We are officially exhausted after finishing a string of tournaments that featured a Single’s Regional qualifier for APA Nationals, Blast tournaments for 8 Ball and 9 Ball, the 9 Ball Southwest Challenge tournament in Las Vegas and the Halloween Tournament. We missed attending the US Amateur qualifiers that squeezed in there as well, but congratulations to Travis Kuenzel (SDAPA member) for advancing to the US Amateur Championships in Tampa, FL on November 6-10. We certainly wish Travis the best of luck in this prestigious event. Congratulations also to our 4 San Diego Regional winners. Those winners are Steven Lewis (9Ball skill level 4-5 tier), Brett Wilson (8 Ball skill level 2-3 tier), Cindy Birse (8 Ball skill level 4 tier), and Paula Englund (9 Ball skill level 1-3 tier). These players will be advancing to the APA National Single’s Championships in Las Vegas in late April, 2014 for a chance to win thousands of dollars in cash and prizes. San Diego put up a good showing at the 9 Ball Southwest Challenge with 7 teams finishing in the top 16. Las Vegas won the SWC for the first time in either 8 Ball or 9 Ball. The Blast tournament qualified over 40 teams for the 2014 San Diego APA City Championships and I ended up typing up this newsletter before the finish of our Halloween tournament, but we will post all of the results on the web site. Thanks to all of the teams and players participating in all of the events. It was a lot of fun.
Masters League starts up on November 9th. If you haven’t called to submit a roster for this league, please do so now. We are set up to have another great session that features many of the best players in our San Diego league all over the county. These leagues are 3 person teams with a roster limit of 5 and no handicaps.
Ladies divisions are starting back up on November 20th and 22nd. We have an in house ladies division at Stoney’s in National City on Wednesdays and a travel league on Friday nights in the San Diego Central area. We welcome ladies from anywhere in the county that wish to play in this 3 person (roster limit of 5) 8 Ball league. Give us a call!
I definitely wanted to spend more time talking about the tournament results in this week’s newsletter, but I felt it was much more necessary to once again stress the importance of RESPECT and SPORTSMANSHIP for your fellow APA league members. Since my last newsletter, I’m not sure what happened, but I’m extremely disappointed in the lack of civility among some of our league members. IT NEEDS TO STOP NOW! The San Diego Board of Governors met a few weeks ago and handed out league suspensions and warnings to members of our league from all over the county for what we call behavior that is not acceptable in our league. Each of these suspensions was over something that could have been easily avoided. If you are having a bad day, GO HOME! Do not make it other people’s problems. It really is that simple. If there is someone on the other team that annoys you, STAY HOME THAT NIGHT! I don’t want to have to say it in this newsletter again. If you ignore these warnings and behave in a manner that we deem as a nuisance to our other league members, you will be receiving time off from the league. We are all members of the same club, a club that gets together to shoot some competitive pool against one another. In that respect, we are one and the same. The only difference is the name of the team you play for.
With the above paragraph said, I’m going to offer up some suggestions on how you can make your night more enjoyable. When the opposing team doesn’t mark the pocket on the 8 Ball, don’t call it a loss of game on them if it was blatantly obvious what pocket it was going in. Yes, it’s a rule. However, you have to understand what the rule was written for and use it for that purpose rather than winning a cheap game that you didn’t deserve. The reason the rule was written was because a head nod or vocal “corner pocket” that couldn’t be overheard over the juke box wasn’t good enough to inform the other team what the intended pocket was. Cheering for the cue ball to go into a pocket after your opponent has made the 8 or 9 Ball is horrible sportsmanship. Cheer your teammates’ fortunes, not your opponents’ misfortunes. This type of behavior also creates unneeded animosity. Close hits also tend to create ill will towards one another. Rather than returning the favor when a team displays poor sportsmanship, write it up and send it in to us. If the other team is behaving poorly and it is your turn to shoot, just sit there and wait until they are done behaving badly before you go back to the table. If it doesn’t end, pack up your stuff and go home. We will deal with it in the league office. We are all family striving for the same goals, which are a night of fun, friendly competition and a chance to advance to higher level tournament play. Anyone interfering with these objectives will be facing disciplinary action and possible removal from the league.
Our heartfelt condolences to the friends and family of Vicki Barkemeyer (East County), Dennis Perkins (Escondido) and Pat Gonzalez (Ramona) on their recent passing. Vicki joined our league in January of 1998 and played over 900 matches with MANY, MANY of our current members. Dennis joined our league in the Spring of 2012 and most recently played with “Kick Shot”, “One Team One Mission” and “Degener8’s” in Escondido. Pat joined our league in the Spring of ‘09 and most recently played on “U Just Can’t Coach That” in Ramona. They will be missed. Also, APA members Mike Brown and Mikkel Parsons (Poway) were in a serious car accident on their way to work a few weeks ago and we wish them full recoveries. Mike has bumps and bruises, but Mikkel is in intensive care. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers.