DJ's Hosts Second Annual Memorial Tournament

August 18, 2011 - Once again DJ's Family Billiards remembered those of it's extended pool family who had passed away by hosting the second annual Memorial 9-Ball Tournament. Attendance of the event was once again high and people came from far and wide to honor their brethren.

Honored this year were Tommy Moses, Albert Ossana, New York Jimmy, Bob May, Cathy Gaynor, Greek Charlie, John Hall and Tommy Hill, all special to their friends and family and to all in attendance because they were so much a part of the DJ's scene.

Pros were encouraged to stay away this year, not because we don't enjoy their company, but because the idea of people with no knowledge of the honorees swooping in for a crack at the $200-added seemed contrary to the spirit of the occasion. Consensus is that things worked out better this way.

Taking first place was Billy Moses. Also, finishing in the top 3 were locals Phil and Monty. A total of eight places were paid out.

To fatten up this post I'll relate one somewhat amusing and controversial incident that was reported to me. It occurred during a match between Jim Oddy and Bobby Jones. After scratching, it seems Jim commented to Bobby, "That's the second time in a row I scratched in that very same pocket." Bobby then proceeded to 3-foul Oddy for the game and match with Jim complaining, "You were supposed to tell me I had two on me." Bobby's rebuttal, "You told yourself." Though, technically, Jim might have had a point. This wasn't combat, it was friends getting together to remember other friends. So, Bobby prevailed. I must interject here that Mr. Oddy, known intimately by legions of friends and fans on the gulf coast as "The Jazz Man," disputes the version of events I reported and called into question my journalistic acumen and integrity, which is somewhat astounding considering my stellar reputation in the world of journalism. He was only slightly miffed that I had misspelled his name and eagerly supplied me with the correct version. He also requested that I not mention him in my pool blog anymore which I take to mean any more than the once every six or seven years that is my current rate of mentioning him. Damn! And I was just getting ready to publish "The Day Oddy Was Crowned King." Now, I'll have to write something else?

The following pictures were taken by Charley Kutz who, by the way, finished one out of the money.

That's me on the right chatting with Bill Jones, Sr.

Adrian!

David

Jeff Miller with Billy Moses

Jordan (L), Bryan (R)

Kari & Rachel

One of many spectators

Toni Moles and Billy Moses

Billy Jones (f) with Dirty Bob (b)

Williams wrassle-ing with the computer

More eye candy

The tournament was cosponsored by AcesWebWorld.com

First DJ’s Memorial 9-Ball Tournament A Success

Top players from around Pasco County converged at DJ’s Family Billiards last night, 8-12-2010, for the first annual Memorial 9-Ball Tournament. The night was dedicated to the memory of several special people, among them Tommy Moses, Albert Osanna, Bob May, New York Jimmy, Tommy Hill, special, not only to gathered friends and family, but to all in attendance because they shared an affection for the game of pocket billiards.

Three weeks before he got hit with his final illness, Bob May called me bright and early one Thursday to let me know he’d had a good night down at Stroker’s (Palm Harbor) the night before. Not only had he finished in the money, but on the way he had defeated local notables Dave Williams and Donny Mills. He was on top of the world.

Well, Bobby, I had a pretty good night last night at your memorial tournament. Not only did I finish in the money, but, like you, I managed to beat a few people I had no business beating. Unfortunately, my success had more to do with a streak of luck than great playing, but, what the hell, we have to take what we get.

Among those showing up for the tournament were Mike Davis, Billy Moses, Fast Eddie, Mark W., and Bobby Livrago. I, of course, slipped out as soon as I was eliminated, so I can’t report who won. I can tell you Mike Davis and Jared were still in it when I left.

The tournament was co-sponsored by my website AcesWebWorld.com.

Robert May (8/16/1934-10/22/2009): Gone

I heard, today, that Bob May, a fixture in our local Pasco County pool scene and a friend to many in the New Port Richey area, has passed away at 75. Bob’s health had been declining for several months but he battled bravely till the end. Originally from Wisconsin, it was his wish to be returned to his native soil, as cold and as lonely as it is up there.

