US Open Finals... Not rack your own?

The Renfro

The Renfro

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I walked out onto the floor thinking if things were going the way they had been Kiamco was gonna have fits with Corey Deuel. Corey had found the right speed for his cut break of his own rack and was starting to put racks together as of last night.

I was totally shocked when the official began racking the balls for the first game. I seriously sat in my chair thinking that if the whole tournament had been racked by a neutral party we might have 4 different players playing today.

I am in no way saying none of these guys have what it takes to be in the final 4 without rack your own. I am trying to say that rack your own was one part of the format all week long. It was a part of the discussion on AZ in the tournament room and among the players.

I would liked to have seen the tournament end the way it had started and been played all week long. As it stands it feels to me like we have a one day mini tournament with 4 players, Official Rack and win by 2, and that the rest of the week was just qualifying.

Just my opinion. Here is to hoping we see Mika knock down his 3rd in a row. I am rooting for history to happen while I am here watching in person.
 
I am inclined to agree that a tournament of its stature should have a racker and a ref for every match.
 
That would of been nice. I am sure they could of gotten volunteers. The director probably could gotten away with just providing free admission and maybe a few other perks. Talk about a great seat for the match. The refs on the other hand have to have credentials, and still there are a ton of A+ /open players in attendance.

Rack your own and not being allowed to question your opponents rack is BS.
Both sides get this privilege so that at least balances it out.
These are the rules everybody has to play within them.
 
I'm not sure I see a problem with it. A lot of tournaments are rack your own before the final 4 or so, when they don't have ref's on each match. But when it gets down to where the match is presided over, it is customary for the ref to rack every game as part of his duties.

Since the players can inspect the rack to make sure it is tight and straight, what difference should it make? The only reason I can think of is if someone has been gaffing the rack or pattern racking during the rack your own phase.

The preferred solution would be to have neutral rackers for the entire tournament, not rack your own all the way through the finals. I agree that it wouldn't be too hard to find enough qualified volunteers to rack for the tournament. You don't need one racker for every table, one guy for each 2 or 4 tables would be enough.
 
A couple of years ago,

This is no different than waiting until the end to tell Ronnie A to stop soft breaking. It changed the outcome of the event. Why let him break soft the entire event then say.... "hey, you can't break like that now!"?

They are interfering with the event IMO.
 
Jason Robichaud said:
A couple of years ago,

This is no different than waiting until the end to tell Ronnie A to stop soft breaking. It changed the outcome of the event. Why let him break soft the entire event then say.... "hey, you can't break like that now!"?

They are interfering with the event IMO.
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Did they change a rule in the middle of the event this year? Did they change a rule in the middle of the event in the year you are talking about, or was it just a matter of that the rules against the soft break were enforced once there was a ref overseeing the match?
 
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DogsPlayingPool said:
Did they change a rule in the middle of the event this year?
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I believe it was the year before, but yes, they wouldn't allow him to soft break in the final against Mika. Maybe someone has better info.

They didn't have a soft break rule at this time, they just decided to make up and enforce a new break. Last year they implemented a soft break rule for everyone.
 
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Jason Robichaud said:
I believe it was the year before, but yes, they wouldn't allow him to soft break in the final against Mika. Maybe someone has better info.

They didn't have a soft break rule at this time, they just decided to make up and enforce a new break. Last year they implemented a soft break rule for everyone.
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Thanks. Yeah, if they amended the rules in the middle of the competition then that's BS. But if they didn't change any rules during the event this year, I would have to disagree that what happened against Ronnie is the same thing as this year.
 
Black-Balled said:
I am inclined to agree that a tournament of its stature should have a racker and a ref for every match.
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I agree with this train of thought but that would be in a perfect world. Until Barry can prove that he can pay the players, I doubt he'll be paying the extra expense for the 16 (?) tables to have a racking ref at every table.
 
Just Silly

This is really dumb IMO. The whole tournament these players work on their break and their rack and are playing incredible pool with those factors under control.

The reason I think they switched to neutral racker i think is for show. Maybe they feel it looks better to have "an official" racker responsible for assembling the balls. When really no one other than the player who's been playing under those conditions is better suited to rack the balls. Period.

They should just let the players do what they've been doing, making a wonderful showing at a historic event.

As for the comment about volunteers, I think that wouldn't go over. Alot of people out there aren't in-tune with what's important in the rack. And most likely those people, however well intentioned wouldn't be able to deliver a rack that would meet the demands of the players. I mean if Jay and Shuman are getting yapped at by players imagine how some helpless by-stander would feel when Mika's barking at him to fix the rack!

I'm a firm believer in finishing the tournament the way it started. Same rules, same rack responsibilities etc... These guys are professionals and can handle any discussions amongst themselves...
 
cbi1000 said:
MONEY, Magic Rack prob doesn't have the cash funding to add money to be a sponsor.

But i agree, Magic Rack would solve all this crap.
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Using the magic rack will not solve all of this crap. It is the players, plain & simple. I assure you that some of those guys would have complained if the magic rack had been in use. They used to use the sardo rack & there were complaints about that. Some players are never happy & always looking for an excuse to their bad play instead of accepting the blame.

The rack used at the us open and Allen Hopkins pro event are whatever brand made the best money offer.
 
rayshooter22 said:
They should just let the players do what they've been doing, making a wonderful showing at a historic event.

As for the comment about volunteers, I think that wouldn't go over. Alot of people out there aren't in-tune with what's important in the rack. And most likely those people, however well intentioned wouldn't be able to deliver a rack that would meet the demands of the players. I mean if Jay and Shuman are getting yapped at by players imagine how some helpless by-stander would feel when Mika's barking at him to fix the rack!
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Please explain for the rest of us what is important in a rack. The only two things I know of that are allowed by the rules are that the rack is tight and properly aligned on the playing surface.

Assuming the players are given a straight/tight rack every time, then if some can't perform to the level they perform when racking their own I would suggest that something may be wrong with the way those players are racking.
 
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