Musings on the 2014 DCC
Efren the Great
One of the most memorable things I witnessed was other people, including great players, taking time out to watch Efren. As good as Efren still is, time will, at some point, catch up to him. It gets us all. If you have not seen Efren play, do it. He was nothing short of a miracle on the 10 foot table against Rodney Morris.
While I was there, I could always tell where Efren ways playing, because that is where one of the biggest crowds was located. Within the crowd, I was struck by how many “champion” players would take time out to watch the “Magician”.
Efren is a rare and special talent. I count myself as lucky to have seen him play.
Overdose on Pool
I found myself fighting a level of over stimulation. Given the fantastic overhead seating that allows someone to sweat (with a great view) multiple matches, I would unconsciously move from one match to another, and an hour later, I would feel like I couldn’t remember a thing about any of them. I must be more disciplined in my “sweating” next time I go. If you go, you should be prepared for this.
I was luck to have experienced one DCC at the Executive West. I prefer it there, but this location does have its virtues (great steakhouse…you may have seen lfigueroa’s recounting the tale of my giant rare steak). In any case, it seemed to me that there was less action in this at the Horseshoe when compared to “DCC’s of old”. However, I did leave on Wednesday, and I could not stay up as late as I used to, so I may have missed some cool stuff.
Meeting the Greats
I was lucky to meet Greg Sullivan and Billy Incardona. Mr. Sullivan was a perfect gentleman, and I suspect there are few (if any) people alive that are doing more for pool than him.
With regard to Mr. Incardona, I was sincerely thrilled to meet him. I would like to think of myself as a one pocket player that could have had a promising career if it weren’t for things like college, law school, and marriage—the ruin of many a pool player. Billy Incardona and Grady Matthews as commentators to Accu-Stats are part of the soundtrack to my formative years in life and in pool, and to meet Mr. Incardona, and have him be super kind was an honor. However, Billy Incardona did tell me that he wasn’t sure about one pocket players without gray hair (I don’t have gray hair). Mr. Incardona has a ton of gray hair, so I think if he were to get in the tournament next year he might be a favorite to win given the volume of his gray hair!
I was able to meet a number of AZers, and I appreciate the chance to meet them and catch up with old friends like SJM.
Holy Super Stalev!
Tuesday night Evgeny Stalev held court on a table upstairs. He set up a rack like 14.1 but instead of shooting the cue ball into the object ball he shot the loose object ball into the cue ball and caromed it into the hole, sending the cue ball into the stack to bust it up. He proceeded to 13 caroms in a row. I have never seen anything like it. It was absolutely amazing.
Almost as amazing as Stalev, on one table over, Mike Dechaine was giving some European the seven ball in a race to 15. It appeared to me that Dechaine won easily, but whether it was “easily” or not, he did win, giving a very strong player the 7…yikes!
I can’t wait for next year...when Mr. Incardona gets in the one pocket event.
kollegedave
Efren the Great
One of the most memorable things I witnessed was other people, including great players, taking time out to watch Efren. As good as Efren still is, time will, at some point, catch up to him. It gets us all. If you have not seen Efren play, do it. He was nothing short of a miracle on the 10 foot table against Rodney Morris.
While I was there, I could always tell where Efren ways playing, because that is where one of the biggest crowds was located. Within the crowd, I was struck by how many “champion” players would take time out to watch the “Magician”.
Efren is a rare and special talent. I count myself as lucky to have seen him play.
Overdose on Pool
I found myself fighting a level of over stimulation. Given the fantastic overhead seating that allows someone to sweat (with a great view) multiple matches, I would unconsciously move from one match to another, and an hour later, I would feel like I couldn’t remember a thing about any of them. I must be more disciplined in my “sweating” next time I go. If you go, you should be prepared for this.
I was luck to have experienced one DCC at the Executive West. I prefer it there, but this location does have its virtues (great steakhouse…you may have seen lfigueroa’s recounting the tale of my giant rare steak). In any case, it seemed to me that there was less action in this at the Horseshoe when compared to “DCC’s of old”. However, I did leave on Wednesday, and I could not stay up as late as I used to, so I may have missed some cool stuff.
Meeting the Greats
I was lucky to meet Greg Sullivan and Billy Incardona. Mr. Sullivan was a perfect gentleman, and I suspect there are few (if any) people alive that are doing more for pool than him.
With regard to Mr. Incardona, I was sincerely thrilled to meet him. I would like to think of myself as a one pocket player that could have had a promising career if it weren’t for things like college, law school, and marriage—the ruin of many a pool player. Billy Incardona and Grady Matthews as commentators to Accu-Stats are part of the soundtrack to my formative years in life and in pool, and to meet Mr. Incardona, and have him be super kind was an honor. However, Billy Incardona did tell me that he wasn’t sure about one pocket players without gray hair (I don’t have gray hair). Mr. Incardona has a ton of gray hair, so I think if he were to get in the tournament next year he might be a favorite to win given the volume of his gray hair!
I was able to meet a number of AZers, and I appreciate the chance to meet them and catch up with old friends like SJM.
Holy Super Stalev!
Tuesday night Evgeny Stalev held court on a table upstairs. He set up a rack like 14.1 but instead of shooting the cue ball into the object ball he shot the loose object ball into the cue ball and caromed it into the hole, sending the cue ball into the stack to bust it up. He proceeded to 13 caroms in a row. I have never seen anything like it. It was absolutely amazing.
Almost as amazing as Stalev, on one table over, Mike Dechaine was giving some European the seven ball in a race to 15. It appeared to me that Dechaine won easily, but whether it was “easily” or not, he did win, giving a very strong player the 7…yikes!
I can’t wait for next year...when Mr. Incardona gets in the one pocket event.
kollegedave