Bob enjoyed playing pool and could be found many afternoons banging the balls around at Hammerheads or DJ’s. When he could, he liked to travel down to Stroker’s on Wednesday nights to play in their regular open 9-Ball tournament. Not long ago, he emailed me telling me he had finished in the money the previous night, scoring victories over Dave Williams and Donny Mills enroute.

Some time ago, I published Bob May’s One Rail Kicking System, here. I’m glad I did. Not only because Bobby got a kick out of it, but, since he always enjoyed sharing his knowledge of the game, it’s a fitting remembrance.

2009: The Year of Tolerance

High on my list of New Year’s resolutions is my intention to be more tolerant. Like, regarding that old guy, Tom, who came into DJ’s and dumped a tray of balls out onto table number 4 a few Thursdays ago, I will try not to utter the word “asshole” under my breath every time I see him. Hm… good luck with that. I mean, as far as I’m concerned, people who do that are assholes. I was in DJ’s another time when this other idiot did the same thing and thereby also offended my delicate sensibilities. I couldn’t keep myself quiet. “Where’d you learn that move?” I asked. “At the friggin’ Moose Club?” (No offense to the Moose out there, it was all I could come up with on the spur of the moment.) I can only imagine how Moulton Teasdale, the guy who owned the pool room where I grew up, would have reacted to someone doing that to one of his tables. Most likely, he would’ve made a few choice comments regarding the man’s intelligence and lineage, and then thrown the stupid mother ef’er out, suggesting strongly that he never come back. But that was yesterday…

Here, I had intended to move on to my second resolution, but writing about the first one has me so ticked off that I can’t think straight. How’s this? I resolve to be the same mean old son-of-a-bitch in 2009 that I was in 2008. If you don’t like it, shove it!

In and Out of the UPL

A friend of mine invited me to play on a team he was putting together for the Thursday night UPL league at Hammer Heads. On Thursdays, I usually play in the open 9-ball tournament they have at DJ’s Family Billiards in New Port Richey, but I hardly ever come in the money so I wouldn’t really be losing anything if I changed my schedule.

On the first night of the league, I showed up a little after 6:30 PM. A meeting was scheduled for 7 PM and I didn’t want to be late right off the bat. I needn’t have worried – the meeting didn’t start until after 8. Corey Deuel explained how the league worked, how fees were collected, how score was kept, etc. His sidekick, Tony D., also pitched in with explanations. Preeminent was the fact that players had to pay their yearly $20 UPL membership fee before they played. Weekly league fees were $8. I didn’t bother to ask where the $8 went.

As our team gathered, I noticed that my friend had recruited more than the required 5 team members. In fact, there were at least seven. Before making my $20 commitment, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to be just a part time player. When I asked, my friend assured me I’d be playing every week. So, I anteed up and launched my UPL career. I didn’t play real well, but I did manage to win my match 47-30. Our leadoff man won by the identical score. After that, it was down hill. We lost the next three matches. My friend, who plays as well as me, sat out in favor of another member who couldn’t hit the rail. I left, unenthused.

Next day, I’m talking to my friend and he reveals that we are all going to have to sit out so that everyone gets a chance to play. The more I thought about it, the more unhappy I became and, ultimately, I decided I didn’t want any part of being on his team. I emailed him, saying I quit. First, I wanted to play every week. Second, I believe you should field your best team every week. And, third, his idea of giving everyone a chance to play regardless of how well they play is nice when you’re coaching little league, but it has no place in a pool league where teams are competing for money.

Hey, I only have so many Thursday nights left in me. Rather than waste my time making nice-nice with a couple mediocre players down Hammer Heads, I’d prefer to sacrifice myself to the sharks at DJ’s.

