2025 DERBY CITY ALL 3 FINALS ON LAST SUNDAY THOUGHTS....

sjm said:
Point well taken.

Certainly, the rationale for all the changes is to ensure that the event ends on schedule, something that hasn't happened in either of the last two Derby City Classics. In January 2023 and January 2024, I had to go to the airport to catch my plane on each of the last two Sunday mornings at the Derby and missed the 9ball final. I'm hoping these changes will fix things, but I cannot deny that it remains uncertain. If the Derby doesn't finish until 6:00 AM on Sunday, these changes will have amounted to nothing, but if the Derby runs on or nearly on schedule, the changes will have served their purpose.

Seems I'm a Derby City newbie compared to you. I retired in 2008 and have missed just one Derby City Classic since then.
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Have they really fixed things or just added a day? We’ll see.
 
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decent dennis said:
Have they really fixed things or just added a day? We’ll see.
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Agreed. Certainly, those at Diamond know that they have a lot to prove in running the event and anything resembling the approach of the past two years will be doomed to failure.

Let's not ignore the recent past. The problem has been the nine ball much more than the one pocket, and unless the nine ball matches and table assignments are handled more skillfully by the tournament desk than in the past two years, this can still go very wrong. My feeling, however, is that if they pull this off and complete Saturday's play by midnight, the Derby will have taken a step forward and will build to the crescendo that has been lacking in recent years.

My sense of things is that unless eight rounds of play in the nine-ball event have been completed by the end of day on Friday, Derby City Saturday will be the mad scramble we are all hoping to avoid.
 
sjm said:
I've argued this for years now, and if you look at the winners of the DCC 9ball from the days of race to seven, it's almost all hall of famers. The purists think that race to nine changes who will win, but experience says exactly the same guys find the finish line regardless of race length.

I am optimistic that Diamond will get it right this year, but if the upcoming changes don't fix things for 2025, I'd favor reverting to the days of race to seven in the 9ball event.
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Stu, I've seen a multiple of rule changes over the years and the one thing that remains consistent is that the best players keep getting there in the end. And I think I know why based on what I've seen time after time. The very best players play the best under pressure and the slightly lesser players falter under the same conditions. That's why even in the MC with short races to five the team with the best players will almost always win. There have been very few what we could call upsets in the MC in any year. Some close calls but the class always seem to show up at the end. This year should be the same same same old.

That is also why the argument against the Four Ball rule in One Pocket does not hold water. I would guarantee you that on the last day or two you would see only the best One Pocket players still battling for the title. But what do I know? I'm just a guy in a diner! ;)
 
I think that putting the three finals on Sunday does almost nothing to improve the schedule. It does nothing for the banks and one pocket, except require those finalists (and spectators for them) to be present on Sunday. The finals of those two events in no way impacted the length of the tournament.

So, we are left with the only change being the finals of the nine ball having its own day. That reduces the required play through Saturday by one (or two) matches. That is not significant compared to the schedule overrun last year.
 
jay helfert said:
Stu, I've seen a multiple of rule changes over the years and the one thing that remains consistent is that the best players keep getting there in the end. And I think I know why based on what I've seen time after time. The very best players play the best under pressure and the slightly lesser players falter under the same conditions. That's why even in the MC with short races to five the team with the best players will almost always win. There have been very few what we could call upsets in the MC in any year. Some close calls but the class always seem to show up at the end. This year should be the same same same old.
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On this point, Jay, we have always agreed. The cream rises to the top regardless of race length and format.
 
I sure as hell don't go to an event to see it play down to 2, I go to see who wins.

I don't want to go watch in person for days then watch the finals on TV.

Stupid decision IMHO
 
Not to mention the players that will play hours of 1pckt or banks and then have to switch to 9 ball while their opponent is in stroke for whatever game is up next. It's not right
 
sjm said:
Very few in the history of the Derby City Classic have reached two finals, and those that have are mostly hall of famers and future hall of famers. With respect to the 2025 Derby, we're probably only talking about Gorst, Filler and SVB as threats to reach more than one final, and I doubt any of them would be bothered by the prospect of this happening.

This is Inconceivable. Winning the banks has always been the fast track to Master of the Table. Nobody good enough to win the banks passes on the chance to win Master of the Table, which nets them an extra $20,000.
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and Thorpe (I realize not a big threat in 9ball)
 
jasonlaus said:
Not to mention the players that will play hours of 1pckt or banks and then have to switch to 9 ball while their opponent is in stroke for whatever game is up next. It's not right
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I've never once understood this concept of switching games is hard, If you're in stroke the game doesn't matter aside from the Strat. "Switching games is bad" or "similar ideas" is just a loser mentality and isn't real at all except if you're a banger I guess. People just building in excuses.
 
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InsertCleverNameHere said:
I've never once understood this concept of switching games is hard, If you're in stroke the game doesn't matter aside from the Strat. "Switching games is bad" or "similar ideas" is just a loser mentality and isn't real at all except if you're a banger I guess. People just building in excuses.
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Me neither. What I've seen is that the good players can switch from game to game seamlessly. The one exception might possibly be the Bigfoot 10ball, where the elite must alternate between play on the nine-footer and play on the ten-footer.
 
InsertCleverNameHere said:
If switching games is a big deal and throws you off, trust me you don't want none. :cool:
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We're talking about having to play at the highest level, not bunting around balls on a bar box.

All I know is I don't want to play 1 pckt for 3,4, 5hrs and then have to immediately switch to 9 ball with a guy that's only played 9 ball for 5 days and is the other finalist.

If you can't understand that, I don't know what to tell you
 
sjm said:
Me neither. What I've seen is that the good players can switch from game to game seamlessly. The one exception might possibly be the Bigfoot 10ball, where the elite must alternate between play on the nine-footer and play on the ten-footer.
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We're not talking about switching from rotation game to rotation game, we're talking about 1 pckt or banks to rotation.

Switching from 10' to 9' is easy(i had a 10' at home for years)
 
jasonlaus said:
We're talking about having to play at the highest level, not bunting around balls on a bar box.

All I know is I don't want to play 1 pckt for 3,4, 5hrs and then have to immediately switch to 9 ball with a guy that's only played 9 ball for 5 days and is the other finalist.

If you can't understand that, I don't know what to tell you
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Frame it however you'd like, I stand by what I said.
 
sjm said:
In general, I love the idea of having a "Championship Sunday." Recent Derby City Classics have failed to build to a proper crescendo, and this should fix it, provided the first final begins early on Sunday eliminating the danger of going into the wee hours. on the final day.

That said, the challenge will be managing the schedule in a way that ensures that Saturday won't be a nightmare. Administrative changes are needed to ensure that the schedule is maintained over the first nine days of the event, and if the schedule is mismanaged as in the past two years, this can still go very wrong.

I applaud Diamond for this visionary change. I'm attending all ten days of the 2025 Derby City Classic. I can't wait!
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see you there!
 
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