| Topic: 2009 HOFC |
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Attendance looks down from Worlds which is to be expected. I saw 130 package deals sold on the printout. I am not very happy with the new ball. I think that it is stickier than the ones that I had purchased recently. Slow brush passers and pull shooters are having to make adjustments to their series. I had put a lot of practice time in recently to my passing series and was really thinking that I was making progress recently. Well, it is back to the drawing board again. |
Posted: Mar 13 2009 6:40AM
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Jeff A and Jeff Pipken Jr won their first match in the master series then ran into Spree and Pappas |
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How's it going down there JOhnny? |
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Thursday I arrived just as the Master Tour was starting. The setting (lights, smoke, intros, interviews, etc.) was really well done. I didn't stay for much of it as I was working on 1 hour sleep from packing and traveling the day before. It was really cool seeing Jeff and Jeff, as well as Eric and the other Canadians taking part and doing well. Moya was missed and I hope she can make it to worlds. I got a chance to meet German Mike and Darren from Victoria this trip. Two very nice guys. The lighting on the regular tables was typically Vegas bad but the tables looked and played great. The new return strip, tread on the man, plastic handles, table top levelers, were all great. Some don't like the handles as they are slippery but I wrap every time and like their true-ness and consistency. The scoring beads look ugly to me and don't have the satisfying feeling to me that the old system had. I also noticed that a higher than normal number of 2 bars got bent pretty easily. The bars feel light and strong for shooting but they do seem a little weak in terms of longevity. The new ball is stickier and that did seem to affect pull shooters and slow brush passers. Most, including me did get used to it eventually it just seemed to take me a little longer. For me, it meant a new brush pass setup point, release point (front to back that is) and catching point. Not a good situation if your 5 is not that good to begin with. Euro shooters do quite like it because of the improved grip. A few Belgian pros came over just due to the new ball and man. Not many other international players showed up though due to probably the economy and so they are likely saving their money for Tornado Worlds in Dallas. The UK players did say however that many plan on staying away due to the new ranking system. The goal was to avoid the Am events being won by international pro masters every year. I can see both sides of the debate and don't see a win/win scenario on this. We did have Semi Singles and with troubles on the 5 and still getting used to the ball on my 3, I was 2 and out but was in each match. Friday Doubles day. I did not have partners going in so was happy to hook up with Oscar from San Antonio for Ams and Pat Hogan from Reno for SP. Oscar and I did not play our best and were 2 and out but he is a super nice guy and a pleasure to play dubs with. I think if we were both playing our best at that standpoint we could have gone deep. Sorry Oscar! With Pat, I was playing a little better. Not my best but a little better. We soundly beat 1 team and really pushed a couple of strong teams very hard. Pat was also a very nice guy and a good partner. I didn't find a partner for Open Dubs but that was ok as it gave me some practice time with the new ball. This was my first time playing forward at a major and I wasn't expecting to win and I guess overall I was satisfied with the progress but obviously, not overjoyed. I started playing some pick up games and just stared blasting my passes and shots and started to gain some confidence which was great. Saturday Singles day seemed to work out a little better. Open Dubs qualifying started well but ended badly. I made it through a few rounds despite being on the losers side. I was playing one more match which would have qualified me for the main Open Dubs event. I was playing Jeff Lee who I think is from Portland. He is a regular partner of Ryan Harvey who I teamed up with in 2008 at Worlds. I knew Jeff's game and thought I should beat him. Then my mental game fell apart a bit. I started focusing on the fact that if I won I qualified and on the fact that I SHOULD beat him. I was not focusing on relaxing and playing my own game with confidence. I was tentative, Jeff got a few clunkers and quick shots and I just couldn't quite get it done. Congratz to him but for me, the most frustrating end to what had been a pretty good run. Am Si |
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yo! thnx for the update, i can live vicariously thru yer posts. i shud b ready for worlds next year. i changed my 3 again after we spoke last but now its perfect, it only took me 20 years to perfect it. lol, now that my 3 is perfect, now i just have to learn how to read a defense . and now my 5 bar needs to be equaly mint |
