am I going crazy???

[cleary]

Im watching the 07 international challege of champions on espn....archer vs. corteza

well anyway, I was watching an overhead shot of the break and i noticed the 9ball was on the spot....not the 1 ball. What is going on? I watched the rest of the match and they rack it this way every time. I just dont understand what is going on here. are there rules i dont know about?

 

[JAM]

That's the way they rack 'em now with the mechanical racks.

The school of thought, I was told, is so that the same ball doesn't go in the same hole on the break, the way it would if the 1-ball was on the spot.

They rack this way at the U.S. Open, and unfortunately, for some newbie Open players, they were not aware of this and racked them with the 1-ball on the spot.

JAM