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No Contest Monday Night

2010-05-10T20:53:00.001-07:00

What were expected to be tightly contested matches turned into a pair of matches with a combined 13-1 score.

Break and Run rolled right through a struggling Straightshots team to start the night off. Kazi provided the only win for Straightshots when he beat Kalpz from Break and Run. Big League Tour runner-up Stu picked up his tenth win of the season by taking down MVP candidate tonzmaniac. king_hustler2004 of MadSkillz fame made his return to Major League Pool after a two year hiatus and was greeted rudely by CK in his debut.

A 6-1 victory for BNR means an 11-3 record and a six match win streak. At 64/34 they move to within a half-game of Xtreme 8 Ball for the top spot. X8B held off Break and Run for a 4-3 victory on March 29. On May 31 the two teams will go at it again in the second to last week of the season. The regular season championship could be on the line. In the immediate future, BNR will have a week off.

The loss for Straightshots means a drop to 9-5 on the season with a 55/43 record. Straightshots holds an important head to head advantage over Pool Fiction with a 4-3 win in the first half of the season. Oh by the way, if PFN wins against True Champs this week the matchup between SS and Pool Fiction would break a tie in the standings.

Sexy Poolerz got wins from, well... Everyone while sweeping Ultimate Outlaws right out of Major League Pool. It got ugly quick when astro61200 was called to play after saying he was not ready to play at the time. Scott lost his game to freak.ofpool and withdrew from MLP following his report. Aaron and SP Captain Pete finished the Outlaws off in games five and six and the seventh game was a forfeit.

"can't get them to play or they get pissed," Ultimate Outlaws Captain bud6745 said after the match. "So we'll just wait until next season. I will get some that will play by then."

Ultimate Outlaws finishes the season with the worst record in MLP. Two wins against 12 losses and a 31/67 record. Next up would have been a match with Break and Run. Bud insists next season will be completely different with players who want to compete for the full season.

Sexy Poolerz jumps back into the playoff hunt at 4-10. SP is still a game and a half back of Extreme Cues for the sixth seed and will not get to face them again this season. After a 5-2 victory in week two, SP was swept by Extreme Cues in the rematch giving EC the head to head advantage. Up next for Sexy Poolerz is Latino Pool Legends.

May Begins With Top Five Against Bottom Five

2010-05-02T20:53:00.000-07:00

There really, truly, honestly is not a single match this week that looks like a must-see. The match between Pool Fiction and Extreme Cues has some moderate interest because of some boneheaded admin who wants to hold a grudge against a former co-captain and we're still waiting for Sexy Poolerz to rally the troops together and make a massive lunge for the #6 seed but aside from that it's a very... Meh week.

But because I can't blow off predictions for the second week in a row here's a bit about Sexy Poolerz and Straightshots. Last week Straightshots got re-acquainted with top-ranked Xtreme 8Ball and got squashed 6-1. Really uncharacteristic of SS with the way they've played this season to only take one game against any league, even X8B. But they aren't the first and certainly won't be the last of X8B's victims. Straightshots is in a tie with pool Fiction for the fourth seed while Sexy Poolerz sits one game out of a tie for sixth place. ANYONE in the bottom five who wins this week gives themself a significant push towards contention. At full strength SP can absolutely compete with Straightshots. Given Sexy Poolerz hasn't had that more than (maybe) once all season, I can only assume Straightshots will be all set. SS wins 5-2.

Break and Run is good, True Champs is tied with three other leagues for the worst win/loss record in Major League Pool (30/54). Think about that. If it comes down to win/loss records (remember Head to Head is the first tiebreaker used in most scenarios) then these four teams would need to make up NINE games on Extreme Cues to have a chance. Break and Run and Latino Pool Legends each have identical match and win/loss records, and both are certainly still in contention for the top seed. Considering X8B plays Ultimate Outlaws this week it's a safe bet anyone in the top five who loses this week can just about kiss their shot at the #1 seed goodbye. As for a prediction on this match, True Champs can hang with Break and Run. They have some unique players who have really jumped into the spotlight over the past few months in interleagues. If there's going to be a big upset this week it would happen here. With that said BNR is still one of the top dogs and one of the most talented teams MLP has seen in recent seasons. True Champs give them a scare, but BNR survives with a 4-3 win.

Xtreme 8Ball a lot, Ultimate Outlaws not a lot.

Extreme Cues put a little extra preparation in before their first match with Pool Fiction. A cue control tournament right before the match helped EC grab an early lead but PFN found a little 4-3 magic yet again and escaped with a 4-0 record. Now Pool Fiction sits in fifth while Extreme Cues leads the race for the #6 seed. Of the top five leagues PFN holds the worst record (8-4, 47/37). Extreme Cues as mentioned before is nine games clear of the pack below with 39 wins. But True Champs holds that all-important head-to-head tiebreaker with a 4-3 win back on March 18th. This will be the first time AJ faces Extreme Cues since he and noob.ology left following a dispute with Admin Victoria_7K. I don't necessarily think EC has gotten too much worse following the disagreements though I certainly can't imagine they've improved. Pool Fiction should be all set but "should" is a dangerous word with this team. Most likely another 4-3 win for PFN, accounting for Murphy's Law.

If anybody is actually able to play after cinco de mayo the so-called Latino Pool Legends will take on Major League Pool newcomers t8breturns. What t8b is and what they're returning from is anybody's guess but they basically took over the defunct Pool Legends room and have replaced Money in the Bank. You may recall MIB quit following make-believe psycopath Richard's claim that MLP Admins were ignoring him and not available to send invites to players. This was a move destined to happen when Pommy and company left the league and Rich was left to prove he was more capable of running a team without drama than Pool Fiction's Kerryanne. Obviously that worked out quite well. I'm really stretching for info here because the only relevant details for this match are as follows: LPL is tied with Break and Run for second place right now. t8breturns lost 5-2 to Pool Fiction last week partly due to early Cam DQs and partly due to... Well they were facing Pool Fiction in their first MLP match. They'll get that squared away and rest assured they will compete this season and give Extreme Cues and True Champs a fight for that 6th seed. Remember it was Pool Legends which made its MLP debut taking over a hideous record and riding it all the way to the World Series. There are at least some similarities but the talrnt disparity may prove to be the decisive difference. Either way, LPL's better they'll win 5-2.

Next week TWO top-five matchups and a chance for t8breturns to really make Extreme Cues sweat as they square off on Thursday night. Week 14 is Major League Pool's version of moving day and you can catch nightly updates right here on MLP Sports Center :D But until then try to keep your mind on the matches this week because one slip-up could make about four ranks of difference in the Standings. Stay Classy MLP.

Latino Pool Legends Seeks Revenge

2010-04-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

I had mentioned the Break and Run-Pool Fiction matchup would likely be Match of the Week. I lied. Over the past week another match has won my attention.

MATCH OF THE WEEK: Latino Pool Legends (7-3, 42/28) @ Straightshots (8-2, 46/24) - Wednesday, 7:00

This is the match which told everyone Straightshots is a serious competitor for the title. Since Straightshots beat LPL 4-3 in week two both teams have gained a lot more talent. They've also lost some, but not a whole lot. On one side you have an MVP candidate in tonzmaniac accompanied by Pita and Pascal. On the other side you have a team which falls behind quite often but fires back with los tres dirigieron el gigante of Ant-MJ-Simon. Nicki gets to decide who will take those three on, not forgetting of course the likes of Daru and Todd.

Again the big factor in this match will be LPL's start. If LPL falls behind early Straightshots has the kind of depth not many other teams have. You won't see Straightshots collapse as Xtreme 8 Ball and Pool Fiction did with near-decisive leads over Latino Pool Legends. But on the other hand LPL has players that are due to break out. Tino comes to mind. I like Straightshots top to bottom, but I think this time around the real Latinos set the table to the big guns to seal the deal. LPL wins this showdown 4-3.

Now you may be wondering why the BNR-PFN match isn't getting all the love this week. Going into last weekend Pool Fiction had won its last four overall interleague matches in mostly dominating fashion. That was against Extreme Pool Competitors, Sexy Poolerz, Xtreme 8 Ball, and The Cue Controls. Now PFN looks at a -3 streak, with losses over the weekend to Magic Pool, Addicted Pool, and International Cue Addiction. It's tough to go 0-for-the-weekend and then face Break and Run on a Monday.

And remember Monday is BNR's best day. All but a few matches are scheduled for Monday and you can bet on a star-studded lineup from BNR. Stu ran a line right through pro.jeremy in Sunday's Big League Tour after Jeremy had taken down Ross. In fact there were five BNR-PFN matchups in the tournament. BNR took 3 of the 5, with one being the best of 3 finals. Neither team is really in jeopardy of falling out of the top five but I do think Break and Run will play this one tougher to send a message and, like LPL, get revenge. BNR starts the week off with a result that will shock more people than it should - a 5-2 win.

Sexy Poolerz finds itself in the awkward position of falling out of playoff contention. While only a game out of 6th place at 2-8 SP has been swept and has also taken some nasty beatings this season. A woeful 25/45 record for the reigning MLP Fives Champions is surprisingly not deadly... Yet. This week they take on Extreme Cues. This is a golden opportunity for SP to get right back into the chase. Extreme Cues is the best team in the lower half of MLP and will, in all likelihood, be the #6 seed. But they still have to earn that. A win here would likely spell the end for Sexy Poolerz and I think EC will put the final nail in SP's coffin. EC to win it 5-2.

The other two matches are just... Well... Xtreme 8 Ball can almost take the week off against True Champs. Pommy makes a difference but he doesn't have much help around him. And unlike in MLP Fives, he can't do all the work himself. So X8B likely wins something like 5-2 or 6-1.

Ultimate Outlaws can be competitive with Money in the Bank I suppose. Astro61200 has returned and may help UO a little bit. Wins from Sexy Poolerz and Xtreme 8 Ball would give UO a glimmer of hope if they can start stringing W's together. MIB isn't exactly a scary team but they do have the competitive edge Ultimate Outlaws lacks. I think the Outlaws will run into a few good strokes of fortune and take this one. This is a team that's due for something good. A 4-3 win for UO is a nice start.

Extreme Cues Looking For Third Straight Win

2010-04-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

So due to power failures and other things like... Life, no spotlight on the lower half of MLP. But hey when they start springing upsets maybe they'll get more attention!

MATCH OF THE WEEK: Xtreme 8 Ball (8-1, 46/17) @ Extreme Cues (3-6, 27/36) - Thursday, 7:00

If there was ever any doubt that X8B was the best team in Major League Pool this season it was erased last week when they finished the first half of the season in style. A 6-1 beatdown of Pool Fiction to improve to a ridiculous 46/17. Only Latino Pool Legends has beaten Xtreme 8 Ball this season, when X8B blew a 3-1 lead. The usual suspects are still sporting obscene records. Corey, Adam, Conor, Ross, 18 weeks is a marathon. They're halfway through and threatening to run away from the rest of the field. It looks like the only thing that can come close to stopping them is burnout.

Extreme Cues knocked off that LPL team last week, adding to a very strange week at the halfway mark. In that match Croz lost, Si lost, MJ lost. At least Croz fell to Daru. Extreme Cues have gone through a rough transition with a new Admin essentially running out a top player and at the same time, two former Co-Captains. But they've recovered and proved it's not a big deal at all. EC has a Sexy Poolerz feel to them. Sporadic, unpredictable, up and down, they're capable of winning 5-2 and capable of losing 7-0 this week.

So I'll find the middle ground somewhere. I think X8B's best is better than EC's best. I'm not exactly convinced EC is as good as last week's result shows, but they are the best team competing for the #6 seed. X8B has proved to be too much thus far however. The first time around it was 6-1 and X8B used their weak squad. This time around they'll actually put effort into it and win 5-2 or 6-1 again.

The only other match this week that really grabs my attention is the one I'm attached to. Pool Fiction gets Sexy Poolerz again and this time they'll have to do it without Miz. Miz, as you may recall, threw a fit following his loss in the match last week against Xtreme 8 Ball and was boxed for 7 days. Miz's ego has taken a real bashing over the past few weeks. Pool Fiction as a team has struggled mightily with SP. And this one could be real trouble for PFN.

SP swept Xtreme Poolerz, with many of PFN's current players 6-0 in the World Pool Championship, and most recently tallied a 5-0 decision in the Global Interleague Trophy competition. With only two wins this season it's tough to call SP a threat but whenever they play Pool Fiction they come prepared. Round 1 went to Pool Fiction 4-3 with Miz being the difference in game 7. I don't think either team has gotten better or worse, but I still believe PFN is the better team. And should win 4-3 again.

The other matches are just dull and uninteresting.

Straightshots handled Ultimate Outlaws the first time around. With Brandon and Jordan on-board for a while it looked like this would be a real exciting match. But now UO is all alone at 1-8 and in desperate need of a win. But they don't have anyone available that Straightshots Captain Nicki would say "oh boy, I gotta watch out for this one!" I'm not exactly saying Pita can take the night off, but there isn't much to talk about in this match. SS is flat-out better and should win at least 5-2.

The first time around between Money in the Bank and Break and Run it was an exciting 4-3 finish with a bizarre 7th game. Well nobody who played in that match for MIB is around anymore and although the record has improved the quality of play has not. Since the breakup MIB has beaten True Champs and Sexy Poolerz. The other win was a 4-3 comeback win against Ultimate Outlaws. They were capable of beating those 3 and more before Head Admin/Captain Rich accused Pommy of throwing the match. In fact they proved they were capable of beating Break and Run as well. Not anymore. BNR still has all the big guns except Jordan but as you recall he was ran off the break and wasn't a factor anyways. MIB has added some players since the split but the only good one to transfer in was NiceBoyyy (a different Rich.) Dina can cycle a couple of the top guns out if she chooses. BNR takes it 5-2.

That leaves Latino Pool Legends and True Champs. I won't waste any more time than I need to on this. Jack is playing decent lately and Pommy is still Pommy. And if those two win, LPL will have to settle for a 5-2 win. It wasn't close last time, LPL only got a hundred times better since then while TC added Pommy. The so-called Latinos win huge.

Spotlight: Top Half, Halfway.

2010-04-04T21:18:00.000-07:00

This is more of a personal commentary on the first eight weeks of the Major League Pool season rather than a traditional prediction post.

As we come up on the halfway point in the season it's only proper we look at the top team Xtreme 8 Ball. With three of the strongest performers so far this season (Corey, Adam, Ross) the 7-1 record shouldn't be a surprise. But X8B has done it while everyone below has been jockeying for position. This week they play Pool Fiction. It's entirely possible that the top five leagues could all be tied at 7-2 by the end of that match. The lone loss came from Latino Pool Legends when LPL pulled off the first of two impressive comebacks already. The most impressive part of this season so far for X8B is the 40/16 overall record. That's six games clear of both LPL and Straightshots. There are plenty of 6-1s and 7-0s on the schedule so far, and as we head into the second half I don't think there's any reason to believe the results will be too different except for the Sexy Poolerz rematch.

Latino Pool Legends, Straightshots, and Pool Fiction all sit at 6-2. Of those three only LPL has lost to a team that is not in the top six. Sexy Poolerz jumped out to a 3-0 lead over LPL and held on for a 4-3 win. Latino Pool Legends has been the comeback team so far. If not for an uncharacteristic scratch from Si in game six LPL may well have pulled off four in a row to come back and steal that match. LPL fell behind Xtreme 8 Ball 3-1 before handing X8B their only loss of the season. And last week Pool Fiction fell victim to a sweep of games 4-7 and watched LPL erase a 0-3 deficit. With Ant, MJ, Si and Daru all on the same team Latino Pool Legends is automatically a contender. Just by playing the numbers alone you could realistically assume LPL will win as long as two of those four win. And when you know for certain three of the games you have break, things get really easy.

But Straightshots is actually the second place team in Major League Pool. With 4-3 wins over Latino Pool Legends and Pool Fiction SS has exceeded expectations. One might look at all the transfers as a sign of Straightshots' success. But the truth is this team beat Latino Pool Legends without any of that help. The first transfer came with Pita switched from Pool Fiction on February 23rd. Six days earlier SS took down Latino Pool Legends. Then came MMike and Matt from Money in the Bank. Pita and Mike have certainly made a difference but all they've done is make an outstanding team a great team. Straightshots is here to stay and they have the feel of a team that could give this league the most successful season in a while.

Pool Fiction rounds out the three-way tie at 6-2. PFN has contributed greatly to the stat which defines MLP's most exciting season so far: There have been 22 matches ending with a 4-3 result and 17 of those matches were decided in the seventh game. Pool Fiction has had three deciders in their six 4-3 decisions so far. Miz has been the workhorse for Pool Fiction thus far. Brian and Brent have also performed well for Pool Fiction, each coming up with important wins in the early weeks where PFN went through a long stretch of 4-3 results. Some of those teams will be weaker the second time through the lineup. But the elites such as Break and Run will be just as tough. 12 or 13 wins may be the most realistic outlook for many teams. Especially those caught up in this cluster near the top of the standings.

The last team highlighted in this particular article is Break and Run. While it might be a surprise Break and Run already has three losses it isn't a huge deal when you look at who beat BNR. Pool Fiction, Latino Pool Legends and Xtreme 8 Ball are responsible for the three BNR losses. At the start of the season it looked like BNR would hold the top seed from start to finish. The losses are all 4-3 decisions and BNR still has a core of Stu, Luis, and Tanmay. Like LPL, you have to assume a win is coming when at least two of those players are on their game. In all the years I've been around, I'm pretty sure I can count on my hands the number of big mistakes those three players have made - COMBINED - in interleague matches. I think it's a fair assumption BNR's second half will be much better than the first. Especially when you consider Money in the Bank is only two matches behind them right now. Of course the top six make it into the Playoffs so BNR is probably more worried about the teams tied at 2-6.

Speaking of those teams, later in the week those leagues will have their five paragraphs of fame. The reasons for their struggles aren't all necessarily in the open, or on the tables. What needs to change for these leagues to take that number six seed? You'll just have to wait to find out ;)

Stay classy, MLP.

Showdown Marks End of March

2010-03-28T19:02:00.000-07:00

In a month with twelve matches scheduled on Monday nights it's actually the lone match on Wednesday night which takes center stage in week eight. With apologies to Xtreme 8 Ball and Break and Run which will likely be a very entertaining match in its own right, Pool Fiction and Latino Pool Legends have a slightly more interesting matchup. Whether or not it's conscious or unconscious bias, you decide.

MATCH OF THE WEEK: Latino Pool Legends (5-2, 30/19) @ Pool Fiction (6-1, 30/19) - Wednesday, 7:00

The last time Pool Fiction played a Pro Players Association match on the same night as a Major League Pool match they won the 5v5 match which put them into the Playoffs. Unfortunately due to the more complex nature of a carry match PFN had to shuffle things around against Straightshots in MLP. Through seven weeks that's the only loss of the season for Pool Fiction. Latino Pool Legends has a pair of 4-3 losses but an equal overall record. LPL took down Break and Run last week following their worst match in a long time, falling to Sexy Poolerz.

Pool Fiction will play Freedom on the same night in the second of two interleague matches between the two leagues. Last time things got tricky for PFN and, thanks also to the strong play of Straightshots, the previously unbeaten team had finally fallen. Pool Fiction followed that up by pounding on an Ultimate Outlaws team rocked by drama as both Jordan and Brandon left over disputes with upper staff. This week Pool Fiction will face a much greater test in two interleagues. And there's some concern Miz will not be available for the match. On a positive note for PFN, they gain former Extreme Cues Co-Captain ___imaj___ and his 5-2 record.

Latino Pool Legends typically doesn't like playing on Monday nights while Break and Run has all but a few matches scheduled for the start of each week. But LPL knocked off BNR last week thanks to the foursome of Ant, MJ, Todd, and Si. Tino continues to struggle as he falls back towards the .500 mark but that just means he's due to snap out of his slump very soon. MJ on the other hand continues his stretch of strong play. He's 4-0 and earned a place in the Big League Tour Tournament of Champions at the end of the season with his runner-up performance Sunday night.

I think Pool Fiction has too much going against them to take on a team as tough as Latino Pool Legends. Mostly everyone on the LPL team is on fire while PFN will have to change things around from what the ideal plan may be based on what happens in the Pro Players Association. Ant in particular will be looking for revenge after failing in both the eighth and ninth games against PFN in the final week of the 5v5 (a DQ kept him alive for game nine.) This has potential to get ugly, but LPL hands PFN a 2nd 4-3 loss in 3 weeks.

True Champs (2-5, 15/34) @ Straightshots (5-2, 29/20) - Monday, 6:00

The week begins with a match which can pretty much be described by looking at the standings so I won't go too far into this. Straightshots has exceeded everyone's expectations in the first half of season 14 and the boost provided by Mike and Matt from Money in the Bank will eventually make itself visible. Matt finally won his first game of the season last week with the match in-hand against Extreme Cues, part of a 5-2 SS win. True Champs is part of a 3-way race which is starting to separate itself from the bottom two teams Ultimate Outlaws and Extreme Cues for the #6 seed. True Champs absolutely needs a win against one of the top contenders but it won't come this week. Pita and company are just too strong from top to bottom. Straightshots wins 5-2.

Sexy Poolerz (2-5, 19/30) @ Money in the Bank (2-5, 21/28) - Monday, 7:00

This match is actually more interesting than the other two bigtime matches on the schedule this week. MIB has the highest win/loss record of the teams tied at 2-5 but Sexy Poolerz is arguably playing the best right now. A 5-0 win for SP in the Global Interleague Trophy over Pool Fiction Sunday afternoon gives SP a nice confidence boost heading into a match which could have huge Playoff implications over the next three months. Money in the Bank will have to yet again deal with drama coming in. lxl_l3anker_lxl was removed from the league over the weekend. He had been MIB's Co-Captain in the International Pool Association and took over in a match earlier that day against Pool Fiction. The new MIB is decent, but Sexy Poolerz has things working pretty well for them and I think they're pissed off following an 0-7 sweep against Xtreme 8 Ball last week. SP wins this match either 4-3 or 5-2.

Xtreme 8 Ball (6-1, 36/13) @ Break and Run (5-2, 29/20) - Monday, 7:00

Xtreme 8 Ball absolutely destroyed Sexy Poolerz last week and took an enormous lead in the overall standings. But now X8B enters a particularly difficult pair of matches. This week, Break and Run. Next week, Pool Fiction. And naturally the season finishes the same way for X8B. These next two weeks are when we'll see how X8B truly stacks up against the top dogs in MLP. Following last week's sweep it's nearly impossible to find any criticisms for Xtreme 8 Ball. Go_Deep__, A_D_A_M__ and kingvaughan picked up wins and those three are the biggest reasons X8B is where it is so far. Oh by the way Ben and James do still exist. It isn't just Corey, Adam, and Ross.

Break and Run lost last week at the hands of Latino Pool Legends. But they still hold a strong win/loss record and with a win could really put a dent in Xtreme 8 Ball's lead in overall wins. Also remember the primary tiebreaker in a two-way tie is head to head. This match could go a long way in determining who holds the #1 seed in June. In the loss to LPL, Jase and Stu still improved their records as did Palp.

With a total of five players in the MLP top ten it's no secret why this is also a matchup to watch this week. Both teams have numerous players who are capable of going off at any time and finishing with a grand run. Luis reminded us all how good he is during yet another dominant Big League Tour performance Sunday night. I like Break and Run in this battle of potential #1 seeds. But ultimately this match will turn on the smallest mistake from either side. BNR to win, 4-3.

Extreme Cues (1-6, 18/31) @ Ultimate Outlaws (1-6, 18/31) - Tuesday, 7:00

This match might get an audience simply by virtue of being the only match on Tuesday night. Both teams have been awful. Both teams have lost key components (UO: Jordan and Brandon. EC: AJ.) Between the two leagues in the past week they have lost players with a combined 10-6 record. Granted Jordan and Brandon didn't make a huge difference in their limited time in Ultimate Outlaws but when you're 18-31 and lose any significant talent the light at the end of the tunnel starts to fade. EC still has talented players but those players need to show up on a regular basis and prove they can carry the load. Having potential just means you don't have anything worthwhile right now. It's simple math: When Croz goes 1-4, and he's your best player, and nobody else is there to pick up the slack... You don't do very well. Both teams got pounded last week and thank god for both of them they play each other. 3-3 draw with a double-DQ I can't bring myself to pick a winner my brain doesn't process basement brawls at 11PM.

Stay Classy MLP.

Heavyweights Headline Monday Trifecta

2010-03-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

Players in Monday night's matchup between Break and Run and Latino Pool Legends have lists of awards which stretch longer than some people's resumes. Nine 8brcam championships over the past two years and a finalist in this season's Division A Championship provides the foundation for what could be the best match of the entire season.

