I have almost returned my life to normal after the whirlwind that is the Derby and decided to write down some impressions, observations and opinions on the 2009 Derby City Classic.
I arrived in Louisville on Tuesday January 20 and met up with Chad, who had arrived earlier that day. I took a walk around the venue to see what the set up was and the first thing I was struck with was how tight the area around all the tables was. It was playable for sure but looked to be much tighter than the previous set up. I wondered what the player reaction would be. Another thing that struck me was how much cleaner and nicer the general appearance of the venue was.
Wednesday we loaded in and spent about 18 hours setting up our video gear and that beautiful black plastic that covered the 80 foot bank of windows on one wall of the action room. Steve "Tablemechanic" Leistikow was a tremendous help in the process and we thank him very much for his help.
The action was pretty light for the first couple of days. IMO it was people getting used to the new place and figuring everything out. As the time went on people started mixing it up more and more.
Monday night I was able to see a match I wanted to see for a long time. The legendary Efren Reyes vs Shane Van Boening in a race to 23 ten ball for what was supposed to be $4-5K. The match was epic. The funny thing is that I was sure the match was canceled up until about 20 minutes before it went off. I had went to speak to Efren's camp about how he would be compensated for the match from TAR. We made the best offer we could and it was turned down. I came back up to the action room ready to jump off the building when John "TheMarsMan" Mars said "Hold on. Let me go talk to them"
Fifteen minutes later he was back and said "It's on....and we are betting $20,000!" Needless to say John is now my hero forever. Anyone who ever watches this match and enjoys it should thank John because he made it happen.
The week is really a big blur of action, laughter, frustration, fun and great memories. The whole gamut of emotions was in play and all in all it was an amazing time.
Some things that stick out in my mind:
- Francisco Bustamante and Efren Reyes have always been larger than life to me. I have been able to meet many of the big names in this game and a few did not live up to my expectations but these two gentleman are examples of true class and grace. It was an honor and a pleasure to have them play one of our matches and I hope they will do more in the future.
- Shane Van Boening is a champion. He is my friend and his drive and desire to excel never fail to impress. I feel lucky to be in a position to witness his rise and the path he will take in the game.
- If Ktown D ever tells you "Hey, I got some cherry shine....want some?" say no. Trust me.
- Fred "Cornerman" Agnir is a stud. He was on the mic and helping Chad and I out whenever he could. Without him it would have been a lesser trip by far. He contributed his knowledge, humor and passion for the game the entire trip. We can't thank you enough Fred.
- Sarah Rousey is my hero. Go check out her blog here http://sarahrousey.blogspot.com/
- Steve "Tablemechanic" Leistikow helped us get Bustamante in the box and was instrumental in making that match happen. Thank you sir.
- One day I walk into the booth and Chad hands me a cue and says "Andy Gilbert just dropped this off for us" It was a beautiful purple heart Jump Break that he gave us to help out. Andy just proves again what I have learned since we got into this thing that cuemakers are special breed. I urge anyone who is looking for a cue especially a fancy one to check out Andy's work. You will be impressed and you can't find a better man to do business with. Thank you Andy.
-A couple days later I am at Joe Blackburn and Steve Lomax's booth getting some work done and Steve hands me one of his jump cues made of Honduran Mahogany and says "Here. Take that." I told you cuemakers are special breed. Steve put one of his awesome leather wraps on a cue for me, the third I have had him do. The best thing about having Steve or Joe do anything on your cue is that you just tell them what you want without any worry about just what you will get back. It is great work every time.
-The Diamond crew worked their azzes off. All of them. Before, during and after the event. Greg, Chad, Paul and all the other crew were there before anyone showed up and there after everyone left. They dealt with difficult problems that popped up and the gremlins a new venue provides and did it with class.
- Scooter to Big Arm John:
"John I wanna bet on this match. It is a lock. Let me borrow $2000. If I dont pay it back you cant break my pinky finger. Break that mofo right on YouTube.......for $4000 I will let you cut it off."
Last I heard Scooter still had all his digits.
- Billy Incardona is still and will always be a bad man. (Bad meaning cool as hell)
- Steve "Beav_99_4life" Dunham saved Chad's and my azz so many times during the week I quit counting. Without him the coverage would not have been 24 hours. Anyone who sweated something at 4 AM should thank Beav because without him it would have never happened. I look forward to working with Beav at many more events in the future.
