Wednesday Open Thread: Efren v. Jose. Who do you like?

Jose on the table practicing. He's shooting what looks to be semi-spot shots in the corner pocket over and over again.

I wonder if Jose's wife is there in Virginia with him, since he will be inducted in the Hall of Fame on Friday. Usually, she does show up for these kinds of events when Jose is awarded something.
 
Thanks so much for the clarification on the excellent deal for $5.95 as well as what's currently going on with my "loading" problem. ;)

I see Parica at table playing around now. You should see him also now :grin:
 
When the players on the TV table, they should be instructed to wear lighter color clothing, not all black or Navy blue. It doesn't show up well on the video recording.

Jose has left the table. Now Efren is practicing, wearing an orange-and-white stripled Polo shirt. He's practicing the same shots as Jose was, kind of semi-spot shots in the corner pocket. :grin-square: Except that he pulled his cueball way back close the back rail and more the length of the table.

Now Efren just threw the balls on the able is hitting them in random.

Looks like Billy Dibbs is one of the commentators, so far. Not sure who the other one will be yet.
 
Scott Smith in the background announcing the sponsors to the crowd. Looks like they are beginning to announce each table. Scott always does a good job with this.

Joe Salazar is in the house with his custom cues.

Five minutes to start. They will all be winners' rounds, and they're all in the money. :grin-square:
 
Race to 11, except final day when race to 13 and player must win by 2 games.

Looks like we have Mark Wilson and "Johnny" as commentators, not Billy Dibbs. It ain't Johnny Archer. Not sure which Johnny this is.
 
I think I have to go with Jose here.
Nothing to go on other than a gut feeling.

Jennie, thanks for the thread and I hope you don't mind updating us working stiffs who can't watch it :smile:
 
Efren still practicing. Not sure where Jose is. Efren has that traditional Filipino winding stroke. Trademark Efren. :)

Now Scott is announcing the players.

Here's a photo of Jose someone took on FB, sitting there while Efren is practicing.
 

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I think I have to go with Jose here.
Nothing to go on other than a gut feeling.

Jennie, thanks for the thread and I hope you don't mind updating us working stiffs who can't watch it :smile:

Heck, yeah. I'm excited. Keith is sitting on the sofa, and I think he really misses pool. I feel bad that we're here at home and not there, but I'm working stuff, too.
 
Here's Efren practicing, with Jose sitting nearby. Stands are empty. Wow!

Photo from FB from Jaared A.

Now Scott is telling jokes. How do you get an 80-year-old woman to say the "F" word? Have another 80-year-old woman say "Bingo."
 

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Heck, yeah. I'm excited. Keith is sitting on the sofa, and I think he really misses pool. I feel bad that we're here at home and not there, but I'm working stuff, too.

Damn, I would love to see Keith back in action. He was always one of my favorites. I think some favorite moments are interactions between him and Alex.
 
Scott introducing Efren and Jose. Calls Jose "Leader of the Filipino Invasion" and Efren as "The Magician."

John Schmidt and Mark Wilson as commentators.
 
They lag for the first break, and Jose comes out on top.

I love hearing John Schmidt in the booth. He's really good. He says Efren and Jose are "not best of friends," and would rather "catch Ebola virus than lose to the other one."

Mark says this is a historic match. John says this a battle of will and who has heart.

Parica breaks with a cut break and scratches, and all the balls blossomed out like a flower. Mark says when you scratch, you will lose "1.1 racks, that it could easily run into 2 or 3 games."

Mark Wilson says Efren is his favorite players of all time.

We will see who can find their rhythm the quickest here. So far, Efren running out like water. Moving that cueball like a panther. He's running out like he's 25 years old. Perfect ball positioning by Efren. Beautiful run-out by Efren. 1 to zero, Efren in the lead.
 
John Schmidt says he learned how to play via Accu-Stats.

Jose stops Efren after he racked, stating he didn't push rack correctly on the spot. Good eye, Jose. Good eye! :grin:

Efren breaks, using the cut break. He makes a ball on the break, and he's got a shot on the 1.

