the united states of america, december 1963. young kids made snow balls and had snow ball fights, laughing and having fun in the snow. americans were depressed from kennedy recently being shot. the dick van dyke show was a hit. bye bye birdie was a smash in movie theatres. mom's everywhere had new sears washing machines. pool players started to inquire about personal custom two-piece pool cues, after watching the movie the hustler. in rock and roll, american's were losing the war. elvis was straight out of the army, and lost his pizzaz, and made horrible movies, the big bopper and others died in a plane crash. eddie cochran died in a taxi accident. studios in new york and hollywood were desperatly trying to "make" stars out of people who just were'nt. putting them in nice sweaters having them sing sweet songs. yes, my friends december 1963 americans were in a coma regarding music. enter february 1964. ah ha!! THE BEATLES! entered america and the world was never quite the same again. they had funny inteligent persoanlitys. they were loose and free. they had long cool hair. they wrote the world's greatest music. they sang harmony like gods. their songs touched you regardless of age, or backround. and after the beatles, many, many british bands came pouring in. it was to be known as "THE BRITISH INVASION" too many great bands to note here, but one thing was for sure, they brits blew away the american's at their own game! america invented rock and roll back in the late 1940'S in clarksdale mississippi. heck, at one point in 1964 the beatles had the #1 hit, all the way down to the #7 hit!!! they dominated the charts!, and #8 thru 15 was also british bands!!!
skip to december 2005. kids throwing snow balls at eachother, people are upset that there is a war going on, that is meaningless. mom's have new whirlpool or GE washers. "the king of queens" is a hit tv show. king kong the remake is making waves at the box office. and american pool players are losing. allen hopkins long has been away from the spot light, jim rempe once a "name" player has all but vanished, earl strickland, keeps beating himself.
enter february 2006 the IPT nationals 8-ball tournament. ah ha! the british strike once again! taking america by storm. not only will the top british players win consistantly, but the entire top 10 rankings will be ALL BRITISH! they have a way about them that "knocks you off your game" most 8-ball american and eurpeoun players play slowly thoughtfully and methodically, not so with the brits, they play at a pace that's whirlwind! a bullet train!!, picture this if you will, a car stopped still, and coming up next to it is a car at 185 MPH, the car that was completly still at the light has now been SHAKIN-N-STIRRED! that is what is going to happen to non-british 8-ball players!
everyone has a chance, even credence clearwater revieval, and jeffereson airplane had hits in the 1960's but mark my words, it's going to be british dominated.