MATCH OF THE WEEK: Break and Run (5-1, 26/16) @ Latino Pool Legends (4-2, 26/16) - Monday, 7:00

Both leagues have identical overall records with the only match losses between the two being 4-3 results. Latino Pool Legends has the worst of the three losses. Last week a quick early 8 started LPL down a slippery slope which led to a 3-0 deficit to Sexy Poolerz. LPL managed to get it back to 3-2 but xxl_machine_lxx scratched uncharacteristically and hornyscots finished the job in game six. The other loss came to Straightshots in week two. Break and Run also lost in week two but hasn't lost since.

Break and Run is home to three Big League Tour winners. luisj_barreto won two weeks in a row and luckyslam4 won this week's tournament. BNR's interleague competition is limited compared to the rest of the top leagues in Major League Pool. The only other interleague BNR competes in is the Pro Players Association where it holds an 8-1 record and the number one seed in the upcoming playoffs.

Latino Pool Legends also has a BLT Champion this season. xxl_machine_lxx won last week's tournament. After last week's loss to Sexy Poolerz it's a safe bet LPL will play with significant improvement. Simon's loss in game six last week was his first in five matches. Simon is virtually a lock to win at least 75% of his games this season and in important matches it's no secret how reliable mvp_sicc and LegendaryAsshole are. TlNO_NlCA has slipped lately so his performance early on against BNR could also prove to be a key wildcard in the upcoming match.

Overall it's difficult to get a read on LPL. There's almost no doubt they'll be a playoff team at the end of this 18 week odyssey so pointing out some key members may not be at the top of their game isn't necessarily a concern. LPL's players will bring their best performance against teams like Break and Run and Pool Fiction but not against teams they believe are far below their level. So for this week I think it'll be an outstanding match with enough talent to fill out an all-star team between these two teams alone. I think BNR is more consistent and individually playing better right now. So in a match that will hinge on every miscue and most of the shots I'll take BNR to win 4-3.

Money in the Bank (1-5, 17/25) @ True Champs (2-4, 12/30) - Monday, 7:00

It will not take long for aka_pomking to take on the Captain and Head Admin who accused him of telling his team to lose intentionally the night Money in the Bank imploded. True Champs has a pair of wins despite having by far the worst overall games record. Naturally there are plenty of zeros in the wins column for the players. True Champs beat Extreme Cues last week despite yet another disqualification over a recording to pick up its second win of the season. That win came two weeks after being the first and only team to be swept this season. With the addition of Pommy TC has the opportunity to make a lightning quick turnaround.

Money in the Bank has also played slightly better despite not having the results to show for it. vmirosavic@ymail.com picked up a win in a recent Big League Tour and MIB is off to a 2-0 start in Sunday's Global Interleague Trophy competition. The question becomes: can Money in the Bank translate recent weekend success to weekday interleague success? A new-look team will take on its former Captain Pommy and that gives SMOOTHTHUNDER even more reason to grab a win this week. But I think True Champs, with Pommy added, is the better team overall and you'll start to see that win/loss record even out a little. TC wins this one 4-3 or 5-2.

Straightshots (4-2, 24/18) @ Extreme Cues (1-5, 16/26) - Monday, 7:00

A scheduling conflict was resolved last week which set this matchup at the current time. Extreme Cues is coming off a severe low following a loss to True Champs last week. EC has played the top dogs fairly well but against the mid-level teams in MLP it has been a different story. Coming up on the halfway point having just one win is not a good formula for success and some of the big players in Extreme Cues have to understand this. Otherwise they look like Money in the Bank when they had a loaded roster - extreme underachievers.

Straightshots gave Pool Fiction its first loss of the season last week in the sixth game when xsoubanhx downed his former team. This is a match where SS can't bring a second unit and sleep on Extreme Cues. They'll still need Pita and tonzmaniac to do their thing and leafed_leafs could be called on after reaching the final round of Sunday's tournament. A weaker team means an opportunity to tell AssholeDude to take the week off without giving the impression he's being benched. Matt is 0-5 this season when expectations for a player such as him are much greater. In two of those games he didn't get to shoot after the break. But in the three other games it just hasn't worked. Whatever SS does I think it'll be hard for them to lose. Straightshots should be able to win 5-2.

Sexy Poolerz (2-4, 19/23) @ Xtreme 8 Ball (5-1, 29/13) - Tuesday, 6:00

Statistically the best team in Major League Pool, Xtreme 8 Ball also has the number one ranked player. Go_Deep__ is the only 5-0 player this season and will look to continue his streak Tuesday night. Last week X8B took care of business and xll_chokeaholic_llx made his season 14 debut with the clinching win. X8B is also led by 4-1 performances from kingvaughan and A_D_A_M__. Like straightshots, X8B can't afford to take it easy against a team which is better than its record shows.

Sexy Poolerz rocketed ahead to a 3-0 lead over Latino Pool Legends and held off a comeback effort to win 4-3. hornyscots got the clincher in game six. Sexy Poolerz has done this every season except MLP Fives - play every match close and play well enough to hang around in playoff contention. This season they're 2-4 but only four games below .500. Sexy Poolerz is always hit or miss which makes the team impossible to read. So I'll have to take the safe pick and take X8B 4-3.

Ultimate Outlaws (1-5, 17/25) @ Pool Fiction (5-1, 24/18) - Tuesday, 7:00

Last week Ultimate Outlaws took Break and Run to game seven before falling for the fifth time. But the common theme at the bottom of the standings in March is improvement. True Champs has improved with the addition of Pommy. Money in the Bank has played stronger as a whole team lately despite the breakup. Ultimate Outlaws been improving since xlx_skill_xlx became Captain. Jordan and his Magic Pool teammate sir.attitude, from MIB, have added depth to a team which badly needed it. Now UO is competitive and with a signature win this week could really turn things around.

Pool Fiction lost for the first time last week against Straightshots. It was the end of a particularly ugly stretch of matches for PFN. Pool Fiction again plays two matches on the same night but this week it's a World Pool Championship match and not a match with a carry format. Pool Fiction lost three times to Jordan in WPC's Sunday Cam Cup and will face him for the second time this season. PFN has struggled against Jordan whether he has been with Lucky Shots or Magic Pool. I think Pool Fiction has a lot more depth than Ultimate Outlaws in terms of reliable players. But those players will need to take this game a real test rather than just another game. I think UO does keep it close, but PFN wins 4-3.

jmunoz3rd will umpire Tuesday night's match between Ultimate Outlaws and Pool Fiction. Jesse returns to the Major League Pool Admin Team yet again and will give MLP a more diverse Admin team. Before Jesse's return three of MLP's seven admins represented Pool Fiction which made for difficult scheduling and replacement when someone could not umpire a PFN match.

It's a week full of teams trying to prove they've made significant improvements and personal rivalries galore. Looks like a lot of fun.

Stay classy MLP.

Major League Pool Legends Duel In Week Six

2010-03-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

The two leagues that have played the longest in Major League Pool will headline an otherwise uneventful week.

MATCH OF THE WEEK: Pool Fiction (5-0, 21/14) @ Straightshots (3-2, 20/15) - Monday, 7:00

Both leagues are very familiar with 4-3 decisions and decisive seventh games. Pool Fiction won its first four matches by a 4-3 margin and picked up game seven victories from msc_masta in three of them. Straightshots has a pair of 4-3 losses both decided in the seventh game.

Last week Pool Fiction had its 4-3 victory streak ended with a 5-2 win over True Champs. But in that win Miz took his first loss of the season. Miz got over that fairly quickly and nearly carried PFN single-handedly into the Pro Players Association Playoffs later that week. BLUE_STUNNER was originally scheduled to play last week but was a late scratch. Tim has since withdrawn from both Pool Fiction and Major League Pool. Because Tim already switched from Extreme Cues to PFN after the opening week he cannot rejoin and play for anyone other than PFN.

Straightshots knows what it's like to have people come and go. Recently Nigel left Straightshots to join International Cue Addiction competing in Global Interleague Trophy. Last week SS welcomed in ta.lent and ReallyBigAssNegro from Money in the Bank while losing co-Captain nullified to Extreme Cues. xsoubanhx has stepped in to replace Shannon. For the time being Mike is still an active part of the Straightshots team. He had indicated last week he was even willing to go to any other team except SS because he didn't feel he could stand to stay the rest of the season. Because of the league switch Mike is stuck there and seems to have smoothed out whatever issues existed.

Straightshots and Pool Fiction have traded off results in the World Pool Championship. PFN won a couple weeks ago 4-2 in the main 6v6 division while Straightshots picked up a 3-2 win in the 3v3 best of 5 sub-division. Pool Fiction is the favorite but has lost its last four interleague matches coming in and plays both the final week of the Pro Players Association's regular season and this match at the same time. Straightshots will rely heavily on ReallyBigAssNegro who carried the team in Sunday's win over PFN. With help from Pita and the rest of SS's strong supporting cast this should be a very close affair. I think the losing skid ends just in time for MLP and Pool Fiction improves to 6-0 with another 4-3 win.

Ultimate Outlaws (1-4, 14/21) @ Break and Run (4-1, 22/13) - Monday, 6:00

Break and Run hasn't lost yet in three matches at home this season. This is the first chance BNR gets to see xlx_skill_xlx after he left the team to become the Captain for Ultimate Outlaws. After a thriller last week with Straightshots zl_stu_lz and company figure to have a significantly easier night taking on a team that has only won one match so far.

But you can't necessarily sleep on Ultimate Outlaws. This is the same team that without Jordan took Money in the Bank to the seventh game before the team imploded. Last week the Outlaws picked up their first win by breezing past Sexy Poolerz 5-2. If Jordan and his new acquisition sir.attitude can keep things going UO could very well contend for the sixth seed in this season's Playoffs. But this week it's too tall an order for them. Break and Run should win this one at least 5-2.

Xtreme 8 Ball (4-1, 24/11) @ Money in the Bank (1-4, 15/20) - Tuesday, 7:00

The records say it all. While this might've been a much better match before MIB split up I still thought Xtreme 8 Ball was the better team. After picking up a major victory in the Pro Players Association over Latino Pool Legends X8B will look to rebound after blowing a 3-1 lead to that same LPL squad. Money in the Bank did knock off Pool Fiction 3-2 despite a disqualification in Global Interleague Trophy and has also sent a player to the Big League Tour finals twice in consecutive weeks. But realistically in a match play setting X8B is just better and should win 5-2.

Latino Pool Legends (4-1, 23/12) @ Sexy Poolerz (1-4, 15/20) - Tuesday, 7:00

Neither match in Tuesday night's doubleheader seems to be very exciting. xxl_machine_lxx moved to Latino Pool Legends from Money in the Bank and most recently won Sunday night's Big League Tour. LPL also came back from a 3-1 deficit last week to take down Xtreme 8 Ball to move to 4-1 this season. The team is only getting better and better and as long as the usual suspects keep winning they should have no problem with a Sexy Poolerz team which was no contest for Ultimate Outlaws last week. LPL big, at least 5-2.

Extreme Cues (1-4, 13/22) @ True Champs (1-4, 8/27) - Thursday, 8:00

Despite having equal records it has been pretty clear which team is better. Extreme Cues finally got a win by beating Money in the Bank last week and should provide a fun race for the final Playoff spot with Ultimate Outlaws. Extreme Cues still has mvp_croz and ___imaj___ and company and True Champs might find some comfort in the fact Pommy may return to the league he carried to the MLP Fives Masters Series in the fall. True Champs also has a 4-2 victory in International Pool Association over Pool Fiction to its credit. But I think the nature of MLP, in comparison to IPA, puts a real damper on TC's upset bid against Extreme Cues. Champs keep it close, Extreme Cues wins 4-3 or 5-2.

Pending some cooperation with my schedule the Match of the Week streaming will resume next Thursday when Latino Pool Legends takes on Break and Run.

Unbeaten Faces Tough Test In Week Five

2010-03-07T18:33:00.000-08:00

If you've only been following coverage of Major League Pool through this blog you may not realize Xtreme 8 Ball is undefeated. This week X8B puts that on the line against Latino Pool Legends in the Match of the Week while another pre-season contender garners a lot of attention for completely different reasons.

MATCH OF THE WEEK: Xtreme 8 Ball (4-0, 21/7) @ Latino Pool Legends (3-1, 19/9) - Tuesday, 7:00

Xtreme 8 Ball has only been tested once this season. In week three it was Straightshots taking them to the seventh game. But kingvaughan was able to take down xsoubanhx in the decider for one of his two clinching wins already this season. X8B is a quietly dangerous team featuring top notch talent. Three players sit at 3-0 through the first four weeks (A_D_A_M__, kingvaughan, and Go_Deep_) and Xtreme 8 Ball has only lost one game with a chance to clinch. But there is a caveat to X8B's success. Aside from Straightshots the combined record of their opponents is a paltry 1-11 (SS improves that record to 4-12.) X8B is also coming off another shorthanded performance in the Universal Interleague Competition's Preliminary Final to Cue Masters. Perhaps the conclusion of their UIC season will come as a relief to the likes of James and Ben.

Last week Latino Pool Legends won an odd match against Money in the Bank to improve to 3-1. That 5-2 win was aided slightly by a change in captaincy during the match and led to a dismantling of the MIB team. Regardless TINO_NICA sports a 3-0 record for LPL and the combination of I_Am_Almost_God and mvp.sicc are a combined 3-0 in clinching opportunities. Latino Pool Legends is 3-0 in away matches but they have the luxury of playing as the home side Tuesday night. The only time LPL was home previously was the 4-3 loss at the hands of Straightshots. But also factor in with a 19/9 record LPL actually has the second most wins in MLP.

This is the first of two matches between these two leagues this week. After Tuesday night's match they get together again in the 5v5 best of nine Pro Players Association. That interleague is in its eighth week out of nine and X8B is trying to recover from a stunning 5-4 loss to True Champs. The advantage for LPL comes at the top of the talent gauge. LegendaryAsshole and mvp.sicc are two of the best around. Xtreme 8 Ball needs to get back on track. To do that Ross and Adam will need to continue their strong play. I think things are snowballing a bit for X8B, and LPL will add to that in a 4-3 win.

Straightshots (3-1, 17/11) @ Break and Run (3-1, 18/10) - Monday, 6:00

Two leagues with game seven losses accounting for their only loss this season start off the week in grand fashion. BNR's loss came to Pool Fiction in week two when msc_masta beat xlx_skill_xlx. Jordan has since moved to Ultimate Outlaws but BNR continues to light it up. Last week True Champs learned what BNR is capable of following the first 7-0 sweep on Season 14. Only zl_stu_lz has played all four weeks and he has a 2-2 record to show for it. BNR will need him on form and some help not just from the elite players but also players such as runmatic and p_a_l_p_7_5 who has had a strong start.

Straightshots suffered a seventh game loss to kingvaughan and Xtreme 8 Ball two weeks ago. Aside from that Straightshots has an impressive victory over Latino Pool Legends and a team that has only improved since then. Straightshots also welcomes ta.lent and ReallyBigAssNegro who have left the crumbling Money in the Bank team following last week's meltdown. These two add a significant boosts to a team which is already strong and showing off some previously well-kept secrets. john_d_singleton, for example, started off 3-0 including a win over LPL's mvp.sicc. With tonzmaniac at 3-0 and p.ooler always ready to pick up an early win, I think SS makes sure everyone knows they are contenders this season and win it 4-3.

True Champs (1-3, 6/22) @ Pool Fiction (4-0, 16/12) - Monday, 7:00

Pool Fiction fully expected its string of 4-3 victories to end with a much more decisive win last week against the winless Extreme Cues. But that turned into yet another 4-3 win and yet another seventh game victory for msc_masta. Miz is now 4-0 and has clinched all four of PFN's wins. Three of those clinching games have been game seven. This is the start of an important week for many Pool Fiction players. After this match Monday night and a late-season showdown with Break and Run in the Pro Players Association, it's on to the UIC Grand Final on Saturday night against Cue Masters. By the end of next Sunday xl_bankqueen_lx, HawkeyeStriker, and so_wolf_cub4 will have gone through nine scheduled matches.

True Champs hasn't had much to celebrate. While TC did spring a major upset beating Xtreme 8 Ball 5-4 in Pro Players Association action, the league has combined for a 4-9-3 record through the three interleagues it is actively competing in. The only question surrounding TC is whether or not dx.fanatic will be allowed to play. Jack has failed to report twice however there is a rule change being discussed that would extend the time given to report losses from 11:59 PM to 5:00 PM the next day. A decision should be announced during the day Monday. If changed, Jack will have one reporting violation taken off his record and all others who have been warned will have a clean sheet. With or without Jack I think PFN has learned its lesson and won't overlook True Champs. The string of 4-3 wins ends, as Pool Fiction wins 5-2.

Sexy Poolerz (1-3, 13/15) @ Ultimate Outlaws (0-4, 9/19) - Wednesday, 7:00

With Money in the Bank seemingly entering a freefall the race for the sixth and final Playoff spot opens up a bit. Sexy Poolerz has the advantage of having the best record sitting below the array of 4-0 and 3-1 teams. But this is not the typical Sexy Poolerz team that routinely throws ll_ketan_ll and hornyscots at you expecting wins. In fact only the Captain king.2068 and second week addition ll_plan_ll are undefeated through more than one game. mvp.cubs will be available if needed following a seven day suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct. SP will need every advantage they can get.

Ultimate Outlaws have the look of a team waiting to break through. With a legitimate chance at stringing wins together into a Playoff run you can expect to see Captain xlx_skill_xlx take this team to a whole new level. Joining him this week is sir.attitude from Money in the Bank. If you wonder why this team is 0-4 look no further than five regulars combining for an 0-12 record. There is simply no bright spot on this team record-wise. Even Jordan is simply 1-2 thus far. Sexy Poolerz isn't great, but they're not terrible. Ultimate Outlaws is until those players prove they're worth playing the majority of weeks with results. Sexy Poolerz wins either 4-3 or 5-2.

Money in the Bank (1-3, 12/16) @ Extreme Cues (0-4, 9/19) - Thursday, 7:00

At the start of the season it looked like Extreme Cues would be severely overmatched this week. After a few weeks it started to look like they'd have a chance. Now EC is a heavy favorite. mvp_croz and ___imaj___ count as standouts on a team with just nine wins. Last week both players won huge games for EC in a 4-3 loss to Pool Fiction. Much like Sexy Poolerz and Ultimate Outlaws, Extreme Cues has watched a pre-season favorite for one of the six Playoff spots completely fall apart. Now they get the chance to face that team with a golden opportunity to get the monkey off their back.

So what exactly happened with Money in the Bank? During last week's 5-2 loss to Latino Pool Legends the team was rocked by a change in Captain. pommerized stepped down and left Head Admin admln_with_attltud3 in charge with the match already decided. Rich allegedly told Chris to start playing the regulars in MIB rather than the group of players Pommy had brought with him to the league. Last season Rich and Money in the Bank failed to win a single match in the International Pool Association. That streak continues through five weeks of the current season. MIB is currently 4-3 in the Pro Players Association and 1-1 in the World Pool Championship.

Since the change many players have left to go elsewhere. overachieving was the first to leave. Sid chose to play for Pool Fiction to reunite with many of his Xtreme Poolerz teammates from MLP Fives. ta.lent and ReallyBigAssNegro both moved to Straightshots. Gamblin_Man_ returned to undefeated Xtreme 8 Ball while sir.attitude transferred to winless Ultimate Outlaws. The combined record of transfers so far is 5-9 with Matt contributing an 0-4 record to the statistic. xxl_themachine_lxx has not moved anywhere yet nor has former Captain Pommy. The initial indication is Pommy may end up with Pool Fiction for the remainder of the season.

As for the match that is still scheduled to take place, Extreme Cues has a decisive advantage and should look forward to at least a 5-2 win.

Stay classy MLP.

Money In The Bank Looking For First Key Win

2010-02-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

After three consecutive 4-3 decisions resulting in a 1-2 record Money in the Bank finds itself sitting in seventh place. Latino Pool Legends on the other hand have had 6-1 and 5-2 wins, along with a 4-3 loss to Straightshots.

MATCH OF THE WEEK: Latino Pool Legends (2-1, 14/7) @ Money in the Bank (1-2, 10/11) - Tuesday, 7:00

When the season started Money in the Bank had the look of a powerful team. Don't let the first few weeks of the season fool you. A lot of teams would be 1-2 after playing reigning Champion Break and Run, newcomers Ultimate Outlaws, and undefeated Pool Fiction. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the season so far for MIB has been the number of shots ta.lent has taken this season. Matt broke against BNR's zl_stu_lz in the first week and got ran. Then last week against Pool Fiction, the exact same thing happened against xlx_ogges_xlx. Matt's now 0-3. But on a far more positive note xxl_themachine_lxx has been unstoppable. A 3-0 record for Simon with a clinch and two saves, most recently the game four victory over Pool Fiction's xlx_bpk_xlx which gave his team a chance to come back. There are a lot of donuts in the win column for MIB's players. In order to win, the top players need to prove they actually can be reliable.

Latino Pool Legends has one loss and it came against a very tough Straightshots team. LPL also saw a Universal Interleague Competition season end in the Semi-Final round after just four players showed up to play. Don't be alarmed. These guys put an added emphasis on performing well in Major League Pool. Ant has stepped down to the role of Co-Captain and promoted LegendaryAsshole to the Captain spot. MJ has plenty of experience as a Captain all over the place. The question is whether or not he's as familiar with this specific group of players as Ant is though. Perhaps it won't matter.

MIB is overdue for a very strong performance. They'll need one Tuesday night. LPL's top dogs have compiled their share of wins so far. I think MIB comes up with the best match they've played so far, and a very good opportunity to jump back into the top six. Something has to give. MIB's lone win was over Ultimate Outlaws in their only home match so far. LPL is 2-0 as the visiting team. Going with the gut instinct, MIB is simply primed to go off this week and win 4-3.

Straightshots (2-1, 12/9) @ Sexy Poolerz (1-2, 11/10) - Monday, 6:00

Straightshots contributed to a long string of 4-3 decisions spanning eight days over the past two weeks. In fact it was SS which started that run back on February 17 by beating LPL 4-3 and then suffered a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Xtreme 8Ball last week. Despite that Straightshots is coming off a dominant Big League Tour performance after both xsoubanhx and youngen_kikinazz reached the Finals Sunday night. It was Jamie's (not to be confused with xlx_bpk_xlx) first action of the season while Pita bounced back from a game seven loss and won the event. Along the way, Pita defeated Sexy Poolerz's mvp.cubs which led to an outburst on the MLP Shoutbox which had to be partially removed. More on that below.

Sexy Poolerz suffered a second 4-3 loss last week at the end of then-cellar dweller True Champs. In fact it was the aforementioned mvp.cubs who lost the seventh game to TC's killah_jason. SP will find out during the day or before the match tonight how long Adam will be in the Penalty Box, and details surrounding Sunday night's Big League Tour controversy can be found further below. As for who is left for Sexy Poolerz they can be sure to play with an edge after a World Pool Championship match with Pool Fiction was cut short due to SP leaving the interleague after a disqualification in game three. Straightshots has looked much sharper than SP so far in MLP but there's still the question of who plays and who sits. Sexy Poolerz has a far more stable lineup and if Ketan and Pete continue to play as they have so far they have a legitimate chance. SP hangs around, but Straightshots should pull away and take a 4-3 or 5-2 victory.

Break and Run (2-1, 11/10) @ True Champs (1-2, 6/15) - Monday, 7:00

True Champs' overall record is still tied with Extreme Cues for the worst in Major League Pool but TC did pick up a win last week over Sexy Poolerz. dx.fanatic and n00b_playa turned in solid wins and killah_jason sealed the deal in the decisive seventh game. Unfortunately this week TC goes against one of the powerhouses of Season 14. No team-specific paragraphs necessary for this one. Break and Run is a handful of steps up from True Champs and while TC does have the ability to steal a couple of wins, I think BNR can take a comfortable 5-2 or 6-1 win here.

Ultimate Outlaws (0-3, 7/14) @ Xtreme 8 Ball (3-0, 16/5) - Wednesday, 6:00

Normally when an undefeated team plays a winless team it's so cut and dry the expected result is fairly close to a sweep. Ultimate Outlaws as a whole is overmatched this week against a solid X8B team. The problem is UO can be a little streaky so while it really shows when they're bad... It's a visible difference when a few players have it going before the match. The Outlaws followed up a near-upset 3-4 decision to Money in the Bank with a 2-5 loss at the hands of Latino Pool Legends. Now the gauntlet run continues for Captain xlx_skill_xlx and the 2-0 xxx_seal_team_warrior_xxx.

Xtreme 8 Ball brought merely two eligible players to a UIC Semi-Final match with Xtreme Poolerz Saturday. At a glance this could raise reliability concerns within the team but it's important to note this match was moved to this particular time. X8B will come prepared and won't play down to UO's level. Look for these guys to keep rolling after outlasting Straightshots 4-3 last week. My guess is X8B does take it a little easier than usual leaving themselves open for an upset bid, but statistically the best team in MLP still takes the match 5-2.

