This thread is primarily dedicated to Ratchet who I met for the first time at DCC this year. He volunteered his time to AZ Billiard Room monitor along with perennial help from goinproin07 (Justin). Ratchet & Justin were tireless with enormous amounts of time spent in the AZ billiard Room.
I had the chance to meet many people from AZ Billiards and that was great to put a face with these screen names. Believe me WillieBetmore is not a Phat Guy with a pocket full of money. Money, yes but that was obvious by his attempt to purchase all of the tickets for the drawing to play Jeanette Lee and Efren Reyes. MThornto somehow slipped in a won one of the two drawings and hooked up with Jeanette (I mean partnered up with). I clarified that because of the way some people interpret these Internet forum posts. Jeanette is a classy lady and George Breedlove has to be a Saint. It appears that he is very secure in his relationship with Jeanette and is a great father. I watched him feeding and pampering their daughter "Little Black Widow" several times at the tournament.
Some of the people I can remember from the tournament were Samiel (who like Williebetmore, I would never have recognized
)
I met dozens of people who I have probably already forgotten most of their names even though I brought a cheat sheet with me but left it in my suitcase. Hal was there, Ratchet, Justin Harris and MARTIN who is now my best friend. Martin whipped up on me playing some one pocket. I forget his screen name but he plays one pocket very well. I never got the chance to return the favor as I promised. However Martin was busy building credits as later on in the tournament he saw me looking rather dejected because of my lack of performance in the main one pocket and nine ball tournaments and asked me if I was playing in the mini-32 man/woman one pocket tournament. It was a race to 32 with single elimination $25.00 per person and it had been sold out for days. I remarked that I had heard it was full and Martin asked if I wanted to purchase his friend's spot, a Mr. Whitehead. I said sure not knowing at that time how much it was going to cost. Martin added even more credits to his resume by telling me that it wasn't going to cost me anything extra either. The spots often sold for $40 as there was a $1,000 added. It was already late Friday night (the second Friday night) and to my credit all I had done was get whipped up on by a guy named McCloskey playing both nine ball and eight ball on a bar box (across the street at the Exectuvie Inn)and a very poor performance in the tournament at DCC.
I gave Martin the $25 for the spot and rushed to the mini-tournament site in the main room only to find the tournament was filled with champions and wannabee champions. Now this was just to my liking but I still wasn't playing well and barely escaped getting knocked out of my first two matches by two guys who I forget their names. What was neat about this tournament is that there were a couple of extra tables open that you coudl practice on while you waited for your match to come up. Some of the matches were taking incredibly long and the wait was excrutiating at times. So I did what any of you would have done, I played for HOURS practicing by myself for free waiting for my name to be called. I drank cup of coffee after cup of coffee. I started of the mini-tournament by watching Williebetmor and Mthornto playing partners with Efren Reyes and Jeanette Lee until they called my name for the tournament. Boy was I green with envy. I couldn't decide who I was more jealous of Mthornto or Williebetmore. Williebetmore was actually chatting with Efren Reyes nonstop. I thought for a minute that Williebetmore spoke Tagalog as Efren was laughing, smiling and responding constantly. I think Williebetmore learned all of the secrets of pool during that rather lengthy partnership. He sure was having a good time as was his opponents. That was a great idea but why should the guy with the most money always win the best prize? ;-)
The AZ billiard room was non-stop with pro after pro visiting the room, giving clinics and showing their wares. I missed meeting OldHasBeen although he may have snuck up while I was engrossed in learning some new tricks of the trade and got bore watching me dog ball after ball. I heard he visited the room several times and there were lots of people who ambled in and out before I got a chance to say hello. Tom (aka: Ratchet) was busy socializing with every person who came in the door. He was the perfect host and room monitor. Fred Agnir visited often and I never got the chance to ask Fred to show me some of the Hal Houle aiming systems. Maybe next time. JimboCt showed up. It was easy to spot him once he got there but showed up with no cues to show. In fact I never saw him hit a ball. Almost all of the pros showed up and signed an AZ Billiard banner/poster. The numbers of pros that came through must have been in the dozens. That poster would be a nice keepsake for a pool hall. Even the non-pro banner would be a great keepsake as it has many of the regular posters and lurkers on RSB.
Did I say that there were more lurkers visting the AZ billiard room than real name screen names? I think I met more lurkers than regular posters. Their screen names escape me but there are plenty who monitor the Forum and don't post often as they don't appreciate the occasional flaming that occurs on forums of this type. Also many don't want to spend all of their time typing notes and trying to explain their perspective. But the lurkers are out there and a great bunch of guys and gals they were.
Overall I would say that the AZ billiard room was a huge success. We probably needed another table or two. The table was occupied 24/7 even if it was the little Marine, Justin who was standing guard and taking on all comers at any hour of the day or night.
Jerry Briesath, Tom Simpson, Charley Bond, Semper Fi and the best APA 3 in the country, his wife, all visited and shared in the fun. I am just now recovering from the overload of so much pool. God, it was great.