-Mark and Sunny Griffin are two of the most active people in the game trying to create, promote and generate opportunities for everyone. Both of them were working the entire event on getting feedback and trying to find ways to improve the Derby and all the other events they are involved in. Pool is lucky to have them and I am lucky to call them friends.
- The best part of the Derby for me was getting to meet all the people who watch TAR or have bought merchandise from us. TAR people are the best. Thank you to all for your support and kind words. I suck at remembering names but I don't forget the words of encouragement and support. It means more than than most will ever know.
- Jessica of OB Cues looks really nice in a TAR tank top. Really nice.
- We streamed for 176 hours 54 minutes for free on Ustream, about 48 hours on the PPV stream.
-There were 154,176 unique viewers over the course of the week on the free Ustream broadcast.
- We averaged 440.2 viewers at any one time for the entire Ustream broadcast.
I will leave all of the questions about the venue to the threads already started. Personally I think it could be made to work but would prefer somewhere larger. Either way I will be there.
I know I am forgetting to mention or thank some people and for that I apologize. The final impression I have of DCC 2009 is that it was not what it was but it sure beats anything else in this country. I think it will improve and surpass the Executive West days. There was nothing wrong that can't be fixed and I have faith that Greg Sullivan will do his level best to fix the issues that people have raised.
Here are some pics:
The Man
Billy, Shannon and Marge in the booth calling the Efren/SVB match. Thanks guys you were outstanding.
Chris Bartram and John Morra outside the action room.
A picture of Mike Banks (left) and Chris Bartrams (right) hands the day after they finished their 27 hour marathon set. Mike said he couldnt make a bridge after the match and Chris said his hands felt like they were going to crack open. I think this is what they mean by heart.
L to R: Fred Agnir, Mark Griffin, John Mars, Big Nasty in the TAR booth after the Efren match. I do not remember what John was saying here but I would guess it is either "Cocktails!!" or "Bet More !!!"
Steve Lomax and Joe Blackburn. Two of the best cue guys on the planet and two of the nicest as well.
Your 2009 DCC Louis Roberts Award Winner (IMO): Scooter
Mr. Bustamante
Check out where his foot is
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner !!! Congrats Shane.
I arrived in Louisville on Tuesday January 20 and met up with Chad, who had arrived earlier that day. I took a walk around the venue to see what the set up was and the first thing I was struck with was how tight the area around all the tables was. It was playable for sure but looked to be much tighter than the previous set up. I wondered what the player reaction would be. Another thing that struck me was how much cleaner and nicer the general appearance of the venue was.
Wednesday we loaded in and spent about 18 hours setting up our video gear and that beautiful black plastic that covered the 80 foot bank of windows on one wall of the action room. Steve "Tablemechanic" Leistikow was a tremendous help in the process and we thank him very much for his help.
The action was pretty light for the first couple of days. IMO it was people getting used to the new place and figuring everything out. As the time went on people started mixing it up more and more.
Monday night I was able to see a match I wanted to see for a long time. The legendary Efren Reyes vs Shane Van Boening in a race to 23 ten ball for what was supposed to be $4-5K. The match was epic. The funny thing is that I was sure the match was canceled up until about 20 minutes before it went off. I had went to speak to Efren's camp about how he would be compensated for the match from TAR. We made the best offer we could and it was turned down. I came back up to the action room ready to jump off the building when John "TheMarsMan" Mars said "Hold on. Let me go talk to them"
Fifteen minutes later he was back and said "It's on....and we are betting $20,000!" Needless to say John is now my hero forever. Anyone who ever watches this match and enjoys it should thank John because he made it happen.
The week is really a big blur of action, laughter, frustration, fun and great memories. The whole gamut of emotions was in play and all in all it was an amazing time.
Some things that stick out in my mind:
- Francisco Bustamante and Efren Reyes have always been larger than life to me. I have been able to meet many of the big names in this game and a few did not live up to my expectations but these two gentleman are examples of true class and grace. It was an honor and a pleasure to have them play one of our matches and I hope they will do more in the future.
- Shane Van Boening is a champion. He is my friend and his drive and desire to excel never fail to impress. I feel lucky to be in a position to witness his rise and the path he will take in the game.
- If Ktown D ever tells you "Hey, I got some cherry shine....want some?" say no. Trust me.