Pool Fiction (3-0, 12/9) @ Extreme Cues (0-3, 6/15) - Thursday, 8:00

This is a trap game for Pool Fiction. After a tough stretch of matches against Sexy Poolerz, Break and Run, and Money in the Bank PFN has to take on an Extreme Cues team which is better than its 6/15 record. It's no secret what Pool Fiction will do. Jamie returned last week but fell in a clinching opportunity to MIB's Simon. msc_masta has clinched all three of PFN's wins including a pair of those wins coming in the seventh game against SP and BNR. One problem Pool Fiction has is a tendancy to play down to an opponent's level, or perceived level. There is a clear talent disparity between the top and bottom of EC's lineup, but that has never stopped teams from springing the upset on PFN in the past.

Extreme Cues so far has been a story of "so close, yet so far." Disqualifications have severely damaged the team to the point where it has cost EC a major upset. Last week ___imaj___ suffered a DQ after Extreme Cues misinterpreted the weekly eligibility rule. Extreme Cues lost 4-3 to luisj_barreto and Break and Run. AJ, UN_NATURAL, and mvp_croz are very formidable foes and very capable of pulling off a major upset Thursday night. One thing that helps PFN is a 6:00 match against a solid Straightshots team in WPC on the same night. I like Pool Fiction with a 5-2 victory but don't be surprised by anything.

There's no need to worry about a possible rematch between Straightshot xsoubanhx and Sexy Pooler mvp.cubs. Adam earned himself time in the penalty box as a result of the public complaints aired out after losing to Pita Sunday night. At issue was the fact Adam had asked Pita to record their tournament game. Soubanh did not respond to the request and played it as a normal game. Adam argued because Pita did not decline the request, he gave an implied agreement.

"The guy never said yes or no to cam," Adam said. "If he didn't want it to be then he woulda said no."

No penalty has been formally announced yet but Major League Pool Admin kingvaughan indicated a punishment of at least one week in the Penalty Box. A typical penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct which warrants the use of the Penalty Box is ten days. A ten day box from the night of the incident would carry into not only this week's match with Straightshots but also the March 10 match against Ultimate Outlaws. Because the match is scheduled within that ten-day frame at the time of the offence Adam would miss it even if the SP-UO match were to be moved to Thursday night.

In a heated conversation following the Big League Tour Adam still contended he was correct. Adam also claimed because instant messages to two Admins went unanswered he was justified in going to the shoutbox and sarcastically encouraging Major League Pool to "keep letting aimers in."

In addition to rule 1 regarding "Sportsmanship, Behavior, and Consequences" there is a notice in MLP's rules addressing appeals. It states: "If you disagree with a decision made you may appeal to the Head Admin. The Head Admin will, if the appeal is deemed valid consult the ENTIRE Admin Team. They will vote on whether or not to change/overturn the decision. REMEMBER the Head Admin's decision is final. Appeals will only be taken if they are presented in a mature manner."

mvp.cubs has played one game this season for Sexy Poolerz. He is 0-1 with a loss in last week's deciding game to killah_jason of True Champs. Adam's punishment is expected to be announced well before Monday night's SS-SP match.

...Stay classy MLP.

Pool Fiction Provides Another 4-3 Result, Beats Money In The Bank

2010-02-24T20:00:00.000-08:00

Major League Pool has seen nothing but 4-3 results in the past eight days. Pool Fiction extended that streak while continuing its own streak of 4-3 victories to start Season 14.

JohnnyMonsterRodVonHugenstein (Joey) played a tap break in the opener against Pool Fiction's loverboy_aireagle22003 (Mina). Nearly ten minutes into the game, Mina took a chance and bashed everything around while making his red three-ball. That set up a fairly difficult run with a couple of shots naturally not giving him the kind of control he'd like to have with the cueball. But after making the seven in the top right, it was pretty much smooth sailings on the way to Mina's first win of the season, and PFN's 1st of the night.

Money in the Bank Captain sir.pommington called on indiana_elite to try and tie it up. Pool Fiction's response was so_wolf_cub4. Both players have a mixed history with each other dating back to Fall 2009 in both Xtreme Poolerz and Pool Fiction. Cubby would give up ball in hand to Indy concluding a brief safety game. After some lengthy deliberation, Indy decided to run. A shot on the five-ball proved fatal in the run attempt. While the orange solid snuck its way into the top right pocket, the cueball managed to nudge the 8ball upwards near the top rail. When Indy got to his final solid, he took nearly three minutes to try and determine what spin he would need to leave a shot on the eight. All of that time resulted in merely making the six-ball and not leaving any feasible shots. In contrast, Cubby took roughly the same amount of time to clean up the remaining five stripes and the eight to give PFN a 2-0 lead.

Pool Fiction Captain xl_bankqueen_lx called up xlx_ogges_xlx to go against MIB's ta.lent (Matt) in game three. In a scene very similar to the first week of the season, Matt's break potted absolutely nothing and Ogie took advantage. The tough decision came in the middle of the run. After making the red 11 ball top middle, Ogges decided to make the safer shot while he had it available - 15 bottom middle. After making the ten, he finally addressed the nine-ball which had tempted him a moment prior. When it was finished, Matt watched an opponent run off his break for the second time in three matches, and watched Pool Fiction take a 3-0 lead.

The stage was set up perfectly in the fourth game. With the 3-game lead and break in game four, Kerry announced the return of xlx_bpk_xlx (Jamie) to MLP. His first opponent after amassing a 45-6 record in Pool Fiction would be xxl_themachine_lxx (Simon). Jamie wasn't able to finish a run off his very favorable break. Simon was able to match, and one-up Jamie in the safety portion of the game. The key shot was Simon potting the five-ball in the lower left pocket, barely catching the edge of the pocket and getting the roll. From there a set of perfectly played shots led to an emphatic pounding of the 8ball home, and a breath of life for MIB as they were finally on the board, trailing by two games.

Pommy put the match in the hands of OHMYGODTHEREARENONAMESLEFT (Conor) in the fifth game. Kerry asked Extreme Cues transfer ll_pro.shots_ll (Tim) to put the match away. The two played a safety game that actually advanced the game at a decent pace with traffic in the way of key right-hand pockets. Tim was forced to make a side-spin cuebank off the left rail to come back and make contact with his pink seven-ball. The leave was nearly perfect but Conor was just a little bit better. The first Big League Tour Champion of the young season potted the 12-ball top left, and then hit the most impressive shot of the night: He sank Tim's seven-ball as part of a 13-7 combo, and the orange striped kicked off that solid and up into the top right pocket. In comparison the rest of the run was a cakewalk and MIB was back in contention, trailing 3-2.

Pool Fiction had one more game with the break. So it was no surprise when Kerry called msc_masta (Miz) to do what he had done the previous two weeks: Clinch the victory. He'd need to get through ReallyBigAssNegro (Mike) to do it though. Miz chose solids... Sorta. A fluke cuebank rolled the red three-ball in on a nearly impossible angle top middle. From that moment on it was an uphill battle for the PFN closer. Mike hit big shot after big shot in his run attempt, but the biggest of all came literally pixels short. With his final stripe - the purple 12-ball - blocked by Miz's four ball, Mike got creative. He tried to ram the cueball into the 12 with topspin to force the stripe into the upper right pocket. The 12 came to a stop hanging over the pocket. Miz wasn't able to effectively eliminate a pair of solids stuck near each other on the bottom rail however. Instead of taking the risky shot crossing over the bottom middle pocket or a possible carom shot, Miz settled for a safety attempt. Initially he was upset the cueball didn't roll far enough. But Mike instantly told everyone he did not have any sort of line with the cue resting just in front of the bottom middle pocket. Mike's cuebank attempt never threatened with any sign of success and Miz finished with three more shots to give PFN a decisive 4-2 advantage.

l1_stephen_1 picked up a win in his first match of the season for MIB defeating Pool Fiction's Lewissss. The loss marks Lewis's first loss of the season in his third match.

Time of Match: 1h 55m

Save: MIB_xxl_themachine_lxx (2), MIB_OHMYGODTHEREARENONAMESLEFT (1)

Clinch: PFN_msc_masta (3)

Pool Fiction: 3-0 (12/9) Next: @ Extreme Cues (0-3, 6/15)

Money in the Bank: 1-2 (10/11) Next: vs. Latino Pool Legends (1-1, 9/5)

Full match available below on UStream:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/4981764

Pommy, Pool Fiction Renew Rivalry In Week 3

2010-02-22T00:42:00.000-08:00

Pool Fiction defeated Cue Keepers in Major League Pool's 11th, and arguably most controversial, World Series in three matches. In Pool League Championship's final two seasons, Pool Fiction and True Pool Legends each won the Grand Final against each other. In week three Pommy takes Money in the Bank back into Bad Times for another showdown with PFN. This time it's the MLP Sportscenter Match of the Week.

MATCH OF THE WEEK: Money in the Bank (1-1, 7/7) @ Pool Fiction (2-0, 8/6) - Wednesday, 7:00

So far Pool Fiction has fallen behind 0-2 and 1-2 before erasing those deficits to win 4-3 via two Game Seven victories. In both cases, the losing league had to play Extreme Cues the following week. This may be a bad omen for Pool Fiction because EC is next on their schedule. Money in the Bank has also had two matches decided in the final game. A 3-4 loss to Break and Run in their season opener, and a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Ultimate Outlaws last week. This will be the third time in a seven-day span these two leagues face off. Both have split decisions in the Pro Players Association and International Pool Association.

Pool Fiction has had tremendous contribution from both Miz, Brent, and Lewis. Brent came up with the big momentum-changing shot in the opener against Sexy Poolerz, then followed it up with a win over Stu last week - continuing a stretch of strong play against the former Pool Fiction and 8Ball Runners star. Miz has had an even bigger hand in both victories. It was Miz who ran l3adassplaya from the break in week one, then took advantage of an opportunity given to him by now-former Break and Run stud Jordan. But PFN has also been rocked with controversy. Pita withdrew from the league once again and has not yet resurfaced anywhere. Ogges had withdrawn from the MLP ladder but has since rejoined.

Money in the Bank was nearly stunned last week by Ultimate Outlaws and perhaps had Jordan decided to take over as UO's Captain a week sooner, MIB might be 0-2. But a clutch performance from Simon gave his team a much-needed first win of the season. Now they shift their sights to Pool Fiction looking to prove they are far better than they have looked so far. Pommy will be at a disadvantage as the visiting Captain because he will not necessarily get who he wants matched up with Brent. Miz's placement can be predictable to an extent, but MIB will need to put a major emphasis on the middle of the match and win at least two of the 3-4-5 games.

Looking at the two teams, it's very tough to pick out favorable matchups for either side. Nobody from Money in the Bank is necessarily always going to play with the break and many are solid at both styles of play. This matchup will be won in the middle. Brent's wins have dealt a major blow to the opponents each week. There will likely be new faces showing up for Pool Fiction as well. It's an 18-week season and five games are required for Playoff eligibility down the line. With that in mind, I think MIB has a better chance than if this were a Playoff matchup. I like PFN winning 4-3, but the exact opposite would not surprise me.

Extreme Cues (0-2, 3/11) @ Break and Run (1-1, 7/7) - Monday, 7:00

Both leagues have had problems with players jumping ship. In both cases it's quite understandable. Extreme Cues lost ll_pro.shots_ll (Tim) to Pool Fiction after the opening week. After a blowout loss at the hands of Xtreme 8Ball, EC lost to Sexy Poolerz 5-2 in a match filled with tape issues. One big benefit for Extreme Cues is they have gained a very good player while their opponents have gone in the opposite direction. mvp_croz has joined the EC squad and should give them a heavy boost against a surefire Playoff team.

Break and Run has suffered the effects of being a loaded team. Jordan has moved from Break and Run to become the Captain for Ultimate Outlaws as he did in their brief stint in World Pool Championship. trumpsterized (Mikey) was expected to play for Break and Run and has decided to move to X8B. That still leaves two-time Big League Tour Champion Luis, and the usuals such as Palp, Jase, Stu and others. EC will hang around, but I'll take BNR to bounce back from a tough loss last week and get a win before the seventh game - 5-2.

True Champs (0-2, 2/12) @ Sexy Poolerz (1-1, 8/6) - Monday, 7:00

The record doesn't lie. True Champs is the worst team in Major League Pool this season. They're still capable of giving Sexy Poolerz a good match and causing a scare, but their better players need to pull through and pick up key wins. Guys like n00b_playa and dx.fanatic qualify as "better players" - they're the only two that have won this season.

Sexy Poolerz were very sloppy against Extreme Cues and need to take that as a wake-up call so they don't fall deeper into this false sense of security. This is not necessarily a Playoff team and they do need to take care of business against True Champs. Both Captain king.2068 and arusluv (Aaron) are 2-0 but that isn't exactly a lock to continue. Of course, in this match they could very well end up 3-0. I think True Champs is capable of losing 5-2 against themselves. Sexy Poolerz should be able to produce the same result.

Xtreme 8Ball (2-0, 12/2) @ Straightshots (2-0, 9/5) - Tuesday, 6:00

This could also qualify as Match of the Week. It may be just as exciting as PFN-MIB - or more. X8B has simply taken care of business so far. A pair of 6-1 victories, granted neither against any serious competition. This match will also come as the team prepares for a Playoff showdown in the Universal Interleague Competition with Xtreme Poolerz. This will also be X8B's first match without having the advantage of being the Home side. In many ways this is Xtreme 8Ball's first real test of Season 14. Ben, James, etc., you can bet they'll all be there for this one.

Straightshots knocked off Latino Pool Legends last week - a result only three people not in Straightshots predicted in the MLP Pick 'Em Contest. When you look at this SS team you see a team that could very well be in the top five in terms of talent. You have Pascal, tonzmaniac, and a surprising 2-0 start from john_d_singleton. And it has taken some very skilled players to get rid of singleton in the Big League Tour events thus far. Notice also John took down LPL's Ant last week. With that in mind, I should disclose the only reason this isn't MOTW - I simply won't be around to cover it, which is unfortunate because this has a 4-3 result written all over it. I like X8B here though. I don't think either team is going to bring their cupcakes to this one and Xtreme 8Ball is one of the most consistent leagues in inters.

Latino Pool Legends (1-1, 9/5) @ Ultimate Outlaws (0-2, 5/9) - Thursday, 7:00

Both leagues were part of rather surprising 4-3 results in week two. Ultimate Outlaws took a 3-2 lead over Money in the Bank before dropping the last two games. The biggest problem UO has was their downfall in that match: just not enough reliable weapons. Sabre Girl is perhaps better than many want to give her credit for, but that's a tough matchup against xxl_themachine_lxx (Simon). One big benefit for UO is their new Captain, Jordan. Jordy has been the Ultimate Outlaws Captain before, and after a brief stint with Break and Run, he returns to an 0-2 team charged with the task of turning their fortunes around.

Latino Pool Legends will have to rebound from a stunner at the hands of Straightshots. In fairness, SS is better than perhaps anyone anticipated. So Ant and company take on an Ultimate Outlaws team with a very deadly Player-Captain and some hidden gems of their own. With that in mind, I simply can't imagine a team with Daru, Ant, MJ and others losing to Ultimate Outlaws with or without Jordan. Not with the knowledge that it's an uphill climb to the Playoffs if you don't beat the teams you're supposed to. 5-2 LPL.

A few notes from around Major League Pool:

pro.ashley will remain on the Banned List following a vote among Admins Sunday night. It took 55 seconds for at least four of MLP's seven Admins to send in a vote against unbanning Ashley. Ash initially found his way to the Banned list following repeated controversies and behavioral problems while playing for Dream Pool. Most recently he has been caught playing on another screen name multiple times in at least one other interleague. No official tally is available but one will likely be provided by the end of the day Monday.

luisj_barreto of Break and Run has made it two Big League Tour victories in a row and 18 all-time. However, since he had already won last week, runner-up mr_shaggyman of Sexy Poolerz will join Luis and OHMYGODTHEREARENONAMESLEFT (Conor) of Money in the Bank in the $200 Tournament of Champions at the end of the season.

And MLP Sportscenter will return to being a solo operation. goodoldmrcheeseman (Jason) will no longer continue writing for this blog. Criticism had been directed at the decision to add another writer to the site and more aimed specifically at the added content. With all things taken into consideration, I felt it was in everyone's best interests to just keep MLP SC a one man band. I thank Jason for his efforts, and wish him well in the other blogs and interleagues he runs.

Stay classy MLP.

PFN Defeats The Reigning Champs!

2010-02-18T17:05:00.001-08:00

Pool Fiction Faces Off against Last Season's Champs Break and Run

Josh will kick us off for BNR and will come up against Pro.Jeremy for PFN just as Luis comes into the room and must surely be down to play for BNR tonight!

Jeremy goes for the bang break but sunk nothing, leaving the solids runnable. He got the 8 out of the tight spot and went for a weird shot that missed leaving a dodgy run for Jeremy, took the safety option and this must set him up for the victory now. All Jeremy has to do to run this properly is combo the blue to the pink then its plain sailing for someone of him ability. He put too much power on the shot and safetied so he can have another go and this looks easier now! Green, Purple, Blue, Orange and Red all down. He shoots the 8 in and shoots PFN to a perfect 1-0 start.

BNR have the Break for Match 2, and with Lulu and Stu at the Table one of them would be ideal to make it 1-1. Dina however calls Tanmay (x_therage) to play against Cubby who is reminded to record, that would be a comical DQ but he wont provide that for me.

Tan went for a Bang Break and potted nothing leavign a semi open table. Cubby takes on stripes and is obviously going for the run, Purple top right and Green bottom right takes him to the pink to same pocket, but its made him out of position. He he POTS the yellow stripe intot he top middle of his red stripe. The blue is suck into the bottom right leaving him badlt positioned for the red. He knocks his red into Tans yellow and basically says have a go if you want.he sinks two easy balls and bangs the yellow and purple apart and leaves a easy run, but he plays a poor shot on the yellow stripe and he is left out of position, and there is no obvious safety but he gets the blue into the top left and i thought it wouldnt go! The Green and Purple goes and Tanmay makes it 1-1!

This is match 3 where I would bet Dina calls Stu. Break and Run always take a age to call there players. Still after 5 minutes or maybe longer Dina hasn't called a player. She calls Palp eventually and he will come face to face with Scotty, who is a legend!

Scotty to break, and again a bang break with none dropping! 3 in a row now! palp doesnt have much tho, so for the first time in this match there ain't much to go on here. He gets the Orange Stripe in the bottom middle, but leaves pretty much nothing else. so the snook game begins. Scotty however sctaches and leaves Palp with a chance to clear and he didnt put enough power on the red into the bottom right so decides to safty but misses the blue and gives Scotty BIH! This is a clearable table now! He expertly breaks the balls up that he has to, being the Pink and the Blue stripes, but then makes a mess of one of the easier shots and didnt put enough power on it. Palp now has BIH and is 4 reletively easy shots for him. He makes them and sends BNR into a 2-1 lead, game on as Jase got here during this game too.

So 2-1 to BNR and I expect Dina to call quickly this time, there are more than enough there to play. Stu is called to play WITH the Break, I bet he is pleased about that. Are we going to have someone actually pot on the break? Pool Fiction Call on Breant to try and get a shot in!

So before these two face off we are having a table change so Sophie can become the host.
Stu bang breaks and sinks TWO stripes. He banks the purple solid and that should be game over. He just has to free the green that is being covered by the 8. But he scratches on the pink into the bottom left and Brent has a chance to take down BNR's best runner alongside Luis. He goes Red into top middle, the 8 does go too. Yellow down safely into top right and pink goes bottom Right. Two simple pots and the 8 for a big PFN win here! As Miz and Jordy come to the table. Down they go and Brent takes a BIG scalp in MLP and beats Stu just like he did in 8brcam! 2-2! He didnt give stu another chance!

Dina calls Jase against the break and PFN plays Lewis. This is a huge match up the winner of this should go on to win the match.

The bang Break goes and none are sunk. Jase taps and hits nothing which gives Lewis BIH and he sinks the stripeswhich are runnable, Orange went bottom left then he missed the yellow stripe and give Jase a chance, he went for the safety but missed. Lewis given another clearing chance but safties. Lewis is offered half a chance to run and gets to the 8 but is left with a awful bank shot. But he MAKES IT! 3-2 to PFN and just ONE game away!

3-2 and break its got to be either Jordy or Luis for BNR. And ofcourse its Luis to try what Stu could not do. Kerry calls Pita who will hope he gets a shot first!

Luis breaks and JUST makes the Orange into the bottom middle, but leaves nothing really on. He safties, and Luis combos the purple solid onto the green solid and MAKES IT! leaving a straight forward run chance for Luis. One by One they are sunk and Luis brings a Game SEVEN Decider with a PFN Break!

Break and Run call Jordy to take on game 7 and to try and clinch it for BNR, to play Miz for PFN. Miz gets the break and lets see if he can sink a ball.

Miz did not pot any and its a half chance for Jordy to run, but is very difficult. But he goes sensible and safties. Miz plays a loose safety and Jordy is able to sink the pink Solid and set up a run for himself, The yellow into the bottom left is sunk nextand th red goes up for a easy combo when he wants it and that is now, the purple is sunkand he can combo the orange onto the red for another pot, he gets it and gets lucky with the 8's positioning, The orange is dodgy but I think it might just pass. He sinks the Green top left and takes on this dodgy orange, which on second look doesnt go at all, and jordy is stuck now as Miz would have a open table. The Blue could go but Yahoo has a lot to say in that. hes going for it, this is a big shot and will either win or lose the match for BNR, Jordy went for the bottom middle on the Blue solid and it was actually a very nice try but it leaves Miz with a chance to clinch it for PFN and he don't miss these usually.. Thats the yellow into the top left,green into bottom right and he splits the Orange, Red and Pink up to make it easier, plain sailing after that and PFN storm to a 4-3 victory and take down the Reigning Champs in the process.

Score: 4-3 PFN

Main Man: PFN - Brent
Main Man: BNR - Luis

Next Fixture for PFN: MIB on Wednesay
Next Fixture for BNR: EC on Monday

After Game 7 Victories, Longtime Competitors Square Off

2010-02-14T23:32:00.000-08:00

Week 2 in Major League Pool 14 features two of the longest-running MLP teams in a head-to-head battle. This week's major matchup pits Break and Run against Pool Fiction in a battle of recently revamped and revitalized leagues.

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 ;)

Two For The Price Of One! PFN vs BNR and EC vs SP

2010-02-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

Welcome to MLP Sports Center for another look at a couple of matches this week. The first is Sexy Poolerz playing Away to Extreme Cues on Monday at 7pm and Pool Fiction vs Break and Run on Thursday at 6pm.

I will talk about Pool Fictions match up with Break and Run first as it is the MATCH OF THE WEEK. BNR had a great win over MIB last week. They have players like Jordy, Stu, Jase and Palp. Dina called a few players wrong in my view, Stu against break but still won and then before that Jordy, who didn't get a shot as Dina called him against break too! This can not happen this week as BNR roll into PFN looking for a big win to prove they have what it takes to win the World Series again.

Pool Fiction stand in there way and with the team they have containing Miz, Brent, Lewis and Pita, PFN look very impressive on paper and are more than a match for this BNR team. I was hoping to grab a word with Kerry but she was unavailable so I caught up with the Co. Captain for PFN, Cubby.

Jason: So the interview this week is part of a double header as I look at the EC vs SP match up on monday and the PFN vs BNR match up on Thursday, PFN vs BNR being my match of the week. I have PFN's Cubby with me and I want to thank you for agreeing to take part this week Sean the first question I have is how do you evaluate your performance as a team and your own performance last week in Week 1 of MLP?

Sean: As far as MLP goes I thought our team put on an amazing performance. It's tough to come back when everything seems to go against you at the worst times like they did in the first two games, and we watched a very good player lose game one on a handful of flukey shots. Kerry and I have been there before against an even tougher Sexy Poolerz team and we knew that when Brent hit that bank in game 4 to tie it we were going to win that match. Me personally, I'm just glad I get to play with a very special group of players every week. I had some pretty good shots, but the one that counted was just ugly. Too much power, really dug us into a hole. But we climbed out of it so I can't complain.

Jason: It was a great performance last week, I didn't watch the matches but I have spoke to people about it. Your next opponents are a beefed up BNR team with the likes of Chris from MP, Jase, Dark and Grinch from PL. The main two I see though you know very well in Jordy and Stu. I am surprised not to see Stu in a PFN shirt this season, did you knwo he was not going to play for you and how do you rate your chances this week?

Sean: Yep we knew Stu was going there. He and tanmay are very close and daytime activity in Pool Fiction is touch and go at best. So it's a better fit for him. Will be pretty awkward seeing him on the other side next week but we'll be ready. BNR is a team that's actually easier to match up with than MIB. We know who they're gonna call because we're the home team, and we know exactly what their guys do well and how to play them. We've got a brilliant Captain and I fully expect she'll have a plan for whoever Break and Run calls, and I'm actually very confident we're gonna win that match based on Kerry alone.