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Ok, since you are reading this final update about Sunday at Vegas you must be really desperate for details. You are probably already aware that Todd and Rico beat Ryan and Terry in open dubs, Rico and Joy Steward won mixed, and Tony kept Rico from double dipping him in Open Singles by winning in 5 games going to extra balls to win by two in the second set. Tony and Rico were like two Rhinos ramming each other point after point with neither side giving in. Really thrilling! Johnny and I played a number of guys from SoCal in pickup games. Terrific players and of course they were owning me on the 5 but I was really drilling them on the 3. They were loving Johnny's super steep passing and back pin. Lots of fun. I was able to chat a little bit with Chris Dube, T-Mac, Tom Spear, Dave Gummeson, Adrian Zamora, Eric Dunn and several other top players after they were out of the competition. That was lots of fun. I was a little unsure about talking with Tom Spear as I had heard a lot of crazy stories about him over the last several years. One on one he was super friendly and engaging. I am sure that he would have hung out and even helped me with my game had I asked him. But by that point we were out of time. He is one of my all time favorite 5 bars to watch. I heard that there were 237 total entrants overall. The level of play was phenomenal and the high from Team USA's World Cup win was still in the air. Farid was there and the 1 goalie/3 goalie controversy seemed to be on peoples minds and was being discussed somewhat. The bar in the casino was gone which bummed out a lot of people. The rooms on my floor at least were nicely renovated which made things a little nicer during the downtime. After the competition, Jim Waterman and I went out for a nice dinner at the Wynn. I travel back tomorrow and am looking forward to getting back to work on my 2 to 5 and 5 to 3 passing when I get back. I am not really sure if I will keep coming to majors. I enjoy them but I might try focusing more on smaller competitions in the future. That's about it. Fred |
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Yeah HOFC was cool ... i should have gone much earlier to these Vegas tourneys. Seeing the top players in person is WAY better than seeing them on tape or the internet. Of the top players i saw, i was most impressed with Spredemans game  . In Am singles which is the only event i was in (should have played doubles too) i lost my first match basically to slop and nerves. I pretty much handled the next two matches easily (race to 7 on the loosers side). Then took my next match to 6-6 but was playing poorly and ended up loosing. That guy went on to win semi-pro doubles playing forward (as an am). As Freddie said, the pick-up games were awesome. My back-pin was on fire, lighting dead-man on both sides with a super tight middle. Caught the attention of everyone i played which only made me shoot it better (too bad that was after i had already lost my final match). I'll be back for the next one for sure. Dave i should be down on Friday with the bag-o-balls. Freddie, thanks for everything ... your shot was smokin' (unfortunately after you were out too) |
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Fred, I would love to play in am doubles at the worlds with you. |
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I just got word that Fred's shot is better than mine now! 1st, is there any truth in this and 2nd maybe I should pitt for Fred now |
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That's what really sucks about the am division Johhny. They should at least make it win by 2. So when you lose your first match, it doesn't give you another 2 outta 3 to get your nerves back, instead it's a first to 7 which anything can happen, like the lesser skilled player winning, it happens to the best of us. I wished you had a better draw. Race to 7, come ON!! Well Johnny, I'll be there for the worlds, and if Fred can't make it, I'll gladly play with ya in am doubles for sure! |
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Jeff, how was your experience there? how'd ya do? |
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My flight got in at 1:30 am this morning, so a bit tired; but overall, I wasn't really into it that much. I really dislike the men, and whenever I tried to play with intensity I couldn't catch a pass. After the tv event, everything else seemed not quite as fun or interesting to me. The TV event was just too bad ass. Other than that, I sucked pretty much, lost to bad players, and could never really play close to how I play at home. I did play good pits (and good in the tv event), but that's about it. I think the tv show airs in May or June on the versus network, and if it does good, the next one will be in a studio. They said they liked me and Pipken, so hopefully we will get an invite to the next one if it happens (but that really depends on the ratings and getting the word out etc.). I had a good sound bite when I was asked if I was intimidated by Warren Vanlandingham, so hopefully that will get on the air. |
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YOu couldn't catch? will that happen to all of us then? |
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Jeff, Can you confirm whether or not the new International player registration rules affect Canadians? I think it limits pro masters in other countries to at least being ranked either Semi Pro or else Pro. If that is the case, Dave won't be winning any world Am titles any time soon. I am now an American for ranking purposes by the way. Does this mean I have to start singing the Star Spangled Banner, drink Bud Light (yuck) and stop watching the Canucks on T.V.? Thanks, Fred |
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Freddie ... you are way too nice to ever be called an American  . As for the Nucks 16 wins and 3 losses in the last while ... not too shabby.Post Vegas foos blues last night lol, still my game has improved. Even on our ice rink tables . |
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I asked twice and both times they said that Canada is not effected. |
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