2014 - the best of the best

2014 offered some very exiting and historical moments in pool. As stated in earlier posts Efren taking the Derby 1p in such a giant field with short races at his age was nothing short of miraculous, and to follow it up by taking down the the Smokin Aces Big Money 1p tourney. Efen is like a great wine, just keeps getting better and better. Sky destroying the Derby ring game, going from "this kid has no chance" to "the best bank performance I've ever seen", loosely quoted from a man that would know. RIP Freddy and everlasting thanks for all you did in bringing to light and preserving the knowledge and great history of Banks and One Pocket. They took away his break and micro checked his racks but nothing could stop Shane's hunger and determination as he toppled what was widely considered the strongest field ever assembled in tournament play to three peat our countries most prestigious title. We had the pleasure of watching the future of one pocket evolve before our very own eyes as the up and coming legends of the game did battle though out the year. The 6k Smokin Aces double hill match between Josh Roberts and Joey Gray was edge of your seat and one of the most exiting tournament sets that I have ever witnessed. Big hats off to Mikey over at Smokin Aces for bringing us big action and great tournaments all year long. He gets out there and makes things happen, which is greatly appreciated by us who can't travel at the moment. The 106 game 8 ahead set between Danny and Josh was just downright insane. 64k in the middle, no telling how much on the rail, three days of aggressive bomb your pocket one hole and neither of them got hot the whole set. They gave each other props for great shot all three days and smiled and shook hands afterward. Great show of class by two ambassadors of the game. Rob Saez impressed this year also. Going hill hill with Shane in multiple long race tourneys, runner up this year at the longest running 9ball tourney in the country, The Texas Open. Most recently he put two 9 packs and a 7 or 8 pack together in two days. He's taken steps to improve his attitude and mental game and its paying off in spades. Congrats Rob!!! 2014 was a great year and '15 got a tough act to follow.
 
My Son and I playing each other in a little Bar tounament for the first time, we go Hill - Hill he executes nice full ball jump to run out and take the old guy down! Pretty Cool
 
My year 2014 best moment was first pool shots after i got away from hospital.
I got hit from nasty virus what caused vestibular neurotitis. That is awful illness what causes that you cannot even stand. You get dizzy and fell and your brains are WTF what is happening.
i was still so dizzy after i got away from hospital so drugstore keeper did not sell me first my medicine coz she was thinking i have to be drunk!
and first thing i did after i got away from hospital i go shoot pool.... I still could shoot.yeah!
 
The absolute high point for me was the CSI invitational event where we finally saw the Taiwanese monsters cone over and play extended sets against the best from the rest of the world, and dominate. Both Ko's and Chang proved what many of us had been saying for a long time.

Unfortunately the best of 2014 was the worst of 2014 as well because of the way it all ended. :(
 
"flashback," it's a lot of fun when this happens.

That's awesome!!!

I can relate to your description of the "flashback," it's a lot of fun when this happens. :thumbup:



Chip Roberson said:
CJ--for me ,,was having my Son , Riggs and his friend witness a flashback, with a 137 Ball run on a tight Brunswick Centennial ---Yep That made My Day ,,For A Few Weeks
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Best of 2014

After a long 25 year layoff from the game, a good buddy of mine asked me if I played pool. I told him I used to play all the time but it was a long time ago. He invited me to his house to knock a few balls around on his antique GC. Well needless to say I was a little out of stroke....:eek: We played for a couple hours then he started talking about this league he and his wife played in. He was explaining the structure of how the league worked and that he needed a decent player on their team. I told him I would think about it and let him know. I really did not want to get involved with any kind of league or team play at all. He then told me if you play on a team you can also play in single events as well. So reluctantly I joined his team. I knew going in that my game would never be as strong as it was 25 years ago. To my surprise, my stroke actually came back to me pretty quick. Although my game is no where near it was back then, I went to the highest level of the league format pretty quick. I said all that to say this......
In October, I won the "Regional" event and will go to Vegas to play in the National Tourney in early May. I played and beat some strong players in October to win that event, and beat a very strong well known player in the finals.
I know this isn't a huge accomplishment to a lot of players on here, and honestly it's not to me considering the level I played at a long time ago. But thinking I would never play
again, it was quiet exciting to compete and win again.......:woot:
 
Congratulations!!!

Congratulations!!! I know how tough it can be after a long lay-off.

It's stories like this that make is all worthwhile, I'm glad you decided to start competing again. Good luck in Vegas early May, let us know how you did.