Sharking Yourself: Watching Stocks Drift By

Speaking for myself, I prefer TVs in the area of the poolroom where I am playing be tuned to ESPN or a MLB game. I’m a big fantasy baseball player and I’m interested in the latest scores and the latest news. Distracting? No, I don’t get wrapped up in the action, I just passively glance at the screen now and then between turns. And, I’d like to think the majority of pool players are sports fans just like I am. Unfortunately, they’re not. Preferences in the poolrooms I frequent include soap operas, the animal channel and, God help us all, Fox News. To be honest, I like it when someone I’m playing has their eyes focused on the closed captioning during a match – they’re not into the game. But, it’s when opponents sit with their eyes glued to stock quotes as they slide across the screen, especially in the midst of today’s troubled market, that I get the urge to double up on the bet. How can anyone concentrate on a simple game of pool while their money’s going down the drain?

Not that I’m not interested in the market. I am. To tell the truth I’ve got a considerable amount of change invested in the market. The key word here is “invested.” I’m not a day trader – I’m in for the long haul. When the market does bounce back, and it’s bound to, the funds and stocks I’m invested in will bounce back with it. I’m as confident in that as I am in the fact that sun will come up tomorrow. For the record these are the funds I’m invested in: DODFX, FAIRX, GABAX, MERDX, RYOCX, VEXMX, VFIIX, VFSTX, VTSMX and VWIGX. I did a lot of research before I made theses investments and I’m confident that in the long run they are going to do all right for me. I don’t have to watch the minute to minute or day to day fluctuations in price. In fact, I’ve developed the habit of checking the closing prices only once a week, on Fridays after the market closes.

So, to sum things up, if the competition is all wrapped up in the market or in the jabber of Fox New’s talking heads, I don’t mind a bit. In fact, I encourage it with some well placed comments of my own, like “goddamned liberals,” or “the market’s in the crapper again.” It’s a good thing if their minds wander away from the game – good for me, anyway.

Join My New Pool Group

I created a new group at blogcatalog.com called "Blogging Pool/Billiards." I recently discovered that posts at blogcatalog get good coverage from google so I thought it might be a good idea to join a pool group. To make a long story short, there weren't any. So, I formed my own. Now, I need members. Visit it here. Primarily a place for those who have pool blogs or sites, it will be a place to ask questions, discuss problems and observations, to swap ideas and to make announcements.

Otherwise, everything's good. I recently told someone somewhere that I would continue playing as long as I keep improving. Well, I have no thoughts of quitting yet. I've been playing almost every day and my game shows it. Of course, I can't fire in shots like I could when I was 16, but even that aspect of my game is getting better. The only thing standing in my way right now is the lack of players down here willing to play for a little something. I refuse to engage in matches where nothing's at stake. I'm convinced that kind of nonsense hurts my game more than it helps. Those who refuse to gamble are the same guys who wonder why they choke when they play in tournaments. "It's because you're not used to playing for anything!" I tell them. But, they won't listen and prefer to supply their own excuses. Anyway, like I said, I drive to the pool room (either Capone's or DJ's) every day and, unless I run into someone with a little gamble in them, play by myself for about an hour concentrating on the basic stuff - staying down, stroking thru the cue ball, etc. It's working.

Here's an item of interest for those in the market for a new cue:

John Bender Cues

John Bender, a friend of mine from NJ, and a cuemaker who has worked with Richard Black, is now making custom cues on his own. Visit his site and send him a message.

Going Going Gone

Still too many distractions keeping me from playing and it’s obvious to those who see me play. I was up on Williams 3-0 in a race to 4 in last Thursday night’s 9-ball tournament and managed to lose. That’s the second time that happened to me in a month. Hopefully, after I sell my mother’s townhouse (if anybody out there is interested in living in Hackettstown, NJ, I just lowered the asking price to $319M. Six months ago they were selling for $350M.), I’ll be able to settle the estate and get back to what’s important.

For those of you who visit my pool pages , I’ve recently added eBay links to most of the pages including the cue pages. Go, for example, to the Schon cue page, then scroll down to the eBay display and you’ll see all the Schon cues currently at auction. Not a big money-maker for me, but a convenience for my visitors.

I’ll let you know if the pool fairy grants me any wishes.