Jason: Kerry is old enough to be able to match them up, I am actually unsure on who will win as I think both teams have quality all throughout there squads. I look at who PFN used for week 1, the likes of yourself, Pita, Miz and Lewis to name three. There seems to be a mixture of the old guard meets the new guard of PFN. Who else do PFN have up there sleeves and how do you think the BNR game will go? Will you shock BNR with a unknown player they won't be expecting to play?

Sean: If we had a surprise and I told you about it, it wouldn't be a surprise now would it? We'll definitely be rotating some folks around based on availability and eligibility. I can assure you we'll have many of our best players ready to go Thursday night and I'm looking forward to a great matchup. I think the matchups are the key against a team like BNR and Kerry doesn't miss on said matchups very often. I really like our chances.

Jason: So 2 or 3 more questions to go. You watch most of the MLP matches, who impressed you in week one and was there a stand out match up or player that you didn't expect to see and why? Also do you think all the leagues in this season are going to be there at the end?

Sean: Aside from our team coming from behind nobody really did anything special this week. You knew LPL was gonna be good, SS was gonna win, X8B had an easy match, I think it's pretty clear who the good teams are and who the not so good teams are. Palp did have a great win for BNR though and really saved his team. As for the leagues staying or quitting, I think a couple of leagues will have a really tough time of it. True Champs only brought 5, Extreme Cues is probably better than anyone wants to give them credit for. Their schedule is absolute hell. X8B-SP-BNR-PFN-MIB and then they get True Champs. Everyone else seems pretty solid and I hope EC sticks with it because they've got a few players and if they hang around they can at least make a run. But I think the top five - PFN BNR MIB LPL X8B in whatever order you wanna put them, are all playoff-bound and then you get one more that'll just be along for the ride.

Jason: I think personally SS could mix it in there along with SP who are always great at Cammed Inter leagues , but I cant help but finish on this question and that is what do you make of the state of Yahoo Pool at the moment because I think its actually starting to improve again, whats your thoughts? Cubby its been awesome interviewing you for your own blog thanks a lot!

Sean: I've always believed that ypool has never really been dying. The truly great players that were around when many of us started out have either moved on or play in a very limited capacity in inters. There are still cam competitions, leagues aren't as prevalent but that's because there isn't really a major reward for playing 20-30 games a week in a league. And on the inter league scene, good, reputable players don't often play for bad teams. I asked Jordan why he chose BNR over Ultimate Outlaws. He said he would rather have a chance at winning because he's never had that chance in MLP. He has always been the big fish in a small pond. Now he's a big fish in a very big pond. And so the good teams will attract some of that talent and unless the other leagues recruit better or make themselves more attractive on the interleague scene, the rich will just get richer and rest will be left behind. But this was going on even when BNR was bad and it only took a few people who felt sorry for them and wanted to change their losing ways to join and make an instant impact. So leagues like UO, True Champs, etc. are really just a couple players away from turning things around. Ypool will be around for a while. at the end of march there will be like... six noteworthy inter leagues and what? 3 or 4 cam competitions going? Busy busy times. There are so many great ideas that haven't been used yet and many that could be improved or brought back. So thanks for letting me climb up on my soapbox and rant a little bit! I just wanna add that I'm glad to have the opportunity to bring Pool Fiction back and prove that reviving a league can be done effectively. We've got some great people both on our inter league teams and in our league in general, and it's a real treat to have that going for us every day. And thanks for taking the time to interview me on my own blog ^__^ Saves me the trouble of formatting it all LOL

So that was Cubby being his opinionated self again and I would like to thank him for taking the time to take part in the interview.

The match itself will come down to key match ups throughout the night. BNR have to call Jordy and Stu with break and with Kerry knowing they will most probably run it out if they pot on the break she will need to think about who to call. Pool Fiction have a few runners of there own though, hell even Cubby on a good day could but I am thinking about the likes of Mina and Lewis to name 2. These 2 are great shooters and when you have players like Pita and Brent backing them up then I could see a very tight match up here between BNR and PFN! I am told Brent have beaten Stu in 8BRCam lately so this could be something Kerry thinks about come game time! I will give the slight Edge to BNR for this one though and They will take it 4-3 but it will be very close!

Extreme Cues face off against Sexy Poolerz on Monday at 7pm and this match could provide the first proper shock of the season in Season 14 of MLP. EC have so very reliable shooters and we might as well start with Sleepyman who I think would get into ANY MLP starting 7, he is that good along with Imaj, who was the only EC winner last week. EC suffered a big loss to with Pro Shots moving to PFN this week, that could be a big blow for the EC outfit who play a Sexy Poolerz team who don't seem to be there usual selves at the moment and even after going 2-0 up against PFN last week with Simon and Pete winning, they didn't seem to want it as much as what PFN did. I think Pete will have to change it around here this week as EC are going to come out strong and I think they will shock SP this week and that will kick SP into gear for a brilliant season after this week. I will edge with EC to shock SP 4-3.

I want to wish every Team good luck this week and lets have a great week MLP!

Familiar, New Faces Deliver For Break and Run

2010-02-09T19:43:00.000-08:00

Two longtime Break and Run members combined efforts with a pair of new additions to this season's team as BNR won 4-3 over Money in the Bank Tuesday night.

The first two games combined to take nearly an hour. Leadoff men lnpkl (Joey, MIB) and alverdaishot (Don, BNR) exchanged taps all the way through the late stages of the opening game. A natural reluctance to attempt even a moderately difficult run-out set the stage for Joey to make the first near-fatal mistake. After failing to jam the six-ball into the bottom right pocket, Don had a chance to put BNR on top. But his shot on the 12 bounced out of the upper right pocket and MIB gained a 1-0 advantage.

If game one was a novel, game two was an encyclopedia of conservative play do's and don'ts. Longtime Break and Run player arctic_cat_limited (Chip) made the decision to try and ice MIB's Typical_Male_ (Brandon). What followed was a 30-minute stalemate. After Brandon's attempt at either potting his 14 ball or using it to block the lower right pocket, Chip went to work. Chip potted the five ball and broke everything open enough to get a look at a run. After potting an easy 3-7 combo at the end of the run, a long 8ball shot secured the win and a 1-1 tie.

In the third game, Break and Run Captain brownie_2oo2 (Dina) made what proved to be a critical error. Money in the Bank called ReallyBigAssNegro (Mike) with the break. Dina's response, without the break, was easily one of her best runners xlx_skill_xlx (Jordan). Mike had a delay in breaking after getting disconnected due to lag. But on returning, the long-awaited break left a wide-open table. It took merely a couple of minutes for Mike to do what Jordan himself had done to so many teams to break a tie or finish a match - run from the break to the 8 with relative ease. And MIB reclaimed the lead at 2-1.

Game four proved to be one of the longest games in MLP history that did not involve excessive safeties. Indiana_elite looked to move MIB to within one win from victory. On the other side, the always-amusing pi.l2ate (Palp) who I will someday stop confusing with the old-school player xx_romper_xx. With a relatively small number of safety shots, the game's length came from Palp being booted five times due to severe lag. Indy tried to finish out but his run started to fall apart with just a few stripes remaining. Palp got booted one more time but returned to clear away what was left of solids and level the match at 2-2.

With the match leveled and BNR bailed out by Palp in the fourth game, Dina used the same tactic again. This time with zl_stu_lz matched up against ta.lent (Matt). Matt broke similar to Mike in game three. But unfortunately for MIB, nothing fell the only time Matt got to see the cue. Stu sunk a 12-3 combo in the top right pocket with an open table, and never had a single problem the rest of the way, seven-balling Matt and giving BNR a lead for the first time all night. After the game, Matt complained that the run was too easy, and brought up bank competition sets in an attempt to draw attention away from the fact that Stu had just ran him with zero trouble. After an observer was removed from the match, Matt and Stu exchanged their final childish remarks and the match continued with BNR ahead 3-2.

As expected xxl_themachine_lxx (Simon) did register to play for Money in the Bank and they needed him in game six. Break and Run called on xCHRISx to close it out. Chris decided with four stripes left on the table to leave either a bank off the top rail into the bottom middle pocket or a difficult combo into the top middle. The 9-11 combo missed the mark, and Simon would finish off a very quick three-minute sixth game with a similarly easy seven-ball run. So with the teams squared at three wins each, it was time for a mini-rivalry to be renewed.

Money in the Bank Captain sir.pommington called himself and Break and Run put the match in the hands of luckyslam4 (Jason). Pommy's break made nothing and left a wide open table for Jason to run. But Jason was deliberate and slow as usual, prompting many comments from impatient spectators. After nearly snookering himself with three stripes remaining, Jason's play got even slower and more cautious. The 13 ball did go into the bottom right pocket but it left Jason with a key decision to make. Jase elected to run the ten ball along the bottom rail into that same bottom right pocket but couldn't move either solids in the way of the eightball. A shot on the final stripe - the 11 - left the cueball right above both the five and eight, and left Jason with a slightly complicated shot to win. The plan: Kick the eightball off of Pommy's solid and into the bottom middle pocket.

"I thought I had to just barely touch his for a little re-direction, nothing major," he said. "Was a fine line between hitting too much of his and not any. Apparently I got the not any."

Jason's shot missed everything. And Pommy had an open table to try and take down the reigning MLP Champions. Pommy left a dangerous shot on the three ball that he was just able to sneak into the bottom middle pocket. But with two balls left, he bounced a routine shot on the two ball off the lip of the top middle pocket and gave the cue back to Jason. Jason's shot covering half the length of the table made his teammates cringe as it rattled in the top left pocket. But that quickly turned into celebration as the eight disappeared into the pocket and BNR secured the 4-3 victory.

Time of Match: 2h 25m

Save: MIB_xxl_themachine_lxx (1)

(Clinch)/[Decider]: BNR_luckyslam4 (1) [1]

Break and Run: 1-0 (4/3) Next: @ Pool Fiction 1-0 (4/3)

Money in the Bank: 0-1 (3/4) Next: vs Ultimate Outlaws 0-0 (0/0)

Full match recording available below on ustream:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/4595045

Match Of The Week - MIB vs BNR

2010-02-09T09:49:00.001-08:00

Well The Match of the Week is obviously Last season's Champs against this season's threat the the crown. Of course I am talking about Break and Run vs Money In The Bank.

Key Signings

Break And Run

Stu (zl_stu_lz)
Jase (luckyslam4)
Jordy (xlx_skill_xlx)
Matt (g.rinch31)

Money In The Bank

Conor B (BLT Winner(reel_em_ln))
Pommy (sir.pommington)
Indy (indiana_elite)
Si (xxl_machine_lxx(not signed up yet but i have spoke to him and he will be!))

This is MOTW by a mile and more. BNR are the champions and have really beefed up their squad for their defense of the title this season. The players they have managed to pick up in the off-season have been awesome! Stu chose BNR over PFN, that is huge, he is a match winner straight off, the only thing you have to ask is being in the UK can he stay to play the Clinch/Saves or will he play early so he can get an early night? I think he will play early in the beginning but as things get heavy into the season he will stay to play the significant matches.

You have the Two ex PLer's on the list in Jase and Matt. Jase is a good player and I feel that with not having to Captain this season he will be a lot more relaxed and I think we will see the best of Jase this season.

Matt is again a great player and will be needed this season big style if BNR are to win the MLP World Series for the second time in 2 seasons. He can run and snooker which is vital for this season of MLP. He will be a big player this season, but not as big as Jordy!

Jordy is one of them guys that will break and run you or defeat you in a snooker match. If Jordy is at his best like he was in the WPC World Cup, that Cubby commentated on then he will be the player Dina can rely on come the big matches this season.

BNR have a great chance to win this week but they play a very determined MIB team led by the inspirational Captain Pommy! Pommy is a great captain because he leads from the front, he ain't scared to change it around in the order and most of all for a Captain wins the vast majority of his matches in ANY IL he captains in!

Conor B won the BLT this week and will be one player I see pommy using a lot this season! He runs tables very well and has a lot to offer a debut team with very strong players. If he plays like he did in the BLT then expect big things from this guy.

Indy is another player to move over to MIB. I thought originally he was going to be playing for PFN this season but that all ended when MIB snapped him up. Indy in form is a very dangerous player, but catch him on a bad day then even I can beat him! I think he will have a great season though and will be important in this match.

Lastly Si who hasn't joined up yet but is going to apparently will join the MIB contingent later today in time for this match up. He will take a tiny chance of a run and finish it! And he will also play some sublime snookers if needed. All in all this is going to be a cracker!

So that is a look at the players now what does the match have in store for us tonight. Looking at the players each team have available BNR have the stronger players but MIB have the better Captain in my view. Players other than the 4 named need to show up and be counted, Ross for BNR is usually tipped to have a decent season but usually doesn't. Fringe players like the Captain Dina when she plays needs to produce a couple of big wins. Josh needs to stand up and be counted and actually finish the season, as it is an 18 week season, he sometimes gets bored and leaves so we will see. MIB wont have that problem for me but the question is when pommy has to trust a 'regular' from MIB instead of one of his superstars can they stand up and be counted? All of these will make for a interesting match up in which I think BNR will just take it 4-3.

My rest of the Preds at a glance

PFN vs SP
Played yesterday PFN win 4-3

X8B vs EC
5-2 X8B

TC vs LPL
6-1 LPL

SS vs UO
4-3 SS

So there you have it enjoy all GL this week

Loaded Teams Headline 3-Match Night in Week One

2010-02-07T19:41:00.000-08:00

Often times when an interleague starts up there is one marquee matchup that everyone wants to see. In Major League Pool, Tuesday night's matchup between reigning Champion Break and Run and Money in the Bank might as well be an All-Star Match.

MATCH OF THE WEEK: Money in the Bank @ Break and Run - Tuesday, 7:00

Break and Run will play its first MLP match since the passing of redhot_2oo3 in October of last year. Stu, Jordan, Anil, Chris, Ross, Tan, Kalpz... And that's just assuming Luis isn't going to be around to play the full season. After Stu's runner-up showing in Sunday night's Big League Tour opener - proving to everyone that he's still on form - BNR might be the scariest team in MLP this season.

But on the other side you have the man who beat Stu in the Finals - reel_em_ln (Conor), and Money in the Bank. You can ignore their woeful showing in the previous International Pool Association season. Almost all of the players from that team may well be forced out in favor of players like Conor, overachieving (Sid), and of course the new Captain, Pommy. Nobody was particularly impressive in Sunday night's tournament aside from Conor, but keep in mind it was Super Bowl Sunday. The only event of any importance on Tuesday night is this match.

Don't let yourself think for a moment the players signed up for MIB are all they'll have. There will likely be others before Tuesday night. But I think Break and Run is simply loaded moreso than Money in the Bank, and that's why I'll take them to win 4-3.

Pool Fiction @ Sexy Poolerz - Monday, 6:00

Some of you may have already checked MLP's Pick 'Em Contest and seen that I, Pool Fiction's Head Admin, like Sexy Poolerz in the first match of Season 14. There are a number of factors that play into this. Pool Fiction generally struggles when starting off the season, or when playing after long layoffs. Look at losses in Universal Interleague Competition's tenth season opener to Deadstrokes, and Pro Players Association's ninth season to Xtreme 8 Ballers.

What both teams seem to be struggling with is a little uncertainty. Sexy Poolerz first and foremost needs to get players back on the MLP ladder. Pool Fiction needs to set in stone who's actually going to be available Monday night. So far, neither one has necessarily happened. A Sexy Poolerz team I can only assume will be at full strength has always been a thorn in Pool Fiction's side. I think they'll prove that statement true once again, and sneak away with a 4-3 victory.

Extreme Cues @ Xtreme 8 Ballers; Latino Pool Legends @ True Champs - Tuesday, 7:00

I group these two matches together because I honestly don't expect them to be close at all. Extreme Cues barely even knows who their Captain is, and True Champs just isn't a very strong team. EC has a far better shot in their match because of the two underdogs, they're just better. But you've got a team of AJ, and... Um... Well... They're going against Robbie, Travis, Ben, and I'm sure there are more to come.

True Champs didn't bring anybody to Sunday night's Big League Tour opener yet they still agreed to move the match to Tuesday (had originally been scheduled for Thursday night.) LPL is going to beat them. Bad. Cameron, Ant, MJ, Tino, heck they might not even need those four. LPL sweeps 7-0, Xtreme 8 Ballers wins 5-2.

Ultimate Outlaws @ Straight Shots - Wednesday, 6:00

Straightshots generally does well at the start of the season. There isn't really a shortage of players at any given time during the season, but Playoff eligibility often gets overlooked. Being this is Week 1 and not Week 18, you can pretty much expect a well-prepared team from SS. Pascal leads the charge. After that, you have some guys who are OK, not great, but they rotate them around so everyone feels like they're playing to earn a spot on next week's team and be a regular. Tonz being on the team is a major boost to be sure.

When you look at Ultimate Outlaws, you can't exactly be optimistic when it comes to 7 vs. 7 play. Remember, a lot of these people played in Pool Dragonz and their short stay in MLP was... Not very good. But like SS, they have a top dog in Austin, then some so-so players with nobody really standing out. Steve (lvlr.lvlighty) recently hopped from SS to UO, so that will create a moderately interesting scenario in a matchup that otherwise looks rather bland coming the night after a busy three-match night. I think the Outlaws keep it close, but Straightshots pull away with a 4-3 or 5-2 victory.

That's Week #1. The season begins tonight and does not end until JUNE. The five-month odyssey begins tonight with Sexy Poolerz and Pool Fiction. Major League Pool's 14th - and longest - season should be yet another roller coaster ride. Let the games begin. Stay classy MLP ;)

Season 14 and X8B under the Spotlight

2010-02-02T23:49:00.000-08:00

Hello and Welcome to MLP Sports Center and yes Cubby has allowed me to do some posting for this season. I wont be a part of it as a player but I may join the odd Sunday night tourney as I work nights. So in this post I will interview X8B Captain Ben (the_lvlag1cian). I will then look a little bit deeper into the league as a whole and talk about players who I think we should watch.

Jason: Thanks for agreeing to do the interview ben. I would like to ask you first what your expectations are for this coming season and If you make the playoffs where you want to finish?

Ben: Yup, your welcome, thanks for having me Where to start... With MLP, your expectations can only be high. Going into their 14th season, something must be clicking right. It feels like this place is the "big brother" amongst other interleagues, as many do look up to MLP because it is so successful. As for X8B making the playoffs? I see it as a possibility, but I never know what's going to happen. There's big competition here, but as we've gotten familiar with every team's playing style, maybe X8B can wiggle out way through a few games, and make it high up on the standings.

Jason: I think there is a good chance to make serious inroads into the playoffs this season. The last MLP 7 v 7 season X8B did very well in the regular season. Will we see any big names playing for you this season? Adambuddy?, Ross? and if so who else is there to watch out for and dont say James because that would be lying!

Ben: Lol, yeah, I don't think James has realized it yet that I'm just dragging him along for the show. I feel like our team is in the best form it has ever been. We got a solid lineup that might get a few heads turning. Yes, Adam and Ross are in there, along with Petey, Trav, Corey, Stephen, Robby.. and thats not even mentioning your typical trio of Ben, James, Dan. We definitely have a deep lineup, which could get back to haunt us if some don't get the desired playing time. But, my main goal here is to show up. Really frustrates me when we don't show with a full lineup, especially to the playoffs (see last years WPC). With the players we have, don't think that be an issue.

Jason: Yes you was one of the favourites last season in WPC but the lack of players must be a issue as your league is so active, will there be any league regulars playing this season or will the main bunch just get in there 5 games and show up? I know it happens in other leagues too but is there anyone who we should maybe look out for that we haven't heard of before?

Ben: Unfortunately, it's going to be the main bunch getting their 5 in and showing up. Now, for some, "getting their 5 in" it's such a hard concept for some reason (yes, myself is included in that). So, I'm going to try to keep on their asses about it. There shouldn't really be any big surprises with who's playing on our team. Ronnie and Phil said they might be coming back around, so if they dust the rust off a bit, could see them making a nice comeback. Oh, and Conor B - if you're reading this - we love you

Jason: I am afraid there is no excuse in X8B by any of your players to say they didn't have time there are tourneys 95% of the day! I think you and your team have a great chance at playoffs. The thing you need to do is make sure you have players come playoff time. Where do you see yourselves finishing and who will win the reg season and who will Win he playoffs?

Ben: Yeh, there shouldn't be any excuse. We're running like 80 tourneys a day over in X8B, so you'd think a player would be able to jump something *shrug* The no snooking thing is a turn-off to some, and I can understand that. With me, I like to aim low and surprise myself with how well we did. A 5th place spot in reg season will be the goal; we do have the potential for a top 3 spot though. As for the overall winners in the season - theres too many good teams to choose from. It could go either way, really. Just depends who's having the better day at the time. I'll go out on a limb, and say MIB comes out with the win, making their season debut one to remember.

Jason: Ben thank you for the interview and good look this season.

Ben: No Problemo

So that was a look at X8B's potential season from their captain Ben. Xtreme 8 Ball are basically one of very few 24 hour leagues left, they dont join many interleagues and are currently only in MLP, WPC and UIC.

They have had limited success in WPC but made the playoffs last season. In UIC they moved up from the Emerald Division to the Diamond Division, but in the Interleague every team wants to win - MLP - they have made the playoffs and last season had a wonderful Regular Season in the 7 v 7 Competition winning the National League and Ben got the Captains Award for the National League. This season in MLP however its all one league, even though Ben has a lot of talent at his disposal, the question is can he keep them all in line? Ross is a stand out player for them along with the likes of James (and man that pains me to say) and Adambuddy who when he's on form and playing his usual match, not many could beat him. This season could and should be Xtreme 8 Balls best season yet and therefore I predict a top 3 finish.

As I am doing this Lets look at who I think will finish where and why.

To me this is the most equally matched group of teams ever in MLP. There are 7 Teams that could win the Regular Season title and 3 teams that in my view can't but could make the playoffs. Those teams are Ultimate Outlaws , True Champs and Extreme Cues. I say this because I feel that True Champs are struggling to show with 5 in PRO so I wonder if they can even manage a 7-player team in MLP. I don't think they can. Extreme Cues I just don't know what to expect their activity is great and they will make sure they are back with a bang but other than Paul (sleepyman) can they say they have a team to challenge the big guns? I doubt it very much but then I will probably be proved wrong.

Ultimate Outlaws are a team you could say will either be surprising and up there or so out of it it will be unreal. Of the three, I actually believe they have the best chance to sneak into the Playoffs. They have a good set up but sometimes it gets a little bit iffy and that will have to be kept out if UO will make a move for MLP playoffs in season 14.

The other 7 teams in my opinion have the same sort of chance. Straight Shots and Xtreme 8 Ball were both #1 seeds last season in the 7v7, so I would fancy there chances this season especially after looking at their rosters. In my view they won't win it though, so who will? PFN?, SP? These are two very solid teams who will be in the top 4 come the end of the season for sure because they have good players all down the line even though Kerry wasn't giving much away on who was signing up. But I expect Kerry herself to play a bit more this season. Cubby will always be a dangerous player most the time hes brilliant but some times he's that bad even I can beat him.

SP have Ketan and MR Shaggyman who was impressive in WPC this season as SP claimed second in that. SP need to make sure they can bring the strongest possible team each week if they do that then the top 4 will be in reach. So neither PFN or SP will win it in my view but will claim a top 4 spot.

Who does that leave? Last Season's Champs Break and Run? They have been very busy in the Postseason as they have acquired Jase from PL, Grinch and Jordy to name three. Josh is also back! Cubby said Return, Remember, Repeat? I think this could be the season BNR joins the roll of honour that only 2 other teams have managed and that was 8 Ball Runners in Season 7 and Season 8 and Pool Fiction being the most recent in Seasons 10 and 11, winning it all 2 seasons in a row. BNR have the team to do it but I doubt they will win the Regular season, which leaves two more of this strong 7 teams remaining and that is newbies LPL and MIB.

Money In The Bank, as Cubby says TPL or CKP whichever you want to use, but Pommy is Captain so expect a big season from the MIB team. These are the guys that will finish Number 1 in my view they have a decent roster but Pommy always gets the best out of people and this season in MLP will be no different. They will win the Regular Season and also Pommy will annoy each and every one of us with his big-headedness but gets away with it because hes Pommy!

LPL will also have a big season that might get them into the playoffs. They have won Championships before, knocking off PFN in WPC if I remember rightly (I am sure Cubby will remember it well). With Ant as Captain they will show but whether they show with 7 will be another question. They will be a tough challenge if all show up but they might just miss out on the playoffs this season.

So my first ever MLP Blog it took me a while I hope you all enjoy it and gl for this season!

Season 14 Around The Corner!

2010-02-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

After a long, long layoff, and a successful MLP Fives season, MLP is ready to begin its 14th 7 vs. 7 season! There are many storylines leading up to next week's opening matches.

Don't take the newbies lightly!

