gopi-1 said:
Thank you for the picture Jennie. DO you remember how many Joss
Tournament did Ronnie won that year (2001)? I heard it was a record! 
I do not know how many Joss events Ronnie did win, but I do know that he was voted as the Joss Player of the Year because, in fact, he was literally unstoppable.
Which reminds me of a Joss tournament that Keith and I went to in this same era, when Ronnie was first making his mark on American soil.
It was held Ultimate Billiards in Berlin, Connecticut. The pool room was fairly new, and the tables had this strange blue cloth which was faster than what most players were used to. The name of it begins with a "G," if memory serves me right. If you just tapped a ball, it would roll and roll and roll. Believe me, nobody was liking this cloth one bit!
One trait that separates players like Ronnie from the rest of 'em is their ability to adapt to any environment quickly, no matter what the equipment. This is a trait that comes easy to players enjoy games of stake.
So the tournament progresses, and my horse in the race, Keith, was one of those players who had no problem adjusting to this bizarre blue cloth. Everybody else was singing the blues [pun intended]!
Everybody except Ronnie, that is. Keith was on a rampage to the finals, and as luck would have it, he ended up having to face this new Filipino by the name of Ronnie Alcano in order for him to snatch the almighty win. I was biting my nails, sitting on the rail, because I knew Ronnie was no slouch.
All the spectators, players, and railbirds began to jockey for position to get a good seat. There was about a 30-minute intermission so folks could get settled and, of course, the side bets were mounting up big time, with the majority of money bet on Ronnie Alcano, which really made me nervous and uncomfortable.
Keith, on the other hand, was yucking it up with his buddies and didn't seem to let this pressure affect him. I pulled him aside before the match and said, "Keith, I'm really scared of this kid. You better take him seriously and start concentrating. This is Ronnie Alcano, the Filipino who's been winning all the Joss tournaments. Please remember who you're playing here," to which he replied in typical Keith fashion, "You better remember that Ronnie's gotta play me."
I was still one very Nervous Nellie when the race to 9 began, and I will never forget it. This weekend, the pool gods decided to smile on Keith, and he defeated Ronnie, 9-zip in less than 15 minutes. It was remarkable for Team McCready, and it's one win that I will always remember.
Ronnie Alcano went on this season to capture more Joss wins than any other player on tour, and soon after there wasn't a pool player in the States who didn't know who Ronnie Alcano was!
Here's a picture of Keith and Ronnie holding their beautiful trophies presented to them by owner of Ultimate Billiards, Pete Genovese, who's a pretty good player himself!
JAM
