Thursday, March 12, 2009
Mostly Dull Week Concludes With Triple-header
But tonight, three matches are on tap including a pair at 6:00. One of those early matches is the week 5 Cross-Conference Match between Lucky Shots and Sexy Poolerz. Lucky Shots will look to overcome the loss of canuck_justin to Xtreme 8Ball and the.bawbag to being boxed. Yet again, Ray made an ass of himself after losing in Sunday night's Big League Tour. LS currently sits at 1-3, which would be last in the American League if not for High Timez's 0-5 record. Sexy Poolerz holds a 2-2 record, ana half-game lead over Pool Fiction for the #4 spot in the National League. Last week, Sexy Poolerz split a pair of 4-3 decisions, beating Pool Dragonz in their week 4 matchup, but dropping a similar decision to Magic Pool in the week 3 make-up match.
The match is in Sweet Dreams, where LS is 0-2 so far this season. Every single Lucky Shots match has been a 4-3 result. Last week, the Shots finally won one of those matches, beating Cue Killers. nick_ownzz will have to continue the success he had in Sunday's Big League Tour, which he won with aggressive shooting. Somebody has to come up and try to replace Justin and Ray, and the team will have to trust that Captain simon.kitto is making the right decisions. The question is: is that possible?
For Sexy Poolerz, they have a chance to defend the #4 spot. With LS's missing players, it certainly doesn't seem like a tall order. Last week for SP, hornyscots, DumbPro, and p.ascal all won a pair of games against Pool Dragonz and Magic Pool. Those wins were not enough for the second match, but Ste's save against Pool Dragonz was critical. Sexy Poolerz Captain BostonBruins1 continues to struggle going up against some of the best players on the opposing teams - his record dropped to 1-3 after a loss to Magic Pool's lvlancunian last week.
I didn't think Lucky Shots was better than Sexy Poolerz WITH an 0-2 Justin, or a headcase like Ray dragging his team down along with him. And they certainly aren't better without them playing. Sexy Poolerz could realistically sweep this match, but I'll give LS the benefit of a couple SP bangs going the wrong way, and settle for a 5-2 Sexy Poolerz forecast.
Straight Shots plays host to Cue Killers in the second 6:00 start tonight. The match marks the first home match for SS since the embarrassing display last Wednesday night, being timed out against a 6-player Magic Pool team in All Mixed Up. Straightshots had only brought five players. SS avenged that loss by beating Lucky Shots 24 hours later, 4-3. Cue Killers shares a similar 2-2 record with Straightshots. Last week they fell 3-4 to Lucky Shots as mentioned in that outstanding fourth week in MLP.
Straightshots has a new Captain, in j4cks_baby (Nicki.) When discussing the change with me, Nigel said: "ive just said goodbye to a captain (american of course) for being the same as you." So with Nicki at the helm, the question them becomes how do the players that former Captain xlx_spit_xlx brought in react? Guys like snookrun, who have instant match-changing ability, have to decide: are they in it for the long haul, or will they leave with their Captain? Regardless, Charlie's 2-0 record can't do all the work. Cue Killers has some dangerous players, nothing amazing but they can be dangerous against players of similar skill. We'll see what new players, if any, SS has tonight.
Cue Killers is a team that is not going through any rough patches and is much more stable right now. x_x_lvlaster_lvlind_l3ehind_x_x continues to pick up big wins for CK, with two saves in the past two weeks and a 3-1 record this season. Killers Captain stealth_s07 holds a 2-1 record, most recently losing a costly game against Lucky Shots last week. These two players will need a supporting cast around them if they are to take this hugely important match. Still, confidence in a player with two saves in a row goes a long way for a team, but something has to give eventually.
This match may well go a long way in determining who is in, and who is out when week 14 rolls around. Both teams are 2-2, they're right in the middle of the pack in the American League, and they're both very similar - a good player or two, and then very little behind it. If Charlie shows up to play for SS, they become an instant favorite. But if not, I like Cue Killers in a 4-3 result.
And in the finale tonight, Magic Pool and winless Pool Dragonz get underway at 7:00. Magic Pool enjoyed a 5-2 win in bizarre fashion over Straightshots, and a 4-3 win over Sexy Poolerz last week. Pool Dragonz... Well, as mentioned, they're 0-4 and any chances of Playoff contention are fading fast. Magic Pool has a chance to create a 3-way tie for first place between themselves, Pool Legends and Xtreme 8Ball should they win tonight.
Magic Pool will have the usual suspects - lvlancunian, xlx_skill_xlx, and legend.skillz who played and won a pair of games last week. Magic Pool has gone through a rough patch back in PLC, while they were winning those matches in MLP. They lost two matches to 8Ball Runners and Pool Fiction by a combined 1-13. But PLC is an entirely different interleague. The question will be for Magic Pool: which team will show up? The struggling .500 version, or the standout season type?
Pool Dragonz... They're gonna have a tough time matching up with MP. Their only hope really seems to be, MP taking it easy on them and letting some of the big guns sit so the bad players can get some games in and add some possible Playoff depth. In four matches, PDZ has not even managed to reach double-digits. sicc_ace_with_extreme_bass is not to blame - he holds a 3-1 record while rebs.angel is 2-0. But when you look at the stats, you see a lot of 0-2, 0-3, 1-3, etc. If Pool Fiction catches fire, and Sexy Poolerz stays with them, it could take 8 or 9 wins to make the Playoffs in the National League. PDZ needs to start stringing upsets together otherwise they'll be around merely to play spoiler by week 9.
No mystery here - MP is better, look for subtle differences in how they do things against a weaker team as opposed to Pool Legends, Pool Fiction, etc. And look for a big win, 5-2 or possibly 6-1.