Three leagues will be playing in their first MLP 7 vs. 7 season. But there certainly won't be many new players.

Ultimate Outlaws branched off from Pool Dragonz, who managed a goose-egg in MLP's previous 7v7. But since then they have enjoyed some success in interleagues, most recently earning a 9-3 record as they sit atop UIC's Emerald Division. There IS a risk of drama running wild when things begin to snowball, but if they stay the course, there's no reason Ultimate Outlaws can't compete for one of the six playff spots this season. The Outlaws open up Wednesday night against Straightshots.

Money in the Bank, or Cue Keepers v3.0, enters and is sure to make an immediate impact. After a controversial World Series between Cue Keepers and Pool Fiction, Pommy and co. migrated to True Pool Legends. After Championships in both PLC and MLP, the league's activity began to die off. Now this group of players finds themselves in Money in the Bank, a league with boatloads of activity and solid players already on-board to boot. An opening week showdown with Break and Run Tuesday night makes this week's Match of the Week a no-brainer.

Latino Pool Legends jumps into the fray. You may remember Malditos, and Tino's infamous "rosada" incident. Well, they're back! With Tino, Ant, and the usual MLD/LPL squad ready to enter Season 14, they could potentially be a very dangerous team. The only question surrounding Latino Pool Legends is their depth. In the Pro Players Association, a couple players can carry the load. In UIC, a couple players can make a huge difference with two fewer games to play. In MLP, it's a lot tougher to win with that same formula. LPL takes on True Champs to finish off Week 1.

WELCOME BACK!

Extreme Cues returns with a brand new look after dropping out of Major League Pool a few seasons ago. With a new Admin team and a new Captain, Extreme Cues looks to turn home league success into INTERleague success. While they may lack strength all the way down the lineup, there are some diamonds in the rough that could stun an unsuspecting team, allowing EC to make a little noise this season.

CHAMPIONS: Return, Remember, Repeat?

Break And Run finally reached the top last season after so many seasons at the other end of the Standings. Break And Run deserves a lot of respect. They made the tough decision of phasing out some ineffective players and committing to, while not completely dumping those players, opening the doors for more competitive players and the improvements were instantly evident. In Season 13, BNR knocked off Pool Legends to win their first World Series title. It would be the only major Championship that arguably the heart & soul of Break And Run would witness; David (redhot_2oo3) passed away on October 11th, 2009. After a trip to the IPA Grand Final in December of '09, BNR is reloading. Tanmay is joined by a handful of former Pool Legends this season, and Dina has also added Jordan to the squad. Favorites to repeat? You'd better believe it.

There are many other storylines and even more that will develop during the season. The matches kick off Monday night when Sexy Poolerz hosts Pool Fiction. Sexy Poolerz won MLP's inaugural 5 vs. 5 season, while a dying Pool Fiction league missed the Playoffs for the first time in league history. Both leagues have had many epic battles, most famously perhaps in the first round of PLC's final season's Playoffs. Now they meet again in a 7v7 for the first time since that battle. And it looks to be an equally-exciting way to open up the long-awaited 14th season of Major League Pool.

Here's to another exciting MLP season! ...Stay classy MLP ;)

OVERRATED: Lower Seeds Shine In First Round

2009-05-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

In the opening round of the Playoffs, only one team, the best team record-wise, actually won in its home room. A failure to show up for the most important match of the season cost two of them, while one low seed survived a lack of a full team.

In Monday night's only match, a Straightshots team which went 7-0 in away matches had to play at home where it was 3-4. Break And Run was the opponent in the 1-4 matchup, and BNR also flourished on the road - a similar 3-4 record at home to go with a 6-1 away record. Both teams had won in their opponent's room, including Straightshots winning in week 14 to clinch the #1 seed.

In the opening game, both captains decided to get the weakest players out of the way early. pi.l2ate and mmm.dinamite played for BNR and SS respectively. A win for Romper would mean a .500 record this season. A win for Chelle meant her first win of the season (came in 0-4.) In a game which lasted around a half hour, and both players showed extreme ineptitude in the field of ball control, dinamite took advantage of one last choke and at least pretended to know how to run 3 balls, and steal the win.

In the second game, much better players. xsicc.mikex for Straightshots who went 5-1, and 6-5 xlx_rivaldo_xlx for BNR. The game moved much faster, and mike came up big for SS when they needed him most giving the team a 2-0 lead. It looked like 'shots were cruising especially with Charlie coming up in game 3.

But Charlie was ineligible. And x_therage got the DQ win. Just another problem for Straightshots in a home match. By rule, a player must have five tourney games within the past week. Charlie only had 4, ineligible despite playing in the room that night for his Captain to see. An offline message left by Nicki during the match suggests she did not understand, 16 weeks into the season, Daily Results is used to check such eligibility. Regardless, it's SS at home, and the lead is now just 2-1.

BNR would go on to tie the match up at 2, or would it be even worse? sicc.mike's tape was curiously not making its way through to any admins or teammates. With BNR's patsfan about to tie the match against former SS captain doo da, everyone received confirmation that mike had failed to send his 2 MB tape within the 60-minute timeframe. Rivaldo was then prompted to send his in, and was subsequently cleared. Bryan won that 6th game, and gave BNR a 4-2 victory, sending them to the American League Championship Match for the first time ever.

Straightshots face its most humiliating loss since the 1-6 loss to Magic Pool, also at home, when SS gathered 5 eligible players to face MP. SS interleague cheerleader Nigel reacted similarly to both losses, lashing out at MLP and its Admins (namely, yours truly.) A previous comment on the MLP Shoutbox by Nigel, praising SS's record and taunting me, referring to my remark calling Straightshots disorganized and a waste of time this season, merely proves to be egg on the face.

BNR will be without ll_eskimo_ownage_ll for the remainder of the Playoffs due to his actions at the match. Repeatedly stirring things up with SS's doo da, and continuing on in the lobby with MLP Admins (including Ross... Curious because BNR, y'know, won.) No word yet on why someone who was not considered good enough by Josh to play in a match where the majority of players looked like trash, was talking so much of it.

So who would BNR face? The winner of the 2-3 matchup, Tourney Pool & True Pool Legends. Everyone expected these 2 to meet NEXT week in the American League Championship Match, but they both collapsed in the second half of the season.

TPL has been essentially waiting for the league to die and Captain aka_pomking even admitted he'd have liked to lose that match last night. But with a 4-1 win in which TPL only had 5 players to start (wv420man showed up late), and a win by Pommy over luisj_barreto to finish the deal, Pommy says now that they've got a decent chance a winning, they'd might as well put the effort in.

Tourney Pool bows out at the #2 seed, despite winning 60 games - more than anyone else in the American League. Perhaps a relief to get this season over with and prepare for the next, and a chance at revamping the team.

TPL moves on and will host Break And Run in a 3-4 matchup. After a sub-.500 second half of the season, both teams certainly seem evenly matched especially with TPL's lack of a full team. Do not be surprised if BNR makes its first-ever World Series appearance.

In the National League, the #1 seed and Regular Season Champion Pool Legends is still alive. PL took advantage of Sexy Poolerz Captain BostonBruins1's ironically horrible play in Game 5. g.rinch31 had tried to run Pete, but failed to make a long shot on the 8ball. From there, with a fairly open table, Pete proceeded to make 0 shot attempts and just safety. The strategy comes as a surprise from someone who has said he hates long games when the players are afraid to take a shot. Finally, g.rinch was able to make an easy bank on the 8, off the top rail to bottom left, and give PL a 3-2 lead. lilsparky67 was called on in game 6, and he did what he usually does - take an opening and run with it to clinch the win for PL.

Pool Legends move on to host the winner of the Poolfiction vs. Xtreme 8Ball match. PL had split against both of them, including a 6-1 win over X8B, a 6-1 loss to PFN, and a come-from-behind 4-3 win over PFN.

Sexy Poolerz's superb.shot immediately began questioning Pete, wondering why he didn't simply try running the table. It's just another page in the long story of Pete's Captaining and playing woes in the Playoffs, dating bac to 8Ball Elite.

In the other National League match, #2 Xtreme 8Ballers took a 1-0 lead over #3 Pool Fiction after stoned_on_420 rushed and barely failed to leave a shot leading up to the 8ball. From there, PFN would win 3 straight to take a commanding 3-1 lead, which included former X8B player easy.money's game 3 win.

But in game 5, holden_vlv8 ran xlx_bpk_xlx off Jamie's break, and got X8B back into it. With Xtreme 8Ball down to their last player in Game 6, u_got_no_skillz tried stalling for a 7th. PFN's pool_warrior2002 aided in the stalling effort, even knowing what was going on. As the pair tapped back and forth, the whole rack essentially shifted to the bottom right corner. Both Andy and Stephen had a combined half-dozen or so opportunities to finish the match out, but they both continued to blow them. Finally, Andy scratched and left Stephen an easy 3-ball finish to tie the match at 3. With xchriskarenx ready to go in the 7th game... X8B decided to simply forfeit, as they could not come up with an eligible player.

So and Xtreme 8Ballers team which lost twice to Pool Fiction, falls a 3rd time but not without a strong showing. They erase a 3-1 deficit, doing basically all they could to try and stay alive this season. For X8B, it's time to look ahead to MLP Fives, and the next 7v7 season as well, where they figure to be just as good, if not better.

Pool Fiction survives without Captain kerryanne_24, who is recovering from what has been called a successful operation. Kerry is expected to be around this weekend to touch base with people, but will likely not Captain the team in Monday night's National League Championship Match. PFN moves on to play in what might as well be the World Series - with the two strongest teams remaining in MLP squaring off. It's a Monday night, 8:00 affair between PL and PFN. Cya there!

Week Ten Review

2009-04-17T17:44:00.000-07:00

The National League's best won, and the American League's best faltered in Week 10.

MONDAY

Straightshots and Break and Run both won their respective matches 4-3. SS knocked off an underachieving Lucky Shots team, while BNR had a much easier task, Pool Loverz.

Straightshots has icreased its lead over LS in the standings to three games, and more importantly, helped set up a three-way tie for the final two Playoff spots in the AL at 6-4. Most notably for SS, snookrun improved his record to 4-0 on the season by beating aiming_skillz. The result could be considered an upset, as Straightshots came into the week with a home record of 1-4.

Lucky Shots, meanwhile, has been relegated to the role of spoiler in the American League. Three matches separate LS from Straightshots, Cue Killers and Tourney Pool (all 6-4.) With four matches remaining, it's extremely unlikely LS can make any kind of push for a spot in the top four. Lucky Shots Captain simon.kitto won his game over o_sweet_temptations_o to improve to 7-3, one of only two bright spots for LS this season. Simon is also 2-2 in clinching opportunities, though Monday's win was not one.

Break and Run avoided getting pulled into the massive tie by beating Pool Loverz. At 7-3, BNR continues enjoying its most successful season ever in Major League Pool, one that saw a 3-0 start. No single player has had a standout season for BNR. kccwc1 is 4-2 with a 2-1 clinch record after losing this week. But the team continues to make a run towards its first #1 seed in any Interleague, getting help from Tourney Pool's victory over True Pool Legends. BNR sits just a game back of 1st, and plays True Pool Legends for that #1 spot next week. Break and Run lost the first meeting 5-2, in the first loss of the season.

Pool Loverz drops to 1-9, and holds the worst record of leagues who have played all ten weeks this season. shootalready69 leads the team with five of its 23 wins. Pool Loverz is not mathematically eliminated from Playoff contention yet, trailing Sexy Poolerz and Magic Pool both by four matches with four to play, but it's only a matter of time now.

TUESDAY

Three matches featured primarily National League teams, and key matches for seeding and Playoff livelihood.

Sexy Poolerz destroyed Magic Pool 6-1 in the opener.

Magic Pool came into the week with a one-game lead over SP for the fourth seed in the National League, and a 4-3 head-to-head advantage. But this Magic Pool team has been in freefall for the past month, and has seen its #2 seed evaporate into fifth place in the National League. The lone win for MP came from lvlancunian over k.etan. Magic Pool falls to .500 with the loss, and in a tie with Sexy Poolerz. The 1-6 defeat means SP takes over the #4 spot for now. Next week, MP faces possible payback at the hands of Straightshots after the embarrassing display from SS in their first meeting.

Sexy Poolerz figures to be in control in the National League with the commanding victory. Not only does SP take over the #4 seed, but next on the schedule is the winless 8 Ball Crushers (formerly Pool Dragonz.) One note of concern for SP, though, is the team struggles to beat the bottom-feeders it's expected to handle. Time will tell if this has changed.

In the lone American League showdown, Cue Killers followed the example of Straightshots and kept True Champs (formerly High Timez) out of the win column for the season with a 4-3 win. For CK, it's a streak that began with a narrow 4-3 loss to True Pool Legends. Since then, Cue Killers has upset Tourney Pool and survived the loss of key players to stay in the hunt for a Playoff spot. Against Tourney Pool and Straightshots, Cue Killers holds a 1-1, 5/9 record.

True Champs continue to search for win #1 this season. After replacing the pathetic High Timez team, TC had its best chance for a win last week against Xtreme 8Ball. After fluking into a 3-0 lead, aided by a pair of opening early 8s, True Champs squandered a golden opportunity in the fourth game, multiple times. Xtreme 8Ball won the match 4-3. In this week's match, l3ites.l3ack won yet again to improve to 4-0 this season. l3ites.l3ack has played in every TC match so far.

But all eyes were on the nightcap between Poolfiction and Pool Legends.

In the first meeting, PL overcame a 3-2 deficit to win 4-3 and drop PFN to 0-3. This week, a much different story. Poolfiction jumped ahead 2-0 and never looked back, clinching a 5-2 victory in five games and add some breathing room ahead of the tie for fourth. In the past seven weeks, Poolfiction has gone 6-1 with the only loss coming against True Pool Legends. With the win, Poolfiction takes over the head-to-head advantage against PL by an 8/6 total. For now, it's still a one-game advantage for Pool Legends over PFN, with both teams having to take on X8B in successive weeks. Next for Poolfiction, though, is a trap game with Pool Loverz.

Pool Legends is still 7-3 and the #2 seed, but trails Xtreme 8Ball by two matches. With a win this week, PL would've been able to challenge X8B for the #1 spot when the teams meet next week. Both g.rinch31 and darkinc00, tops in the MLP Top 10 Players listing, lost their games but lilsparky67 did win after the match had been clinched. Usual PL Captain sexxxy_luckydog17 was not at the match, which will probably change for next week's showdown.

WEDNESDAY

The lone showdown between Tourney Pool and True Pool Legends wasn't as highly anticipated as their memorable World Series last season.

True Pool Legends was in the running for the top record in MLP, trailing Xtreme 8Ball by a couple games in the overall win/loss record. At 8-1, they were also fending off a surprise run from Break and Run, who had pulled to within a game and a half earlier in the week. The last time these two leagues met was a Pool League Championship match, where TPL won with a 7-0 sweep. In MLP, TPL was on an 8-game win streak. But TPL never got it going in the match this week, dropping three of the first four games and allowing Tourney Pool to clinch in just six games. The 3-4 loss drops True Pool Legends to only a game ahead of next week's opponent BNR.

Tourney Pool had gone into free-fall mode and came perilously close to falling a game clear behind the pack in the battle for any Playoff spot. But a 4-3 win this week came when TP needed it most. Cue Killers and Straightshots had already won, and Tourney Pool not only won, but won convincingly to send the message that this is in fact still a three-team race for two Playoff spots. The tiebreakers spell out the following:

Straightshots is currently in third place with a 2-1 record between the three leagues. The record includes a 6-1 win that at the time looked to cripple the Cue Killers season. That leaves a two-way tie between Tourney Pool and Cue Killers, which CK holds via head-to-head due to the 4-3 win over TP. So if the season ended this week, Straightshots would be third, Cue Killers fourth and Tourney Pool surprisingly out of the Playoffs.

THURSDAY

Not much to say about the finale to Week 10. Xtreme 8Ball took over a clear one-match lead in the overall MLP Standings with a 5-2 win over 8Ball Crushers. Xtreme 8Ball is now 9-1 with a two-match lead over Pool Legends ahead of the showdown next week. It's the toughest stretch of the season coming up for X8B, featuring Pool Legends and Poolfiction in back-to-back weeks.

8Ball Crushers remains 1-9, and in the basement in the National League. Pool Loverz is also 1-9, but beat Pool Dragonz 5-2 back in the second week of the season, matching 8BC's 5-2 win in Week nine. Pool Loverz holds a three-game lead in the overall win/loss record, while both teams enjoy a one-match lead over the tandem of True Champs and High Timez, sitting at 0-10 in the American League.

5v5 Lacks A Solid Name

2009-03-24T23:38:00.001-07:00

We've picked a name we like for the new 5v5 carry mini-season coming up in roughly 2 months. But, here's a chance for you guys to weigh in and give us your suggestions. In the comments, post which idea you like best, or come up with one of your own!

MLP 5v5 Classic

MLP Fives

MLP Masters

Little League Pool

Minor League Pool

Cactus League

Grapefruit League

Mini League Pool

...Trust me, those last few were just made up on the spot and not actually discussed at any meeting. But ya gotta have SOME variety :p

I'll tell ya my vote... After it's decided ;)

New Off-Season Competition For MLP

2009-03-22T11:37:00.001-07:00

Major League Pool has unveiled a second competition to take place after the 7 vs. 7 season ends.

MLP will be hosting a 5 vs. 5-carry mini-season between an undecided number of leagues during the off-season. The number is expected to be around 8 or 10 leagues. MLP Admins approved the idea at a meeting Friday evening, but full details have not been finalized.

The 5 vs. 5 comes as some players begin to miss Pro Players Association, which used the same format for numerous seasons with fair success. Major Pool Interleague has tried to replace the now-defunct interleague with a similar format, but not even two weeks into the season numerous leagues have dropped out.

So as MLP tried to provide a 5v5-carry competition for leagues, Admins have also discussed using the extra mini-season as a test run for making Season 14 all-cam. With numerous players, including two Magic Pool players and a Sexy Poolerz player being caught up in aimer controversy, merely making suspicious players play on cam doesn't appaear to be worth the trouble. It's still unknown what this will do to MLP's policy of banning any player caught with an aimer anywhere, so long as the incident is reported reasonably recent, and not held over the player's head and revisited weeks or months later.

A signup application will follow soon on the MLP main page, and more details will be made available through the second half of the current 7v7 season.

Opinion: Why Poor & Weak Leagues Start Dropping Near Mid-season

2009-03-19T18:52:00.001-07:00

MLP welcomed five new leagues into the competition this season - one was technically a returning league name while the other was primarily a group of players moving from one league to another.

Of High Timez, Cue Killers, Pool Dragonz, Xtreme 8Ball, and Sexy Poolerz, you instantly see a trend. High Timez, Pool Dragonz... They go 0-for-everything. Cue Killers has a slightly more manageable 2-4 record, and the other two have very good records, with X8B leading the pack at 5-1.

So what's the trend? Pool Dragonz has been replaced by 8Ball Crushers after going 0-5. High Timez's Head Admin has demanded that HT's Interleague Coordinator drop one of the three interleagues they are in. With a 6-4 record and being Playoff-bound in the 6v6 World Pool Championship, and only having to deal with an 0-1 record in the newly-created 5v5 carry Major Pool Interleague, HT's decision has essentially been made for them, sending the message: We aren't good enough to win in MLP, so we'll let someone else deal with what is now an 0-6 record after their forfeit to SS tonight.

Cue Killers are 2-4, and are starting to fall apart with players withdrawing and guys like l3055 jumping ship to play for a team that is competitive in TPL (as soon as he sits out his 2-match box for not reporting when he and his team got smashed by Straight Shots.)

Meanwhile, Sexy Poolerz at 4-2 and X8B's 5-1 record mean that because they're good enough to compete, they will likely stay the course. While it may look like a daunting task to participate in an interleague for 4 months, let's keep in mind... The only two things that are required, are that you have enough tournaments to keep everyone eligible, and bring seven players to a match one night per week. The HT Head Admin, who I will keep picking on because I know more about their situation than PDZ's, has said interleagues are "hurting" the league.

Really? Maybe in the sense that 7 players are unavailable to play in the league at night because some Interleagues (not MLP, by the way) have rules about not being in ANY OTHER GAMES while playing. I've always wondered about this rule. I can understand banning training tables - that has its obvious reasons. But this notion of playing multiple games at the same time being banned is stupid. What is the reason behind these rules? Is it because it slows the match down? If that's the case, set a 30-second timer on the tables like the timers utilized in REAL pool (you know, the game many players Yahoo Pool makes look good on here likely suck at?) Don't allow safetying unless the cueball or object ball hit a cushion after contact. Oh bummer, that can't happen because many refs and admins in interleagues across the board barely pay attention to their matches (guilty. I don't EVER watch snookfests. They're boring, annoying, and are ALWAYS lost, rather than won.)

Some games take 20, 25, FORTY minutes or MORE to play. Outlawing playing multiple games at the same time will not fix that. The only ban should be against bootem and rack & run games, which of course require training tables and would allow the usual suspects to take advantage of the leniency. I would love to, someday, get all of the interleague head admins together and have them explain each of their rules in their interleagues, and have them provide their reasoning for them. I think you would be surprised how many have all the answers (I frankly don't believe any would.)

But with leagues quitting comes a need for more leagues. There are enough leagues who have applied either late or been turned away at the start to replace 3-4 leagues. The obvious question comes with 8 Ball Runners. While we (Admins) haven't discussed it, I think there is definitely a feeling that when we've said "no" to a league at the start of the season, that bringing them in later when others have also applied and not been judged yet isn't fair to the leagues who are active enough. Efforts are being made in 8BR to make the league more active, which bodes well for them when Season 14 rolls around - so long as there aren't any incidents of stat faking or false reporting (or, Jose/David Daniel types) right before the season starts.

Is all the reasoning and logic used in tough decisions interleagues or leagues make sound? God no. We in MLP have made stupid decisions in the past, and we'll make some pretty airheaded decisions down the line. When really thinking about it, 8BR and PK has vastly better players than... High Timez, and Pool Dragonz. But if you always take the best, you have more issues (even without leagues like that, Admins have Magic Pool) to deal with. And the small-time leagues mentioned don't get the chance to show what they can do, and possibly attract players to their league.

I've always liked "the little guy" - it's like college athletics. Let's say MLP is the Atlantic Coast Conference. And a league like Cue Killers is Boston College. Now, they could easily not participate in interleagues, like BC could be in the America East Conference. But who's gonna come to play for BC in a rubbish conference like America East? But put them in the ACC... Players will want to come, because the exposure is greater. That's why leagues like Pool Fiction have thrived. They embrace interleagues as a way to ADD to their member count, not just CREATE a member count. Cue Killers have joined the ACC. People know about them now. That's a recruiting tool they can use with players who might randomly come through their lobby, and might be interested in joining a league.

And this all goes back to High Timez... Interleagues do not ruin leagues. The only thing that can happen is a league might look bad when they, like they've done in MLP and probably will in MPI, do poorly because players aren't good enough. And in some cases, they quit because they don't take it as a chance to get better. Or, because the reasoning ability isn't quite there with the decision-makers.

In the end, it happens every season. Maybe in Season 14, the experiment could be to accept only the best X number of leagues that apply. Forget the leagues like Pool Loverz, Pool Dragonz, etc. which are a liability to drop. Who knows? But the above, IMO, is a myriad of problems leagues and interleagues face.

Magic Pool Quits After Loss

2009-03-17T18:14:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night's match between Magic Pool and Xtreme 8Ball was rather anticipated due to the records of both teams. The match was memorable, but not for the reason Magic Pool would've liked.

About midway through the match, with the score 2-1 in Xtreme 8Ball's favor, Magic Pool's newest player g0dly_l3ank3r was in the process of beating u_got_no_skillz, which would have given Stephen his first loss this season. But simon.kitto, a spectator at the match, sent a message to the author of this article (a Major League Pool Admin,) asking whether or not a disqualification could occur if a player was caught at a training table during their game. When Simon's question was answered, he also looked for clarification on post-game DQs.

A screenshot was taken the first second it was available, showing g0dly_l3ank3r at training table #15, while also playing his game at the MLP table, #8.

After a length delay which saw the match's referee, leafed_leafs abandon the match, and the Admin on duty brownie_2oo1 suffering from connection issues, the screenshot was sent in and the game was overturned. Dina cited rule #14 under MLP's Game-specific rules, which states: "You must NOT be seated at any training table whilst playing any MLP game. Any player found seated at a training table whilst playing in a game will be disqualified."

The decision was protested by MP Captain xlx_skill_xlx. Jordan argued that the means to make the DQ had been made available well after the match had concluded. The fact remains, however, that connection and technical difficulties had caused the delay. Simon, the former Interim Head Admin of Pro Players Association, Admin in UIC, and last season's Outstanding Umpire Award winner, apologized to Jordan for mentioning the infraction to anyone.