Another Milestone

No, I didn’t run 100 balls. Friday, June 23rd was my 59th birthday. I celebrated by going out to breakfast with my wife and by zipping over to the Hay Loft after supper for the regular Friday night 8-ball tourney. Luck was on my side most of the night and I managed to come in second. The prize was $45. Not bad considering there were only 15 entrants and the entry fee is $5.

But let’s get back to the big FIVE NINE. Next comes the big SIX OH. Do I feel any different? No. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m basically the same guy I was 10, 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Have I reassessed my life? No, again. Enjoying the good life, messing with my web pages and playing pool are still my primary pursuits. As far as shooting pool goes, though I haven’t been playing much lately – settling my mother’s estate has taken a lot more time and energy than I had expected – I’m still convinced not only that I’m getting better, but that one day I may once again be classified as “damn good.”

As far as playing goes, I’ve pretty much limited myself to Friday nights at the Loft and Thursday nights at DJ’s in NPR. The former, I win occasionally, the latter, never. Last week, Earl Strickland showed up. Had I won a match, I might have got to play Earl but as usual I went two and out. Playing Earl isn’t as bad as you might think. He does a lot of conceding. He conceded one game after missing the three ball. I guess he thought he was playing Johnny Archer or something. Anyway, Earl or no Earl, I have a better chance of getting hit by lightning twice than I do of winning at DJ’s. But the guys down there are almost bearable, so I go.

Speaking of Johnny Archer, I caught him and Corey Deuel in a match up a Capone’s a few weeks back. Archer was on the hill but lost focus and let Deuel come back from 4 games down. I was surprised by how much missing they both did. It seems the pros have as much trouble on the Diamond tables as we amateurs. The pockets don’t suck the balls in like they do on the Brunswicks; no margin for error.

Anyway, once my mother’s place gets sold most of my work will have been done. Hopefully, then I’ll be able to rededicate myself to what matters – playing pool.

One-Eyed Jack and the Magic Eye Patch

Though I haven’t been posting too much lately, don’t take that to mean I haven’t been shooting pool. I have been. And, I’ve been playing pretty well. Yes, though I’m pushing 60, I am still improving.

Most recently, I came in 4th place, one spot out of the money, at the “A” nine-ball tournament at DJ’s two Thursdays ago. Considering the caliber of some of the players, that’s about as good as I can ever hope to finish. Likewise, I finished third at the big $250 added 8-ball bar tournament at Classic’s. As I predicted several weeks back, the money attracts all kinds of hot shots, one who’s been on the pro tour.

The latest boost in my play has to be credited to the eye patch. I started wearing it around the house a few weeks back hoping it would encourage my dominant eye to be more dominant and thereby eliminate the problem I have zeroing on object ball contact points. It may have helped in this regard, but honestly speaking I forget to put it on most days and therefore haven’t given it a true test. When I wear the patch, my wife calls me One-Eyed Jack.

Anyway, more significant is the fact that I’ve been wearing the patch while practicing my long straight shots. Nothing will point out faulty alignment quicker. When you can start popping in those long straight shots one-eyed, you can be pretty sure you're in line. Hopefully, when you remove the patch the good alignment will carry over to your other shots. It has for me. I was missing a lot of shots and blaming them on my vision. Now, it’s apparent that at least some of those misses were due to bad alignment.

Another thing I’ve been doing involves the use of a small disk (see earlier entry on my aiming device), about the size of a silver dollar. The disk has a single line through its diameter. In order to help me visualize the contact point on the cue ball, I place the disk flat on the table between my bridge hand and the cue ball. The line on the disk must be placed at the same angle as the object ball to the pocket. Looking at the lead edge of the disk helps me locate the contact point on the cue ball. At least that’s my theory. And you can’t argue with success.

A few weeks ago I mentioned my latest pool story, Remembrance of Ignominious Things Past. In an example of cross-promotional brilliance, I redesigned my pool t-shirt. It has the familiar flaming 8-ball image on the front, and on the back it states pool rule 6: “When you bet and lose, YOU HAVE TO PAY! Otherwise, people might think you’re a freakin’ scumbag.” Be the first on your block to order one.

