U.S Open Flukes

[Joseph Ortega]

I have heard that the us open has had some winners that were just flukes. Maybe someone who got good rolls and also played great for a week but maybe not "CHAMPION" material.

Some people have mentioned that players like Reed Pierce, TK, Mike Lebron were flukes. Although these players are in my mind top notch players some may say they are shortstop level.

What makes them flukes when they played the best players worldwide, and won? Who else are considered flukes?

 

[Scott Lee]

I have heard that the us open has had some winners that were just flukes. Maybe someone who got good rolls and also played great for a week but maybe not "CHAMPION" material.

What makes them flukes when they played the best players worldwide, and won?

In a word...NOTHING! No such thing as a "chance" winner of the U.S. Open, or any other high level tournament, imo. If you can play at that level, it never goes away. Everyone plays better some days than another...but everyone misses, even Efren. The one who misses the least, on a given day, wins the tournament.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

 

[mosconiac]

I watched Reed win in '95. I would agree that he hasn't posted big wins since, but he played very well and he earned that tourney. No one gave it to him.

 

[smashmouth]

Not flukes per se but rather benefactors of the format where races
are generally short, and lucky shots on the nine can come into play.

You have a match over 3 days, race to 120, and put up a Reed Pierce or CJ Wiley against a Bustamante or an Earl, and they lose 100 times out of 100.

 

[Scott Lee]

You have a match over 3 days, race to 120, and put up a Reed Pierce or CJ Wiley against a Bustamante or an Earl, and they lose 100 times out of 100.

Pretty sure either one of these fine players would love to take you up on that bet... It could easily be 50/50, or even 70/30...but 100/100? NO WAY!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

 

[cuetechasaurus]

Reed Pierce did play great to win the US Open, I have the semi final, and final match on tape. One thing I have noticed about Reed, even in his heyday, was that he was one of the worst 'closers' I've ever seen. When he gets near the finish line, he has difficulty closing out a match, compared to other top pros. Earl is probably the best closer in the game.

In Reed's semifinal (or was it quarter final?) match against Bustamante, he played great from the beginning, but in the middle of the match, he started missing balls. I mean he shanked them right into the rail. 9 out of 10 times when he did this, he left Bustamante hooked, or absoloutely nothing, or a very difficult safety at best. That's the reason why Reed won the US Open, because of that match. Bustamante was playing way better, but he still lost, because Reed kept missing and getting lucky. I think Reed missed 9 or 10 balls that match, and Bustamante missed 4 IIRC.

 

[Jerry Yost]

Drives me crazy!

I read an article in Billiard Digest once where the writer referred to these players as 'One Hit Wonders' and it really bothered me. I can't imagine why anyone, especially a sports writer, would trivialize and disrespect such an incredible accomplishment. I would bet that neither the writer or I will ever accomplish something so distinguished in our lifetimes.

 

[Joseph Ortega]

Not flukes per se but rather benefactors of the format where races
are generally short, and lucky shots on the nine can come into play.

You have a match over 3 days, race to 120, and put up a Reed Pierce or CJ Wiley against a Bustamante or an Earl, and they lose 100 times out of 100.

i have to disagree on this one. I think if they played that long that many times cj or reed would win their share of matches. I KNOW they wont win in the long run but if they ran tourneys that way the us open would last months.

 

[pfduser]

Tommy Kennedy was reported as being a fluke when he won the US Open.I have several Accu Stats matches where Tommy shoots the lights out.Those types of players have their days,but I still would not call it a fluke.

 

[JoeyA]

You know the old saying, "Every DOG has his day".