- Fred "Cornerman" Agnir is a stud. He was on the mic and helping Chad and I out whenever he could. Without him it would have been a lesser trip by far. He contributed his knowledge, humor and passion for the game the entire trip. We can't thank you enough Fred.
- Sarah Rousey is my hero. Go check out her blog here http://sarahrousey.blogspot.com/
- Steve "Tablemechanic" Leistikow helped us get Bustamante in the box and was instrumental in making that match happen. Thank you sir.
- One day I walk into the booth and Chad hands me a cue and says "Andy Gilbert just dropped this off for us" It was a beautiful purple heart Jump Break that he gave us to help out. Andy just proves again what I have learned since we got into this thing that cuemakers are special breed. I urge anyone who is looking for a cue especially a fancy one to check out Andy's work. You will be impressed and you can't find a better man to do business with. Thank you Andy.
-A couple days later I am at Joe Blackburn and Steve Lomax's booth getting some work done and Steve hands me one of his jump cues made of Honduran Mahogany and says "Here. Take that." I told you cuemakers are special breed. Steve put one of his awesome leather wraps on a cue for me, the third I have had him do. The best thing about having Steve or Joe do anything on your cue is that you just tell them what you want without any worry about just what you will get back. It is great work every time.
-The Diamond crew worked their azzes off. All of them. Before, during and after the event. Greg, Chad, Paul and all the other crew were there before anyone showed up and there after everyone left. They dealt with difficult problems that popped up and the gremlins a new venue provides and did it with class.
- Scooter to Big Arm John:
"John I wanna bet on this match. It is a lock. Let me borrow $2000. If I dont pay it back you cant break my pinky finger. Break that mofo right on YouTube.......for $4000 I will let you cut it off."
Last I heard Scooter still had all his digits.
- Billy Incardona is still and will always be a bad man. (Bad meaning cool as hell)
- Steve "Beav_99_4life" Dunham saved Chad's and my azz so many times during the week I quit counting. Without him the coverage would not have been 24 hours. Anyone who sweated something at 4 AM should thank Beav because without him it would have never happened. I look forward to working with Beav at many more events in the future.
-Mark and Sunny Griffin are two of the most active people in the game trying to create, promote and generate opportunities for everyone. Both of them were working the entire event on getting feedback and trying to find ways to improve the Derby and all the other events they are involved in. Pool is lucky to have them and I am lucky to call them friends.
- The best part of the Derby for me was getting to meet all the people who watch TAR or have bought merchandise from us. TAR people are the best. Thank you to all for your support and kind words. I suck at remembering names but I don't forget the words of encouragement and support. It means more than than most will ever know.
- Jessica of OB Cues looks really nice in a TAR tank top. Really nice.
- We streamed for 176 hours 54 minutes for free on Ustream, about 48 hours on the PPV stream.
-There were 154,176 unique viewers over the course of the week on the free Ustream broadcast.
- We averaged 440.2 viewers at any one time for the entire Ustream broadcast.
I will leave all of the questions about the venue to the threads already started. Personally I think it could be made to work but would prefer somewhere larger. Either way I will be there.
I know I am forgetting to mention or thank some people and for that I apologize. The final impression I have of DCC 2009 is that it was not what it was but it sure beats anything else in this country. I think it will improve and surpass the Executive West days. There was nothing wrong that can't be fixed and I have faith that Greg Sullivan will do his level best to fix the issues that people have raised.
Here are some pics:
The Man
Billy, Shannon and Marge in the booth calling the Efren/SVB match. Thanks guys you were outstanding.
Chris Bartram and John Morra outside the action room.
A picture of Mike Banks (left) and Chris Bartrams (right) hands the day after they finished their 27 hour marathon set. Mike said he couldnt make a bridge after the match and Chris said his hands felt like they were going to crack open. I think this is what they mean by heart.
L to R: Fred Agnir, Mark Griffin, John Mars, Big Nasty in the TAR booth after the Efren match. I do not remember what John was saying here but I would guess it is either "Cocktails!!" or "Bet More !!!"
Steve Lomax and Joe Blackburn. Two of the best cue guys on the planet and two of the nicest as well.
Your 2009 DCC Louis Roberts Award Winner (IMO): Scooter
Mr. Bustamante
Check out where his foot is
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner !!! Congrats Shane.
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