2018 US International Open - Observations

jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
The Renfro said:
Bill Gibbs has had 2 major strokes in the last 10 years... The only reason I have worked for Accu-Stats for a decade was that I had to drive him to Derby after the first stroke and Pat found out I had a technical skill set from consulting for a Software company for 20+ years now...

Bill had the 2nd stroke on our way home from Derby 3 years ago and it affected his speech center and his ability to swallow... He has made a bunch of progress but is still battling high blood pressure and the doctor changed his meds before this tournament and he had a bad reaction to one of them on Wednesday night after having no adverse effects prior... We were very concerned that he might have suffered a 3rd stroke but it was simply the medication and lack of sleep and he was OK after getting a full night of sleep...

Bill generally was commentating the 10:30AM matches working in the control room all day helping with switching and then doing the 10:30 PM matches which generally run late... 6 hours of sleep a night is about the max the crew gets so after a week it catches up with all of us... I would not be surprised if I wasn't slurring Wednesday night when I replaced him in the booth as my tail was dragging allllllll week long like everyone that puts in those hours mainly for the love of the game because the paycheck alone would not have any of us there or anyone lined up to sign on......
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Glad to hear Bill is doing all right. My advice to him going forward is give up doing the 10:30 PM match! Ken Shuman is very smart about getting his rest each night and this allows him to continue working these events at his age. I know how the long hours can take a toll on you and is the main reason I retired from directing events at age 70. Doing commentary is a piece of cake as opposed to working several 14-16 hour days in a row. Been there, done that, too many times to remember.
 
D

Denis The Kid

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The Renfro said:
Bill Gibbs has had 2 major strokes in the last 10 years... The only reason I have worked for Accu-Stats for a decade was that I had to drive him to Derby after the first stroke and Pat found out I had a technical skill set from consulting for a Software company for 20+ years now...

Bill had the 2nd stroke on our way home from Derby 3 years ago and it affected his speech center and his ability to swallow... He has made a bunch of progress but is still battling high blood pressure and the doctor changed his meds before this tournament and he had a bad reaction to one of them on Wednesday night after having no adverse effects prior... We were very concerned that he might have suffered a 3rd stroke but it was simply the medication and lack of sleep and he was OK after getting a full night of sleep...

Bill generally was commentating the 10:30AM matches working in the control room all day helping with switching and then doing the 10:30 PM matches which generally run late... 6 hours of sleep a night is about the max the crew gets so after a week it catches up with all of us... I would not be surprised if I wasn't slurring Wednesday night when I replaced him in the booth as my tail was dragging allllllll week long like everyone that puts in those hours mainly for the love of the game because the paycheck alone would not have any of us there or anyone lined up to sign on......
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Thanks and Glad hes ok!!
 
ImaPoolnut

ImaPoolnut

I'm just a PoolNut
Silver Member
jay helfert said:
Danny's an old warhorse now and he says some silly things once in a while, but he makes some good observations too. I guess I've grown accustomed to his voice and it's soothing for me to listen to him talk about pool. He's been one of my mentors for over fifty years and I'll damn sure miss him when he isn't around any more.
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Amen and hallelujah!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
chelseagrinder

chelseagrinder

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Accu-Stats certainly appreciates feedback

These comments and others are important and I think welcomed by Pat Fleming.
This event, like many business ventures, has risks, so it is
of course in Pat’s interest to make improvements.

the comments on the commentators is a very reasonable and helpful observation.

I would recommend giving your feedback directly
to Pat.

I attended the event the entire week
and enjoyed it immensely.

Hope this event returns next year.
 
Nostroke

Nostroke

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
chelseagrinder said:
These comments and others are important and I think welcomed by Pat Fleming.
This event, like many business ventures, has risks, so it is
of course in Pat’s interest to make improvements.

the comments on the commentators is a very reasonable and helpful observation.

I would recommend giving your feedback directly
to Pat.

I attended the event the entire week
and enjoyed it immensely.

Hope this event returns next year.
Click to expand...

Despite his faults i like DD on the mic because he does not want to speak every minute. He is happy to sit back and NOT comment sometimes. There was a pairing this year where both guys spoke at the same time constantly, louder and louder trying to be the only one on air. I timed the dead air for a game and a half and the longest was 3 seconds while they both watched where a slow push out would land-Other than that 1.5 secs was the longest- I turned the entire match off as if i cant hear the balls clicking, it is just not worth it to me.
 
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jasonlaus

jasonlaus

Rep for Smorg
Silver Member
Nostroke said:
Despite his faults i like DD on the mic because he does not want to speak every minute. He is happy to sit back and NOT comment sometimes. There was a pairing this year where both guys spoke at the same time constantly, louder and louder trying to be the only one on air. I timed the dead air for a game and a half and the longest was 3 seconds while they both watched where a slow push out would land-Other than that 1.5 secs was the longest- I turned the entire match off as if i cant hear the balls clicking, it is just not worth it to me.
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They probably weren't calling every shot wrong though.

Part of the enjoyment of watching pool is hearing the balls, and when you have to turn the volume off to avoid hearing the wrong shot, or the guy missed when he actually made the ball and on and on, watching is no longer enjoyable.

I think Sea Gull was even worse - I'd rather hit myself in the mouth with a hammer than ever listen to Sea Gull again.

Danny did get better at the end, hope he can keep it up. Glad he is still with us and doing something he enjoys.
Jason
 
M

MickeyMantle

Mickey Mantle #7
Always thought that they should have an amateur on the telecast asking questions. Or at the least, the announcer give some insight into the why of a shot, or "how" it should have been. A lot of the ideas expressed earlier are spot on. John McEnroe and Martina Navratalova are the best announcers in Tennis, telling you the why or how from time to time. A "pro wanna be" like me and others appreciate that. Knowing their ages, experiences, history, from where, backgrounds is very entertaining as well. In other words, why and how did they get there......a little fun facts about them, will also entertain.
 
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