Rjmoncrief said:
After a long 25 year layoff from the game, a good buddy of mine asked me if I played pool. I told him I used to play all the time but it was a long time ago. He invited me to his house to knock a few balls around on his antique GC. Well needless to say I was a little out of stroke....:eek: We played for a couple hours then he started talking about this league he and his wife played in. He was explaining the structure of how the league worked and that he needed a decent player on their team. I told him I would think about it and let him know. I really did not want to get involved with any kind of league or team play at all. He then told me if you play on a team you can also play in single events as well. So reluctantly I joined his team. I knew going in that my game would never be as strong as it was 25 years ago. To my surprise, my stroke actually came back to me pretty quick. Although my game is no where near it was back then, I went to the highest level of the league format pretty quick. I said all that to say this......
In October, I won the "Regional" event and will go to Vegas to play in the National Tourney in early May. I played and beat some strong players in October to win that event, and beat a very strong well known player in the finals.
I know this isn't a huge accomplishment to a lot of players on here, and honestly it's not to me considering the level I played at a long time ago. But thinking I would never play
again, it was quiet exciting to compete and win again.......:woot:
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Finally, after almost 15 years of banging balls around, running more than a hundred balls in straight pool. My top ambition in the game for probably 10 of those years. I went into a slight depression after that, but I came out of it and love the game even more now!

Learning 3-cushion billiards and starting to like it. Never realized how fun it could be shooting balls into rails.:)

Being taught how to break properly in 10-ball, by the unlikeliest person ever, and beating the ghost to 10 a couple of times as a direct result (can't do it consistently yet).

It's been a stellar year for me all around, and I hope to do even better next year. This old dog is ready to learn new trics! Maybe I'll start playing in tournaments now.:wink: Best wishes to all of you.
 
My best memory would be that I started playing again after stopping in 1998 due to poor eye sight. I got my eyesight back with Lasik surgery and signed up here in AZB. Then I won that months AZB giveaway and got a new Predator 8K-4 to replace the Meucci from the mid 1990's.

So 2014 will go down as the beginning of my 2nd chance to play pool.
 
CJ Wiley said:
Congratulations!!! I know how tough it can be after a long lay-off.

It's stories like this that make is all worthwhile, I'm glad you decided to start competing again. Good luck in Vegas early May, let us know how you did.
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CJ -

Years ago I interviewed Kim Davenport (anyone remember him?). He played very strong, and was a known gambler.

I asked him what his greatest skill was, and he said that he could take quite a bit of time away (playing golf), and then go back and play pool, and get back to form very quickly. He said that most can't.

While all players think that they have a talent better than most, Kim was the only player to tell me that.

Interesting isn't it?

Ken
 
Early in the year I put a new Ultraskin tip on my cue. When I got to the pool hall, I went eight and out on the first break. After that, 2014, went to hell in a hand basket.
I'll drop by this Summer and we'll get in a round of Golf.
Have a great 2015, CJ. :smile:
 
my highlights

I placed 4th in a 7 and under tourney in OKC back in February. Won a couple of our home town Sunday Tourneys, rated but the competition is pretty stiff. Our team finished 1st in the 1st annual Tornado Alley Regional Championship.

I ordered plenty of pay per view pool matches and bought about 7 accu stats videos.

Overall my pool years was good.
 
Watching Shane play when he's in the zone in rotation pool, was as good as watching Efren playing jam up one pocket.
 
Pool is just a miniature version of golf in many ways.

Kim and I have played a lot of golf together through the years. He is a great gambler and player, I've always had the utmost respect for Kim D.

Johnny Archer, Earl Strickland, Dennis Hatch, Tony Ellin, Kim Davenport, Don Mackey, Nick Varner, John Divinsky and myself played golf at many PBTA events.

Nick Varner may have been the best, but Earl and Johnny played well too. We all saw that golf helped our pool games, Johnny Archer is a big proponent of playing both games. My grip is the same one in pool that I use in golf and tennis.

Pool is just a miniature version of golf in many ways.

Kim also designed the game TARGET POOL which was one of my favorite games (I won both the major Target Pool tournaments in Vegas and Gloucester Mass).




Ken_4fun said:
CJ -

Years ago I interviewed Kim Davenport (anyone remember him?). He played very strong, and was a known gambler.

I asked him what his greatest skill was, and he said that he could take quite a bit of time away (playing golf), and then go back and play pool, and get back to form very quickly. He said that most can't.

While all players think that they have a talent better than most, Kim was the only player to tell me that.

Interesting isn't it?

Ken
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Made my first break n run in 9 ball Thanksgiving day. After that giving thanks to my family for bring there when it happened.
 
Getting back into competition

After about a decade, 2014 marked the return of pool as my primary hobby. It’s mostly league at this point, but I’m slowly ramping up the competition. I managed to win one weekly tournament (1 out of 3 for me). It’s nothing really to crow about, but definitely a part of the process.

My highlight for the year was my performance in one of the league team tournaments. We were in a dog-fight with a good team and I needed the win to secure our spot in the city qualifier. The first few matches took a while so the officials implemented a shot clock for my match. So there I was… the fate of my team is on my back, there is an official watching and timing each shot and I’m spotting my opponent a game in a race to 5. The guy could play, but the circumstances helped me focus. I only missed 1 ball as I executed a 5-3 victory.

For me, performances like this are much more satisfying in the team environment. It feels good to be the “hero”.
 
Going to Amsterdam's in NYC. Got lessons there from Fran Crimi and met Thorsten Hohmann.
:thumbup:
 
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