14and1.com - Year in review

selftaut

straight pool nut
Silver Member
(Long post)

Good day fellow 14.1 enthusiasts. With the 1st season of 14and1.com straight pool leagues now at conclusion with all leagues reported in and heading into our 1st annual 14and1.com Nationals in May, I wanted to post a season summary for those that may be interested.

I am happy and proud to report that our 1st season was a great success and more importantly a boost for straight pool! The handicap system worked beautifuly and to my surprise with very few complaints. All the players had a blast! Currently there are new locations starting leagues in 3 more states for next season! California, Conecticut and Indiana!

Starting from scratch about a year ago I had a vision of developing a platform for 14.1 enthusiasts, new and old, to have their own national handicapped platform to be able to get out and compete and enjoy our great game, hopefully intoducing many new players to the game as well. And yes, at first many thought I was nuts, and truthfully at times I thought I was nuts as well :) For the past year or so it has been a daily chore to keep up with the many things that come along with managing a nationwide league, but I honestly loved every minute of it as I have met many great new friends and watched 14.1 gain new enthusiasm across the country.

There has been many contibutors in a lot of different ways from fellow 14.1 enthusiasts, and all deserve major kudos for their individual contributions. I want to mention some here and let them know that thier contibutions were critical to the success of 14and1.com. I can't possibly mention everyone but you know who you are and I apologize if you are not mentioned.

First, major thank you Steve Lipsky for your contibutions to the handicap system when I posted that I was building the system, although I could not use all of your ideas, everything you contributed made sense and most were implemented into the system. Also, Steve took it upon himself to rewrite the front page of 14and1.com! As its no secret that my grammar is not what you would consider to be educated level. The time you spent doing that made a huge difference!

I would like to thank Blackjack for spreading the word and directing players to 14and1.com, yes I saw you doing that David! Thank you!

I would like to thank Bob Jewet for taking me to task on many points in the beginning. There was actually one point Bob brought up which enabled me to take a different perspective on a part of the handicap system and realize a loophole was there, I was able to plug this loophole and have zero problems with that issue. Thanks Bob!

There have been many calls and letters from players with kind words of encouragement! Thank you Danny Harriman, Brent Zadd, Mark Griffin and many many more! These kind words gave me a foundation to believe!

As I said earlier, I can't possibly mention everyone that contributed, but a shout out to everyone that either called me or sent me a letter of encouragement and/or their ideas.

And even a thank you to Williebetmore who said "I can't agree with it, but the jury is still out" (or something to that effect), honestly those types of comments made me work harder to make it the best it could be. And I know that no players were criticizing, just offering up opinions, nothing was ever taken personally. Happy to report Willie, the Jury is in! and its clear sailing from here!

Last but not least, my league operators! They all worked so hard to make it happen that its truely unbelievable! The time they spent recruiting players, running the leagues, facing all the trying times it takes to run a league, is a testimate to the type of people they all are! I can't thank them enough for their dedication and hard work. Mickey Scott of D&D Family Billiards in PA, Dwight Sisson in Tallhassee, Rae Tackett in Knoxville, Nevin Taber in Binghamton, NY, Andy Walker in Fenton, MI, Carol Donahue in Pittsfield, Ma, Bill Littlefield in North Adams, Ma. Major kudos to you all!

Thank you www.BorderBilliards.com for your sponsorship!

And to all the players that played in the leagues, THANK YOU! Hopefully I will see you at the Nationals, if not maybe next year!

Below a list of the qualifying players for our Nationals in Atlantic City. Players from 8 states will converge on Atlantic City in pursuit of the 1st annual 14and1.com National Championship title! I am sure there are some AZer's in there somewhere! See you in May!

Current players qualified & handicaps for the May 2008 14and1.com National Championships in Atlantic City, NJ :

John Champagne... B
Vince Waitte... B+
Bill Littlefield... A-
Wade Hill... A-
Rob Francoeur... A-
Ron Bruno... B+
Steve Wormen... A
Mike Zingale... A
George Grimsley... B+
Gino Betta... A
Nevin Taber... A-
Webb Comfort... B+
Bill Kelly... A-
John Kernan... A
Kristeen Workman... C-
Duane Shaffer... B-
Frank Wilusz... C+
Tom Cramer... B
Rob Sumner... B
Tom Lazrovitch... A-
Steven Yates II... A
Angelito Carpio... A
Joseph Stern III... B+
Jim Manno... A
Albert Muccilli... A-
Roger Bouchard... B
Steve Hathaway... B+
Paul Petrides... A+
Jim Hastings... A+
Paul Tetreault... B+
Vince Frusciente... C+
Dwight Sisson... A-
Austin Crosby... B+
Bryan Quaragno... B
Sherry Clemons... B-
Peter VanTassel... C-
Mickey Scott... B-
Florence Fuller... C
Marjean Nielson... C
Gary Duquette... C+
Nick Barber... B+
Patti Nesbit... C+
Tom Acciavatti... A+
Jimmy Weemes... Pro
Darrel Baker... B
Michael Dalton... B
Bill Paysinger... B+
Tobin Heron... B+
Rae Tackett... B+
Brenda Baker... C+
Bill Brown... B+
Larry Kelly... C+
Luke Hubbard... B-
Luke Burgess... C+
Ron McNiel Jr... C+
Jack Scogna... C
Peggy Roth... C-
Cliff Hatfield... B-
Andy Walker... A
Joe Galard... B+
Brooks Peschke... B

Sincerely.
Kevin Vidal
14and1.com
 
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Congrats to you, Kevin. I know how hard you worked for this, but even more, I know how much a labor of love it was for you.

You deserve continued success!

- Steve
 
bluepepper said:
Hi Kevin. Is this going to be a spectated event?

Hi Jeff, there are some that live in the Atlantic City area that said they are going to come and watch to see how the league runs as they are interested in playing in a 14and1.com league. Anyone is welcome of course, but keep in mind this is a handicapped league event and only a handfull in the field could bust out with a high run.


Steve, thank you buddy!
 
Thanks for the nice words, I really enjoyed running the leagues.
The new format is so much easier and less paperwork.

See you in Atlantic City.

Mickey
 
Kevin,

Out of curiousity, how much time is involved by a league operator when starting up a new league?

I just started playing in a 14.1 league, and I like it -- but it's a little bit farther than I would like to travel on a weekly basis. If I could start a new league at a closer room without an exorbitant amount of time/energy, I think that would be preferable.

Thanks,
Jeff
 
D Player said:
Kevin,

Out of curiousity, how much time is involved by a league operator when starting up a new league?

I just started playing in a 14.1 league, and I like it -- but it's a little bit farther than I would like to travel on a weekly basis. If I could start a new league at a closer room without an exorbitant amount of time/energy, I think that would be preferable.

Thanks,
Jeff

Hi Jeff, there is really not to much involved, recruiting players (7 minimum) might be the most time involved. The system pretty much runs itself, you can run the league with about 15 minutes a week involved to adjust handicaps and fill out the roster for the week. Drop me a PM if you would like to get something going.

Thanks
Kev
 
Kevin

Thank you for being a BIG part of keeping our game alive and introducing it to another generation of players. The resurgence of 14.1 is the best thing happening in pool today and 14and1.com is leading the charge!
 
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