So I was lucky enough to be in the audience for the IPT LIVE night.
Here is my review
I give a big thank you to the IPT for having these and for inviting some
of us to be in the crowd. I really enjoyed seeing the players play and seeing friends and meeting new ones.
First the bad since its pretty short.
At first it was kind of unorganized and just odd. They had allof us meet in the back of a parking lot where ONE EZ-UP was located. We milled around there while they brought out some water and sandwiches. There were 3 chairs and one folding table. The water was not cold nor had it ever been cold. While the gesture and sandwiches were good it seemed poorly executed. Water was sitting on the ground in the cases and food on the table. The table didnt even have a table cloth.
MY thought was that the IPT had always completed everything first class and this may be wonder about the rest of the night.
Inside we went in and got seated. Whoever had the bleacher idea should know better. It was supposed to last 5-6 hours at least and to bunch everyone up tightly under the studio lights on the hard bench seats didnt set the mood.
Thats really all the bad. NOt much and definitely not earth shattering.
The good
I enjoyed seeing both matches and feel that both Oliver and Austin never got going. In all honesty if Austin had played to his level the score would have been much much different had Efren kept coming up dry on the break.
Efren made a few amazing shots. Not sure how it looked on camera. IMO
he missed at least one ball on purpose and he was not into the match as much with Austin struggling.
Efren was also the benefactor of several good rolls. It was discussed afterwards and I asked him about a couple shots. He agreed and said that he felt Austin was very nervous.
I can't blame Austin for taking the match. No one in their right mind would turn it down. What I was amazed was at his lack of knowledge playing 8 ball. Just watching the differences between the two in terms of breakouts, ball choices, timing/direction of breakout and patterns it was a
clinic.
Austin plays much better than what he showed as does Oliver. The first ball the OO missed was a fairly easy shot. He seemed to have speed issues as well and almost seemed in a hurry.
It has to be a HUGE difference to play in that setting with the cameras, breaks, audience and roaming camera man over every shot.
My hat is off to all the players for handling the situations very well and
dignified. They mingled with people afterwards and Efren even would come down into the stands and sit during breaks.
All in all I hope it came across well over the net. It was interesting and fun experience even with some negatives.
The local pool scene was well represented and that was nice to see. There were alot of very good players in the crowd as well as a couple celebrities.
Rodney, Corey, Tang Ho, Ernesto, Oscar, Danny P, Sean L, OMGWTF and several others (sorry if I forgot someone) from the pool world.
Joe Rogan, Mark Kendall ( muscian and pool player) and another actor that I couldnt remember his name were there.
Good times and a big thanks to the IPT and the players. Hopefully they will continue to put these matches on and allow us to watch good players for FREE.
Here is my review
I give a big thank you to the IPT for having these and for inviting some
of us to be in the crowd. I really enjoyed seeing the players play and seeing friends and meeting new ones.
First the bad since its pretty short.
At first it was kind of unorganized and just odd. They had allof us meet in the back of a parking lot where ONE EZ-UP was located. We milled around there while they brought out some water and sandwiches. There were 3 chairs and one folding table. The water was not cold nor had it ever been cold. While the gesture and sandwiches were good it seemed poorly executed. Water was sitting on the ground in the cases and food on the table. The table didnt even have a table cloth.
MY thought was that the IPT had always completed everything first class and this may be wonder about the rest of the night.
Inside we went in and got seated. Whoever had the bleacher idea should know better. It was supposed to last 5-6 hours at least and to bunch everyone up tightly under the studio lights on the hard bench seats didnt set the mood.
Thats really all the bad. NOt much and definitely not earth shattering.
The good
I enjoyed seeing both matches and feel that both Oliver and Austin never got going. In all honesty if Austin had played to his level the score would have been much much different had Efren kept coming up dry on the break.
Efren made a few amazing shots. Not sure how it looked on camera. IMO
he missed at least one ball on purpose and he was not into the match as much with Austin struggling.
Efren was also the benefactor of several good rolls. It was discussed afterwards and I asked him about a couple shots. He agreed and said that he felt Austin was very nervous.
I can't blame Austin for taking the match. No one in their right mind would turn it down. What I was amazed was at his lack of knowledge playing 8 ball. Just watching the differences between the two in terms of breakouts, ball choices, timing/direction of breakout and patterns it was a
clinic.
Austin plays much better than what he showed as does Oliver. The first ball the OO missed was a fairly easy shot. He seemed to have speed issues as well and almost seemed in a hurry.
It has to be a HUGE difference to play in that setting with the cameras, breaks, audience and roaming camera man over every shot.
My hat is off to all the players for handling the situations very well and
dignified. They mingled with people afterwards and Efren even would come down into the stands and sit during breaks.
All in all I hope it came across well over the net. It was interesting and fun experience even with some negatives.
The local pool scene was well represented and that was nice to see. There were alot of very good players in the crowd as well as a couple celebrities.
Rodney, Corey, Tang Ho, Ernesto, Oscar, Danny P, Sean L, OMGWTF and several others (sorry if I forgot someone) from the pool world.
Joe Rogan, Mark Kendall ( muscian and pool player) and another actor that I couldnt remember his name were there.
Good times and a big thanks to the IPT and the players. Hopefully they will continue to put these matches on and allow us to watch good players for FREE.