Hell, the Saints are 2-0. VBG
JoeyA

 

[john schmidt]

hi

you know i cant type so i hate to say anything but that is seriously the most untrue thing ive ever heard.first off tommy k,and reed pierce are great players .they might not be efren but all the pros play 9ball about even.now rotation or 1hole different story.to call them shortstops is ridiculous and just sounds like some hater to me.you know everyone on the pga tour is not tiger but to call them one hit wonders and shortstops is uninformed.the guy who called them shortstops can try them some.im not the best on tour but if i win a big tourney and someone tell me its a fluke i would be insulted .wow that took me like 30 minutes to type lol.talk to you guys again when someone pisses me off lol.

 

[showtime]

schmidtty terrorizes vancouverites

if watching a player come up to canada and beat up on our champions 2 touneys in a row is called fluking then keep it up john.john schmidt FLUKED his way past champs such as john horsfall,brady gollan paul poitier,mike vidas,dan louis,frenchie,and ten other killers,twice.nice shootin FLUKE.haha

 

[Scott Lee]

you know i cant type so i hate to say anything but that is seriously the most untrue thing ive ever heard.first off tommy k,and reed pierce are great players .they might not be efren but all the pros play 9ball about even.now rotation or 1hole different story.to call them shortstops is ridiculous and just sounds like some hater to me.you know everyone on the pga tour is not tiger but to call them one hit wonders and shortstops is uninformed.the guy who called them shortstops can try them some.im not the best on tour but if i win a big tourney and someone tell me its a fluke i would be insulted .wow that took me like 30 minutes to type lol.talk to you guys again when someone pisses me off lol.

tap, tap, tap! Well said John!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

 

[pooltchr]

if i win a big tourney and someone tell me its a fluke i would be insulted ..

If I won a tournament like the US Open, you could call me anything you wanted!!!!!
Steve

 

[Joseph Ortega]

you know i cant type so i hate to say anything but that is seriously the most untrue thing ive ever heard.first off tommy k,and reed pierce are great players .they might not be efren but all the pros play 9ball about even.now rotation or 1hole different story.to call them shortstops is ridiculous and just sounds like some hater to me.you know everyone on the pga tour is not tiger but to call them one hit wonders and shortstops is uninformed.the guy who called them shortstops can try them some.im not the best on tour but if i win a big tourney and someone tell me its a fluke i would be insulted .wow that took me like 30 minutes to type lol.talk to you guys again when someone pisses me off lol.

i hope noone thinks that i said that these players are shortstops. i dont think they are. I was reffering to some comments that have been posted on here before. i watched reed play in dallas about two years ago, the dude missed like 4 balls in four hours. he was spotting a good friend of mine the last four and robbed him. ive never seen TK play but ive been told that he can shoot holes through anybody if given the chance.

 

[JoeyInCali]

I have heard that the us open has had some winners that were just flukes. Maybe someone who got good rolls and also played great for a week but maybe not "CHAMPION" material.

Some people have mentioned that players like Reed Pierce, TK, Mike Lebron were flukes. Although these players are in my mind top notch players some may say they are shortstop level.

What makes them flukes when they played the best players worldwide, and won? Who else are considered flukes?

Lebron's win wasn't a fluke. It was planned.
Pierce? I beat Efren one time in Filipino checkers.

 

[cuetechasaurus]

Yeah, I guess the only one that you could really call a 'fluke' (like someone who really wasn't supposed to win) was Lebron, since it was dumped to him.

 

[Nostroke]

Yeah, I guess the only one that you could really call a 'fluke' (like someone who really wasn't supposed to win) was Lebron, since it was dumped to him.

The US Open?? Are you sure you aren't thinking about the Tournament of Champions?

 

[Rich R.]

A lot of losers say that the winner was a fluke.

NOBODY gets enough good rolls and lucky shots to win a 256 player tournament like the U.S. Open.

 

[sjm]

The US Open?? Are you sure you aren't thinking about the Tournament of Champions?

Quite right, Nostroke. The tournament dumped to LeBron was the 1991 Challenge of Champions, not the 1988 US Open.

Still, these wins by Reed, Tommy and Mike were not flukes, they were just upsets. In pro pool, there is only one way to beat a great field and that is to play great pool.