APA in Fulton NY A MUST READ STORY

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master9baller

master9baller

Banned
Played the last 14 weeks in a Monday night Master's APA league in beautiful Fulton NY. My first and only APA experience. I won 14 of my matches and our team came out 4 games under the 1st place team in total games won. So we had a playoff with the 3rd and 4th place teams playing each other, then we played them to see who plays the 1st place team.

It's 3 possible races to 7, one for each team member. We beat the 4th place team, who won the first match, 2 sets straight 7-2 and 7-3 so there is no 3rd set because they can't win.

The first set of the final match with my team and the #1 team goes 7-6 us. Then the hillbilly BS from the drunks on their team begins.

The guy I play thinks he's great, he isn't. Easily he's 3 balls below me and that's being nice. He's drunk and at the lag he fires to the end rail at break shot speed and the CB is off the table, meanwhile I'm an inch off the end rail. It's some kind of disrespect move towards me so I choose 9 ball to be played so he gets the break and this is how it goes below which is taken from my email to the league operator:



"After a nice break and run by JJ I had a shot at the 8 to setup a win, easy. He's behind my shot, talking to his team in the doorway and burps as loud as he can on my backstroke. I ask him to stop and just sit down and play pool.

He threatens me, Chad, another member of the opposing team, threatens me and a third player of theirs all come within a foot of me and say they will physically assault me.

Things calm down, Brian the room owner comes in to watch us play and referee a few calls. Nothing more is said at all between JJ and I for the 30 minutes it takes me to win 7 games straight by a score of 7-2. I go to shake his hand, he takes it then punches me in my right ear with his left hand as hard as he could. I hold onto his right hand in our handshake, grab 3 of his left hand fingers with my left and ask him "Now what?". Lou (my teammate) separates him from me.

His teammates and he all threaten me with bodily harm again for a few minutes, where I state I will call the police if this continues. It continues and I then call the police.

The third set starts and Lou (my teammate) wins the game that brings our team to 15 games, so the tournament is over.

The police arrive and diffuse things and I leave.

Now I hear from Lou that JJ has be banned from the APA and there is consideration of our playoff win being nullified.

I just called you by phone and you said you will call me back. I appreciate that.

AFTER OUR PHONE CALL ending at 945 pm

Good to talk with you Brad. It's unfortunate that the other team is now trying to use his physical assault of me as a grounds to dismiss our team's win.

Please consider their motivations in this scenario. Ask the room owner Brian to confirm that nothing was said between JJ and myself during the 30 minutes it took for me to win 7 games straight. He certainly has no reason to lie.

Please get back with me at your convenience to relay you decision regarding our winning the Fulton APA masters tournament."


So now the league operator has decided that the 2nd two sets must be replayed. Why?? The guy essentialy had a 2 game spot and after things calmed down I win 7 straight. Then he assaults me. For this they get a second chance?

So , if a continuation match is played, we have a one game lead with set one 7-6. They need to beat me and my teammate Lou by 14-12 over 2 sets. It is just about impossible for them as the guy I play now is a tremendous underdog, I would have to give him the 7 out on a BB or the world on a 9 footer to be close. My teammate is better than both of these players by a significant amount.

I am protesting this with the APA headquarters. Probably will change nothing. The finals are to be this evening and it will change nothing. It will be yet another blowout.

The guy who punched me is a punk, I'd destroy him if I didn't have a real job to wake up to each day. He lost a trip to Vegas he had won for his regular league and will be banned for a year for hitting me. He had no response for the level of my play, except to cold cock me. Makes no difference at all except I think he hurt his hand because I felt nothing.
 
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Wow.

Pathetic.

Of course, this will reflect poorly on all the other APA leagues where none of this foolishness occurs. I predict a loud and boisterous response to follow in this thread... sigh.

That just sucks for you and your team. It's really too bad people can't have fun and get along.
 
People are dumb. I don't understand the need to punch someone over a few games of pool. That's pretty sad. I think if it was me I wouldn't play a rematch out of general principle. If my win is nullified by someone assaulting me, I don't want anything to do with that league (not the APA in general, that specific league).

What is the format of the masters league?
 
justadub said:
Wow.

Pathetic.

Of course, this will reflect poorly on all the other APA leagues where none of this foolishness occurs. I predict a loud and boisterous response to follow in this thread... sigh.

That just sucks for you and your team. It's really too bad people can't have fun and get along.
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Well it changes nothing, we will win resolvingly anyway. I'm surprised they want another beatdown, but okay they asked for it.

I'm not anti APA, just letting the people know my own experience here. To me it was just too good a story not to.

