Pics: Swanee Tourney Hollywood

Great, great tournament!

To Jay, Bill, and the tournament staff: :bow-down:

That is some serious controlled chaos, how you guys do it all so smoothly, I just don't get it.
 
junksecret said:
I think there are almost 200 players so I had no chance to get them all and it was so crowded moving around was tough.
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Looks like a nice room, JS. It appears from your photos that there are 20 GCs on two floors. Is that the layout?

Thanks~ Doc
 
gulfportdoc said:
Looks like a nice room, JS. It appears from your photos that there are 20 GCs on two floors. Is that the layout?

Thanks~ Doc
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Doc,

No, more than that. On the ground floor there's at least the two rows of 5 that you see in the center, then another 5 you can see angled against the back wall. I believe there is also a small private room with one or two so at least 16 on the ground floor, maybe more. Then upstairs I believe another 12? Not too sure but I think around 28 or more total.

Also the downstairs tables have very small pockets, 2 balls can't even get near the jaws...around 4 inches I think, others will know. Upstairs, which isn't open all the time only weekends or other busy really busy times, the pockets are close to 5 inches.

There is great food and a small dining room downstairs and a great bar, also a full sized bar upstairs which I think is used mainly when that foor is booked for private events.

Also a large outside patio for eating and smoking that is also very nice. Here's a cpl of pics of that area from the 1-pocket tourney last year:

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And also several lounge areas like this one where Jose napped during the 1-pocket:

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It's a beautiful room, maybe niceset I've ever seen!

I'll try and get a few more shots of the other areas today.

Joe
 
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junksecret said:
Doc,

Also the downstairs tables have very small pockets, 2 balls can't even get near the jaws...around 4 inches I think, others will know. Upstairs, which isn't open all the time only weekends or other busy really busy times, the pockets are close to 5 inches.

There is great food and a small dining room downstairs and a great bar, also a full sized bar upstairs which I think is used mainly when that foor is booked for private events.


Joe
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I can confirm, those are four inch pockets downstairs.

A warning about the food - the German chocolate cake is incredibly good. Last night after dinner, my waitress told me about how they make their cake from scratch and is a house favorite. I can tell you, it was the wild 8 and the snaps better than she said it was.

Also, why in he world was the upstairs bar closed? Didn't someone tell management that there would be 400 folks showing up from 9AM on out? Sheesh, I think someone dogged it.
 
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Wow, I had a great time yesterday even though I went 0-2.

Lots of great matchs and there will be even more today.

Great to see Ronnie Rosas back in action after a loooong time away from the table. I think that he was still on the winners side after I left last night.

Thanks for the great pics Joe and glad to hear you are doing well brother!!

Off to HB for more :thumbup:

Russ.....
 
poolhustler said:
Great to see Ronnie Rosas back in action after a loooong time away from the table. I think that he was still on the winners side after I left last night.


Russ.....
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Seeing Ronnie Rosas again was like seeing a ghost from the past. He was one of the most feared players in Southern Cal back in the 80's. Then suddenly he disappeared, with rumors that he had passed away. It's good to see him at the table again.
 
I had not heard the rumors that Ronnie had passed or I would have quickly dispelled them.

He has always been around, but just not sober.

Unfortunatley his mom is not doing so well and Ronnie realizes that he needs to help her out and take care of her.

I wish the best for him and his mom. She is a sweetheart.

Russ.....
 
junksecret said:
Those kids were in the tourney, one is still in and in the money! He lost but won I think THREE matches in the losers bracket...he's 14 and can really play...was like lookin' into the future!

Joe
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His name's Brenden Crocket and he finished t33-48. I happened to draw him in my opening match and handed him his first loss. He works with Sal Butera and has won some big junior tournaments. I'll tell you what, he's a really nice kid too. Came up to me later in the day to say hi, and Sunday as well. My hat's off to Brenden, he got farther than me by two rounds and he had his back to the wall from the outset. He got into Sunday and won his first match before getting eliminated.

I think he got as far as he was going to get though. There were no more favorable draws to be had. Unfortunately for Brenden he drew Jose Parica who had just come off a really close tough loss to Rafael Martinez minutes earlier and I'm sure he was in no mood.
 
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Very nice pics. Thanks. I printed out the flyer for this event but didn't send it in. Wish I would have as the place looks real nice and many very strong players. Would have been fun to see.
 
It indeed was a very special weekend. I was fortunate enough to meet a bunch of AZers and feel I made some friends.

Really everything about it was great. Jay and his guys did an unbelievable job running a top notch event and Jeff has one of the best venues for something like this I've ever seen. Great food, good service, and fantastic GC's. The downstairs tables are seriously tight, they can't be more than a pube over 4", but well set up and fair. Plenty of viewing area including good birds eye views of the downstairs action from upstairs. For a while on Sunday Poolhustler, SpongeBob and I were playing king of the hill on an upstairs table while peering over the rail at our very own Crown City Cory in a match downstairs - which he won.

One thing that struck me is the sense that the reason this tournament has become what it has is because of the man it was named for. I played Dave Hemma who said that although he doesn't play as often or intently in the last year or two as he used to, he plays in this tournament in honor of the man. I never had the pleasure of meeting him but it is apparent he is missed and remembered by many.
 
DogsPlayingPool said:
It indeed was a very special weekend. I was fortunate enough to meet a bunch of AZers and feel I made some friends.

One thing that struck me is the sense that the reason this tournament has become what it has is because of the man it was named for. I played Dave Hemma who said that although he doesn't play as often or intently in the last year or two as he used to, he plays in this tournament in honor of the man. I never had the pleasure of meeting him but it is apparent he is missed and remembered by many.
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While I was at the event, I asked several people if they ever got the chance to see Swannee play. Almost everyone said, "no". It seems as if what most folks know of Jay is that he was a good player from San Diego.

At past events, some of Swanee's friends would get on the microphone and say a few words about the man and his mark on pool world. We also had photos of Jay to remind us of his pool playing career. I didn't see any of that this year. But of course, maybe I just missed it.

This is not to say I was unhappy with the tournament, nosiree. Jay, Bill and Mark deserve a medal for their efforts. I know it must be tough to turn away people who want to play your event but I understand many couldn't get in due to having a full field (of 192!!!). Maybe Jay can open up the field and extend the number of days of play by going into Monday. Certainly folks playing on that last day could set aside any committments in return for a good payday. Of course, the number of spectators may be somewhat less than the crowd you would get on a late Sunday final. Just a thought.
 
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