Live (But Just Barely) From the MC

lfigueroa · 2013-12-03T16:40:02+00:00

I'm not sure where to start. So I will start at the beginning. This is my third Mosconi Cup, having made the trek in 2003 and 2007 with my wife. This is my first solo trip and I miss her. In 2003, Gail, really surprised me, telling me that she wanted to go. “I like watching 9ball and the whole USA v Europe idea sounds interesting.” And so we went to watch Archer, JJ, Rodney, Earl, and CW defeat the Euros 11-9. It was a fantastic match and a nail biter all the way. My wife thoroughly enjoyed it and though she’s not the most knowledgable pool fan, she’s seen enough “live fire exercises” over the years to always pick up on some interesting insights. Any of youze guys who don’t think 14.1 helps your 9ball, my wife begs to disagree. We had just finished watching a doubles match in which the two-man Euro team had defeated the US team of JA and Rodney Morris 5-4 and she whispered in my ear about the Euro team, “Those two guys play better than the others -- they make it look easier." She was talking about Souquet and Hohmann. That year, after watching the match ups on Saturday we scooted off to dinner at the Bellagio and then on to make it in time to see Shania Twain at Mandalay Bay. Me, I'm not such a big C&W fan, but if the missus can sit through two days of Mosconi Cup, then I can most certainly sit through a C&W show. Of course Shania ain't exactly tough on the eyes and, in all honesty, she put on a pretty good concert. Actually, to be even more frank, though the pool was grand, the highlight of the trip was when Shania started singing "Forever and For Always" and my wife took my arm and put her head on my shoulder. Our second MC forage was in 2007 when the Euros prevailed 11-7. What I recall about that contest was how intimidating Tony Drago of Malta was. Totally fearless, deadly accurate at distance, and a speed demon who looked like he was already shooting his first shot before he even got out of the chair. He was on fire, the Euros knew it, and they put him up for a series of singles matches: he beat Rodney 6-5; and then put a hurtin’ on Shane 6-2; Corey 6-4; and completed his tour de force, defeating JA 6-3. And here I is now for the 2013 Mosconi Cup. I left St. Louis at 6am to make the first day's matches and gotta tell you: arriving in LV at 8am, in 41 degree weather, in December, is the nuts. Your plane cruises in, you get your bags right away, breeze through the car rental, and zoom down an The Strip. *No one* is here (relatively speaking.) Arriving at the Mirage I immediately run into SJM and Jerry Forsyth. Stu and I make a Starbucks run and I fortify myself with a quadruple grande dry cappuccino. Outside the tournament arena I meet and greet a huge number of folks and I know I'm going to forget some and I apologize: akaTrigger gives me a hug and a peck; Mark Griffin blessedly does not, nor does Paul or Greg Sullivan. I do get a hug from Sunny. All the great photogs; Rick S., Dale "Shankshot," and JP Parmenter. Vagabond looking sterling and I mean that literally. Bob Jewett, true to form, has briefcase in hand. Inside the arena all the AZers have instinctively gravitated to the front row: KoolKat and Pinky, EZ Money and Mrs EZ Money, Cuebuddy, Fat Albert. Later on I see George Fels heading towards the arena and say hello. Buddy Hall scoots by and I shake his hand and wish the team well. And then, the lights go up, the announcers pitch the crowd, the players are introduced and march into the arena... and the carnage starts. It is Ugly, spelt with a capital U. No doubt the US got some crappy rolls and the Euros a couple of amazing ones. But there was also sloppy play that did the USA in. And then there were a lot of little things: SVB came up short and left himself a tough cut down the end rail and, as he's pulling the trigger a photographer decides he's going to fire off 20 shots on his motor driven camera and you could hear the rapid fire "click, click, click, click, click," as the ball traveled down the rail and hung in the jaws. At another point an American player couldn't seem to find a cube of chalk as the shot clock wound down. And JA had to fade the sound of his young son's voice cutting through the air with entreaties of, "Come on, Daddy!" that I know would have drilled down into my head. There was also some talk of a couple of US players staying out way past curfew (right, what team curfew?) the previous night, but only they know if it had an impact. Earl seemed to be the only one in complete control of his game but even with him, as the chirping started, I think everyone pulling for the US was hoping he would keep it together and not go nuclear. 0-5 Europe. The HOF dinner was fun. I get a chance to get some money game advice from Jay Helfert. Michaela Tabb wanders into the room looking gorgeous and suddenly I feel like a teenager at his first school dance but I decide to goferit and ask her to pose for a picture. And while Jay fumbles with my phone camera Michaela is whispering, in her Scottish lilt, into my ear, and yes, it was quite wonderful. (Eat your heart out KK.). CSI front man, Mark Griffin, has invited me to sit at his table and I dine next to Jerry Forsyth and Mike Howerton of AZ fame on one side and Diamond ref extraordinaire Dave and his lovely wife on the other. In between his efforts to document the event, Justin of TAR is also at our table and he and I discuss PPVs and streams. I also get to speak with Nick Varner about a lesson in the near future. The induction goes smoothly, with Mike Panozzo MCing. Barry Hearn told several great stories re ESPN and meeting Minnesota Fats. Jeanette Lee brought us up to date on her life. All in all a good time. It was also just amazing and wonderful to break away from the madness that happens online and be amongst real live pool people and speak to them at length. So many people greeted me so warmly, some going to the trouble of introducing themselves to me, that I was able to realize for the first time, in quite awhile, how the stupid stuff on the forums is just that. Like I said, all in all a good time :-) Lou Figueroa

Thread starter lfigueroa
Start date Dec 3, 2013

lfigueroa

AzB Silver Member

Silver Member

Dec 10, 2013

Spimp13 said:
Hey Lou, hows the challenge match training going? Thanks for the MC update!

ah, you know -- kissing pretty girls, spending a week in Vegas, got a trip to Mexico coming up, family in for the holidays. Same ol', same ol'. ;-)

Thanks, Spimp

Lou Figueroa

Last edited: Dec 10, 2013

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