Sunday, February 14, 2010
After Game 7 Victories, Longtime Competitors Square Off
MATCH OF THE WEEK: Break and Run (1-0, 4/3) @ Pool Fiction (1-0, 4/3) - Thursday 6:00
Both leagues in this matchup had to come from behind and escape with wins in the final game. Pool Fiction overcame an early 0-2 disadvantage to beat Sexy Poolerz while Break and Run won a see-saw battle over Money in the Bank. Personnel for both teams may be very similar. Pool Fiction will bring its most reliable players - the likes of Miz, Brent, Pita, and Jeremy just to name a few. Break and Run will most likely bring Jordan, Stu, Jason, Tanmay and others. Just like last week's Match of the Week between BNR and MIB, this one figures to be an exciting showdown and a great way to end the week.
Pool Fiction will be in the midst of a brutal stretch of interleague matches including three matches with Money in the Bank (Pro Players Association, International Pool Association, and Major League Pool in week 3), this matchup in MLP, and many Pool Fiction players will also be competing in the upcoming Universal Interleague Competition Playoffs. PFN will turn to some established players such as Miz and Pita, while also placing faith in the newer talent. TrueBoston (Brent) hit the key shot in Pool Fiction's 4-3 win over Sexy Poolerz in Week one. He'll need to be just as sharp for Pool Fiction this week.
Break and Run may be without Captain brownie_2oo2 (Dina) who placed second in Sunday's Big League Tour. Her possible absence would be a rare sight for BNR - Dina has seldom missed a match since BNR has competed in Major League Pool. One criticism from last week's match is the placement of hotshots Stu and Jordan, who both played against the break. Jordan did not get to shoot, Stu ran a break from his opponent which failed to sink a ball. There's also the question of Luis, who won Sunday's BLT event. Luis does not play often, but if there's any time for BNR to keep an ace in the hole, it's this match.
This result will come down to matchups. I have contended all weekend that Break and Run is actually easier to matchup against than Money in the Bank. BNR is however the more talented team among those two. With BNR you have a lot of players that run well and safety well, but the two seem to be exclusive from each other. With Pool Fiction as the home team, picking out who runs well but can't safety, and who safeties without the ability to run, will be the key. In a match with such an emphasis placed on a Captain's decisions, it's hard to pick against Kerry with the luxury of managing the home side. I take the homer pick - Pool Fiction, 4-3.
Sexy Poolerz (0-1, 3/4) @ Extreme Cues (0-1, 1/6) - Monday, 7:00
Sexy Poolerz failed to hold on to a 2-0 advantage and watched that lead turn into a 3-2 deficit and a 4-3 loss to Pool Fiction. SP has added ll_plan_ll who had to be removed from last week's BNR-MIB matchup for unsportsmanlike conduct as an observer. Simon.Kitto picked up a big win to start the season for Sexy Poolerz and may be called on to do the same again. Don't expect this team to carry over success from the Big League Tour this week - SP's three players all lost in the first round.
Extreme Cues may be facing their best opportunity for a win in the first five weeks of Season 14. After getting thumped by Xtreme 8Ballers last week, EC has this match, then games at Break and Run, and home to Pool Fiction and Money in the Bank. Extreme Cues has typically been a league that loses interest and players when the going gets tough. Already ll_pro.shots_ll (Tim) has defected to Pool Fiction. EC will need to weather the storm if they are to succeed and fight for a spot in the Playoffs this season. It's a tough pick because I think Extreme Cues is better than they look. But I have Sexy Poolerz winning 4-3.
True Champs (0-1, 1/6) @ Xtreme 8Ballers (1-0, 6/1) - Tuesday, 7:00
True Champs was tied 1-1 with Latino Pool Legends when dx.fanatic (Jack) beat mvp_todd. TC then fell behind 4-1 and forfeited the final two games. Two players have since joined the True Champs squad - TC Admin RuReaper and SeanMannn. Sean had originally been invited to MLP to play for Money in the Bank but plans have changed. He'll make a difference, giving TC another player the team can rely on to pick up key wins. True Champs will still be overmatched against many of MLP's elite this season though until they get one more solid player.
Xtreme 8Ballers had a field day last week with a 6-1 win over Extreme Cues. X8B is also gearing up for the UIC Playoffs as well following a 3-2 win over top-ranked Xtreme Poolerz to close out the regular season. Things are going well for Xtreme 8Ballers, and we still haven't seen some of their best. Players like the_lvlag1cian (Ben) and l3reak_it_out (James) didn't play in week one. They'll get their time soon for sure. X8B wins this match either 5-2 or 6-1.
Straightshots (1-0, 5/2) @ Latino Pool Legends (1-0, 6/1) - Wednesday, 7:00
Straightshots is coming off a win over Ultimate Outlaws where they really weren't tested. Sourwood did lose in game one but SS rallied off five straight wins to take home their first win of the season. Pascal did not play in Week one. He'll need to this week if Straightshots is to have a chance. John_D_Singleton has been a solid player thus far as well for SS with a win last week and four wins in this week's Big League Tour. One of those wins was against Stu from BNR, which led to a loss against eventual winner luisj_barreto.
Latino Pool Legends had an even easier matchup against a five-man True Champs team. The only loss in that match was mvp_todd who probably won't lose very often this season. LPL has made the move to Under Pressure, previously occupied by the legendary 8Ball Runners league. Two of the big names from 8BR are in LPL now - Ant and MJ. Those two alone are a dangerous combination. Factor in Daru, and longtime Malditos/LPL players such as Tino, Chex, Gus, and company and you have a league that just has too much for SS to handle. Straightshots can keep this close but not close enough. Latino Pool Legends should win 5-2.
Ultimate Outlaws (0-1, 2/5) @ Money in the Bank (0-1, 3/4) - Thursday, 7:00
Ultimate Outlaws won the first and last game in a 5-2 loss to Straightshots. One could argue their best players actually lost in the middle of the match. Guys like xX_BADASS_OUTLAW_Xx (Reb) and Scientific69 (Steve) took some tough losses in week one. Ultimate Outlaws has a chance to compete this season but morale will be a factor. Following this match UO has to take on X8B, SP, BNR, PFN, EC, then TC to finish out the first half of the season. There are opportunities for wins in there. One upset could instantly make UO a Playoff contender.
Money in the Bank is simply the better team. Pommy will have his team well-prepared and reel_em_ln (Conor) will surely be eligible for action. MIB also adds the controversial _Your_God_ (Drew) to the mix. The one thing Money in the Bank can't do is just assume a victory is coming. This match is sandwiched in between Pro Players Association and IPA matches with Pool Fiction, and then MIB takes on Pool Fiction next week in Major League Pool. Business with UO comes first in MLP. I think they'll be just fine and take this match 5-2.
Congrats to Break and Run Captain, and Major League Pool Admin Dina on reaching the Finals of Sunday's Big League Tour event. With five wins before falling to Luis at the end, she improves to 110 victories. Officially, that moves Dina ahead three spots to #17 in the Hall of Fame. That comes with a "but" - Luis is on that list twice with both 123 wins as PF_xxx_lordvampire_xxx and 107 wins as BNR_luisj_barreto before recently re-joining the ladder again. Still nice to see a player who could arguably be the definition of respect and kindness in MLP achieve the success she had Sunday night. As far as records can show, Luis also collected a 17th MLP tourney victory. Nothing new there. Great to see him playing again on Sunday nights. Maybe not so great to see him playing on weeknights though. Stay classy MLP ;)