Jordan won the following game, bringing his team back within 1. During the game, he took shots at the opposing team and one of the Admins, threatening that if anything was done to him, Magic Pool would leave MLP. Jordan's next call was for everton------e.f.c@sbcglobal.net to play. However, Dina would not allow Danny to play.

Previously in the match, during the DQ controversy, everton had argued against the pending decision in all caps. After he was told to drop the caps, and let the admins settle the situation, he made multiple inappropriate comments to the admins. Dina removed him from the match, meaning that he could not return at all as per her warning to both captains before the match - any player booted from the table will not return, playing or not.

When Dina's decision not to allow Danny to play was made final, Jordan forfeited the remainder of the match, and withdrew Magic Pool from MLP. Jordan also made his choice clear on the MLP website. His quote before immediately afterward leaving the table was: "Admins, please pull MP out of MLP. We are done." Jordan also went on to wish MLP Admins luck in finding a league that would not mind taking over with a 4-2 match record, with wins over Pool Fiction and Sexy Poolerz to its credit.

Magic Pool Head Admin, and Co-Captain man.killer01 was unavailable at the time for comment or confirmation. But it is expected that her Captain's decision will stand, as now in order for Jane to overturn his choice, MLP Admins will need to make their own decision: Allow Magic Pool to rejoin MLP, or accept one of the late requests to join the interleague which came in shortly after the season started. The other option, of course, is to accept one of the few leagues which were initially turned away.

Mostly Dull Week Concludes With Triple-header

2009-03-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

Three 6-1 matches surrounding a 4-3 thriller have made this week a rather uneventful one.

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.

Perfect No More - Pool Fiction Knocks Off X8B

2009-03-10T21:48:00.001-07:00

Tuesday night's lone match featured 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3 ties. But there could be no 4-4 tie so whoever won the next game took it all.

Pool Fiction grabbed the early 1-0 advantage, as ta.lent won his season debut over Xtreme 8Ball's king.ronnie. Ronnie had run the table down to the 7ball, his last, before the game was stopped to confirm his eligibility. After it had been established that Yahoo!'s game profiles were yet again omitting games, Ronnie was free to try his bank shot, from the right rail to the top left pocket. Ronnie missed the shot high, however, allowing Matt to run out all his stripes, and the 8, and put his team on top.

In the second game, PFN's xlx_ogges_xlx had a golden opportunity to double the lead. Despite leaving appealing openings for 4-0 u_got_no_skillz to run, Stephen only pounced when he was left a cut on the 9ball to the bottom right pocket. Stephen was able to make that shot, and leave one of his remaining two stripes for a relatively easy shot. That ball was the 10-ball, which he needed to make and then spin the cueball back in an attempt to free up the 11 near the upper left corner. Stephen missed the shot entirely, leaving Ogges with a chance to finish. George's run was a rather adventurous one, never leaving more than one possible shot to continue. Ogges was able to convert on a 5-1 combo to the bottom left pocket to keep shooting. After the cueball rattled in the top middle pocket and kicked out just enough to leave a shot on his last solid later on, ogges made the three and left the 8 fairly close to the lower left pocket. His shot would miss off the bottom rail however, and Stephen would clean up to steal the game, and improve to 5-0 on the season. More importantly though perhaps, the match was squared at one apiece.

In the third game, so_wolf_cub4 had the break against Xtreme 8Baller obv.skill. Cubby got a ball to fall off the break, and while intending to run solids after the next shot, he also got bailed out as a stripe fell. Had that stripe not fallen, there were no reasonable shots on any solids that could've been made. With the bailout, Cubby cashed in, running the remaining stripes and knocking down the 8ball. Pool Fiction enjoyed a 2-1 lead.

Onward to the fourth game, where Pool Fiction Captain kerryanne_24 looked to try and put things away. xlx_bpk_xlx got the call for PFN, while X8B's canuck_justin sat in for his new team. Jamie tried to recreate the feat of his teammate in the previous game, with less luck involved, trying to run out his solids and give PFN another win. But with a cluster of balls, 8ball included, at the lower right side of the table, Jamie opted to try and safety by potting one of the stripes. That ball stayed out of the pocket, allowing Justin to use it as a safety tool. After a pair of fouls by Jamie, the Canadian was off to the rehces. With one stripe left, Justin had a moderately difficult shot with the cueball perilously close to being directly under the final stripe. The former Lucky Shot made the runner, though, and kept the 8ball on the table and next made it, to level the match at two.

In game five, Big League Tour Runner-up and X8B Captain the_lvlag1cian called on himself to take on devilstature. After Roger fouled trying to thread the needle between a pair of solids, Ben picked up where he left off Sunday night - running tables. This time, unlike Sunday night, Ben took his time and picked off all 7 of his balls, along with the 8, making it all look so easy... And Xtreme 8Ball's Captain gave his team their first lead of the night.

So in the sixth game it was X8B's usual clinch specialist dan.buddy against Pool Fiction's Ihatejustin. Dan, 2-2 on the season all in clinching games, opted to play a snooker game with Perry. After tapping around a bit, Dan decided to have a go at the table to win the match. After taking the time to line up a bank on the 15, Dan suddenly realized he had a better shot available on the top middle pocket, and took that instead. This led to a much better running opportunity for Dan, but that became a moot point when he safetied himself with 2 stripes remaining. A desperation cuebank led to one of those stripes being kicked home, but still left nothing but desperation on the last ball. After an unsuccessful bang, Perry went to work playing janitor, cleaning up all his solids with minimal trouble, and sending the match to a decisive seventh game.

In the decider, Pool Fiction's pool_warrior2002 looked to continue the trend of Canadians enjoying solid success this week. He would be matched up against formerly caught aimer user de.ported (Kimbo.) This one was another long safety battle, much to Andy's liking. Late in the game, Andy spent an extreme amount of time lining up a shot with 3 stripes remaining. After examining numerous possibilities during the long delay, he opted to safety and push the 14-ball towards the left side of the table. Kimbo came back with a safety with seemed to put the game solely in his hands, separating a group of solids and leaving little short of a miracle shot for Andy. Andrew fanned on his english-cuebank off the bottom rail aiming for the 12-ball and top middle pocket, but avoided a foul by connecting with one of the two stripes on the left side. Then it was on Kimbo to run out and keep X8B's perfect season alive. While breaking out those solids mentioned before once and for all, the 8ball was pushed over to the left side near Andy's stripes. Kimbo was only able to leave a cuebank off the bottom rail to make the 8ball top left. Perhaps a season ago it would've been a no-doubter, but Kimbo erased any speculation that he was using in the night's uncammed finale, missing the shot well to the left. PFN's game 7 rep. was able to finish up, pot the 8, and give Pool Fiction its second consecutive win, and first against a quality opponent, 4-3.

Pool Fiction is now 2-3 with the win, and holds a 18/17 overall record. That's a welcome sight to a league that had started the season 0-3 with losses to Magic Pool, Sexy Poolerz, and Pool Legends before finally putting down Pool Loverz last week. The game 7 win for pool_warrior2002 increases his record to 3-1, and he has now split on a pair of clinching opportunities. Pool Fiction's next goal is certainly within reach: a win over Pool Dragonz next Wednesday would make PFN .500 on the season.

Xtreme 8Ball, the last undefeated league in MLP has fallen. But X8B still holds a 4-1 record and is 24/11 overall. As mentioned before, u_got_no_skillz improved to 5-0 on the season with his win in game two over xlx_ogges_xlx. de.ported's game 7 loss was his first of the season, while dan.buddy, lamenting a fair bit at the table over his self-proclaimed subpar season, is now 2-3 all in clinching games. X8B now holds a half-game lead over Pool Legends for the top spot in the National League, with head-to-head advantage in hand. Pool Legends will play Pool Loverz in Wednesday night's only match, a 9PM start almost certainly not worth the wait. Xtreme 8Ball takes on Magic Pool next Tuesday night.

Lone Undefeated League In Lone Match

2009-03-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight, the National League takes center stage.

Undefeated Xtreme 8Ball, after finally knocking off a respectable opponent (very, in fact) in Pool Legends last week, will look to keep it going against Pool Fiction. X8B is in its first season in Major League Pool, but enjoyed a successful debut in Pro Players Association last season. Their opponents, Pool Fiction, have been around to say the least. Lately they've been mired in a nasty slump losing matches left and right. Though it seems the light at the end of the tunnel is coming closer and closer. Is it daylight, or an oncoming train?

The key for Pool Fiction will be to attack. They're the visiting league, and can't afford to go weak anywhere. X8B is too deep for that. Pool Fiction did win for the first time this season last week, but it was Pool Loverz. Still, beggars can't be choosers. PFN will be be led by perennial All-Star xlx_bpk_xlx, and former X8B player easy.money who is 4-0 this season. If Pool Fiction is going to make any kind of play at the #1 seed they've held seemingly every season in recent memory, they need to show they can win these types of matches.

For Xtreme 8Ball, it's a 3-headed monster. dan.buddy and king.ronnie are generally reserved for the mid-to-late games, with Dan in the role of clincher. Dan is 2-2 in such opportunities. X8B also has a player who is finding it increasingly difficult to stay under the radar - u_got_no_skill is 4-0 for this team which has an outstanding 21/7 record. Stephen also picked up a solid win over Pool Legends' ooo_franchise_ooo. The X8B Captain, the_lvlagician, made it to this week's Big League Tour Finals before falling in 3 games to Lucky Shots' nick_ownzz. Speaking of Lucky Shots, X8B has gotten canuck_stoner from LS. No reason has been made clear for the switch yet, but a check of team records, a headcase in LS who can't stay out of the box, and pre-season issues between Captain simon.kitto and a few members of his team might point one in the right direction. canuck_stoner is 0-2 with two failed clinch attempts this season for LS.

I'm not convinced PFN is out of the woods, yet. A win over Pool Loverz is something anybody can accomplish, for the most part. X8B is having an outstanding season, they probably won't go undefeated, but I can't reasonably say it'll end tonight. X8B to win 4-3, clinching before game 7.

BREAK AND RUN! TOURNEY POOL! TRUE POOL LEGENDS! ...high timez.

2009-03-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

The American League tonight features the top 3 leagues in the Conference, and... Well, High Timez with the 2nd-worst record in all of Major League Pool.

Tourney Pool and Break And Run lead off the night. While the records indicate this should be a good match, BNR's run of playing soft opponents has come to and end and now you're gonna see their record come back down to Earth.

The match is at Tourney Pool's homeroom Crossed Cues, meaning TP's superior players will also be matched up however Captain kingvaughan sees fit. Tourney Pool will be led by Ross, just mentioned, and pool.instinct (MJ for the uninformed.) Both players are undefeated and have earned spots in the Top 10 Players list in MLP this season. If the match is somehow 3-3, they also have mvp_sicc saved for the 7th game as usual. Ant is 2-2 this season, and 2-1 with the match on the line. However, he has also last the last two weeks.

Break And Run's record is just 1 win worse than their opponent's, at 16/12. They lost their first match of the season last week playing their first worthwhile opponent of the season in True Pool Legends. The result was 5-2. Tonight, redhot_2oo3 will likely be matched up with one of TP's better players, possibly Lewissss, in the leadoff spot. David is 3-1 so far this season, with his only loss again coming against the only good competition he's had. So it's tough to gauge how good of a season he'll continue to have. BNR does have some players at 1-0, 2-0, etc... Those players need to show up against the good teams on the schedule, otherwise they're just unreliable and Break And Run will never have the chance to keep competing this season.

It comes down to consistency. Tourney Pool's best players show up every week, BNR's don't. I like TP to win this one, 5-2 or possibly 6-1 depending who does or doesn't show for BNR.

The night will conclude with a mudhole stomping. 3-1 True Pool Legends visits High Timez.

High Timez has the 2nd worst record in all of MLP, just a couple wins ahead of Pool Dragonz in the National League. While c.marcoo and BooMann 2-1 and 3-1 respectively, that's not enough to get four wins. Boo will likely have to play early, to try and stop TPL from gaining a 3-1 or even 3-0 lead, as will Marco. Everyone else has put forth a terrible record. When two players amount for half of your wins, the blame for losses goes on the shoulders of others. The players bogging down the team will need to get better, and if they're still playing tap games like they did painfully in week 1, it needs to change. Because they obviously aren't good at it.

For True Pool Legends, the only way they can lose is if they beat themselves. They're one of the most aggressive, and smartest teams in MLP. They've won their last 3 since dropping their first match of the season, and the saves & clinches have been spread around to various players. Only one player, their anchor instant.classic, has multiple save/clinch opportunities - he has converted two clinchers. That depth will help them against HT because even if their opponents fluke an early win or 2, almost everyone on the team, with the exception of a couple, are capable of picking up wins in any spot.

Look for a quick match, maybe ending before the BNR-TP match, as the True Pool Legends win 5-2, even if they have an off night.

The next two nights feature only one match each as the best teams in the National League (Xtreme 8Ball and Pool Legends) are in action, while Thursday yields another triple-header.

Thriller Double-header On Tap Tonight

2009-03-05T04:36:00.000-08:00

The National League features a pair of sure to be outstanding matches tonight.

In the first match tonight, Magic Pool looks to win 2 matches in 2 days after humiliating their opponents last night. Their foes tonight, Sexy Poolerz, also won their match but only 4-3 against a now 0-4 Pool Dragonz team.

Magic Pool was not at full strength last night. Jordan did not play, and just 3 games in, MP was relying on Tom, Jane, and Everton - all known more for their attitudes than their play (like the author of this, huh?) They will need the big guys like Jordan, and jcm to be there tonight, in addition to the usuals like Ian.

Sexy Poolerz did appear to be at full strength in their win Tuesday night. Jose, Stud, Ste, Pascal, the only player missing seemed to be Ketan. Tonight, they too will need to bring their best. Magic Pool is far better than SP's previous opponents (and MP will prove that next week too.) If Jose (DumbPro) does play tonight, he will be required to record his game, and future games. A recent Admin decision to ban MP's David Daniel also took into account Jose providing instructions for the banned XAimer user.

Magic Pool is having an outstanding season - you wouldn't know by looking at their stats but take into account the names on those stat pages. The level of competition MP has had to go up against, except last night, is very high. They've gotten away with saving Danny for the save and clinch opportunities, but let's also keep in mind he's only actually converted one - the save back in week 2 against Pool Legends. He needs to play earlier in the match, and for that to happen, Jordan needs to be there to provide added depth for the team.

Sexy Poolerz are a very aggressive team. Not reckless like their previous opponents, but definitely aggressive. That allows them to knock off the best by taking the fight to them, but it also leaves them susceptible to upsets and makes it tough to gauge how good they really are. Much like MP, you see a lot of 1-1 records coming into this week. Someone needs to stand up and take this team over - maybe Ketan already has. Their Captain, Pete, has gone up against arguably the best player of each league SP has faced - Pool Fiction's Stu, and Scott from PL. He is 1-2 though after losing earlier this week. Will be interesting to see if any adjustments are made. SP is the home team - Will Pete continue this trend and save himself for Jordan?

Ultimately this match will go to whoever is closest to full strength - I can't imagine MP's big guys missing two in a row. If Jordan and jcm show up, along with the regulars, MP wins 4-3.

In the other match tonight, an 8:00 start time gives us the Match of the Week. Undefeated NL powers Xtreme 8Ball and Pool Legends will duke it out in Afraid to Lose. With the bot issue at the end of last night's joke of a match, the table will go private immediately so anyone who wants to watch should start kissing up to the two Captains.

Xtreme 8Ball hasn't really beat anybody yet - much like Break And Run. Their Cross-Conference opponent is High Timez, they beat Pool Loverz and Pool Dragonz. Tonight is their first match against a good team. Still, you have to beat the bad teams and their 16/5 record is good for the best in MLP.

Pool Legends, far more tested - wins over the two leagues preceding them tonight (SP & MP) and a win over Pool Fiction, making them 0-3 at the time. They've won exactly 2/3 of their games, and will look to win at least 4 more tonight.

For X8B, it's tough to look at the stats and get a feel for who will be the key tonight. They have some players with outstanding records, like stephen at 3-0. But look at the specific opponents - when you play bad teams, your players don't really get tested against the best players. dan.buddy and obv.skill have played the toughest schedule of X8B's team - Dan lost a clinch attempt and was removed from the match in week 1 against the best player he's faced this season, then clinched the next two against subpar opposition. Dan is the top dog for this team - and X8B will likely continue to hold him for those late-match situations. It may be out of necessity.

Pool Legends will need to come out aggressive. Their opponents will likely bring out stephen early where he has flourished. Slower matches still favor PL, as always. g.rinch31 and wyte.folks (Matt and Scott respectively) are the two top guns in PL, and their 3-0 records are certainly valid because they've played tough opponents. They both have a clinch and a save to their credit. PL's Captain sexxxy_luckydog17 is also 2-0 and coming off an impressive 7th game win over Pool Fiction's xlx_bpk_xlx. Look for PL to save someone like Matt or Scott for Stephen, and possibly sacrifice a lesser player if Kimbo is called to play. Unless you have the break, it doesn't make any sense to play your best in a regular season match against someone caught with an aimer previously.

Pool Legends have better players overall, they've actually played leagues capable of winning in the first 3 weeks, they will win this match 5-2.

LS has a match scheduled tonight in the American League - as promised last night however, no coverage of the other league in that match will be provided. They wasted everyone's time last night, and I will only acknowledge they exist if/when they decide to stop being a waste of time. The key for LS to win that match, simply bring 7 and don't go down 4-1.

Magic Pool Dominates 'Shots, Win With Just Six

2009-03-04T16:14:00.000-08:00

Major League Pool has just seen one of the sorriest sights in its 13-season history.

Wednesday night's only match, a Cross-Conference showdown between 1-1 teams Magic Pool and Straightshots, turned into an utter joke. MP jumped ahead 3-0 with wins from lvlancunian (Ian), legend_skillz (Cameron) and an impressive runout from mike_oneill43.

Straightshots was hampered in games 2 and 3 by poor shot selection from sakic_returns and john_d_singleton. After Cameron wisely played a safety with two solids left, rather than forcing the issue... Sakic foolishly tried to run up the right rail and get behind his stripe. That led to a no-doubt scratch. Cameron was able to finish out, and bank the 8ball into the top middle to secure the win.

In the 3rd game, mike_oneill was left with an open table from John and immediately went to work, making the full runout look effortless. Magic Pool appeared to be on a roll.

MP ran out of quality players, though. They had to turn to tibetanfightingchipmonk, who had leafed_leafs beat surprisingly, but potted the 8ball early. Then it was the Captain and Head Admin, Jane. Straightshots got a solid win from xlx_w_i_n_xlx who potted 8 in a row... To keep the match alive. It seemed like the 'shots were coming back.

And then, Straightshots Captain xlx_spit_xlx was disconnected from the room. With cue_vision and snookrun trying to get eligible for SS, Jane requested a timer. The home team had 10 minutes to call an eligible player. Co-Captain j4cks_baby called Mike, the SS Captain per his request. The time kept ticking off the clock... and at 7:11 PM, Mike and Straightshots had timed out.

By rule, Magic Pool received a forfeit win for the 7th game, despite not having a 7th eligible player available. The win will be credited to the team, but no player will receive the individual forfeit credit towards Playoff eligibility. The final score is 5-2 Magic Pool.

According to UIC Head Admin Roy's research, Straightshots is the largest league currently participating in interleagues. www.MyLeague.com lists SS with 436 active members. The forfeit continues SS's trend which started last season, of not bringing a full team of eligible players to matches. It also drops SS to 1-2 on the season, with another match coming up in less than 24 hours. No coverage of that match will be provided here.

Magic Pool also has a match tomorrow night, and improve to 2-1. This looks to be MP's most successful season ever in MLP, with a 2-1 record, an impressive showing against perennial frontrunner Pool Fiction, and what has proven to be a cakewalk of a cross-conference matchup. Magic Pool with a win tomorrow night would move into a tie for 2nd place in the National League. They have Sexy Poolerz tomorrow night, and a winless Pool Dragonz team next Thursday night.

Cross-Conference Foes Set for Two Matches in Roughly 24 Hours

2009-03-04T12:21:00.001-08:00

The lone matchup on the schedule in MLP tonight is the first of two this week for both leagues.

Straight Shots and Magic Pool, which each had matches postponed due to Yahoo! server issues last week, will square off at 6:00 tonight. The matchup is week 4's Cross-Conference showdown, and both leagues have held true to their pre-season XC pairings - they're each 1-1 on the campaign with only 1 win the difference in their overall records.

Magic Pool's 1 win came in the season opener over Pool Fiction - a 5-2 beatdown. In the 2nd week, they fell to undefeated Pool Legends by the same score. MP's week 3 match is scheduled for tomorrow night, visiting Sexy Poolerz who beat still-winless Pool Dragonz 4-3 Tuesday night. MP's week has not been a pleasant one. David Daniel was recently banned after being caught with XAimer in PLC over the weekend, and then they suffered a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of the same PFN league they beat up on a few weeks ago.

Straight Shots were also opening week winners, stunning True Pool Legends by winning in 6 games, with a DQ loss in the 7th. Following that was a 5-2 loss to Tourney Pool, leaving a 6/8 record and uncertainty as to how improved the team really was. Their 2nd match this week also comes tomorrow night, a 6PM start against Lucky Shots who won their first match of the season earlier this week. The SS season does figure to be a roller-coaster, with a new Captain in great_white_mike and a host of new & improved players joining the team. This match tonight will be their first against a mid-level opponent and a chance over these next two nights to get a sense of where they fit. They've already had mixed results with the top tier opponents on their schedule, so how consistent are they?

Magic Pool routinely does poorly when things are a mess. Monday night in PLC, lvlancunian who's NEVER ineligible, was DQed for a lack of tourney games. This can be a very dangerous week, and especially 48-hour period for MP. Things could really implode for them, but probably won't.

Straightshots at a glance don't SEEM that much better. Magic Pool has Jordan, and a solid runner in jcm, and the aforementioned Ian can make some outstanding position shots. They are not a unit to be taken lightly. I put a little bit of weight though on the mental factor, and think that Straightshots edge one out thanks in large part to Charlie, winning 4-3.

Lucky Shots, Pool Fiction, Break And Run Vanquish Zeros

2009-03-02T18:58:00.000-08:00

In Monday night's MLP triple-header, one league in each Conference picked up their first W of the season while another team got rid of a different zero.

It began with a 6:00 match which lasted roughly an hour and 15 minutes. In the American League, Lucky Shots Captain simon.kitto beat Cue Killers Captain stealth_s07 in the decisive game to propel LS to their first win of the season. With the.bawbag serving a suspension, and aiming_skillz dropping his game to the returning Moe (YOUNGFAME) for Cue Killers, someone needed to stand in and pick up the slack. Former LS Captain l3ig_t did, and tonzmaniac was able to do his thing for Lucky Shots as they won 4-3.

With the victory, LS is now 1-2 on the season. They have a make-up match from week 3 Thursday night against Straightshots. Then it's a showdown in week 5 with Sexy Poolerz. It's the 3rd 4-3 result this season for LS in as many matches.

Cue Killers are now exactly .500 on the campaign, with a 2-2 match record and 14 wins to match 14 losses. Cue Killers will also cross paths with Straight Shots, playing next Thursday night against the new-look SS team. Standout pocket.rodcket (formerly x_x_lvlaster_lvlind_l3ehind_x_x) won his game against im_just_jeremy, to push his record to 3-1.

In the next match to start, True Pool Legends raced ahead to a 4-1 advantage over previously-unbeaten Break And Run to hand BNR their first loss of season 13. TPL's win also erases the only remaining perfect record in the American League. TPL's msc_masta continued his rebound from an 0-2 start to the season and broke even by winning his game over x_therage.

For BNR, co-captain and reigning Big League Tour Champion runmatic won a post-clinch game over adambuddy, pushing his record back to 2-2 on the season and extending his MLP win streak to 7 games. Another 6-win performance this Sunday will tie him for 25th in all-time MLP ladder win streaks.

BNR's record drops to 3-1, leaving 3-0 Pool Legends and Xtreme 8Ball in the National League as MLP's lone unbeaten teams. Those two leagues will square off on Thursday night in the lone week 4 match of that night's triple-header. Up next for BNR is another tough test in Tourney Pool.

True Pool Legends take the lead in the American League via head-to-head tiebreaker, with a 3-1 record and a 16-12 overall games record on the season. Next week they have a sure squash match against currently winless High-Timez.

In tonight's finale, Pool Fiction vacated the ranks of MLP's winless leagues with 6 straight wins to erase an early 1-0 deficit. PFN had previously lost to Magic Pool, Sexy Poolerz and undefeated Pool Legends. The match featured an approximately 45-minute tapfest in game 4 between PZ's spincue, and PFN's pool_warrior2002, which Andy (PFN) finished off with a spectacular bank.

Pool Loverz's only win came in game one thanks to giddyup.again beating devilstature. The record for PZ now sits at 1-3, and 10/18 overall. Both leagues will be listed above 1-1 Magic Pool and Sexy Poolerz, but both of those leagues have games in hand upcoming. PZ's next matchup comes against the aforemention Pool Legends, who will either be 4-0 or looking to avenge its only loss of the season.

