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All those other sports bring in spectators and make enough money to have a referee.
Like it or not, in most tournaments, you have to watch your own back. Obviously its not ideal, but if you take the stance "they should have a referee, and its not my job to check," expect people to walk all over you and break the rules.
Is it too much for pool players to ask for a referee? At this point with the state of pool the way it is.......yes, its way too much to ask.
Its not ideal, but that's just the way it is. People aren't flocking to pay to watch pool....
In most cases it's best to ignore what "everyone keeps saying".
I hope this the last and final post on this subject.
1. The South Dakota kid has the game who does not need an edge.
2. Refer to statement number 1 again.
3. Obviously the person who started this thread isn't a fan of SVB.
I watched Shane at last years US Open where he went undefeated and I saw all of his matches on the TV table where he made the corner ball on every break while his opponents were sporatic making it and I couldn't see him do anything extra while racking the balls. I was there when Alex challenged his rack saying that nobody could make the corner ball every time, but the referee checked Shane's rack and had Shane re-rack some racks and there was nothing funny done to his racks and in fact he racked the balls faster than most players did. He just pushed them up and made sure they were tight and broke the balls.
if hes doing something to the rack then all the power to him. my reason for posting this thread is to try and LEARN how to rack this way so that i can have another tool in my tool box.
There are many people who have clearly "not" watched the US open match between Alex and SVB. I suggest before posting any further you find it and watch it. That match was not a case of "oh he just breaks so much better then everyone else!" The exact same wing ball was going straight into the lower right corner every single time. It was being wired like a trick shot and that is all it was. In that event SVB was using about as much "skill" as it takes to set up and make a butterfly trick shot.
I freely admit in 10-ball or 8-ball he simply hits them great and people cannot compete and in those instances all the power to SVB but what he did in the US-open 9-ball was crap.
Celtic... I watched the US Open match, and yes, the ball went in like clockword, and yes it's normally not supposed to from that angle.
What I'm not entirely sold on is the idea he did it intentionally.
He was showing earl this 'magic wing ball' before the match, and was apparently really excited about it.
What do you make of that?
One interpretation is - he's leaving a gap intentionally (i.e. cheating) and blatantly showing off to earl
how he can subtly cheat to wire a ball go that isn't supposed to go. Would you show that to a guy like Earl?
And despite complaints from alex, Jay H. somehow missed it.
Another possibility (and I think this is more likely) - he discovered a certain table, when racked normally,
has a flaw that causes the ball to go. And he's excited about that and showing earl something he
accidentally discovered, not some sleazy move he worked out before the tournament.
My opinion (aka worthless)...
Was it intentional? Absolutely.
Is it cheating? I don't think so. I consider it knowledge. It's rack your own.
Was it sleazy? Absolutely not.
What can be done? Nothing. A neutral racker? Still no good.
If anyone on this forum board this Shane Van Boening does not have the BEST racking mechanics in the game, then you are a blind fool. The man has spent more time breaking the balls, and IN TURN RACKING THE BALLS than probably any other human on earth.
OK, so, if you're ok with someone making a gap on purpose to help their break,
then you should be ok with someone leaving a gap on purpose to hurt your break, right?
And it's not cheating to intentionally break a rule that says in black and white:
"The balls must be racked as tightly as possible"?
Why not? It's worked in the past. We've had racks that freeze the balls reliably for years, starting with the sardo and now the magic rack. At least a neutral racker won't intentionally leave a gap to help or hurt someone.
I don't disagree he's studied the break and rack... but you don't automatically have to rack them to practice breaking them anymore, thanks to the breakrak. That's what shane uses, for hours at a time.
When a guy gets called "the best in the world" at breaking, why are we all getting suspicious when he makes balls? Why's he gonna settle for cheating when he has all the tools necessary to win legitimately?
and any halfwit would not judge him for wanting to feed himself.