Made in USA: SHANE VAN BOENING, 2012 U.S. OPEN 9-BALL CHAMPION

[sjm]

Shane beat all those Filipinos when the going got tough. He's made in the USA, pure American gold. What a great way to start my day, reading this news of Shane's fine victory. He clawed his way through a bunch of champions to get there too, never looking back.

You're still damn good. No one's gotten to you yet.

Congratulations, Mr. South Dakota Kid. This one's for you ---> SHANE!

We love you, Shane. Keep it going at the Mosconi Cup!

Yeah, this was a truly inspiring win, and Shane really played beautifully. I wasn't too thrilled when the last eight standing consisted of one American, one European, and six Asians, but Shane showed them all that he's got the firepower to get the job done even when superstars stand between him and a major title.

I know I've posted this before, but I believe that, contrary to the opinion of many, nine ball is Shane's best game --- not ten ball. As the 2012 Derby City nine ball champion and the 2012 US Open nine ball champion, I feel he's validated this.

As you note, the quality of his opponents on Saturday (Pagulayan and Orcullo) make this win even more impressive. Going undefeated in what I believe to have been the strongest US Open 9-ball field ever speaks volumes about the kind of pool Shane played.

Well done, Shane.

 

[irock]

Way to go SHANE SVB is a true credit to Pro Pool.

 

[jmurphy]

I was fortunate enough to have had front row VIP seating for the TV Table the last 2 days. OMG!

I'd like to, and surely will, start a thread about many observations during my trip. Anyway, regarding Shane... When there was but 4 left (apparently 2.5 of them being Filipinos, lol), I was not real optimistic about the US (Shane) coming out on top.

But when Shane rolled in for his hotseat vs Alex, I saw a look in his eyes like I've never seen before. How can I describe it.... He looked almost MAD. His play vs Alex and then Dennis was perhaps the best pool I have ever witnessed.

If ya'll saw the match vs Alex, you saw somewhat of the "controversy" that Alex brought to Jay's and Shane's attention.

Allow me to say what I know and believe of it... The night before when Neils was playing Dennis, Neils took exception to Dennis' racking. In event you leave a little gap in front of the 2 ball (at back of rack), supposedly the wing ball is wired. Well, Dennis ran (I believe) a 6 pack vs Neils. During which, Neils took exception to the racking. I did not see this match FYI. But I was told that Ken Shuman intervened and tapped the 2 ball.

When Alex got Jay to the table vs Shane for the second time when Shane was racking, Jay picked up the cue ball and was surely about to tap the 2 ball. Shane looked Jay straight in the eye and said "No". Jay seemed taken aback a bit. Shane completed racking and then Jay closely inspected the rack and then looked at Alex and said "it's frozen".

Shane proceeded to blast the everloving piss out of the break and the wing went straight in. B n R again.

My long winded point is that Shane took, IMO, a big step up yesterday. He was determined and mad and no one was going to come between him and his 2nd Open victory. He was AMAZING. His attitude and approach seemed markedly different than I've ever seen him before.

I could not be prouder of him and how he handled himself. It was a great trip, even though the venue had serious flaws. I really didn't enjoy crawling under the tables to be able to "escape".

CONGRATS SHANE!!!

Maybe all Pro 9 Ball events should go to using the Magic Rack with the 9 Ball racked on the spot?

 

[CreeDo]

Maybe all Pro 9 Ball events should go to using the Magic Rack with the 9 Ball racked on the spot?

Just 9 on the spot would do it in most cases, it's difficult to 'wire' a wing ball go exactly that low every time.

A magic rack might stop some of the crying we've been hearing, but not all of it.
Nobody will get "helpful" gaps, but when they're perfectly frozen then everything is more reliable and predictable, and soon everyone will figure out how to make the wing ball by cutting a certain way. Instead of two or three guys doing it all day long, you get 50 of 'em.

It's kind of weird, we don't seem to have a defined goal with 9 ball anymore.

Do we want breaking to be a random coin toss? Is the goal to make the break something that no player can analyze or control, we want to reduce the pros to hit hard'n'hope?

In that case the solution is easy. Get a shitty plastic triangle and have some random guy just casually roll the balls into place, barely snug them together, then lift it. He isn't allowed to look at them afterwards, and neither is the breaker. There's your random outcome and virtually 0% wing ball.

 

[Majic]

Maybe all Pro 9 Ball events should go to using the Magic Rack with the 9 Ball racked on the spot?

Having a rack girl to rack for both players would help. Racking your own in a pro event is a questionable decision by the TD. But Shane had such a huge break that Alex was just trying anything to get to him. I couldn't doubt the integrity of Shane for one second. You never saw Orcullo complain. In fact he copied Shane's break.

 

[JD_Hogg]

There is always a problem with the rack if you're losing.

Shane played amazing... Congrats!

 

[whitewolf]

Shane beat all those Filipinos when the going got tough. He's made in the USA, pure American gold. What a great way to start my day, reading this news of Shane's fine victory. He clawed his way through a bunch of champions to get there too, never looking back.

You're still damn good. No one's gotten to you yet.

Congratulations, Mr. South Dakota Kid. This one's for you ---> SHANE!

We love you, Shane. Keep it going at the Mosconi Cup!

Oh, let's get serious. Shane fired his way through a bunch of 'short people' with little bitty arms and girlie-man breaks.:grin-square: