World Pool Championships - 2007

JAM said:
Sounds so dreamy! It would be nice to be in a country that celebrates pool. I have read so many wonderful things about the Philippines, and I have never met a Filipino player that I didn't like. Every Filipino player I know has a great personality, very polite, a keen sense of humor, and they let their cue sticks do the talking when it comes to being macho. :D

If I had to pick a favorite Filipino player that I know, it would be a tough call. Alex is such a cutie pie. I admire Jose's pride. Santos has so much gamble. I respect Efren a great deal, especially his humility. Ronnie has a ton of heart. But my favorite Filipino player may just be Francisco Bustamante. He's got style, loves to laugh, and has a whole lot of game. There's just something about him that always puts a smile on my face every time we run into him. :)

Looking forward to reading all about it, Jay. I hereby designate you as our beloved AzBilliards Roving Reporter. You are 'da man! :p

JAM
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Bring your man to Mecca! He deserves it. Bite the bullet on the plane tickets and come. I could almost guarantee he will make the nut once he's here. He may even get you winners!

The people in the Philipines are genuinely nice. It is a surprise at first. Are they really this nice? Yes! I've been three times now and like it more each time.

I am not the man. KEITH McCREADY is! In my lifetime, the two most feared pool players were Keith and Parica. With honorable mention to Harold Worst in the 60's and Efren playing One Pocket.

Back in the day, if I brought Keith to a tournament with all the top players, NO ONE wanted to draw Keith. Not Earl, Sigel, Miz, or anyone else for that matter. I was there. I saw the fear in their eyes. Keith was scary! He played like he didn't have a care in the world. Faced with a hard shot, he would laugh, tell a joke and fire it in with one practice stroke. And draw perfect position.

If it wasn't for a few bad habits :), Keith may have won more tournaments than anyone. He would never let a tournament get in the way of action. But that's what makes Keith Keith. Scorcese recognized this right away. He badgered me to get Keith to come to Chicago. Keith told him, "I ain't going to Chicago for no audition. If they want me tell them to send me a plane ticket and get me a hotel room". And they did!

He may be the most loved player alive, right alongside Alex, who is also a funny character.

One small disclaimer. Buddy Hall never feared anyone, not even Keith. If he had to play Keith in a tournament he might say "Bring him on" or something to that effect. He liked Keith because he was fearless. They were kindred souls.
 
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jay helfert said:
Wiz, I don't know how to do that. Can you help?
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I wish I knew of a way, other than asking AZHousePro or one of the Mods to make this a sticky thread, after all, if you don't ask,m you'll never find out, right? :D

I wish that I was able to make it to Manilla for the WPC, but maybe next year for Indonesia, who knows???? :)

Willie
 
jay helfert said:
The people in the Philipines are genuinely nice. It is a surprise at first. Are they really this nice? Yes! I've been three times now and like it more each time.
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That is very true, right there, there is a community of people from The Phillippines, and every one that I have met, are all good hearted and gentle people in every sense of the word, and when you meet guys like Efren, Buste, Alex, etc, they are prime examples of that :)

Willie
 
Bring Keith!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I can watch my two greatest poolhero's live, Earl and Keith, in the poolheaven, then I can die a happy man :D It's as Jay says, Keith will have the time of his life down there.

Jay: I will definitely play the qualifiers, but that will be for the experince only. I can't even make two balls in a row, with ball in hand ;)
 
Roy Steffensen said:
Bring Keith!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I can watch my two greatest poolhero's live, Earl and Keith, in the poolheaven, then I can die a happy man :D It's as Jay says, Keith will have the time of his life down there.

Jay: I will definitely play the qualifiers, but that will be for the experince only. I can't even make two balls in a row, with ball in hand ;)
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Easy Roy. I saw you play. What was that guys name you were playing at One Side? F'en or something like that. :)

Keith would never leave One Side. He would line 'em up and shoot 'em down.
 
Roy Steffensen said:
I will definitely play the qualifiers, but that will be for the experince only. I can't even make two balls in a row, with ball in hand ;)
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Then I should consider being there as well ;)

And yes, meeting Keith in Manila would be unbelieveably great!
I can't help waiting November to come, I enjoyed the country and the people like nowhere before.
 
Vahmurka said:
Then I should consider being there as well ;)

And yes, meeting Keith in Manila would be unbelieveably great!
I can't help waiting November to come, I enjoyed the country and the people like nowhere before.
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The qualifiers are super tough, about on a par with the IPT qualifiers. You must win one to get in, and you have five chances. At least here, if you win, you DO get to play in a tournament, unlike the IPT where players won qualifiers and are still waiting.

I like your avatar. Cool picture.
 
jay helfert said:
Jam,

If you ever brought Keith there, he will think he died and went to heaven.
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This cracked me up because if you go just 2 days earlier, you will see the Filipino's Day of Dead celebration.
 
crosseyedjoe said:
This cracked me up because if you go just 2 days earlier, you will see the Filipino's Day of Dead celebration.
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What in the heck is that? I'll be there in October.
 
jay helfert said:
Bring your man to Mecca! He deserves it. Bite the bullet on the plane tickets and come. I could almost guarantee he will make the nut once he's here. He may even get you winners!

The people in the Philipines are genuinely nice. It is a surprise at first. Are they really this nice? Yes! I've been three times now and like it more each time.
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Thanks for the nice compliment, but still watch out for those damn taxi-cab drivers. They will even screw their own.
 
jay helfert said:
What in the heck is that? I'll be there in October.
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Nov. 1. All Saints Day - we visit the cemetery, so technically you can rob a bank that day and even the cops won't show up. LOL.
 
crosseyedjoe said:
Nov. 1. All Saints Day - we visit the cemetery, so technically you can rob a bank that day and even the cops won't show up. LOL.
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I KNOW the banks will still have those guys with shotguns manning the door. Security over there is SERIOUS!
 
If you really wanna see the celebration, go a cemetery when it's almost dark when the lited candles can easily be seen.

There is a nice place in Subic Bay where you can see the hillside cemetery.

Just something out of the ordinary that's why I pointed it out. Also most places will be closed, so be prepared.

Jay, you probably be in one of those cemeteries anyways that day if your honey-bunch drags you with her.
 
Good idea!

jay helfert said:
The dates this year are Nov. 3-11, and once again it is being played in Manila. I know for most of you, it is not posssible to attend this event. What I would like to see happen this year, is for you to be able to see it on television, either live or delayed. They do such a good job over there of televising pool, where it is treated as a major sport. It is shown LIVE for eight days, seven to eight hours a day. Similar coverage to our Masters Golf tournament or Wimbleton Tennis. To call it a revelation is an understatement.

I am requesting that any and all of you petition ESPN, FOX or any other network you can contact to "buy" this feed and air it for the American audience. My sense is that if a show like this ever airs over here, it will lead to more and bigger pro tournaments on American television. If enough people make such a request, one of the networks may decide to buy it. It is definitely available to be bought.

To me, It's a damn shame that the best television coverage of Pool every year is blacked out in this market. I'm the lucky one who gets to go over there, sweat the matches, talk about it and get paid for doing it. I'd like all of you to see the same show I'm seeing every day. I know you'd like it. Go ahead, ask for it. Miracles do happen.
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Jay, this is an excellent idea and it won't hurt to email ESPN, FOX sports etc. ESPN has scrabble championships and hot dog eating competitions, but they won't have descent coverage of the World Pool Championships and it's a shame. I don't know who decides what is shown on ESPN, but I have my doubts that they know what they are doing! If they took the time to realize how many people play pool in this country they might give it some more thought about showing more pool on their network, but pool isn't one of the good old boy sports so it gets very little coverage if any.
 
This needs to have the links up in the first post and make this a sticky.
 
jay helfert said:
The qualifiers are super tough, about on a par with the IPT qualifiers. You must win one to get in, and you have five chances. At least here, if you win, you DO get to play in a tournament, unlike the IPT where players won qualifiers and are still waiting.

I like your avatar. Cool picture.
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Thanks for compliment Jay. I know that WPC quallifiers are tough so no wonder some guys who survived that battle perform better than seeded players later. If I happen to have a hundred spare I will be ready to throw, I might consider participating just for the fun of it. But that unlikely to happen unfortunately.
 
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