Just watched a pretty good streamed match with Mike D. vs. Mika Immonen, race to 100 in straight pool.
Mike, after a few practiced lags, came up a foot short and was forced to break. He played it very well, leaving the corner ball hidden (the one that usually sells out) and causing two other balls on the other side of the rack to come back inwards most of the way. They almost doubled up and left Mika nothing. Mika was facing a tough back cut from three inches off the head rail.
He of course drills it and is off to the races.
Runs through the first five racks like butter, solving problems methodically and almost never getting out of line. Midway through the sixth, he falls a little funny on a side pocket shot, with the 2 ball resting on the head spot and the cue ball a diamond north of the corner. He's got a slight angle going to the foot rail so he's gotta drill it with high outside and run around 3 rails to get back to the center. It rattles out, the facing just spat it back despite the pockets playing pretty generously.
Mike steps up to 5 wide open balls and runs them without issue to get a nice (if slightly long) breakshot. But his position after the breakshot's a little funky, he draws all the way to the head rail and back off. Some players do this intentionally, but I'm not sure if that was the plan.
I'll cut to the chase... he gets in trouble a lot, including a couple of breaks where he's got just one tough shot... back cutting into a far corner, or jacking up over the whole rack for a side pocket cut, that sort of thing. But he just holds it together and runs 100 and out.
Some random observations:
• These commentators are a tough crowd. In fact, throughout the entire run it seemed like they were full of backhanded compliments. "Boy, this guy is exciting, you never know what's gonna happen next. Every shot's an adventure, you have no idea where the cue ball will end up." ...or "Do you have any idea what this guy is thinking in terms of his patterns? I sure don't... he has a very non-classical style." ..."well, what can I say, he's got tremendous talent for shotmaking, and that's how he's getting by, on his natural talent." ..."we may not agree with how he plays, but hey, he's undefeated and mika has one loss." "Mika is a natural athlete and is excellent at tennis and swimming. I dunno what other sports Mike plays, but I think there isn't much to do up in Maine except ski and play pool. And given his build I don't think he's a skier. Did I mention Mika's an excellent skier also?"
It'd be nice to see a little credit where it's due, and less implied criticism. They don't have to completely candy-coat it when a guy is fυcking up, but when a guy runs 100 balls under pressure... they could show a little love.
• You can already tell the difference in styles by their warmups. Mike's warmups involve throwing a few balls on the table, randomly picking a longish tough shot, and then crushing it with maximum spin to see what kind of funky draw or rail spin he can produce. Mika racks the balls, sets up a 14.1 break, and then proceeds to run them exactly as he would in the match.
• These pockets were awfully big, a full 5 inches at least. Mike had a wobbler hit both facings 3 or 4 times and then hesitate before falling. On even a standard gold crown I dunno if it would have fallen. Then again, it's easy to say that from the chair. When I play on an olhausen at my buddy's place, it rattles rail cuts all day.
• Mike patiently waited for Mika to rack, then reracked every single time. A move? I thought they were pretty buddy buddy, but all bets are off in competition I guess.
• It looks like the pocket plates were matte black on this table, with black rails. At first it looked a little weird, but I kinda like it. Chrome with the black rails (like old Gandy tables) might look better but it's more distracting.
• Venue is a little crowded and distracting, but then it was a good turnout. Something like 50 players doing a round robin. So I guess it's understandable. Still, it would drive me batty having to constantly wait for people on an adjoining table, or to hear the door to the pool hall dinging every few minutes like a new customer just walked into Subway.
Mike, after a few practiced lags, came up a foot short and was forced to break. He played it very well, leaving the corner ball hidden (the one that usually sells out) and causing two other balls on the other side of the rack to come back inwards most of the way. They almost doubled up and left Mika nothing. Mika was facing a tough back cut from three inches off the head rail.
He of course drills it and is off to the races.
Runs through the first five racks like butter, solving problems methodically and almost never getting out of line. Midway through the sixth, he falls a little funny on a side pocket shot, with the 2 ball resting on the head spot and the cue ball a diamond north of the corner. He's got a slight angle going to the foot rail so he's gotta drill it with high outside and run around 3 rails to get back to the center. It rattles out, the facing just spat it back despite the pockets playing pretty generously.
Mike steps up to 5 wide open balls and runs them without issue to get a nice (if slightly long) breakshot. But his position after the breakshot's a little funky, he draws all the way to the head rail and back off. Some players do this intentionally, but I'm not sure if that was the plan.
I'll cut to the chase... he gets in trouble a lot, including a couple of breaks where he's got just one tough shot... back cutting into a far corner, or jacking up over the whole rack for a side pocket cut, that sort of thing. But he just holds it together and runs 100 and out.
Some random observations:
• These commentators are a tough crowd. In fact, throughout the entire run it seemed like they were full of backhanded compliments. "Boy, this guy is exciting, you never know what's gonna happen next. Every shot's an adventure, you have no idea where the cue ball will end up." ...or "Do you have any idea what this guy is thinking in terms of his patterns? I sure don't... he has a very non-classical style." ..."well, what can I say, he's got tremendous talent for shotmaking, and that's how he's getting by, on his natural talent." ..."we may not agree with how he plays, but hey, he's undefeated and mika has one loss." "Mika is a natural athlete and is excellent at tennis and swimming. I dunno what other sports Mike plays, but I think there isn't much to do up in Maine except ski and play pool. And given his build I don't think he's a skier. Did I mention Mika's an excellent skier also?"
It'd be nice to see a little credit where it's due, and less implied criticism. They don't have to completely candy-coat it when a guy is fυcking up, but when a guy runs 100 balls under pressure... they could show a little love.
• You can already tell the difference in styles by their warmups. Mike's warmups involve throwing a few balls on the table, randomly picking a longish tough shot, and then crushing it with maximum spin to see what kind of funky draw or rail spin he can produce. Mika racks the balls, sets up a 14.1 break, and then proceeds to run them exactly as he would in the match.
• These pockets were awfully big, a full 5 inches at least. Mike had a wobbler hit both facings 3 or 4 times and then hesitate before falling. On even a standard gold crown I dunno if it would have fallen. Then again, it's easy to say that from the chair. When I play on an olhausen at my buddy's place, it rattles rail cuts all day.
• Mike patiently waited for Mika to rack, then reracked every single time. A move? I thought they were pretty buddy buddy, but all bets are off in competition I guess.
• It looks like the pocket plates were matte black on this table, with black rails. At first it looked a little weird, but I kinda like it. Chrome with the black rails (like old Gandy tables) might look better but it's more distracting.
• Venue is a little crowded and distracting, but then it was a good turnout. Something like 50 players doing a round robin. So I guess it's understandable. Still, it would drive me batty having to constantly wait for people on an adjoining table, or to hear the door to the pool hall dinging every few minutes like a new customer just walked into Subway.
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