Just a couple of notes about the tourney for me:
Jayson Shaw
I’m a fan of Jayson Shaw, since watching him live at the venue a few times. And I’m a bigger fan now. His final matches were just spectacular, fearless, and basically awesome. Also, It may not have been obvious but everything was right about his celebration. Max Lechner folded a bit (four horrendous mistakes in the last five or so games), and was clearly feeling the heat of the moment. Upon sinking the last ball, Jayson silently walked to Max, shook hands and consoled first with his opponent, and then roared out with his signature shout outs and fist pumps with the crowd. That’s how champions who have been there do it.
Jayson also brought the champion’s interview closer to what we see in golf. His kids came out with him to do the interview with Ra Hanna. When pool players are still looked upon as sole predators and gunslingers, Jayson looked like he really would rather just be with his family. It was very sweet. How many times can you say that about a pool player like Jayson Shaw? If you weren’t a fan of his before, you should be now.
Maximillian “Young Hannibal” Lechner
Congratulations to Max Lechner, who I felt really was playing at time best of anyone, but even in big leads, he did let some squander away before finishing. He’s already a champion, and he’ll only get better. His match against Filler was one for the ages and one for the future. They were back and forth until 8-8 when Max ran out the set silently while Filler was frozen in the Electric Chair.
They’d been calling him Mad Max or Mad Max 2.0 (Ken Shuman). Since pool already has a Mad Max, I (and others) have been calling him Hannibal Lechner. Upon thinking about it a bit more, I’m going to call him Young Hannibal from here on out. He‘’ll shoot your liver out, and then he’ll eat it with some fava beans an a nice bottle of Chianti.
Justin Bergman
Justin Bergman... amazing tournament. Definitely played better than any other American, and at times was only second to Lechner in getting the break down and having easy outs. But, here’s the rub. Should he be considered for Mosconi? Sure, but Mosconi doesn’t favor gunslingers. And Justin still was showing the gunslinger mentality, which is great for him. But Mosconi is a race to 5, don’t give a game away affair. I’ll take Justin on a long race where once he gets grooved, he’s nearly impossible to stop. For the Mosconi, Johan would need to convince the gunslinger to keep that gun holstered more, IMO.
Joshua Filler
I’ll be his fan one day, but I’m not there yet. But his play is spectacular. He’s reminding me of when I first saw Sigel play in that he plays great patterns, but then once in a while it’s a head scratcher. But he buries the shot in the center without much fanfare, so I end up re-thinking what the “right pattern” is. That’s how Sigel was. So much firepower that his standard patterns included much tougher shots than other pros in his time were playing for. I think Filler is the best 9-ball player currently, and I expect him to win this event in the future.
Freddie <~~~ one man’s wrong opinion
Jayson Shaw
I’m a fan of Jayson Shaw, since watching him live at the venue a few times. And I’m a bigger fan now. His final matches were just spectacular, fearless, and basically awesome. Also, It may not have been obvious but everything was right about his celebration. Max Lechner folded a bit (four horrendous mistakes in the last five or so games), and was clearly feeling the heat of the moment. Upon sinking the last ball, Jayson silently walked to Max, shook hands and consoled first with his opponent, and then roared out with his signature shout outs and fist pumps with the crowd. That’s how champions who have been there do it.
Jayson also brought the champion’s interview closer to what we see in golf. His kids came out with him to do the interview with Ra Hanna. When pool players are still looked upon as sole predators and gunslingers, Jayson looked like he really would rather just be with his family. It was very sweet. How many times can you say that about a pool player like Jayson Shaw? If you weren’t a fan of his before, you should be now.
Maximillian “Young Hannibal” Lechner
Congratulations to Max Lechner, who I felt really was playing at time best of anyone, but even in big leads, he did let some squander away before finishing. He’s already a champion, and he’ll only get better. His match against Filler was one for the ages and one for the future. They were back and forth until 8-8 when Max ran out the set silently while Filler was frozen in the Electric Chair.
They’d been calling him Mad Max or Mad Max 2.0 (Ken Shuman). Since pool already has a Mad Max, I (and others) have been calling him Hannibal Lechner. Upon thinking about it a bit more, I’m going to call him Young Hannibal from here on out. He‘’ll shoot your liver out, and then he’ll eat it with some fava beans an a nice bottle of Chianti.
Justin Bergman
Justin Bergman... amazing tournament. Definitely played better than any other American, and at times was only second to Lechner in getting the break down and having easy outs. But, here’s the rub. Should he be considered for Mosconi? Sure, but Mosconi doesn’t favor gunslingers. And Justin still was showing the gunslinger mentality, which is great for him. But Mosconi is a race to 5, don’t give a game away affair. I’ll take Justin on a long race where once he gets grooved, he’s nearly impossible to stop. For the Mosconi, Johan would need to convince the gunslinger to keep that gun holstered more, IMO.
Joshua Filler
I’ll be his fan one day, but I’m not there yet. But his play is spectacular. He’s reminding me of when I first saw Sigel play in that he plays great patterns, but then once in a while it’s a head scratcher. But he buries the shot in the center without much fanfare, so I end up re-thinking what the “right pattern” is. That’s how Sigel was. So much firepower that his standard patterns included much tougher shots than other pros in his time were playing for. I think Filler is the best 9-ball player currently, and I expect him to win this event in the future.
Freddie <~~~ one man’s wrong opinion
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