I like the part where after the meltdown, with him up 2-0, he's about to break. He takes out a roll of money, slaps it on the table and I say "You don't mean it.". Then he just picks up the money. I get up, with all his people stilltlking stuff, look at them and count them off 1,2,3... 8 (people) and say outloud "that's fair 8 against 1". Then I go on to beat him 7 straight games in dominating fashion.

All I can say is that when people shark you, you need to lay it down hard. You should not be made to tolerate it period. I just use whatever they do as my motivation. The smartest thing they types can do is just not kick a sleeping grizzly bear, especially when they are like a pooh bear.
 
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brandoncook26 said:
People are dumb. I don't understand the need to punch someone over a few games of pool. That's pretty sad. I think if it was me I wouldn't play a rematch out of general principle. If my win is nullified by someone assaulting me, I don't want anything to do with that league (not the APA in general, that specific league).

What is the format of the masters league?
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Any 4 players can play as a team, no skill limit. Then you play any type of playoff the group agrees to, weekly total games won and weekly fees or just a big one time event with a big entry fee. Then any 3 players from each team matchup, play 8 games of 9 ball and/or 5 games of 8 ball until someone wins 7. The winner of the lag chooses the break or the game.

I will not give them the satisfaction of withdrawl. My teammates deserve the trip as much as I do. My average score this 15 weeks has been about 7-3, the guy I play would be lucky to see 4. It's already over, just like it was the day before yesterday, they have no chance. Why? Because now I have even more motivation that ever. I will just let my play speak for me.
 
I think I heard something about a big Samoan for rent somewhere on this forum...just sayin'!
 
I trust that you've given an invitation to the LO to come and watch.

I trust that you EXPECT him to come and referee, given that he's forcing you into this. And that he has agreed to this.

Good luck, and thrash'em.
 
justadub said:
I trust that you've given an invitation to the LO to come and watch.

I trust that you EXPECT him to come and referee, given that he's forcing you into this. And that he has agreed to this.

Good luck, and thrash'em.
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That's a very good point. To take it further, why wasn't the LO there during the initial altercation? I understand matches are played in multiple places but if this was a playoff for the trip this would have been a priority matchup.
 
Is it possible the drunk wasn't trying to shark you but was simply drunk?

My advice for dealing with drunks is just to quietly beat them and take their money and offer to buy them another drink. Be his best buddy while you are beating him. You will suffer fewer punches to the head and have more money in your pocket that way.
 
I hate to hear stories like this. As soon as that guy punched you the entire opposing team should have been disqualified. Period. End of story. He shouldn't ever be allowed to play APA again.

I don't understand why the LO would have you replay since you beat them already? I wish the national APA office will step in and do the right thing.
 
Responses to the above replys

Instead of responding and copying the above replies I will respond to them all as follows:

I have tried to contact the APA office at (636) 625-8611 and have twice spoken to a "less than receptive" receptionist who simply directs me to leave a message in a mailbox that is handled in the order it is recieved. I specifically asked for the name of the Northeast tournament director, sombody over the league operators and got a first name , Nicole. I had the receptionist give her a note to call me, we'll see.

I just got off the phone with the league operator who tell me he hasn't made up his mind yet. He's going to talk it over with the central office and make a decision today. if there is a rematch for the last 2 sets it will be tonight at 6pm. I ask, "Will you contact me with your decision". He says he'll let my team captain now. Geez thanks for nothing friend.

As much as I hate to make this an ANTI APA rant it may go there. People who are wronged do not like being treated like a number.

In my mind the guy was up 2-0 before the blowup where everyone on his team threatened me. Then wth no more interaction between us whatsoever, I won 7 straight, go to shake his hand and he hits me. So really in my mind he got a 2 game spot. If they had won would they be protesting??? Certainly not.

The league operator has the opportunity to make the right call here and all will be fine. Absent that, we will still win the rematch and I will make the APA follow up on his mistaken decision to award his friends a rematch. I will make him aware of my position the next time I speak with him.

And yes if there is a rematch I will be sure to post the results here. What a zoo.

As far as being drunk some of these boys turn it into a full time job. One guy on the team we played first came in still drunk and looking toxic from the night before. He promptly laid down next to a pool table and slept for 3 hours, and he's the team captain. The team we played in the finals drank heavily for the 4 hours it took for us to get to the finals with them. Funny thing about beer muscles and pool. I really don't think alcohol helps after the first beer or two that may loosen a player up. Hard for them to shoot when they can't see the balls, but it sure can make them aggressive.
 
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As was mentioned by previous posters Alchohol is simply no excuse for these actions. However there is no excuse by the handling of this circumstance by the APA & the LO. What the guy did BY LAW was assualt plain and simple. That is something that don't need a judgement by any LO or APA nationals. It should be cut and dry, the guy is banned and your team advances. One day people are going to realise exactly what the APA is there for, MONEY.
 
