Author: Paul Adler

Noteworthy events from 2023 Spring Week 16 (Party)

Outstanding outing(s):

  1. The final Scotch-Doubles tournament match (after 11 teams enrolled) concluded at approximately 11:15pm.   The team of Ed S & Sultan S was paired up for the second consecutive season and was also in the final match for the 2nd consecutive season. Their opponent team and eventual winner this season was Sam B and Sean B.
    In the hill-hill game Sean B simulated last pocket rules by sinking the 8 into the Table 04 south side pocket.  Sam B set him up for it by “shooting that f’ing 2-ball right through the 8-ball.”

    • Ed & Sultan were victorious in the preceding two matches (they had a BYE the 1st round) against:
      • Mike M (league’s official top shooter) and Sal H.
      • Lito G and easy-money Robert S
    • The champion team of Sam B and Sean B won their preceding three matches against:
      • Steve G & Sharon W
      • Joe L (Sean’s teammate in this event last season) and John G
      • Micah N (who was in the finals last season) and Cristina C (a devoted teammate of Sean’s in most other contexts)

RAFFLE Status:

  1. Cristina C broke dry on Table 02.
  2. Joe L scratched on his break shot.
  3. The entire raffle pot rolls over to next week’s official 2023 Summer Season sign-up night!

OTHER:

  1. The end of season ceremony included the following announcements:
    1. The PhaCues team finished in 1st place for the “first time in a long time” and with an average of 311.929 points per week played.
    2. Mike M of the Double Focus team was the league’s official Top Shooter with an 8.729 points per game average. There were six other players ranked above him, but none of whom qualified with the required minimum of 75% weeks played (as described in the current rule 24.A.ii).
    3. Julian F octupled his investment to win the Top Shooter side-pot (as described in the current rule 24.B).
    4. Ed G was recognized with the greatest average-per-game percentage improvement (13.885%) when comparing final average to the average heading into Week 01. Only two others also surpassed 13%: Eric L and Tyler B.
    5. Paul S barely beat out Mike B for the player whose final average points per game was closest to what it was at the season’s onset.
    6. Other stats from this season:
      • 85 of our 89 rostered players had at least one week played.
      • We had 5 players make their league debuts.  Three of these were all from the Pool Sharks roster and included offspring from veteran league couples.  Welcome to Patricia S and to Matthew D.
      • 27 different people were selected in the raffle draws this season. None more than twice (until tonight). Seven cashed-in winnings – with Romy G pocketing the most.
  2. The league operator currently has the undistributed prize money for Mike B and Dennis S of The Breakup and for Jim S from Double Focus; players from other teams should contact your team captain if you didn’t collect your prize money yet.
  3. Approximately 2,286 square inches of pizza were served.
  4. A Scotch Doubles Tournament was conducted; Irony Alert: three teammate sets were joined for the second consecutive season: Nancy & Wes, Mona & the Goose, and Ed S with Sultan S.

End of season standings in reverse order:

  1. Pool Sharks
  2. Behind the 8-Ball
  3. Mighty Mantis Shrimp – otherwise describable as Carnivorous Marine Crustaceans.
  4. There Goes My 80 – a two-place improvement from last season.
  5. Racking My Brain – a four-place improvement from last season.
  6. Should Be Out – a three-place improvement from last season.
  7. H.W.G.A. Rejects 2.0 – a five-place improvement from last season.
  8. Free Agents – a four-place improvement from last season.
  9. The Bullys – a four-place improvement from last season.
  10. Wolff Pack – finishing 6th for the 3rd consecutive season.
  11. The Breakup
  12. Stick-e-Balls
  13. Pocket Rattlers – a two-place improvement from last season.
  14. Double Focus – a seven-place improvement from last season.
  15. PhaCues – a six-place improvement from last season, but it didn’t happen until the final week!

With two-thirds of the teams having improved so dramatically, it seems mathematically impossible.  But factual truth cannot be impossible.

Noteworthy events from 2023 Spring Week 15

Outstanding outing(s):

  1. Joe S accomplished a 76 – his highest score ever in this league.  This is also his first season in this league.
  2. Nowhere near his first season, Jerry W scored a 74 and for the 2nd consecutive week.
  3. Dave F and Mike K each tallied 73.

RAFFLE Status:

  1. Mike K sank the 2-ball in the NE corner and 7-ball in the south side pocket on his Table 08 break.  The 1-ball rested at middle of the head rail. Mike, with cue-ball at approximately the south side pocket, made a good hit on the 1, but it didn’t drop in the intended NW corner pocket – or any other pocket.
  2. Mike K had the decency to pick his current game-in-progress opponent for the 2nd raffle selection.  Mike H promptly sank the 7-ball on his Table 07 break shot.  The 1-ball was within breathing distance from the SW corner and the cue-ball was down table without much angle to work.  The 2-ball was mingling with the 8-ball and 4-ball near the NE corner. Mike sliced the 1 but the SW corner was not receptive.
  3. The entire raffle pot rolls over to Week 16’s party night.  And for the record, Mike K won both games 10-7 against Mike H in the league match that was interrupted.

OTHER:

  1. PhaCues scored 327 on this night to pass Double Focus and into 1st place to end the season.  Like a TV show from the past, Eight is Enough for the title.
  2. Mike M, although absent, won the overall League Top Shooter honors (1st time ever) and Julian F eked out the Top Shooter Side Pot win by outscoring Mark D by a total of 4 points and Mona T by five.
  3. Racking My Brain‘s Tom B made his season debut.
  4. One might call it a miracle, but this was our 2nd consecutive week having every team with a full set of four players.
  5. The venue’s wifi had a misfi during part of this otherwise uneventful night.