Congratulations Brett Stottlemyer, Pa. State 9 Ball Champion

[SUPERSTAR]

I was there on Saturday, and the lights are still bar box lights over the 9-foot tables.

The field was very strong and also included Pat McNally (Scranton, PA), Justin Bergman, Shaun Wilkie (Havre de Grace, MD), Mike Miller (Easton, PA), Eddie Abraham (last year's winner), Dave Daya (Mt. Carmel, PA), Ed Deska (Maryland), Rob Hart (aka "40", the owner of Ball Busters in Philly), Billy Walk (Altoona, PA), Brian Mahan (Pittsburgh, PA), and Marc Vidal (aka "Spain", New York City), among many others.

Among those missing who did well last year were Pooky Rasmeloungon (Arlington, VA), Lee Holt (Philly), and Matt Clatterbuck (Front Royal, VA).

Guess i won't be going there next year either.

What were your thoughts on the conditions?

Funny how some people don't believe that the lighting has anything to do with it. I remember one guy, that we were talking to about it, and he said that everyone is playing under the same conditions (which is true) and how a good player wouldn't be affected, and how the lighting doesn't bother him at all.
He then proceeded to self destruct playing a nobody and missed 6 easy shots on the rail during the match. Afterwards, he set up the shots on a bright end of the table, and made them, and then tried the same shots on the darker end, and made some, but missed some pretty bad. Mostly OVERCUTTING them. (the ceiling lights that are on have the tendency to amplify the shadows on different ends of the tables)

He then set up some easy outs with the balls in the middle of the table, and ran out, and then set up some easy outs with balls on the rails, and had more difficulty.

Interestingly enough, of the balls he missed during the match (two 6's, two 8's, a 7, and a 2....were all DARK BALLS)

He was shaking his head at us when he walked by.

Also, unless they got shades, that huge window in the front is blinding for people that have to play near the front during the daytime. The sun is directly in your face.

SUPERSTAR

 

[BackPocket9Ball]

Guess i won't be going there next year either.

What were your thoughts on the conditions?

SUPERSTAR

The room is nice enough, but the tables are all buckets. Nothing tight enough to play one pocket on. The lighting does suck. And although I've never been there when the sun has been bad, I can see how it could be. And if you play past 12pm, the room charges you double price ($8 per person instead of $4) whether you're gambling or not. And this is Indiana, PA we're talking about -- not NYC. And some of the people who work there are pretty fucking arrogant and unfriendly.

 

[CaptainJR]

JAM, your talking about the PA state Championship that is on BAR TABLES held out in Mechanicsberg every year hosted by Coby Atkins. That is the one that Pat, Joey, Phil and others have won.

The PA state championship that just happened took place in INDIANA PA.
It is the one that happens on 9 footers.
It is a very nice tournament, with good added money. The only problem is the fact that the pool tables, while being 9 footers, have bar box lights over them, instead of a standard sized light.
This means that each table has a box of shadows (DARK) near the rails, and it plays havoc with some of the players. It's harder to see darker balls near the rails so people miss cause they didn't actually visualize the aim point right when cutting at balls.

I don't know if they've ever bothered to change it, but that's the way i remember it.

Congratulations go out to Brett. Not only for the win, but for winning under those conditions. More power to him.

SUPERSTAR

Your right, now that you mention it JAM was under the impression that this was a different tournament. This one was State 9 ball, the one JAM was talking about is the State bar box 8 ball that Joe DiPietro won last year and Phil Sherman won the year before.

I still can't believe I didn't notice that the light were bar box lights. I would normally notice something like that. I did notice that a couple of the tables in the back looked dark but I didn't play on them so not sure how bad it was.