Pool Fiction's only win of the season also brings the first wins for xlx_ogges_xlx, and so_wolf_cub4. PFN ups its overall record to 14/14, an oddity for its 1-3 record. Next week it's right back at it for Pool Fiction as they take on Xtreme 8Ball, providing prospect of a face-off between easy.money and the league he left earlier this season.

Tomorrow night, the only remaining winless leagues are in action. Pool Dragonz in the National League battles Sexy Poolerz, while in the American League Tourney Pool entertains High Timez.

First-ever 9-match week is bizarre already - and picks for Monday

2009-03-02T07:09:00.000-08:00

Sure, in the past MLP had been forced to go with EIGHT matches, but due to Yahoo's downtime last week, we have NINE this week, and what a week it figures to be.

It began with last night's Big League Tour - a nearly 3-hour affair thanks in large part to a 55-minute 3rd round contest between Pool Legend sexxxy_luckydog17 and Tourney Pool's emmitt22_da_man. The tourney featured first-time represenation in the finals for Break And Run, and Sexy Poolerz. runmatic swept SP's p.ascal in the Finals, capping an outstand night for BNR where, if not for Byes, they'd have cleared 20 points. Pool Legends also, unofficially, extended their lead in the tour over Pool Fiction by a few points, without cammed wins counted.

Now onto the real reason you're reading this... Who's gonna win the MATCHES this week?

Tonight showcases 3 matches. We'll start naturally with the first - The 2-1 Cue Killers take on Lucky Shots, one of the four teams playing twice this week. LS is looking for their first win, and they have to go this match without one of their best players in the.bawbag. Ray was suspended for a match back in week 2 for harrassing a player about not playing on cam. LS has lost both their matches 3-4, and have had FIVE failed clinch attempts in those matches. Killers will be led by their Captain, Blazin357. He's 2-0 with a clinch, while x_x_lvlaster_lvlind_l3ehind_x_x has taken on some tough assignments for the team and has a 2-1 record to show for it. Simon will have two options for his guys tonzmaniac and aiming_skillz. Either save them for CK's big guys, or go weak against them and match his best against CK's weaker players. But CK's not a very well-known league, and not much is known about their players. I think LS's best have to take on CK's best. I think LS pulls off the upset, and gets their first win on the season with a 4-3 win.

THREE and 0 Break and Run fresh off an outstanding BLT performance takes on 2-1 TPL. This has been BNR's best start, and they do have some momentum from last night going into this match. But let's not get too carried away... They've only beaten High Timez, Cue Killers and Pool Loverz. This is the first good team they've faced, and I expect TPL will take a 5-2 win out of it. But keep in mind True Pool Legends haven't been stellar this season. They got shocked in week 1 losing in 6 games to a new-look Straightshots team. Pommy has clinched both their wins, including the game 7 win in last week's thriller against Tourney Pool. This a team that needs to have one of those squash wins and they have a cakewalk coming up these next couple of weeks, HT next week, then Cue Killers and Pool Fiction. Again, 5-2 TPL in a convincing W.

In the finale tonight, Pool Fiction visits Pool Loverz. This one's intriguing because as the records have it, PFN is the underdog at 0-3 for the first time EVER. Pool Loverz are only 1-2, but nobody has 2 wins in the NL yet. So they're 3rd behind undefeated Xtreme 8Ball and Pool Legends. Nothing really stands out against PZ - they had a Murphy's Law week against BNR last week... If it could go wrong, it did. Two early 8s in a row to help BNR clinch it, and now they have to take on a team that is desperate for a first win. Pool Fiction will be a little hectic tonight, playing THREE interleague matches on the night - PLC and WPC starting an hour before this match. All hands will be on deck though for the nightcap, and while I hate picking my own team's matches... I like Pool Fiction in what would constitute an explosion of sorts the way their season has been, to win 5-2.
Recaps and Tuesday picks to come tonight and tomorrow!

Non-pool related: Division III North Atlantic Conference Women's Tourney (with yours truly! :D)

2009-02-26T16:44:00.000-08:00

Live on WHSN Friday night, 6 & 8 PM with the Semis, and then the Final will be Saturday at 2:00...

http://whsn-fm.com/index.php?area=STREAMING

You need quicktime to listen online.

http://nacathletics.com/landing/index for the NAC's website.

Green Mountain College will take on Husson University at 6:00, and then Castleton State battles UMaine-Farmington at 8. If the seeds hold, it sets up yet another matchup between the NAC's premier rivals - Host school Husson, and UMF.

Interesting note on Husson... On Feb. 13, Shelby Bradford scored her 1,000th point. Less than 24 hours later on the 14th, her husband Brock hit his 1,000th. Both are only juniors.

And, Brock's younger brother Brett dropped 53 points earlier this month in a high-school game, and 30 more against an undefeated #1 seed in the quarter-finals of the state tourney.

They're uh... pretty good at basketball.

Hope ya listen :D

Week 3 BLT Finals Up

2009-02-26T05:33:00.000-08:00

Video of the Finals for Week 3's BLT on Youtube. The playlist with this week's Finals series can be viewed here.

http://cgi8.igl.net/tourney/mlp/157614/

There's the link for this week's 2v2. Keep in mind that if you joined earlier in the week you aren't signed up, as Sophie had to create a new tournament because teams were being dropped by the system.

Break And Run Off To Best Start Ever

2009-02-25T07:28:00.000-08:00

Break And Run wins with the benefit of a pair of early 8s, while Pool Dragonz and High-Timez are yet to do anything at all in MLP.

BNR's season usually begins with a couple losses and ends with a record under .500 and questions about when they'll actually compete. Now they're off to their best start ever at 3-0 after blasting Pool Loverz in Tuesday night's Cross-Conference matchup, 5-2. redhot_2oo3 got his team started the same way he did in the first two weeks - with a win. He survived a desperation bang attempt from PZ's giddyup.again when he left the cueball touching his solid 5-ball. David would run all the way out for the win.

After leizerr tied the match up for PZ, BNR went on a 3-0 run with a narrow win from championship.trump, and then early 8ball victories for wubuddah and bnr_teacher which clinched it. Teacher's win came against spincue, who previously pondered: "may'be somebody will beat me in a match someday."

BNR also got a win from ll_eskimo_ownage_ll, while co-captain runmatic fell to shootalready69.

Doesn't appear to get any easier for either league - BNR's perfect record will be tested next week against True Pool Legends, while Pool Loverz gets a still-winless Pool Fiction team which looks to correct that tonight. PZ's record sits at 1-2.

Among the two 8:00 starts, Xtreme 8 Ball put on the more impressive performance. Defending their perfect record, X8B unsurprisingly demolished the winless Pool Dragonz 6-1. Pool Dragonz had some fortunate breaks in the first four games which allowed them to hang around in some games, but didn't allow for any wins in the opening four games.

xlo_stephen_olx, king.ronnie, l2eal.0wnage after surviving one such break from his opponent, and dan.buddy all won their games, with Dan picking up the clincher. Dan is now 2-1 on the season in clinching attempts, but converted his last two against High-Timez last week and last night against PDZ.

Next week, the Dragonz will host Sexy Poolerz while X8B could be looking at a battle between undefeated leagues if Pool Legends win tonight over Pool Fiction.

In the last match to finish last night, Cue Killers erased a 3-1 deficit to High-Timez to hold the MLP newcomers winless on the season and win 4-3. Game seven was decided in old-school fashion, with Captains CK_Blazin357 and HT_Chris094 going head to head.

x_x_lvlaster_lvlind_l3ehind_x_x won a reracked game with BooMann after being disconnected and forfeited via Yahoo! glitch. BooMann had the option to take the win, but opted for the replay on the condition that he would have the break back. Then, fission_babe picked up another Save to set up her Captain's heroic W in the finale.

High Timez is staring down an 0-4 record next week as they face perennial powerhouse Tourney Pool next week. The 2-1 Cue Killers will lead off next week against Lucky Shots.

Tonight, two games on the docket. A sure classic as TPL and TP go head-to-head in a rematch of last season's exciting World Series, and winless Pool Fiction hosts undefeated Pool Legends.

Loverz Slay Dragonz (BNR_auto.loser report)

2009-02-18T22:06:00.000-08:00

First of all, I would just like to mention how outstanding both leagues behaviour was, the table was so quiet for most of the match in fact at one point i think the most extreme thing that was being talked about was tacos.

As for the question Cubby asked on his audio, who is Brent, well the question this week was where was Brent?

Game 1 – PDZ_d3m0n1c_d3m0n5_l3l0od v PZ_giddyup.again

Well the first game pretty much set the way for the whole match. Demonic banged open the table with the break. However he failed to pot any balls and Larry then decided to try and run like a champion jockey at the grand national but failed at the final hurdle where he tried to bank his last stripe into the bottom middle pocket opting not to try the difficult cut to the top middle pocket, he misses and leaves the table open for demonic to clear. However after both players choke a couple more times, giddy gets it done 3rd time lucky.

PZ 1-0

PDZ_First_Lady1999 v PZ_amanda_suzie

Game 2 also starts with a bang break, a couple of shots in First lady gets ball in hand and decides to try and go for the run, she pots her pink in the bottom left pocket, her green is next to go in the top left pocket. However the run ended there as her blue rolled safe behind Amanda’s blue. After a few safety attempts, First_Lady had two pots available to her the yellow to the bottom left hand pocket and the red to the top left hand pocket. She proceeds to pot the yellow to the bottom right pocket and the red to top middle, when the best option would have been to pot the red with backspin to attempt to free her blue which remained in a cluster of stripes. The next shot saw Amanda make a bank with ease to the top middle pocket, after a couple more of her stripes her potted she has a problem as she narrowly fails to connect with her last stripes which are position in an awkward combo and therefore reverts back to safetying, however it is a poor safety and leaves First with an easy snooker opportunity but instead she goes for a difficult cut to the bottom middle pocket and just clips the inside of pocket. Advantage Amanda again, NO Advantage First Amanda misses an easy combo to the top middle pocket. After a couple more shots Amanda runs out her last few balls but misses an easy 8 to the top right hand pocket. First Lady has a difficult cut available to her to the top left hand pocket but the angle is nearly straight, if she makes this she will win the match, MISSSSSED nowhere near, Amanda then proceeds to pot the easy 8.

Score 2-0 PZ

PDZ_dragon_baby02 v PZ_youknowyouwantthis_2004_4

Shock Horror, someone actually safety breaks! However youknowyouwantthis certainly knows she doesn’t want a safety game and proceeds to pot 3 of her solids in less than 10 seconds. Only reverting to safetying when she leaves herself no pot. After a while of both players safetying about youknowyouwantthis ends up with ball in hand and decides to try and pot her red, she hangs it over the top right hand pocket where it remains for practically the whole match. A few shots later Dragon reverted to trick shots potting two of his stripes at once, one in the top middle pocket and one in the bottom right pocket. However he proceeded to miss his red to the bottom middle pocket by hitting the jaw. Youknowyouwantto then decided not to bother potting her red which was hung over the pocket, however she decided to knock a stripe safe instead. Fast forward a bit and youknowyouwantto combos her red top right by hitting her blue off it, then proceeding to pot her blue there too however the full left spin which she put on left her with only a bank, which i presume she made as i was lagging at that point.

Score 3-0 PZ

Poolloverz are on the hill on a match that could all so easily of been completely the different way around score wise.

PDZ_bud6745 v PZ_sporadic_impulse

Another game which started with safety play, until bud banks the first solid to the top left and snooks to the peak of the triangle which is majorly unbroken, a few shots later brock pots his first stripe and knocks a couple of his others out into play, the safety play continues from bud but brock proceeds to pot another stripe to top right then safeties again. Then a few shots later brock makes a combo to top right and tries to bang some balls out into play however he leaves more solids out than stripes but after a potting a couple of balls bud leaves himself no leave and is foced to cuebank safety off the bottom rail, a couple of shots later brock decides to pot another stripe then so safe, brock now has 2 stripes to buds 4 solids. Bud then proceeded to pot a couple of balls but seemed oblivious to the fact of the easy cuebank snooker which Brock then proceeded to do with his next shot behind the yellow. Looks like Game set and match to PZ as bud tries some wierd cue spin to hit his ball but fails miserably and gives brock bih who then proceeds to knock his yellow a little further out from buds red but remaining behind his yellow. Bud then bangs and nearly pots the 8 but fortunately doesnt. Brock then proceeded to clear his 2 remamining balls with the bih and pot the black.

Score 4-0 PZ Goodnight Dragonz, your flame never lighted.

PDZ_stoned.dragon55 v PZ_unbullevable

Basically just a lot of banging where the 8 sat precariously over the bot right pocket for pratically the whole match which basically made the match last longer than it should of as stoneds last two solids were trapped beside the 8 where as bull was on the black and in the end when stoned tried to free his solid he left the black on for bull which he proceeded to pot.

5-0 PZ is there a wipe out on the cards ?

PDZ_sicc_ace_with_extreme_bass v PZ_shootalready69

Basically all i saw of this match was shootalready potting the 8 but because of his spin he also put the cueball in at the same time, saving PDZ the embarrassment of a whitewash.

Score 5-1 PZ

PDZ_MYSTICAL13 wins v timer

PZ never had a 7th player but truth be told, they never looked like they needed one tonight either.

Final Score 5-2 Pool Loverz

Special Thanks to Ross for E-Mailing this in where I can't be around for any matches this week. BNR gets free cookies to go with their 2-0 record.

BIG LEAGUE TOUR: Byes Hold All Leagues Under 20

2009-02-15T23:34:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, the numbers just don't work out well for a high-scoring tourney.

In the 2nd Big League Tour event of Major League Pool Season 13, 34 of the 94 players were given a first round Bye. Of those 34 Byes, Tour-leading Pool Fiction led the way with seven Byes, while Tourney Pool and True Pool Legends got hit with five apiece. Pool Legends and Lucky Shots had four Byes, as did Straightshots whom the tournament's winner represents.

That Straightshots team did lead the way with 19 points without cam bonus points counted. SS brought 14 players, one shy of the maximum which would've yielded another bonus point for having 15 players in, and given the league 20 on the night. Tourney Pool, which was represented twice in the Semi-Final round by tam_s0 and infamous_rake, and in the Final round by tam, finished with 16 points, and Pool Fiction, which led the tournament in wins with 20, earned 15 points. Pool Legends, which was in second place coming into the week, had only nine points.

Week 1 Finalist oooo_franchise_oooo and Winner zl_stu_lz were both knocked out midway through the tournament. Rufferman, by Pool Fiction's IHateJustin, and Stu by Break and Run's runmatic.

Once again, all 14 leagues were represented in the tourney, but many had poor nights. Pool Dragonz, which brought four players, netted zero points as did Pool Loverz, only represented by dj.legere. Lucky Shots, hindered by those four Byes, only earned one point because _Deathtouch_ won an opening round game. Magic Pool also landed just one point on the night.

Straightshots was represented in the tournament Final by snookrun, also known as p00l_charlie. After a first round Bye, Charlie took down his opponents in pairs on the way to his victory. He defeated two of his Straightshots teammates, two True Pool Legends running his record to 3-0 against his former team this season, a pair of Pool Fiction players, and then in the final two rounds, two from Tourney Pool.

Tourney Pool's tam_s0 had to negotiate the upper half of the bracket, beginning with a Bye. Along the way, tam saw six different leagues in his six games - Cue Killers, TPL, High-Timez, PL, BNR, and of course SS in the Final.

In the Final, Charlie gained the upper hand in a safety battle with tam by erasing some of the Tourney Pooler's balls from the table. Tam did have a chance to stay alive a bit longer in the game had he taken his last shot off the right rail instead of going over the top to reach the left side of the table, but it may have only delayed the inevitable. Tam's final shot left the five-ball, which Charlie potted and also freed up his final two solids. From there it was easy pickings for the hotshot from Straightshots, en route to a 1-0 lead in the best of three.

With break in the second game, Charlie sunk the 14-ball and after what was basically a second break, he chose to take stripes. With only five stripes left on the table, and fairly good spacing, it looked as though the tournament was all but over. His next shot found the cueball splitting the 12 and 15 balls on the right rail, potting the 12 and bringing the cueball down the table in perfect position for a nearly completely hidden ten-ball. But when he made the ten fall, his reverse english did not kick in and instead he was left with no shot. Charlie was able to hang around in the game with no run available to tam, and get one of his other stripes in a good position in the center of the table, but when left with a cuebank that required reverse english, he missed by a small bit. Tam's six-ball run wasn't the cleanest bit of shooting the night saw, but it got the job done and evened up the series at one.

In the decider, tam broke, and Charlie ran. It was that simple. The run was highlighted by a spectacular carom shot, with the six ball being deflected off the 13, and into the bottom middle pocket. At that point, there was simply no doubt as to who would win the tournament. As for the Gold Membership to be awarded to Charlie, it's still unclear whether or not he'll take it. After his opening week victory in the BLT, Stu declined the Gold.

POINTS: LEAGUE: WINS + BONUS - BYES = TOTAL

BNR: 12 + 1 - 1 = 12
CK: 3 + 1 - 0 = 4
HT: 10 + 1 - 0 = 11
LS: 5 + 0 - 4 = 1
MP: 2 + 0 - 1 = 1
PDZ: 0 + 0 - 0 = 0
PFN: 20 + 2 - 7 = 15
PL: 11 + 2 - 4 = 9
PZ: 0 + 0 - 0 = 0
SP: 4 + 0 - 2 = 2
SS: 18 + 5 - 4 = 19
TP: 19 + 2 - 5 = 16
TPL: 18 + 1 - 5 = 14
X8B: 5 + 0 - 1 = 4

Video of the Finals available on Youtube again. The playlist with this week's Finals series can be viewed here.

WEEK 1 REVIEW: AL & Cross-Conference Match

2009-02-15T18:14:00.000-08:00

Week 1 of Major League Pool's 13th season saw some interesting twists and of course, the first cross-conference match of the season.

We begin with that crossover match, the first since MLP's 2nd season. Cue Killers made their return to MLP hoping to start off 1-0 while Pool Dragonz looked to bat 1.000 for the career in the interleague. The match provided the first biit of drama in season 13 as Cue Killer ur.crap used the new reporting requirements as an opportunity to call his opponent, sicc_ace_with_extreme_bass, a "lucky twat." Head Admin Sophie has warned both ur.crap and Cue Killers that if it happens again, well, ur.crap may likely be ur.banned. Of course there's always the irony of a guy named ur.crap losing...

Later in the match the Dragonz did take a 2-1 lead, but from then on CK stepped it up, and won the remaining 4 games to win 5-2. So for a fleeting moment, Cue Killers is the best league in MLP while Pool Dragonz is the worst!

And in fact those totals held through the night as well. Break and Run met up with High Timez in a match that certainly lived up to the hype - of course, that's because there wasn't any and with good reason. From the opening game between HT's greasy.gringo and BNR's redhot_2oo3, the match just sucked. I mean sure, we've all seen the pair of 3-win teams face off in week 12 and just cringed, but this was not the way either team wanted to start their season. David won that game by the way, and actually BNR went up 2-0 and looked to be in cruise control when jasonlippi01 predictably lost to yet another former teammate, this time l2o_bot_l3_alls. But HT would come storming backk to win the next three games, StoneCold9780 winning game 5. Stone would be boxed for 2 weeks after being booted from the table for nearly costing his team the match by coaching, and then for acting like a dumbass in the lobby.

The final two games... Well they lasted 80 minutes to allow me to summarize: patsfan4322 and kccwc1 both won flukey games to save and clinch the match respectively, as BNR wins 4-3.

The AL had the day off Tuesday, but was back at it Wednesday with possible trainwreck Lucky Shots taking on Tourney Pool. TP, heavy favorites in the match but found themselves in a war. the.bawbag was able to knock off one of TP's best in superstaaaar in game 3, against the break to put LS up 2-1. But then Lewis tied the match at 2 apiece by beating _Deathtouch_. In the end, it took a save from kingvaughan and then mvp.sicc winning game 7 over simon.kitto to save TP from the upset.

What I think you'll notice in that match is who won and who lost, and then you will really only be surprised by game 3. Tam, Lewis, Ross, and Ant won the 4 games for TP, Netty, Matt and Craig lost. But when you look at who played who, with Craig having to play Tonzmaniac and Matt going against arguably LS's best player if he plays every week in Ray... The match just about went as you'd expect with those matchups.

And to end the week, the reigning champs, True Pool Legends fell to... Straightshots? Don't start pressing the panic button... SS has been loading up ever since pro_game returned to take over the captaincy for the largest league in Interleagues. It didn't look like it'd be much of a problem for TPL, getting two early wins. But then Miz lost game 3, then DK, then Pool Charlie played and won game 5 against his former league and to cap off the 4-in-a-row comeback... cue_vision won game 6. And suddenly, in the blink of an eye, it was 4-2 SS, they didn't have a 7th eligible player so SHARON is now 1-0 in Season 13 with a game 7 win for TPL. But the result still holds - 4-3 SS to end week 1.

So that's week 1 in a very small nutshell. Obviously not the full recaps you'd expect but it's week 1. Let the basketball tourneys end this week (and let this sicky stuff pass...) and when March rolls around, I'll be back to being me ;)

BLT report coming up.

BIG LEAGUE TOUR: Pool Fiction, Legends Dominate Century-deep Opener

2009-02-08T18:16:00.000-08:00

Over one hundred players turned out for the opening tournament to Major League Pool's 13th season, but only two leagues survived into the fifth round.

Pool Legends led the way in terms of participation with a maximum of 15 players for the tournament. Under new tournament rules this season, leagues are awarded three points for bringing the maximum, two points for bringing ten players, and one point for a team of five. As usual, there is also the bonus point for every cammed win, and three points for winning the tournament. An unofficial count without cammed wins tallied has PL with a total of 23 points.

While all 14 MLP leagues participated, a Magic Pool player was the rarest sight, with only three players in the tournament. MP's five points was not the low mark of the tournament, however. High Timez, which brought six players, holds the distinction of picking up the lowest point output. Only one of those six players (greasy.gringo aka Trey) produced any individual points. Trey's win along with the one bonus point for having five or more players join, leaves just two points for the newcoming league.

Tourney Pool, which led the way in Byes with four, was represented in grand fashion by the man who last season recorded the greatest run of Big League Tour dominance in MLP history. luisj_barreto (aka Luis, naturally) defended his #1 tournament seed into the fourth round, surviving a scare from Pool Legend red_sniper_1982. But in a sloppy fourth round game with Pool Fiction's so_wolf_cub4 (aka ... me, Cubby) Luis was eliminated, with initially two of TP's eleven points.

Pool Legends' most aggressive shooter, ooo_franchise_ooo (aka Rufferman) began his run to the Finals with a Bye. He then eliminated one of Xtreme 8Ball's four players (xlo_stephen_olx) and another Tourney Pool standout, superstaaaar. Ruff's run to the finals didn't get any easier - next came a showdown with True Pool Legends anchor aka_pomking. After dispatching Pommy, Ruff had to face his own Captain, sexxxy_luckydog17. As only the second Pool Legend against six Pool Fiction players in the fifth round, Ruff's goal became increasingly clear: Prevent an all-PFN Final. Ruff's aggressive play led him past his conservative captain, and on the way to the Semi-Finals against his former teammate, new.bies, and then the Finals to take on zl_stu_lz, who had been waiting for the better part of half an hour.

Stu began his tournament the same way Ruff did - with a Bye. Stu then took out the first of three Pool Legends players he would face in the tournament, beating pool.n0ob in the second round, and later wyte.folks in the fourth. Sandwiched in the middle was multiple Interleague Admin and Break And Run player, XxXx_MARIJUANA_GOD_xXxX. While initially it looked as if Stu and Luis were on a collision course for each other, fortune intervened for Pool Fiction and he took down his teammate, yours truly. Waiting for Stu on the other side, was yet another teammate, xchriskarenx. Stu and Chris's reunion yielded another win for the winner of the last BLT event of Season 12. Then, the wait began.

Finally, at about ten minutes until 9:00, Stu and Rufferman faced off. The first game had a hint of slowness to it, but quickly picked up when Stu's bank attempt on the six ball, bottom rail to top right, missed the mark. Stu's problems were compounded when the cueball freed up his opponent's 14-ball which Stu had previously placed next to the eightball. Rufferman further freed up his green stripe, and the purple 12-ball along with it, and cruised on to an opening win in the best of three Final series.

In the second game, however, Stu had the break. That break spread out the balls in a perfect position, and the levelling of the series was inevitable. After an opening shot squeezing the 15-ball by a pair of solids, his second shot fortunately pushed a solid far enough to leave a shot on the eleven. From there, it was just a formality. A series of tap-ins after potting the eleven left only minimal english necessary, and led to a level series.

