Captain’s Log, February 12th, 2012

 

A very popular question for this week is why are we scheduled to play on Valentine’s Day? The simplest of answers is that not everyone has a valentine to share that day with, and it’s a bit discriminatory to them to take away what might be their one night of fun for the week, a double whammy so to speak. The even easier answer is that it’s not a day that schools close, courts shut down and government employees stay home from work. It’s not an official holiday. It’s actually more of a made up holiday, made up by companies like Hallmark and FTD to add to their windfalls. The SDAPA is not opposed to the sharing of a day with their loved ones. We just don’t see the need to cancel an entire night of league to do so. That the match can be moved to another night to accommodate those who absolutely must do something on Valentine’s Day instead of the day before or the day after, or that Valentine’s Day can be celebrated on any of the 364 remaining days out of the year is how we come to the conclusion that this day shouldn’t be skipped. Finally, our host locations count on teams playing each week. They are the ones who provide the tables for league play and they count on our league to schedule matches on their tables as often as possible. When we start canceling league play for Boss’ day, Sweetest Day and every other non holiday that gets recognized for one reason or another, that is when our locations should start wondering how supportive we really are with their businesses. We really do need their pool tables in order to conduct league. In return for them setting aside a night for pool table reservations with the APA, we need to schedule matches for them as often as possible. With that said, with all of you scheduled to play on Tuesday night, Jill and I should have no problems getting a table reservation at our favorite restaurant that night. ;-) Now, along those same lines, the reason we don’t schedule on St. Patrick’s Day and Super Bowl Sunday is that these are typically very busy nights for the bar industry.

Another question that has been coming up lately is what the “Q” after a team name stands for. It’s an indicator that the team is qualified to compete in the City Championships. It’s nice for those teams competing against an already qualified team to see how competitive they can be with teams that might win a trip to the National Team Championships later this year.

Players can still be added to teams that are not qualified for the City Championships, even if they were dropped because they didn’t pay. They just need to pay their membership before they can be added back to the score sheet and play. You absolutely must notify the other team of any roster changes prior to the start of your match in order to play any added players that night. Also, players MUST compete at their current skill level. Any player playing at a lower level than their current skill level will forfeit their match if they win. It’s best to try to get skill level verifications between the hours of 10 and 5pm during weekdays, as this is the best time to catch someone in the office.

Southwest Challenge entry forms are due back in the league office before the 19th of February along with the full team entry fee.
Rooms need to be secured more than 30 days in advance of the event, which is why they are due so soon. Teams submitted after that date may be subjected to administrative charges along with the original package price. Skill levels will be locking the week of the entry deadline. Be sure your team is at 14 or less at that time, or you will be forced to switch out a player to make your team legal. Teams that are not legal are not eligible to compete in the tournament.

The APA National Singles ChampionshipsThe Spring Regional for all San Diego Single’s Regional qualifiers will be held on the first weekend in March at the Hungry Stick. This event will mostly be San Diego participants, with a few scattered players from Orange County and Palm Springs. Ironically, some of the OC and Palm Springs qualifiers are current or former SDAPA members, so it’s like one big happy family. We will be qualifying at least one player from every skill level tier group, and a total of 9 players will advance to the National Single’s Championships in April. This Regional is currently scheduled to be conducted on Saturday only. Good luck to all of the participants. A list of qualifiers can be found on our web site.

 
Brian, Jill and Lindsay 619-303-0183   
sandiego.apaleagues.com
Office Hours 9am-7:30pm daily

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