DoubleD said:
Who cares if he was 'simply drunk'? I have been simply (and very complicatedly) drunk many times in my life and have never hit nor threatened anyone.

I've been around a lot of drunk people and have only been attacked twice.

Being drunk is not an excuse.

People who use drunkenness as an excuse for violence should be punished by not being allowed to drink alcohol. End of story.

dld
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The OP said he was being sharked. The guy was drunk. Have you ever seen drunk people do something stupid? I have rarely seen a drunk person who didn't do something stupid.

I don't think the drunk was sharking him, I just think he was a stupid drunk guy.
 
Stay away from the apa

If you search you will see a somewhat similar situation happened to me. The ones here who make money off of the apa system will steer you toward the drunks and ignore the crooked league operators and the apa management.

The ones who never have problems in their area will call you a whiner. Get used to it. As I stated before the league operators have free rein to do whatever they like, it is their franchise.

The apa does not care as long as the money applecart doesn't get turned over. I don't know about other areas of the country but in mine the LO franchise covers many miles in two states and he is in tight with the team in his area which causes problems.

I also contacted the APA management with no reply. Of course the players are the main culprit in the beginning but once you try to get help from the LO or APA officials they become part of the problem. I have no bias against leagues just the apa hustlers which I know does not mean all LO.

Don't forget you don't have to support the APA.
Oh! by the way, I don't think there are hillbillys in N.Y. More likely some no count trashy yankees.
 
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master9baller said:
Well it changes nothing, we will win resolvingly anyway. I'm surprised they want another beatdown, but okay they asked for it.

I'm not anti APA, just letting the people know my own experience here. To me it was just too good a story not to.

[I like the part where after the meltdown, with him up 2-0, he's about to break and I say "Bet from here, $500?". He takes out a roll of money, slaps it on the table and I say "You don't mean it.". Then he just picks up the money. I get up, with all his people stilltlking stuff, look at them and count them off 1,2,3... 8 (people) and say outloud "that's fair 8 against 1". Then I go on to beat him 7 straight games in dominating fashion.]

All I can say is that when people shark you, you need to lay it down hard. You should not be made to tolerate it period. I just use whatever they do as my motivation. The smartest thing they types can do is just not kick a sleeping grizzly bear, especially when they are like a pooh bear.
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Sounds to me like you tryed to shark him as he's getting ready to break. could be wrong.
 
That sucks for you and your team.

If a guy punched you and others threatened you and your team then they should be forfeited or disqualified (it is actually written in the Team manual) and there should be no grey area about it.

Follow through with the National Office becuause it appears that your L.O. broke the rules by not forfeiting them when it happened.

Here is the rule right from the team manual.




IMMEDIATE ACTION - If hostile physical contact occurs, THE
MATCH IS OVER! There are only two possibilities to consider: only one
team was guilty of hostile physical contact or both teams were guilty of hostile
physical contact. LEAGUE MANAGEMENT MUST EXERCISE ONE
OF THE FOLLOWING TWO OPTIONS:
a. Only one side was involved. In this case, the offending team loses all
points if it is a regular night of play on the weekly schedule, or loses the
team match if it is a Session Playoff or any kind of a tournament match.
The nonoffending team receives five points (75 points in 9-Ball) in the
case of a regular night of play, or advances to the next level in the event
of Session Playoffs or some sort of tournament play.
b. Both teams were guilty of hostile physical contact. In this case neither
team would receive any points for the night in the case of a regular night
of play on the weekly schedule, or if it is a Session Playoff or tournament
play, both teams lose the match, which is the same as saying both teams
are disqualified.
League Management has no alternative other than to enforce one of the above two
options. When considering the above options, League Management cannot
consider who started it, nor can League Management consider that the retaliation, if
it occurred, was justified. The only way both teams can avoid the same penalty is
for one of the teams to refuse to retaliate no matter what provocation they may have
to endure.
 
DoubleD said:
Who cares if he was 'simply drunk'? I have been simply (and very complicatedly) drunk many times in my life and have never hit nor threatened anyone.

I've been around a lot of drunk people and have only been attacked twice.

Being drunk is not an excuse.

People who use drunkenness as an excuse for violence should be punished by not being allowed to drink alcohol. End of story.

dld
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Not sure I explained this part of the saga, but the guys wife is a probation officer locally and knows the town cops who responded. The senior officer tell be that a man cold cocking another man is not assault, it's harassment....OH REALLY! Furthermore my verbal harrassment of him, whatever that may be, was enough to drive him to do it! So they were working to get us both on a harrassment rap, forcing my hand to say to just forget it.
 
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