Thanks AZ Billiard for making it an even bigger success.
Warm Regards,
JoeyA
I had the chance to meet many people from AZ Billiards and that was great to put a face with these screen names. Believe me WillieBetmore is not a Phat Guy with a pocket full of money. Money, yes but that was obvious by his attempt to purchase all of the tickets for the drawing to play Jeanette Lee and Efren Reyes. MThornto somehow slipped in a won one of the two drawings and hooked up with Jeanette (I mean partnered up with). I clarified that because of the way some people interpret these Internet forum posts. Jeanette is a classy lady and George Breedlove has to be a Saint. It appears that he is very secure in his relationship with Jeanette and is a great father. I watched him feeding and pampering their daughter "Little Black Widow" several times at the tournament.
Some of the people I can remember from the tournament were Samiel (who like Williebetmore, I would never have recognized
)I met dozens of people who I have probably already forgotten most of their names even though I brought a cheat sheet with me but left it in my suitcase. Hal was there, Ratchet, Justin Harris and MARTIN who is now my best friend
. Martin whipped up on me playing some one pocket. I forget his screen name but he plays one pocket very well. I never got the chance to return the favor as I promised. However Martin was busy building credits as later on in the tournament he saw me looking rather dejected because of my lack of performance in the main one pocket and nine ball tournaments and asked me if I was playing in the mini-32 man/woman one pocket tournament. It was a race to 32 with single elimination $25.00 per person and it had been sold out for days. I remarked that I had heard it was full and Martin asked if I wanted to purchase his friend's spot, a Mr. Whitehead. I said sure not knowing at that time how much it was going to cost. Martin added even more credits to his resume by telling me that it wasn't going to cost me anything extra either. The spots often sold for $40 as there was a $1,000 added. It was already late Friday night (the second Friday night) and to my credit all I had done was get whipped up on by a guy named McCloskey playing both nine ball and eight ball on a bar box (across the street at the Exectuvie Inn)and a very poor performance in the tournament at DCC. I gave Martin the $25 for the spot and rushed to the mini-tournament site in the main room only to find the tournament was filled with champions and wannabee champions. Now this was just to my liking but I still wasn't playing well and barely escaped getting knocked out of my first two matches by two guys who I forget their names. What was neat about this tournament is that there were a couple of extra tables open that you coudl practice on while you waited for your match to come up. Some of the matches were taking incredibly long and the wait was excrutiating at times. So I did what any of you would have done, I played for HOURS practicing by myself for free waiting for my name to be called. I drank cup of coffee after cup of coffee. I started of the mini-tournament by watching Williebetmor and Mthornto playing partners with Efren Reyes and Jeanette Lee until they called my name for the tournament. Boy was I green with envy. I couldn't decide who I was more jealous of Mthornto or Williebetmore. Williebetmore was actually chatting with Efren Reyes nonstop. I thought for a minute that Williebetmore spoke Tagalog as Efren was laughing, smiling and responding constantly. I think Williebetmore learned all of the secrets of pool during that rather lengthy partnership. He sure was having a good time as was his opponents. That was a great idea but why should the guy with the most money always win the best prize? ;-)
The AZ billiard room was non-stop with pro after pro visiting the room, giving clinics and showing their wares. I missed meeting OldHasBeen although he may have snuck up while I was engrossed in learning some new tricks of the trade and got bore watching me dog ball after ball. I heard he visited the room several times and there were lots of people who ambled in and out before I got a chance to say hello. Tom (aka: Ratchet) was busy socializing with every person who came in the door. He was the perfect host and room monitor. Fred Agnir visited often and I never got the chance to ask Fred to show me some of the Hal Houle aiming systems. Maybe next time. JimboCt showed up. It was easy to spot him once he got there but showed up with no cues to show. In fact I never saw him hit a ball. Almost all of the pros showed up and signed an AZ Billiard banner/poster. The numbers of pros that came through must have been in the dozens. That poster would be a nice keepsake for a pool hall. Even the non-pro banner would be a great keepsake as it has many of the regular posters and lurkers on RSB.
Did I say that there were more lurkers visting the AZ billiard room than real name screen names? I think I met more lurkers than regular posters. Their screen names escape me but there are plenty who monitor the Forum and don't post often as they don't appreciate the occasional flaming that occurs on forums of this type. Also many don't want to spend all of their time typing notes and trying to explain their perspective. But the lurkers are out there and a great bunch of guys and gals they were.
Overall I would say that the AZ billiard room was a huge success. We probably needed another table or two. The table was occupied 24/7 even if it was the little Marine, Justin who was standing guard and taking on all comers at any hour of the day or night.
Jerry Briesath, Tom Simpson, Charley Bond, Semper Fi and the best APA 3 in the country, his wife, all visited and shared in the fun. I am just now recovering from the overload of so much pool. God, it was great.
Thanks AZ Billiard for making it an even bigger success.
Warm Regards,
JoeyA
