OK... My head hurts... My eyes are crossed and I am actually mentally and physically tired. I just watched 7 games of 9-Ball take 1 and 1/2 hours..
Congratulations to Beau Runningen for moving on in the tournament and getting past a true world class player.
With that being said I also want to say that at some point a player should and needs to be put onto a shot clock. If you are taking upwards of 3 minutes per shot you are not only putting your opponent to sleep but you are also totally killing any chance of a creating a watchable match.
This is putting on the stall at it's peak level.. It's been done before and will be done again. I am sure Dennis should have requested a shot clock be put on the match but at 8-4 then 9-6 he had to feel like that would have showed little sportsmanship and he would just wait for the next mistake and finish out. What he got was a series of safeties and rolls that when coupled with taking 3+ minutes on easy shots totally put him to sleep.
I am not saying Beau did anything wrong. There was lots of pressure in the match and he was likely walking on eggshells. He was being ultra deliberate. All of that is to be expected.
What should also be expected is that at some point one of the referees or director would have been to the table to instruct the players that play had to be sped up. The issue with that expectation is that the officials would be able to track the speed of all matches in play and determine who would need issued warnings.
I can think of one solution and that would be if the US Open utilized the real time scoring AZ is providing by having the scores printed out and carried down at the 1 hour mark.
I know this is really on Dennis for not asking himself for a shot clock.
He was being a nice guy. Being in the crowd I wish he hadn't been so nice about it. I think I actually dozed off at one point when Beau came to the table lucky for me it was a short nap and I woke up in plenty of time before he actually hit the shot.
Congratulations to Beau Runningen for moving on in the tournament and getting past a true world class player.
With that being said I also want to say that at some point a player should and needs to be put onto a shot clock. If you are taking upwards of 3 minutes per shot you are not only putting your opponent to sleep but you are also totally killing any chance of a creating a watchable match.
This is putting on the stall at it's peak level.. It's been done before and will be done again. I am sure Dennis should have requested a shot clock be put on the match but at 8-4 then 9-6 he had to feel like that would have showed little sportsmanship and he would just wait for the next mistake and finish out. What he got was a series of safeties and rolls that when coupled with taking 3+ minutes on easy shots totally put him to sleep.
I am not saying Beau did anything wrong. There was lots of pressure in the match and he was likely walking on eggshells. He was being ultra deliberate. All of that is to be expected.
What should also be expected is that at some point one of the referees or director would have been to the table to instruct the players that play had to be sped up. The issue with that expectation is that the officials would be able to track the speed of all matches in play and determine who would need issued warnings.
I can think of one solution and that would be if the US Open utilized the real time scoring AZ is providing by having the scores printed out and carried down at the 1 hour mark.
I know this is really on Dennis for not asking himself for a shot clock.
He was being a nice guy. Being in the crowd I wish he hadn't been so nice about it. I think I actually dozed off at one point when Beau came to the table lucky for me it was a short nap and I woke up in plenty of time before he actually hit the shot.