Efren just one a one-pocket event that paid about 50 large, so he's feeling pretty good right about now, boosting his confidence. :wink:

Efren gets a wee bit out of line on the 5-ball, and he overdid the cut. That's big there. Jose to the table looking at a 5-ball hanging in the jaws of the pocket that Efren missed. Instead of 2-zero, it will be 1-1, possibly. Jose gets perfect on the 6, with a good angle. Perfect table speed.

Jose never uses the same cue. He uses a different cue every tournament. :eek:

Efren will sometimes change cues during the match. Mark Wilson says they get supersticious about cues.

Jose makes the 9, ties the match up 1 to 1.
 
Jose breaks, once again using the cue break. He made a ball on the break, but he's facing a cross-corner bank on the 1, but instead, he went for a safety.

This is where Efren is the master of control. He wins these safety battles from here, maneuvering the balls. He can see the 1, attempts a safety, but Jose can see the object ball. Not an easy shot, though. Long and dirty. Jose tries a gutsy slice in the corner, but he overcuts it.

Efren to the table and has a shot, pockets the 1, and Efren is now on his way. He fires in the 2-ball with a beautiful stoke, and goes 3 rails with the cueball. Looking at a straight-in shot on the 2. Beautiful pattern play by Efren.

John says it's nice to see you can still play pool well in your 60s, speaking of Efren, so John says, well, there's hope for him and that John has another 20 years. :D

Efren runs out for the win to retake his lead. 2 to 1. Crowd applause.
 
Scott Smith in the background announcing the sponsors to the crowd. Looks like they are beginning to announce each table. Scott always does a good job with this.

Joe Salazar is in the house with his custom cues.

Five minutes to start. They will all be winners' rounds, and they're all in the money. :grin-square:

Yes he always does, I was so glad when I found out both he & Jay were coming back this year; it's been great so far this week!
 
Efren breaks with a breakcue, uses a cutbreak, and comes up dry.

Jose has a thin cut shot leave on the 1-ball, and he hit it a little heavy and misses.

Efren to the table and snookers Jose on the 1.

Jose studies the shot. He makes a 2-rail kick and makes a good hit, but he leaves Efren a shot on the 1. Jose smiles as he returns back to his chair.

Efren got greedy, though, and paid the price with a bad leave. Now Efren is laughing. He's laughing because it's not funny at all. He's kicks at the 2, misses the 2 and scratches.

Jose to the table with ball in hand. Big turnover here by Efren and gives Jose the momentum. Jose pockets the 2 and begins his run-out. He's hitting 'em like Willie Mosconi, very soft and precise, just enough to get good leave in the center of the table. He's cheating the pockets, making the shot, and leaving himself great for each shot. Jose has great form. It looks so effortlessly when Jose is shooting. Jose wins. now 2 to 2 to tie the match up.
 
Jose racking. He can hardly reach the rack, where it has to go, since he's not the tallest player in the world, but on the other hand, he doesn't get as tired playing pool because he doesn't have to bend over very much. ;)

Another cut break by Jose and comes up empty. Wow!

Efren to the table. The 3 and 4 and the 7 and 9 are tied up. He pockets the first ball and gets GREAT leave on the 2. Makes the 2 and breaks up the 3 and 4, but he could be in a little bit of trouble, hidding behind the 4 a wee bit. It's close. It goes, but it's got his attention. Efren studying it. Time clock running out. Efren better ask for an extension quick. Efren decided to bank the 3-ball down table and snooker Jose -- and he succeeds.

Jose does not have many options. The 3 is frozen on the end rail. Jose makes a good hit. Now we will have a little tactical battle here. Efren once again fires back at Jose with a lethal leave. Jose is naked and defenseless, but he doesn't have a shot. Makes a good hit, incredibly well done.

Efren to the table. Not an easy shot. Makes a 3-8 carom, pocketing the 8 in the side. Straight in on the 3. Going for the 4 with no problem. He has to jam it in to get the cueball to move left. Good shot and perfect elave. Now he makes the 4 in the corner, 6 in the side. Leaves himself perfect on the 7 in the side. PERFECT! Leave himself perfect on the 9.

3 to 2, Efren on top.
 
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