I just got home from Friday evening's competition.
I took my 9 year old son with me (he loves the game) and boy was he starry eyed! He's watch some of the accu-stat DVDs I have and he knows exactly who Mike & Earl are.
For some reason I was the only one with a child or adolescent with them. Both Earl & Mike interacted with him and posed for pics.
You gotta love when someone of their stature goes the extra mile for the fans. Say what you want about either of them,
I've always found both of them to be class acts...although granted, not choir boys, lol.
Have to give a shout-out to Ed & his team from Sandcastle. Great room and wonderful hospitality.
Apparently Earl took a fall a few days ago and his cue hand is bandaged up as are his fingers (not quite as bad as old Eddie Felson's were, but you're in the ballpark).
His other hand is apparently bruised and very tender, which is reflected in the wrap he's using on his cue.
Basically he wrapped what looks like several bath towels everyplace south of the cue's joint. Check the PPV Video. You just can't make this $#!+ up.
So when I see this I'm thinking Sigel is going to mop the place with Earl, but it ain't gonna mean anything cause by all rights, Early should be on the injured reserve list.
Couldn't be further from the truth. Earl Dominated. Mike had one of those nights all of us have had at one time or another; once he gets out of the chair, he's so cold, he can't sink a ball.
Poor guy. But, he took it all in stride and was gracious.
Where there's no smoke, is there still fire? I know the Sigel/Strickland rivalry isn't exactly the Yankees/RedSox thing in terms of intensity, but these guys were acting like any 2 buddies killing a Friday evening at the Pool hall. I mean I would've thought they might've amped up a little drama for the fans, nope. This sparked my curiosity and got me thinking something more was going on.
Both of them were in the compnay of some gents whose attire cost way more than what anyone else in the room was wearing. Clearly well healed.
I'm guessing this wasn't just a great demo match & Accu-stats presentation, this was a roadshow dog & pony ensemble for some sort of venture.
Just guessing.
I got to hang with Mike a little bit, which was nice. He even checked out my new Jedi Cue by PFD Studios. Said he liked it.
Again, I know he has his critics, but he's always been a true gentleman with me.
The people in attendance were all way cool. So many were complimentary of my son and that I brought my son to this and am introducing/sharing the sport with him.
Some even engaged him directly while he was playing, talking about this & that, showing him some stuff. This is the side of Pool I wish the world could see.
I know it sounds cliche, but Pool tuly creates a wonderful fellowship amongst it's devoted players.
I drove over 2 hours each way to get there and it's was more than worth it.
No doubt my son will remember this night probably for the rest of his life (I know I will)...but that's exactly the type of thing Pool is supposed to produce & bring about...at least as I've always understood it.
Thanx to Pat of accu-stats & Ed of Sandcastle, as well as their respective teams, for putting together such a wonderful event. -Z-
I took my 9 year old son with me (he loves the game) and boy was he starry eyed! He's watch some of the accu-stat DVDs I have and he knows exactly who Mike & Earl are.
For some reason I was the only one with a child or adolescent with them. Both Earl & Mike interacted with him and posed for pics.
You gotta love when someone of their stature goes the extra mile for the fans. Say what you want about either of them,
I've always found both of them to be class acts...although granted, not choir boys, lol.
Have to give a shout-out to Ed & his team from Sandcastle. Great room and wonderful hospitality.
Apparently Earl took a fall a few days ago and his cue hand is bandaged up as are his fingers (not quite as bad as old Eddie Felson's were, but you're in the ballpark).
His other hand is apparently bruised and very tender, which is reflected in the wrap he's using on his cue.
Basically he wrapped what looks like several bath towels everyplace south of the cue's joint. Check the PPV Video. You just can't make this $#!+ up.
So when I see this I'm thinking Sigel is going to mop the place with Earl, but it ain't gonna mean anything cause by all rights, Early should be on the injured reserve list.
Couldn't be further from the truth. Earl Dominated. Mike had one of those nights all of us have had at one time or another; once he gets out of the chair, he's so cold, he can't sink a ball.
Poor guy. But, he took it all in stride and was gracious.
Where there's no smoke, is there still fire? I know the Sigel/Strickland rivalry isn't exactly the Yankees/RedSox thing in terms of intensity, but these guys were acting like any 2 buddies killing a Friday evening at the Pool hall. I mean I would've thought they might've amped up a little drama for the fans, nope. This sparked my curiosity and got me thinking something more was going on.
Both of them were in the compnay of some gents whose attire cost way more than what anyone else in the room was wearing. Clearly well healed.
I'm guessing this wasn't just a great demo match & Accu-stats presentation, this was a roadshow dog & pony ensemble for some sort of venture.
Just guessing.
I got to hang with Mike a little bit, which was nice. He even checked out my new Jedi Cue by PFD Studios. Said he liked it.
Again, I know he has his critics, but he's always been a true gentleman with me.
The people in attendance were all way cool. So many were complimentary of my son and that I brought my son to this and am introducing/sharing the sport with him.
Some even engaged him directly while he was playing, talking about this & that, showing him some stuff. This is the side of Pool I wish the world could see.
I know it sounds cliche, but Pool tuly creates a wonderful fellowship amongst it's devoted players.
I drove over 2 hours each way to get there and it's was more than worth it.
No doubt my son will remember this night probably for the rest of his life (I know I will)...but that's exactly the type of thing Pool is supposed to produce & bring about...at least as I've always understood it.
Thanx to Pat of accu-stats & Ed of Sandcastle, as well as their respective teams, for putting together such a wonderful event. -Z-
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