Something can be both a foul and a shark move. And there should be a third option - it was simply frustration. Before we blame Jayson, it could be that MD was purposely giving him bad racks and Jayson had enough.
Before we start slamming Jayson or Mike, those of us that were right there table side, could obviously see what was going on.
Jayson was well in his rights to be frustrated. Watch the racking times for the first ten racks, there was a reason why MD took so long. Everyone could see the back balls moving. Jayson was complaining about the spaces which were of ridiculous size if one were to just rack the balls normally.
MD even said "I'll bet you don't make a wing ball".
And the kicker is I like both these players. They both have outstanding offensive games and when they got going it was exciting. MD has a very good demeanor with the fans and kids attending the tournament and I believe he is an asset to American pool. But on this evening, the racking was not very professional. Remember, MD lost his first match to Salvas and had to play one-loss bracket times (which is pretty much non-stop) for Friday, Saturday, and all of Sunday to get to the finals. He was fatigued and it was apparent. He's a great player and was going for the jugular. I'm not making excuses, I'm just explaining my observation.
at the end of the match Zuglan made an announcement that there will be some changes before the next Turning Stone Classic, maybe different racking rules or some players will not be back.
So we were left to take that for what it's worth.
Some players use racking by attrition - give your opponent bad racks enough times, he will eventually stop asking for re-racks and just give-in and break it, or not give-in and risk being called "cry baby" by audience members. Back in January, I saw Shane shove the rack and the balls across the table after a racking dispute. Everyone gets frustrated and it's easy to just throw your hands up and give-in. Jayson didn't.
I once asked Darren Appleton why he doesn't regularly play at the Turning Stone Classic, and he quickly responded he grew tired of the "Rack Merchants" that play there.
That was a good way to put it. Rack merchants.
On this evening, MD was selling and Jayson wasn't buying.
But that is old school 9-ball, with classic rules like winner breaks, and opponent racks. To tell you the truth, the intensity and atmosphere was ramped up and I had a good time. Maybe you just had to be there.
I shook both players hands and congratulated both on a great tournament.
