Thursday, May 10, 2007
Late-season Projections
AMERICAN LEAGUE
PL - 14-0 66/32
CKP 11-3 65/33
MLD 11-3 63/35
BA 7-7 45/53
CZ 6-8 47/51
PZ 4-10 38/60
LS 2-12 35/63
UNY 1-11 33/65
Cue Keepers and Malditos both won 4-3 against each other, so it comes down to overall win/loss. Breakers Alley pulls off a surprising #4 seed, because they finish with an easy schedule and Cheap Shotz continue to be barely good enough to make the Playoffs. Pool Legends win pretty convincingly the rest of the way, they likely will be THE team to beat in the AL this season.
So how do the matchups look?
WILDCARD GAME: #4 Breakers Alley vs. #5 Cheap Shotz - I think Cheap Shotz pull it together long enough to win 1 and be done. I don't think Breakers Alley can really take the best CZ has to offer, and you can bet most of CZ's best will be there. I think Cheap Shotz will win in 5, jeremy probably the lone winner for BA.
ROUND 2:
#1 Pool Legends vs. #5 Cheap Shotz - PL has their hands full with CZ's best, but I think Lucky & co. pull through with a 6-game win. They still have enough to combat whatever the unspectacular CZ throws at them, and have luckydog as the anchor at the end.
#2 Cue Keepers vs. #3 Malditos - Neither league has impressed me TOO much more than Cheap Shotz, they just win considerably more throughout the season. I like Malditos top 7 over CKP's top 7 in most cases, but those 7 aren't always in the same place at the same time. Cue Keepers will advance to the AL Championship Game in 6 to lose to Pool Legends.
#1 Pool Legends vs. #2 Cue Keepers - A true 1-2 matchup, the way the Playoffs should end in a conference. Pool Legends, too good, more than just 1 or 2 very good players, which is what CKP has, Legends will pass through in 6 games here, to face the winner of the NL Playoffs.
Who will that winner be? I'll tell you over the weekend. :)
Yahoo Pool Is Dying, But It Isn't.
Let's start with a fact. YPool is far and away THE number one game Yahoo has to offer. It's especially popular with the younger generation, because any gameroom worth a damn has a pool table, and when you combine that with a young man's constant use (and maybe overuse) of the internet... Yahoo and Pogo are the top 2 gaming sites, odds are Yahoo Pool will be extremely popular. It's not dying, not even close.
Now let's get to why we THINK it's dying. Most of the people who actually pay attention to this stuff, how long have you been around? For most of us (myself included, 2002 or even BEFORE that!) That's 5+ years of playing this game. Most of us probably started when we were what, 13? 14? Around there? Those are high-school years. Now where are we? We're in college, we have jobs, hell some have families. Our time for YPool becomes less and less. That's why not as many bigger leagues are dominant. The top-level players aren't playing as much. But you're seeing leagues with MORE players, and who LET more players play in interleagues, have more success. Why? Because it's not just the same group of 7-10 players playing every week and they're not their own exclusive club.
For US, Yahoo Pool is certainly dying. By that I mean, we're not gonna be around nearly as much as we are now as time goes on. We might be involved in SOME capacity, but not every single day, unless there are a worthwhile cause (I'm talking about money, which some competitions do award.) But new players are joining leagues every day. A LOT of new players are, and that generation WILL replace us as players, as if they haven't started to already. All you can do, literally, is accept it and go about your life, not worrying about them.
But Yahoo Pool is not dying, and for the foreseeable future, won't come close. As long as it's still fun to those who are only here to have a fun time, NOT at the expense of other people, YPool will only grow, or go through steady periods, but NEVER drastically decline.
