Slow Play
- Thread starter whitewolf
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pool9ballscrubb
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maybe you should just go and play in the APA then and dont worry about tournaments. I'd like to see you try to play under GREAT conditions for your shot at $40,000 and the title to be called a "us open champion". Barry runs the BEST tournament in the world and your gonna sit here and critisize for "SLOW PLAY". that shows why ur one of the ones sitting in the stands wishing that you could be one of the ones that has a chance to win. maybe the APA is best for you. :angry:
Limitations
I love those Clint Eastwoodisms
As far as slow play is concerned, if I'm playing league or in a tournament I just sit back and wait.
The guy paid his fee's and can do whatever he wants.
Think long think wrong.
I've had guys study the table for 10-minutes before they take the first shot.
I just wait patiently figuring their going to screw it up.
When practicing however, there's no excuse for slow play and I would rather just practice my myself.
Peace
Between the racking and the players, the play was so SLOW that I am not going back again.
Honestly, the APA moves at a faster clip.
I love those Clint Eastwoodisms
As far as slow play is concerned, if I'm playing league or in a tournament I just sit back and wait.
The guy paid his fee's and can do whatever he wants.
Think long think wrong.
I've had guys study the table for 10-minutes before they take the first shot.
I just wait patiently figuring their going to screw it up.
When practicing however, there's no excuse for slow play and I would rather just practice my myself.
Peace
That is probably true. It was a first class event.
I'm just saying that I will not be going back because of slow play. The most ridiculous thing was watching the babies fight over the racking. Like I said last year, they should all use Sardo racks, even though I heard the players hated them.....too bad.
I saw Mika playing someone and they argued about the rack for five minutes. Then Scott the Shot came over, inspected the latest rack, said it was okay, and the players agreed. Then Mika's opponent got up to break and he complained that the rack was now crooked. Then they argued another few racks. It was at this point I said to myself: "to hell with this". Maybe they should get the laser guided racks.
And don't give me that crap about how much money they are playing for. Other tournaments have shot clocks and the players manage quite well. I am sure that Barry could get enough volunteers to stand around with stop watches.
I paid over $800 to make the trip there and to me the aggrevation was not worth the money. I am sure others enjoyed every minute of it, but not me.
Did you watch Earl's matches.....He always racks in like 10 seconds and the other player rarely ever had a problem with it and said a word..they always broke. Wonder why?????????????? And his Biggest complaint with players is there slow play! Yeah...I know I'm probally a earl nut hanger and I know he's crazy but he does play the game of pool like it should be played in most peoples eye's
Yes, without Earl's mouth he was a pleasure to watch. My guess is why nobody says anything to him about racking is that they don't want to start WWIII. Any advantage you would gain over complaining about his racks would be lost if you were to try and block out his wrath.
Between the racking and the players, the play was so SLOW that I am not going back again.
Honestly, the APA moves at a faster clip.
I've been to the last 20 US Opens and I was so disgusted with the racking and the SLOW play that i'm also considering not going next year. I've always thought that the US Open was the best 9 ball tournament in the world, but someone dropped the ball this year, BIG TIME!
I know for a fact that Scott has put shot clocks on matches in the past for slow play and if a neutral racker is used the players should not be allowed to challenge the rack PERIOD! As soon as a match starts moving too slowly a shot clock should be initiated or just use a shot clock on the whole tournament and be done with it.
Without the fans what would the tournament be and who wants to sit and watch some player walk around the table 3 times to shoot a ball sitting 6" in front of the side pocket? Changes need to be made or a lot of fans will stop going. I spent over $1K easy to go to that tournament and I left the last day disgusted for the first time since i've been going to the Open.
James
I agree that the slowplay is terrible for the tournament. I'm sorry a race to 11 should not take 3 and a half hours which it did in a lot of cases. When I think 9 ball I think maybe 5 mins per rack and thats with a little safety play. For those matches to even last a full 2 hours I think they have to play pretty damn slow. Start them on a 2 hour clock and lets see who wins or implement a 30 second shot clock, and that includes the rack unless on break. All the nonsense is getting to be way out of control...the best players are still going to get there in the end. Most of the slow play stuff is just a move to shark their opponent or wire a ball in a rack. 95% of the shots in 9 ball are very predictable.
The quickest way to give up two or three games in the US Open is;
When it is your shot, run to the table, take a quick look around and find the lowest number ball, determine what pocket it will go in, and do what you need to with the cue ball to get shape on the next ball.
And, possibly look ahead to the 3rd ball or even the 9 ball and work it all backwards.
This should only take 10 seconds... the penalty for missing...
The quickest way to give up two or three games in the US Open is:
It might be slow to you, but you are only the spectator. Try telling the player to HURRY up, instead of whinning about it in a forum.
BTW. why not just watch another match?
When it is your shot, run to the table, take a quick look around and find the lowest number ball, determine what pocket it will go in, and do what you need to with the cue ball to get shape on the next ball.
And, possibly look ahead to the 3rd ball or even the 9 ball and work it all backwards.
This should only take 10 seconds... the penalty for missing...
The quickest way to give up two or three games in the US Open is:
It might be slow to you, but you are only the spectator. Try telling the player to HURRY up, instead of whinning about it in a forum.
BTW. why not just watch another match?
What would be the point of having a US Open if there weren't any spectators. If the spectators don't enjoy watching the matches then what's the point of going to the Open.
I'm not sure you understand that this isn't whinning as you put it. We are talking about the way the matches were played and we are trying to give some opinions on what we saw. I don't know anyone who enjoys slow play and taking 3 to 5 minutes to rack the balls after every game on the TV table.
That's hard to do on Saturday when there is only one match at a time being played.
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I was there for the 9th year in a row and I found the speed of play to be the same as it's always been. What slowed things down was the speed of racking, and since it was rack your own, everyone was working to get a perfect rack. Well, everyone but Earl.
I can't say as I blame the really slow guys; if I'd worked that hard to learn how to wire the wing ball with my break I might be a little fussier with the rack. :wink:
What I was surprised to discover was that even those that had the wing ball wired, they weren't always guaranteed a shot since the 1 ball and cue ball go several rails. It seems to make that next shot a bit of a lottery, much like a rack-'em-and-pound-'em technique does. I did see one 6 pack run but the most after that was 3. That's about what I'd expect from the best players in the world. It's still a hard game.
I hate that it slows down the game but it's not going to stop me from going to watch. It gives me some time to get to know the people I'm sitting with. Enjoy the journey!
Brian in VA
I can't say as I blame the really slow guys; if I'd worked that hard to learn how to wire the wing ball with my break I might be a little fussier with the rack. :wink:
What I was surprised to discover was that even those that had the wing ball wired, they weren't always guaranteed a shot since the 1 ball and cue ball go several rails. It seems to make that next shot a bit of a lottery, much like a rack-'em-and-pound-'em technique does. I did see one 6 pack run but the most after that was 3. That's about what I'd expect from the best players in the world. It's still a hard game.
I hate that it slows down the game but it's not going to stop me from going to watch. It gives me some time to get to know the people I'm sitting with. Enjoy the journey!
Brian in VA
The 1st us open I was at was in 97. Earl played Efren in the finals. After every rack Earl took a bath towel and wiped down the entire table, the bed cloth, and all the balls. This is a TV match now. He did this in semis as well. Talk about slowing the pace