Monday, May 02, 2005
A New Week
Atlantic - Let's start at the top of the Atlantic because we finally have a Division Champion. The Outlaws survived a DQ against DreamPool in game 2 that tied the match at 1, xlx_mvp_xlx the victim of that DQ, he would also be boxed for his stupid comments when he reported. The match was your typical see-saw battle but it had to end sometime. Game 7, 3-3, Dan (PO) against Rob (DP). Dan was practically dead to right in this game until Rob intentionally potted Dan's final ball. Dan tried to force the 8 through some solids to the top right, instead he left it right in front of the pocket. Rob easily could've tipped one of his solids and go off the bottom rail and spin the cue to the other side of the table but instead he not only tried a...to be nice...less than intelligent cut, he potted the 8 while doing so. So the Outlaws get out with their 11th win, the streak continues, and uh...Hey they've clinched the top spot in the AL Atlantic Division. So say hello to your guaranteed 1 or 2 seed Pool Outlaws. Middle of the same Division, 8Ball Runners. They trailed 0-2, then 2-3 to Quez tonight but fought back well. In Game 1 Josh had a nice bank that sparked a run-out, and later in the match trailing 2-3, Miz beat former Smoking Cue smokin_dan_sc to tie it up at 3. Then who else? JJ made sure QZ had the only lead that mattered, the one at the end of 7 games as he beat copenhagen8us to get QZ out of it. Runners are now 5-7, they drop a half-game behind UnitedPool now for 4th place, who has the fortune of getting a stumbling PoolFiction team Thursday night. More Atlantic stuff let's go to the bottom of the Division. BritPool's making a late push much like StraightShots have tried. They prevailed in another 3-3 situation, where kathy_grneyes chopped down SuperbPool's top All-Star candidate T_Rocket, to give BritPool their 4th win of the season to tie last season's total (they finished 4-9.) They get out of what was technically last in the Division, they now sit a game and a half behind UnitedPool, and certainly wouldn't mind seeing PoolFiction get out of this record-low 3-week losing skid they're in. ElitePool, XPool, Wild Angels...Maybe, just maybe, they can steal 4th place in the Atlantic. If they can get their matchups straight they can be 3X more dangerous than they are right now, and they can win these final 3 matches in the Season. XPool will be a tough opponent, but hey PF was a tough opponent for HappyPool last season.
Central - Now, after all that... Quez with their narrow win over 8BR move to 10-2, increasing their lead over PoolFiction to a game and a half, and if XPool or HappyPool loses another match, Quez will clinch a Playoff spot. DreamPool's loss puts them at 7-5, 3 back in the hunt for the Division Championship which they obviously won't win, but it's a fun little stat. Also only a half-game ahead of XP and HP for 4th place...So they may want to consider uh...Winning at a bit more rapid pace before the lower half of the Central creeps up and swallows them. Their play is not that of a clear lock to reach the Playoffs, they hit a stretch where they couldn't buy a win to save their lives, then blowing the 3-0 lead to SS, Ryan and I both agree they'll make it but definately not at this pace. They had a tall order to beat a stacked PO team I know, but I'm talking about their entire season. Bottom part of the Division, SuperbPool has practically bitten the dust. They fall to 4-8 with their loss to now 4-8 BritPool, 2 and a half back from XPool and HappyPool, they really want Quez to clinch that Playoff spot this week (XPool or HP losing, preferably both.) Paris_in_flamez has again said that it's his last MLP match, explaining that now he does believe SPool is toast for the season for the 2nd time in a row, also getting knocked out after a promising run last season. I agree with him.
Mountain - Another team to clinch a Playoff spot in much more convincing fashion Absolute Finest absolutely humiliates an unprepared PF team in Advanced Lounge, winning 6-1 tonight. No suspense there. RvDBLADE saw his hopes of breaking the +16 mark held by Jammy, King James, and damn_balls_r_killn_me, as he lost to xlx_bomber_xlx, a very nice shot from Cole who has recently made a return to Pool. He still has that magic touch don't he? Impressive showing for a team that barely showed at all. Fire_wolf was easily beaten by Luis, however, Luis apparently likes Nick's attitude and wished him well in his efforts to break that outstanding +16 mark. The mark was set by Jammy originally, the Season 2 Yoda Cup was the main contributor to that streak. Fire_wolf's historic run began with his 2 vs. 2 Tour win alongside RvDBLADE. He has the option of attempting to break it Sunday night, or waiting for next Monday's match with Pool Legends. As for AF as a team, they ensure that LuckyPool cannot mathematically win the Mountain Division, and in doing so clinch a Playoff berth at 10-2. They imporve to a game and a half over PM and PH, both teams that some (including myself and Ryan) have speculated will beat out AF for the Division. Not if AF keeps this up. In lesser-relevant news Breakers Alley put up a good fight with Pool Legends early in their match, got a 1-0 lead, and tied it at 2-2, but the Legends were too much as they win it 5-2. BA falls to 1-11, they're on track to finish with their worst-ever MLP Final Record.
Pacific - PF's loss was not without a bit of lost respect. Corey was PM-bombed during his game and whined at me as he lost expecting me to do something about it. ...Remember CueKeepers vs. PoolFighters last season? Can it kid. PF won thanks in large part to CKP players getting booted. Corey actually ditched his team at 0-3, leaving Luis to finish as Captain. Luis apologized for Corey's actions which he certainly should not have needed to do. I sent a message to both captains explaining it's easy to get emotional late in the season, and I had expected them both to not let that show in their attitudes tonight. I'd say Corey did a very poor job of that, and protrayed his name (da_kid_) too well. PoolFighters are now 9-3 and not only have they lost to Division-leading Regul8ors, they are now a half-game behind them. Starting to look a little like the Central huh? But a lot of credit to Luis, stepping up and taking control of the team, and in the irrelevant game 6 (it was 4-1 AF) giving fire_wolf the chance to put his name alone at the top of the Hall of Fame should he pick up that 17th consecutive win. Pool Legends with their 5-2 win near the bottom of the Pacific, they are 5-7 and a half-game behind BeerBallers who they have beat earlier, they're not in the running to win the Pacific Division but 4-6 ChampionsPool is because they have the makeup match and are potentially 6-6. Bearskins by the way will have all their games made up by the end of next week, they have ChampionsPool this week then HotShotz next week along with their regularly scheduled matches. Oh by the way Luckydog got booted by FlyGirl and it was so fun to watch!!! :D lol. Don't worry it was after the match just for the hell of it.
So a lot of lost respect, I can't possibly respect Luis anymore than I already do unless he saved someone's life or some crazy stuff like that. Something that isn't getting as much attention as fire_wolf87's +16 streak is Pomking's back to back Cam Jump wins putting him at +13. LuckyCandi is also hanging around looking for a ticket into the HoF for win streaks, she's currently +8. So some big sreaks to watch this Sunday should they all play.
Did you know...Luckydog's Orioles aren't gonna make it to the Playoffs? :\ lol
