Captain’s Log, April 8th, 2012

We are in the homestretch of the Spring Session, and most of you know what that means. City Championships! At the end of each Spring Session, we take all of the teams that qualified in each of the Summer, Fall and Spring Sessions into the City Championship tournament to qualify teams for the APA National Team Championships. This year, we are sending 6 teams to Nationals in the Open 8 Ball format, 4 teams in the 9 Ball team format and 1 Ladies team in the Ladies only 8 Ball format. 11 teams will represent San Diego in the August 2012 National Team Championships.  

Spring Session 8 Ball and 9 Ball Blast- May 19-20

9 Ball City Championships- June 2-3

8 Ball City Championships- June 9-10

Ladies Only 8 Ball City Championships- June 1 and 3   

Make sure your teammates set aside these dates so you can be at full strength for this qualifying event. Each team will have to win 3 or 4 matches to earn the spot for Nationals. In a future newsletter, I will explain the tournament format and when the draw will take place. All 4 of these events are scheduled to take place at the Hungry Stick. 

Speaking of the Hungry Stick, you will be noticing some pretty big changes to the venue for these upcoming events. All of the 9’ regulation tables have been removed. They have moved more to the restaurant side of things rather than a bar/pool room. The menu is completely new and the place has been remodeled to accommodate for more dining. They also now have a license that allows them to sell alcohol and all the major labels are available. The Hungry Stick is committed to keeping APA league and tournaments, but it is extremely important for everyone to understand that these dramatic changes are not a product of our leagues or tournaments, but rather something that was necessary for the health of the location going forward. These economic times have been tough on everyone, including our host locations.

Every location has been feeling these hard times for quite some time. Please remember that it is important to show support for the locations that are providing you with a free pool table and a bar stool for your league matches. Drinking water all night long is not showing support. If that’s all you drink, fine, buy your teammates something that makes the locations cash register ring. I’m seeing more and more people drinking water on league night and this trend will likely force table usage fees if the trend continues. That might seem crazy to many of you, but they’ve always had these policies in other parts of the country. These locations supporting APA can’t survive with people never opening their wallets in the 4 hours they spend in the location.  

We have received a few skill level complaints lately where a team is complaining about how the other team is missing shots on purpose to keep their skill level down. When we look at the score sheet when investigating the complaint, we don’t see any safeties marked by the team filing the complaint. The very definition of a safety is NO INTENT TO MAKE A BALL. If there is no intent to make a ball, you must mark it as a safety each and every time it happens. It is an important factor in calculating skill levels. By not marking them, you are allowing the other team to get away with missing shots on purpose. By not marking them, you are giving up your right to complain. Scorekeepers need to know what a defensive shot is and mark them for each instance there is no intent to pocket a ball.  

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April 25-28 is the APA Single’s Nationals event at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. 12 players will be representing the San Diego APA, and there is a representative in each bracket of the event. Competing in the 8-Ball Classic are: SL 2-3 – Kathleen Argerake, Sarah Glass, SL 4 – John Parker, SL 5 – Eric Whitford, Gabe Valdez, SL 6-7 – Paul Langley, Ric Domingo, Jeff Sobieski. Competing in the 9-Ball Shootout are: SL 1-3 – Mary Redmond, SL 4-5 – Christine Bolger, SL 6-9 – Dan Bruce, Luis Hernandez. 

Shoot Pool Good!! 

sdapalindsay@cox.net

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