I know that this isn't nearly as important as the baloney tripe that THE SILENCER floods the board with, but here goes anyway..
The Seminole Tribe of Florida's Pro Tour Stop #3 is underway at Stroker's Billiards in Palm Harbor, Fl.
A field of 55 showed up to participate in the $150 Entry, $7,000 Added Tournament. Many of the big names from the 1st stop at Capone's in March were absent (previous winner John Schmidt, J. Archer, Corey Deuel, Rodney Morris,TroyFrank, Hennessy, Danny Diliberto, B.J. Ussery), but there was still a mighty impressive field, including about a half a dozen different room owners.
Off the top of my head, some of the players are:
Jimmy Wetch
Scotty Townsend
Earl Strickland
Mika Immonen
Buddy Hall
Ray Martin
Rob Saez
Charlie Williams
Tommy Kennedy
Dave Grossman
Richie Richeson
Tony Crosby
John Ditoro
C.M. Lee
Rocky McElroy
Josh Degler
Benny "Lil Goose" Conway
Bruce Pou
Glen Olsen
Dan Whitten
Wayne Catledge
Luis Viera
Mario Cruz
Steve Knoll
Dan Lavoie
Kenny Miller
Jose Delrio (host room Mgr.)
The were an additional handful of "A" players, top Shortstops and the usual assortment of 'Lobsters' ( a veritable seafood feast)... imo
Earl and Mika drew each other right off the bat and it looked as if everything was going Earl's way as he jumped out to a 6-1 lead in a rack your own, winner breaks, race to nine, format. But then, Mika came alive and won a few and Earl started 'checking the racks'. Earl got to the hill at 8-5 and then Mika came roaring back to make it hill-hill at 8 and breaking. Mika made the one ball and had a good shot at the two and three and an open table for the remaining balls. Mika made the two and Earl stood up and started gathering up his belongings. He picked up his cues, his case, his towel, his jacket and whatever else was there and while he was doing this, this cueball rolled up in the middle of the table and right in front of the nineball. Mika would have had to stand on his toes and attempt to shoot over the nine and then thinly cut the three into the far corner pocket. Not an easy shot by any stretch of the imagination. Mika gave Earl a quizzical look as Earl stood there with all his belongs in his arms. The crowd buzzed, Some said Earl had started to 'unscrew', though I didn't see THAT (and, I was watching pretty closely). Earl stunned the crowd with 'shock & awe' and he walked over to Mika and shook his hand and and didn't make him shoot. I guess he figured that he had sharked him out by gathering up his belongings.
Shortly thereafter, Earl was seen carrying all his gear outside and speeding off. Talk was rampant that Earl had 'forfeited out' of the remaining tournament, but that wasn't so. Earl came back in time for his next match (in the loser's bracket) and calmly and methodically dispatched Jose Delrio in short order.
I don't know who might win this event. It's a very competitive field. Richie Rich was trying to woof up some 500 jellybeans a game 'Banks' or 'One-pocket', with NO takers.. I wasn't feeling well and left early. If I'm feeling well tomorrow, I'll go sweat the finals and post the results.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida's Pro Tour Stop #3 is underway at Stroker's Billiards in Palm Harbor, Fl.
A field of 55 showed up to participate in the $150 Entry, $7,000 Added Tournament. Many of the big names from the 1st stop at Capone's in March were absent (previous winner John Schmidt, J. Archer, Corey Deuel, Rodney Morris,TroyFrank, Hennessy, Danny Diliberto, B.J. Ussery), but there was still a mighty impressive field, including about a half a dozen different room owners.
Off the top of my head, some of the players are:
Jimmy Wetch
Scotty Townsend
Earl Strickland
Mika Immonen
Buddy Hall
Ray Martin
Rob Saez
Charlie Williams
Tommy Kennedy
Dave Grossman
Richie Richeson
Tony Crosby
John Ditoro
C.M. Lee
Rocky McElroy
Josh Degler
Benny "Lil Goose" Conway
Bruce Pou
Glen Olsen
Dan Whitten
Wayne Catledge
Luis Viera
Mario Cruz
Steve Knoll
Dan Lavoie
Kenny Miller
Jose Delrio (host room Mgr.)
The were an additional handful of "A" players, top Shortstops and the usual assortment of 'Lobsters' ( a veritable seafood feast)... imo
Earl and Mika drew each other right off the bat and it looked as if everything was going Earl's way as he jumped out to a 6-1 lead in a rack your own, winner breaks, race to nine, format. But then, Mika came alive and won a few and Earl started 'checking the racks'. Earl got to the hill at 8-5 and then Mika came roaring back to make it hill-hill at 8 and breaking. Mika made the one ball and had a good shot at the two and three and an open table for the remaining balls. Mika made the two and Earl stood up and started gathering up his belongings. He picked up his cues, his case, his towel, his jacket and whatever else was there and while he was doing this, this cueball rolled up in the middle of the table and right in front of the nineball. Mika would have had to stand on his toes and attempt to shoot over the nine and then thinly cut the three into the far corner pocket. Not an easy shot by any stretch of the imagination. Mika gave Earl a quizzical look as Earl stood there with all his belongs in his arms. The crowd buzzed, Some said Earl had started to 'unscrew', though I didn't see THAT (and, I was watching pretty closely). Earl stunned the crowd with 'shock & awe' and he walked over to Mika and shook his hand and and didn't make him shoot. I guess he figured that he had sharked him out by gathering up his belongings.
Shortly thereafter, Earl was seen carrying all his gear outside and speeding off. Talk was rampant that Earl had 'forfeited out' of the remaining tournament, but that wasn't so. Earl came back in time for his next match (in the loser's bracket) and calmly and methodically dispatched Jose Delrio in short order.
I don't know who might win this event. It's a very competitive field. Richie Rich was trying to woof up some 500 jellybeans a game 'Banks' or 'One-pocket', with NO takers.. I wasn't feeling well and left early. If I'm feeling well tomorrow, I'll go sweat the finals and post the results.
