apply yourself, but even then, you'll still be my buddy. To Christy D, Zeeder, Vagabond, Deanna Michelle, Chef Jeff (and his wife Barb), Landshark, Woody, Manifest Ecstasy, Wally in Cincy (and his wife Kathy), Dr. Cue’s Protege, Nostroke, Sarah Rousey and Jennifer Barretta, it was great hanging out with all of you. Thanks to all of you for the good times. You guys are the best!
Sure hope we get to do it again sometime. If not, well….we’ll always have Peoria.
From all the threads around here, it's obvious you guys had a great time...glad to hear it. All the excitement from everyone that was there brings back memories of VF and how much fun it is watching good pool and running into old friends and making new ones. As it stands right now, it's looking like the world summit might be our next chance to finally meet. As of press time, I'll be there Thur night. 
