Blomdahl or other top commentary?

1pocket

1pocket

Steve Booth
Silver Member
I've just recently started playing a little three cushion -- thanks to the good fortune of having Mazin Shooni come to a poolroom near me :)

I own just a very few Accustats billiards tapes, all from a 2003 Vegas tournament, but I really, really got a lot out of listening to Blomdahl's commentary on the final match between Sayginer and Jaspers. No offense to Bob Byrne, but what Blomdahl contributed was like 200 times more info.

Does anybody have any suggestions of other tapes, from whatever sources, that might be especially good learning tools?
 
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I recommend these videos:

AccuStats 3C99-06 Blomdahl v. Ceulemans (commentary by Marco Zanetti)
AccuStats 3C99-09 Sang Lee v. Sayginer (commentary by Torbjorn Blomdahl)
AccuStats 3C01-09 Blomdahl v. Jaspers (commentary by Semih Sayginer)
 
I, too, think Blomdahl is the best. And I agree with Bruce -- the best players make the best commentators. But let's not forget our own Robert Raiford. I don't know of any Accu-Stats matches he's done, but he has done lots of CaromTV matches, and I think his commentary is top notch.

Mark
 
Bruce Warner said:
I recommend these videos:

AccuStats 3C99-06 Blomdahl v. Ceulemans (commentary by Marco Zanetti)
AccuStats 3C99-09 Sang Lee v. Sayginer (commentary by Torbjorn Blomdahl)
AccuStats 3C01-09 Blomdahl v. Jaspers (commentary by Semih Sayginer)
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I couldn't agree more.
 
The final match for the fist Carl Conlon cup, Sayigner vs. Lee with Blomdahl and Robert Byrne commentating. It is like Blomdahl can explain what is going on in Sayigner's head.
 
Bruce Warner said:
I recommend these videos:

AccuStats 3C99-06 Blomdahl v. Ceulemans (commentary by Marco Zanetti)
AccuStats 3C99-09 Sang Lee v. Sayginer (commentary by Torbjorn Blomdahl)
AccuStats 3C01-09 Blomdahl v. Jaspers (commentary by Semih Sayginer)
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Thank you all for your suggestions! I am going to order these three today :)
 
Thanks 1pocket,that's exactly what Iv'e been looking for. A novice player like myself needs to learn how these guys think and play at such a high level.Knowledge is power.I'm ordering my copy right now. Thanks.
 
by drawman623 'roberto Arana brings many positives to match commentary in my opinion'

I agree.

The warmness of his character is felt in his commentaries.I laughed a lot when he screamed in excitement when he saw the Blomdahl's extreme draw -short angle in the Blomdahl-Harbraken match.

if the spactator is a learner like me,the best commentary is Raifford's.His emphasis on defensive/attacking game,curves ,created by follow shots benefited me to understand the game better.

Top players' commentary are always a plus but not a guarantee of quality

regards,

Timur
 
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I recieved my copy of Jaspers vs Sayginer, 2003 Las Vegas World Cup from Accustats today. Great commentary by Blomdahl and Byrne, These guys play at an unbelievable level of play. Very interesting getting inside Blomdahls head and learning his logistics.
Thanks for the informative post.
 
Raiford's commentary is top notch

TimurA said:
the best commentary is Raiford's.His emphasis on defensive/attacking game,curves ,created by follow shots benefited me to understand the game better.

Top players' commentary are always a plus but not a guarantee of quality

regards,

Timur
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I've got to agree with Timur here. I've watched dozens of 3-cushion commentaries and am always frustrated hearing the color commentator asking the pro "What's he going to do here"" only to hear "I don't know." I want to know why the top professionals choose certain shots and why.
When watching DVDs from CaromTV, Raiford's commentary is excellent. He gives 2-3 options for every position, and draws the potential kisses/problems that the shot presents. He even throws in the trick/stroke shot options on many positions.
If you're interested in improving your 3-cushion game, I don't think you can go wrong with any video that Raiford provides commentary on.
You can get an idea of what I'm talking about at http://caromtv.com/freeview.html
Raiford commentates on a 15 ball run for Blomdahl and another for Sayginer.
~Beau
 
Dean_H said:
The final match for the fist Carl Conlon cup, Sayigner vs. Lee with Blomdahl and Robert Byrne commentating. It is like Blomdahl can explain what is going on in Sayigner's head.
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I don't usually buy alot of the accustats vids because the caromtv downloads are cheaper and the Raiford commentary is excellent, also everything 3C on that site is VHS, why?. I got this one because it sounded interesting, dusted off the VCR. Great tape. It's a great match - Semih absolutely rolls over Sang Lee in the first match, hopeless, and then Sang comes back and kills Semih in the match after that, does some nice rail firsts, really great worldclass play. And Blomdahl on the commentary track is great, it's like looking over his shoulder, he gives some really good insights, I thought, things I would never have considered. Bob Byrne will say, "Could he go that way?" and Blomdahl says, "No..no...that shot does not exist." And halfway thru the second match, who shows up in a tux but a young Robert Raiford as the referee.
Funny, Bob Byrne goes, "Is the referee European?" and Blomdahl says, "No..no..he's from Florida...I forget his name?"
 
eze123 said:
I don't usually buy alot of the accustats vids because the caromtv downloads are cheaper and the Raiford commentary is excellent, also everything 3C on that site is VHS, why?.
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I still use a 56k modem (hopefully this will change soon) so I have not had the pleasure to download one of the caromtv matches for twelve bucks, but I am waiting in anticipation for that time to come.

Not all of the Three cushion matches from Accu-Stats are in VHS format. The Las Vegas Vegas Tournament is DVD. The Balkline exhibition match between Caudron and Debacker in 47/2 in now in DVD format ( I highly reccomend this one). The Sayigner Artistic show is on DVD. The Florida open is now on DVD and some of them are double matches per DVD.

A lot of the Sang Lee tournaments were filmed before the DVD format became popular. I think Accu-stats is in the process of converting some of their VHS matches to DVD.

Did anybody else sense a little anger from Blomdahl when he was talking to Byrne in the match?
 
Dean_H said:
Did anybody else sense a little anger from Blomdahl when he was talking to Byrne in the match?
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You think? I'd be interested to know why you think that. I didn't think that at all - it's a great commentary from Blomdahl, I liked it, he almost sounds like an excited kid that happens to play worldclass billiards. It's almost like when Raiford and Jan Carl do commentary and Jan Carl asks a question, "Can you make the shot this way?" and Raiford says, "No, that won't work, but you can do this.." But with Blomdahl he just sees it all in a second. There are some tough positions in that match, and Blomdahl sees the options in a second - Byrne is still saying, "Well, mabye this way..?" And Blomdahl is already explaining the three different ways you can play it, and all the pros and cons of each. I think he just sees the game on a higher level than most of us, and if you ask if it can be played this way, he just says, "No, not possible.", doesn't sugarcoat it, you're wrong, that shot won't go. There's some commentary in there where he explains why the shot is not possible, and I thought it was, and Sang shoots it and it turns out he was right, it wasn't possible. I wouldn't want to be calling a match next to him - he just knows too much. He's also wrong a couple of times and he just says, "I didn't see that"
 
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