The Horror!

I just got back from my practice session over at the clubhouse. My sessions usually run the same – they start off with a couple of racks of straight shots, corner to corner, long-ways across the table. After I start poking them in (and, unfortunately, I do mean poke) with regularity, I switch to angle shots, placing the object ball just off the rail three diamonds up table from the corner (one diamond south of the side). After each shot, the object ball is placed back in this spot. I start this progression with the cue ball along the opposite side rail, one diamond north of the side. If I make the shot first try, I move the cue ball north one diamond and progress around the corner and along the end rail one diamond at a time till I’m shooting a straight in shot. If I miss along the way, my penalty is that I can’t move on until I make two in a row. When I complete this, I reverse everything so that I’m cutting in the opposite direction to the opposite corner… if you know what I mean. Sometimes I tell myself that I’m going to make up a chart and keep track of how many shots it takes me from day to day so that I can see if I’m actually improving, but I forget about it almost immediately. Next, I shoot some spot shots from both sides of the table varying the location of the cue ball. Then, I start playing nine ball by myself, setting the balls up in different formations, or just throwing them out on the table at random.

Of course, the most important part of my session involves practicing the shot or shots that caused me to be eliminated from the previous night’s tournament. Oh, God, I hate to think about it. I beat some good players last night but wound up missing an easy shot along the rail that would have left me with a straight in shot on the eight in the side. The Horror! Unfortunately this kind of thing is all too common. I’m pretty sure the problem lies with my stroke or with that series of spastic gyrations I call a stroke. I’m determined to make my stroke better. Today, I consciously exaggerated my follow through on every shot. I think I’m on the right track.

Anyway, my good buddy, JP, is moving back to Tennessee in a couple weeks and with him gone I can’t see myself going to very many bar tourneys anymore. I played with the A-players at DJs in New Port Richey this past Thursday. I didn’t expect much of myself and wasn’t disappointed. The eventual winner blitzed me in my first match. And after jumping to a 2-0 lead in my second match, I made the mistake of waking my opponent up and paid the price as he came back and ran three games on me. Still, I had more fun than I would have at the bar tournament down the road. Who knows, someday I might actually win a match.

Snookered Brainwave Award

DJ’s down in NPR has an all day special that allows one to play from opening until 7 PM for a scant $5. Not a bad deal for those who have the time. Unless I run into someone willing to play a couple cheap sets, however, I am usually content to play a half hour or so by myself. All I want to do, really, is get a feel for the Simonis cloth which is very unlike what I play on in the bars or in the game room of the fogey farm where I live and practice.

So, I go down DJ’s yesterday and at first glance it seems that only three of the eight tables are in use. Picture a three row arrangement with three tables in each row, then pluck out one of the corner tables. That’s DJ’s. Anyway, I point to table three and ask if could play on it. No, says the blond, that’s so-and-so’s table. “Where is he?” I ask. Playing on table two with Joe Shmoe, she replies. “So, I can’t play there.” No, he paid for the table, so it’s his.

I look over at table 5 and notice a case laying on it. “What about table 5?” I ask. “That’s taken.” It seems that whoever had taken it, had paid his five bucks and scrammed. Balls were racked up on table 8, but the dude who was in control of that table was sitting at the bar watching television. To make a long story short, I don’t like to play on the center table where you’re surrounded by tables on all sides with no place to lay your stuff or on the table by the door where you’re too often interrupted by people walking in or out not to mention the glare. So, I didn’t play and spent a couple hours shooting the shit about pool, health and cigarette smoking. It’s one thing to let guys play all day for five bucks, but to let them control two tables for the duration is nuts. Theoretically, you could take control of the whole place for forty measly dollars.

Speaking of which, thanks to a couple fortuitous two-rail kick shots, I came in second in Friday night’s gin mill tourney. There was a low turnout, so my prize was only forty bucks, just enough to buy DJ’s for an afternoon. I am playing better, but improvement is still a gradual thing. My shot-making, especially, is a lot better. Plus, I’m trying to use my head more.