In the decisive game, Stu again tried to give an intentional foul to leave a stripe and 8 connected and make Rufferman's ensuing run that much more difficult. This time, however, the black ball failed to do its job and left Rufferman with a very inviting runout opportunity. Ruffer's main problem was the ten, which sat near the bottom of the table but slightly blocked by Stu's six-ball. Ruff's effort to free up that stripe with three stripes remaining yielded little success, as his backspin left an unfortunate position behind the ten. With still a cuebank available, Ruff tried to play the cueball off the top rail, and tap home the 15-ball sitting just off the right rail above the bottom right pocket. Instead, all the cue found was the blackball. Stu used the ensuing ball-in-hand to make the five-ball in the top middle pocket, and spin off the right rail to free up the eight. Stu continued to shoot in order, making the six, seven, and eight balls in succession, to capture the first Big League Tour event of Season 13, and take in the first Gold Membership courtest of Head Admin Sophie. Pool Fiction also unofficially claims the top spot in BLT Standings through the first week with 23 wins, and five bonus points for a total of 28 points. The Legends claim the second spot with 23 points. No other league has twenty points without cam bonuses added.
Unofficial Point Totals without Cam bonus points tallied (deadline 11:59 PM ET)
Formatting Note: LEAGUE: Wins + Bonus - Byes = Total

BNR: 10 + 2 - 2 = 10
CK: 6 + 1 - 0 = 7
HT: 1 + 1 - 0 = 2
LS: 6 + 1 - 2 = 5
MP: 5 + 0 - 0 = 5
PDZ: 3 + 1 - 0 = 4
PFN: 26 + 5 - 3 = 28
PL: 23 + 3 - 3 = 23
PZ: 4 + 0 - 0 = 4
SP: 7 + 1 - 3 = 5
SS: 11 + 2 - 1 = 12
TP: 14 + 1 - 4 = 11
TPL: 8 + 1 - 1 = 8
X8B: 3 + 0 - 0 = 3

Video of the Finals available on Youtube with commentary done by moi. The playlist with this week's Finals series can be viewed here.

New Season, New Faces

2009-01-25T13:00:00.000-08:00

As the February 8th deadline draws closer, it's a good time to start looking at some of the leagues making their Major League Pool debut in Season 13, and the league returning after about a 10-season absence.

In the National League, looking at a glance like the weaker of the two, you have Sexy Poolerz technically making a debut, though the team is primarily made up of former United Pool players. As such, they'll be captained by Pete (king.2068) and Pete and his team will look to make a return trip to the World Series after stunning 8 Ball Runners in the American League Championship Match in Season 10. Their room, Bicycle Race, may sound familiar - it was once home to Lucky Pool (LKP.)

Pool Dragonz joins MLP for the first time, after dashing into the interleague scene in the Universal Interleague Competition (UIC) and World Pool Championship (WPC.) They've drawn comparisons to an upgraded version of Breakers Alley - aboard for the ride, never demanding to be center of attention by causing trouble, and with the bonus that they have a few good shooters in their midst. Pool Dragonz will play in the first regular season inter-conference match since Season 2 - an idea that had been in the works since the middle of Season 12 - against the American League's Cue Killers. More on them later. Pool Dragonz, coincidentally, holds their league in the place where I first played an interleague match - Straight Into Darkness, formerly home to the Wolfpack league.

Finally in the NL, Xtreme 8Ball. One of the most active, and busiest leagues in Yahoo! Pool has made its way into MLP. After a successful campaign in the Pro Players Association this past season, X8B figures to have instant success here and could legitimately threaten to make a deep post-season run in the National League. They'll play in the room Alive and open up their season with Pool Loverz - a chance for PZ to show what signs of improvement there may be, pr a chance for Xtreme 8Ball to make a statement right out of the gate.

In the American League, one new league jumps on-board with perhaps some familiar faces, while another league returns at long last.

High Timez, formerly Booze-n-Spliffs (BZNS) comes into MLP for the first time, but they certainly won't be newbies to this sort of thing. Former Cheap Shotz Captain Mickey (IMHIGHER) calls this place home, though he will not be captain of HT this season. More importantly perhaps, former National League MVP BooMann (yes, that guy, Robbie) is expected to make his return to MLP. They'll certainly need him, ranked #1 on the High Timez ladder, to be their #1 guy on the team if they expect to compete in a very tough-looking American League. HT makes Aneurysm their home room, and plays the nightcap on opening night against Break And Run - sure to be a quality match.

Finally, there's Cue Killers finally returning to Major League Pool after an absence of about ten seasons. They now call the room Mama Kin their home, after a failed attempt at resurrecting the Pool Fighters league in that room. Cue Killers were last seen in MLP back in Season 2, by my recollection anyways. Their Head Admin, sapphireskyuk, at one point a long time ago had run World Interleague Pool (WIP) - a tourney-based interleague rather than the match play interleague format that dominates interleagues today. They return to MLP just in time to play an inter-conference matchup as mentioned before with Pool Dragonz, just as they had played across conferences in Season 2 (the last season of inter-conference matches in MLP.)

As for some of the changes in MLP this season, in addition to the inter-conference matchups:

BIG LEAGUE TOUR:

The Big League Tour has expanded to allow a maximum of 15 players (which surely Pool Legends and Straightshots will reach a majority of the weeks.) The monthly 2 vs. 2 tourney will allow for 8 teams now, improving on the previous total as well.

There have been a handful of rule changes and clarifications - most notably the requirement that players report their own losses. This has been changed primarily to help keep track of player IPs, rather than always seeing admin IPs in the log. While there are still ways of getting around that, it also serves another purpose - leaving the admins with one less task every night. And it should be noted that this will be a requirement - and there will be penalties for not following along. The first offense will only result in a warning, but after that match suspensions will occur and eventually, on the 4th instance... The player is done for the season.

The last major change in the rules, comes with aimer accusations. No, they're still boxable offenses. But one thing players have constantly done is say "I did not specifically say aimer." - Well, now you don't have to. Any harrassment of a player or mention of their play as a result of not playing on cam, is going to be treated as an accusation. It will carry the same penalties - 2 matches for the first offense, season ban for the second. The Admins want to stress that this isn't a cam competition, and the usual asshattery that goes on within them won't be tolerated. Frankly, there are other interleagues that allow for that, and MLP won't be one of them.

Lastly on the rules front, a slight tweak to the solid and stripe + ball in hand rule. Normally, if an ill-informed player takes the ball in hand as a result of making a solid and a stripe either on the break or with open table, they have to tap the cueball back to the opponent to give them ball in hand. Now, the opposing player has two options: They can take the ball in hand, or they can force a rerack. With the break sometimes playing a bigger role than usual in a captain's strategy, this gives a captain, rare as the situation may be, a chance to change up who has the break and when, if they so choose.

And the final change to mention here, is the Playoff format. With 2 fewer leagues and now seven teams to a Conference, MLP will go to a Bye-free 4-team format. It's your typical 4-team bracket - 1 hosts 4, 2 hosts 3, winners play off and then the World Series comes.

So that's what's new in Major League Pool's 13th season. Now all that's left to do is wait for Feb. 8th, and get this season kickstarted.

And Then There Were Two...

2008-11-06T21:19:00.000-08:00

The World Series is set.

Representing the National League will be the #2 Seed Tourney Pool who knocked off the #1 seed Poolfiction 4 - 1 on Wednesday Night. Tourney Pool defeated Luckyshots the round previous, 4 games to 2.

On the other side, True Pool Legends cruised through the American League bracket defeating Cheapshotz in round 2, 4-2, and then Pool Legends by an identical tally. Pommy has yet to play a game yet this post season, as neither matches went to a decisive game 7.

This is going to be one hell of a match-up and a memorable way to end Sophie's tenure as MLP Head Admin. With players like Luis and MJ on one side and Pommy and Champ Chris on the other, how could it not be?

But, once again, I want to hear your opinions. For those that really screwed up their predictions last post, consider it a shot at redemption; for those that predicted it, congrats.

You've got two choices people. That's what we've come down to. I want to hear opinions!

-Which player match-up are you foaming at the mouth thinking about?

-What/Who is TP's "X-Factor" for the World Series ?

-What/Who is TPL's "X-Factor" for the World Series?

-How big of a factor will TPL's home-table advantage be?

-Most under-appreciated TP player?

-Most under-appreciated TPL player?

- MVP if TP wins?

- MVP if TPL wins?

-Who's taking it down?

Lastly, just wanted to take the time to thank the admins for another incredibly well-organized season. While many of the things you do go on behind the scenes, the end of the season is a great time to sit back and appreciate everything you've went through in the last 4 months or so! Thank you for all you do!

Fearless Predictions!

2008-10-23T23:24:00.001-07:00

by YOU...the Reader(s)

-Which two leagues are going to make it through their respective conference playoffs and reach the World Series?

-Which of these two leagues is going to win the World Series?

-Who's going to take home the Playoff MVP Hardware when all is said and done?

-And...most importantly - Why do you think everything you just answered is going to happen?

Let's here it, folks =)

The Biggest Shake-up in MLP History?

2008-10-17T12:47:00.000-07:00

With the latest incident of Dream Pool cheating, MLP Admins now have a very difficult decision to make: Whether or not to allow Dream Pool to compete any further.

The decision, set to come sometime before the end of the weekend, stems from Dream Pool's do_ur_best1 being caught using an aimer. It had been said that s_u_k_i_o_o was previously sal_bianca, but sal was actually do_ur_best1. That's a mistake on this end, and apologies go where due.

Ben, also known as Harvey who he'll be called from here on, and do_ur_best1, isn't the only problem. Admins must decide whether or not to allow Dream Pool to compete any further because of a conversation between Harvey and Dream Pool's Head Admins, Tom and Anna. In the chat, Tom specifically tells Harvey that he cannot play any tournaments in Dream Pool, with one exception. He can only play enough to qualify for Interleague play. As the discussion continues, Tom adds he sees no problem with Harvey using an aimer in Interleagues, so long as he keeps it out of Dream Pool.

Major League Pool's Admins do have a problem. One Admin said a decision could come as early as tonight. What has to be considered, though, is how this shakes up all of MLP.

Dream Pool finished the regular season 11-3, with 66 wins. While tiebreaker rules within the National League have Pool Fiction as the #1 seed with Dream Pool behind them, Dream Pool does hold the best overall record, making them Regular Season Champions. That could all go away if, in fact, Dream Pool is not acknowledged any further. As a result, Pool Ficton and American League Champion True Pool Legends would share the Regular Season Championship. The change would also mean Tourney Pool, which finished behind Dream Pool by five wins, would jump up to #2. TP would then host Lucky Shots in the second round, rather than playing at Dream Pool. The move would also bring Elite Pool Legendz via tiebreaker to #4, hosting what would be former outcast, Magic Pool as the fifth seed. The winner would then play #1 Pool Fiction.

There's also the matter of the All-Star Match. Dream Pool has two All-Star hopefuls on the team, in SolidSpeed and s_u_k_i_o_o. Both players sit at 9-1 on the season, SolidSpeed the slightly better resume with a clinch and a save, never losing in either scenario. If Dream Pool is to be banished, MLP would need to replace any Dream Pool All-Stars. This primarily opens the doors for Tourney Pool players not chosen as All-Stars, whether it be the ones not chosen between kingvaughan, deep_cerebro, and tam_s0, or possibly pool.instinct with his 6-0 record and two clinches.

At any rate, when the dust settles Dream Pool will make Major League Pool history. DP will be either the first league to win the Regular Season Championship but not its own Conference, or the first league to be banned from play in an MLP season which it qualified for the Playoffs. The only other instance of a Playoff-bound league being bumped out, was this current season of Pool League Championship. Omega Conference #4 seeded Pool Pals quit, and Devine Cuez moved up as a replacement.

Lucky 13

2008-10-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

Here we are, with just two weeks remaining in the MLP regular season. Major shake-up in one league could be a major gift to one of its biggest rivals. More on that after...

MATCHES OF THE WEEK:

Devine Cuez @ True Pool Legends leads it off. I think DC, much like United Pool and Cheap Shotz, are a product of teams playing each other. In order to get a fair assessment of these teams, you need to take 6 wins away (SS, PZ, 8BS/WS) to account for the fact that they played joke leagues. Same with the NL, taking 2 wins off from matches with PP (and just 1 for LS, since they actually lost to Pool Pals.) So now, you have a team in DC, take 5 wins away before they play Straight Shots next week, 4-3 team vs. a 4-2 team. Now they look even. When you have two even teams, I usually give the advantage to the team with the talent. That, in this case, is True Pool Legends. This is a team that really needs to win the World Series, or any Championship, because of how close they've been in the past. Declan, Pommy, Travis, Charlie... Zach, Lewis, Jeanna, Neale. Or something like that. TPL's better, TPL wins 4-3.

The other bigtime match, and co-Match of the Week, Cheap Shotz @ Pool Legends. Here's a case, in Cheap Shotz, where they don't care about the regular season once they know they're Playoff-bound. They just run a swiss or some suspicious suicides, get eligible, and maybe show up and half-ass it. They still win a lot, which makes me believe if anybody knocks off TPL, it will be Cheap Shotz (like they did week 7.) So which CZ team will show up here? I think the serious team will for the next 2 weeks. They have PL this week, TPL the next. With the prospect of a first round Bye, you can beat CZ will care about this. For Pool Legends, a win and DC win would put them in position to possibly steal #1 from their superior counterparts. The big guys will show up, and can win their games. But the mid-pack guys also need to win for PL. Jason, Kalpz, and Matt can go 14-0 but if nobody else ever wins, the team is the best 0-14 team in MLP history. I like Cheap Shotz on paper in this one, winning 4-3 as well.

Lucky Shots takes on Break And Run. Very interesting matchup here. BNR, glaringly mediocre, but not on the level of the three stooges in the AL. With a Bye coming up in Week 14, this is the last chance for BNR to play spoiler. Lucky Shots CAN still miss the Playoffs, if EPL & MP win out and Lucky Shots loses out. A win guarantees them a spot, as does a Magic Pool loss. Lucky Shots is better, and if Justin is to cement his ownership of the MVP award in the NL, he needs to win a relevant game in this one. The expectations are there, and this is basically the last test. I think he comes through, and Lucky Shots does clinch a Playoff spot, and LS wins 5-2.

Elite Pool Legends... Dan is out as the Captain. Easily their team MVP in MLP & PLC, now they have to try and hang on for dear life and hope Magic Pool falters. Again, a Magic Pool loss also gives EPL a Playoff spot but they can't sit back and wait for someone else to change their diapers. They have to beat either Tourney Pool or Dream Pool, both of which are fighting for the #2 seed amongst themselves. So with issues at the top, the question more or less becomes... How badly does EPL get beat? I don't think they get all of this sorted in time for this week's match. Tourney Pool rolls to a 5-2 win.

That leaves Magic Pool and Dream Pool. MP is an absolute mess, but they're looking at this shakeup in EPL thinking... "We have a chance to pull this off, and if we win we can battle against a Pool Fiction team with nothing to gain by winning." That has to be the mentality here. This is MP's last stand. They need to beat two teams that are vastly superior to them, and they're also a man down with Mike boxed. I think Magic Pool at least helps out Tourney Pool, puts up a desperate fight, but falls short 4-3 to Dream Pool this week.

Match Of The Week

2008-09-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

For some leagues, 3 matches still remain. For a fortunate few, only a couple. Two of the less fortunate teams play a fitting Monday night...

MATCH OF THE WEEK:

Magic Pool @ Elite Pool Legendz - EPL came out very strong against Pool Fiction, got a 2-0 lead, and surrendered 4 straight as Pool Fiction possibly saved its season behind Derek & Jamie starting that comeback. Magic Pool on the other hand is coming off a Bye last week, and comes in tied with EPL. Remember, however, that Magic Pool holds the Head to Head advantage by virtue of the 4-3 win back in Week 5, one of EPL's first matches in MLP.

Keep in mind the win-loss records, too. A 4-win advantage to Magic Pool, aided greatly by the previous week. Someone will be 5th, someone 6th. It will likely remain that way down the stretch, too. EPL needs, if they don't win any other matches, a 5-2 win or better. 4-3 still gives MP the edge in win/loss record.

For a prediction: Going purely on what is visible: MP is a mess, EPL is better, EPL rolls to a 5-2 win, and they eventually take #5 in the National League.

Rest of the week's relevant matches later

Now that I have Game 7 Stats...

2008-09-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

-UPDATED MVP POINTS STANDINGS (Through Week 10)-

***NOTE: Points have been assigned as follows...
Win = 1 Point
Clinch (Outside of Game 7) = 1.5 Points
Save=2 Points
Meaningful Game 7 Win = 3 Points

The Top 3(ish)

1. Pascal (6-1) - ID: up_united.pooler
Wins = 6

Clinches = 1 for 2 (50%)

Saves = 1 for 1 (100%)

Meaninful Game 7's = 2 for 2 (100%)

Total Points: 15.5

2. Lewis (8-1) - ID: dc_ll_ewis

Wins = 8
Clinches = 1 for 1 (100%)
Saves = 1 for 1 (100%)
Meaninful Game 7's = 1 for 1 (100%)
Total Points: 14.5

T3. Justin (8-1) - ID: ls_Justin0826

Wins = 8

Clinches = 1 for 1 (100%)

Saves = 2 for 2 (100%)

Meaningful Game 7's = Not Applicable (N/A)

Total Points: 13.5

T3. Ant (6-3) - ID: cz_mvp_sicc

Wins = 6

Clinches = 1 for 2 (50%)

Saves = N/A

Meaningful Game 7's = 2 for 2 (100%)

Total Points: 13.5

Honourable Mention

-
5. Mikey (7-0) - ID: cz_trumpsterized

Wins = 7

Clinches = 3 for 3 (100%)

Saves = N/A

Meaningful Game 7's = N/A

Points: 11.5
-

T6. Matt (3-3) - ID: tp_superstaaaar

Wins = 3

Clinches = 1 for 1 (100%)

Saves = 0 for 1 (0%)

Meaningful Game 7's = 2 for 2 (100%)

Total Points: 10.5 pts

T6. Jamie (7-1) - ID: pfn_xlx_bpk_xlx

Wins = 7

Clinches = 1 for 1 (100%)

Saves = 1 for 1 (100%)

Meaningful Game 7's = N/A

Total Points: 10.5

I know his name hasn't been mentioned too much for AL MVP, but Pascal surely needs to start getting more consideration. His stats are great - he already has 6 wins in 7 matches played; 2 game 7 wins, a clinch outside of game 7 and a save in another match. Not too shabby for 10 weeks. As it stands right now, he has my MVP vote in the AL. In the National League, I'm very impressed with the tear Justin has been on this season, but his lack of game 7's makes me hesitant to proclaim him my clear choice right now (especially when you take into account how Luckyshots has already played in 3 this season). However, it's hard to fault a guy that's 100% in saves this season, and seems to win no matter where he plays in the line up. Look for Matt and Jamie to put some pressure on him down the home stretch.

If anyone looks over the stats and see's someone who looks like they should be on my honourable mention list and isn't, feel free to YIM me at 'Daz_ed' or just leave the name in the comments section!
A special shout-out to Ross for getting me the game 7 stats! Thanks, Buddy!

The Great Debate: What Makes an MVP?

2008-09-23T13:55:00.000-07:00

According to Wikipedia, the "Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests." While many people may be aware of it's general definition, with regards to MLP, there is not a set of criteria that has been made publicly available which defines a MVP. Is it the best individual record? Is it just how "chummy" you are with the admins? In my opinion, while both of these have no doubt influenced the recipients of the award in past seasons (hopefully the latter more subconsciously *glares*), these two things don't go quite far enough in ensuring the award goes to the most deserving player. That's why I'm here. That's the point of this article. This is my take on what things should be taken into consideration when picking Major League Pool's, Regular Season MVP's.

First off, let's set a few conditions on the award:
1. You have to of played in a minimum of 8, 7 v 7 matches (i.e. +50% of matches)
2. You have to of played on a PLAYOFF* team. Let's be honest - if Joe Smoe goes 11-0 on an 0-14, 8th place New Happy Pool team does he/she really deserve the MVP award?

***Remember: the MVP award should be given to the player that was most vital in ensuring the success of their team; if it's only going to the player with the best overall record in MLP season-after-season, that isn't supporting the idea of an MVP. We have a 14 game regular season in MLP; 5 out of 8 teams make the playoffs; condition number 2 is more than reasonable.

Anyways, now that that's out of the way, on to the things that I think should be taken into consideration when naming the AL and NL Most Valuable Players:

***Note: for the sake of this article, and to minimize me spreading false facts, I will be referencing the True Pool Legends MLP team in my scenario's since their matches are the ones I am most aware of. The number in brackets represents my opinion on the importance of each criteria, percentage wise, when considering a teams MVP.

#1. Meaningful Game 7's Record (45%)
Match tied 3-3 - Who's the stud you want out there to bring the match home? In game 7 there is usually two guarantees: The first is that you're going to be playing a fairly skilled opponent; more often than not your opponent's best. The second is that you are going to be under maximum pressure to perform well - there is no second chances if you lose. Why is this more important than a "Save" game? Because, in a meaninful game 7 you not only have the pressure that if you lose your done, but also of knowing that a win gives your side the victory! With respect to YPool, a win in this case is the highest of highs, and a loss is the lowest of lows as you feel like you've let the others on your team down. For TPL, Pommy is the only player to play a game 7. In 3 of them, he sports a record of 1 win and 2 losses. Not exactly fantastic, but throw in that he got run-broke by Ant versus CZ, and that he nipped a bank off the bottom middle pocket versus UP on his last colour, and there's no doubt 1-2 could easily be 3-0.

#2. Save/Clinch Stats Outside of Game 7 (35%)
These are a close 2nd to the most important types of games played in a 7 v 7 match, and therefore, are games played with another high degree of pressure. The only reason these games are #2 on my list, is that they only carry "one type" of pressure (see above explanation), with saves obviously being more crucial than clinches (there isn't as much pressure on a player to clinch a match outside of game 7, but the important thing to note here is the captains confidence in a player to play in these situations and the ability of the player to close). A healthy record in these types of games goes a long way in my books to determining that players importance on a team. For example, this season for TPL, Charlie (4-2 overall with 1 loss coming as a member of SS) would be the most qualified for this particular statistic, as he is 1 for 1 in saves and 2 for 2 in clinches.

#3. Overall Record (20%)
This is the stat that I take into consideration, but put the least emphasis on. While I think it is indeed an accomplishment to have a very strong season in MLP, if you are a slightly above average player playing in non-pressure situations, this is made much easier. It's significantly more impressive to go 8-2 playing in games 5-7 each week then it is to go 9-1 playing in games 1 and 2. In TPL's case, I'm more accustomed to playing in games 1-3, and because of this I have a 6-1 record on the season. Am I a ypool all-star? No. Would I consider myself an above average player? No doubt. To support the case I'm trying to make here, I give much more credit to Charlie for going 4-2 this season (Note: he won the one game he lost for SS, but was disqualified for being an asshole...shocker...lol), then I do to myself for being 6-1, since I know he is playing in tougher matches on a week-to-week basis. Mind you, playing in the top-heavy American League usually guarantees you a decent opponent most weeks, no matter which spot you play in - this is something the National League doesn't have as much of a case for.

#4. YPool Reputation (0%)
This should mean nothing. Zip. Nil. Nada. Zilch. I don't care how well you know the admins and the look of their genetalia - GET OFF YOUR KNEES - this crap should have no bearing on who wins MVP each season! Have a reputation of being a solid player with a history of fantastic MLP 7 v 7 records? Who cares - what'd ya do this season worth noting? What you've done this season as a player is all that matters.

The point of this article was to open peoples eyes and to look passed a persons overall record and into the circumstances surrounding the games that they've been playing in. Hopefully, at the end of the season, the proper people will be rewarded for fantastic seasons.

MY TOP 3
1. Justin (LS) Win/Loss = 8/1 -- Saves = 2/2 -- Clinches = 1/1 -- Total = 15.5
2. Lewis (DC) Win/Loss = 8/1 -- Saves = 1/1 -- Clinches = 2/2 -- Total = 14.0
3. Pascal (UP) Win/Loss = 6/1 -- Saves = 1/1 -- Clinches = 3/4 -- Total = 12.5

HONOURABLE MENTION
T4. Mikey (CZ) Win/Loss = 7-0 -- Saves = 0/0 -- Clinches = 3/3 -- Total = 11.5
T4. Jamie (PFN) Win/Loss = 7/1 -- Saves = 1/1 -- Clinches = 1/1 -- Total = 11.5
T4. Ketan (UP) Win/Loss = 4/3 -- Saves = 1/1 -- Clinches = 3/4 -- Total = 11.5

***Note: For the above Stats, Wins = 1 point, Saves = 3 points and Clinches = 1.5 points
As of right now, there is no "Meaningful Game 7 Statstracker," or perhaps these standings would look a little different since that would reward the most points

Eleven yields Sevens

2008-09-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

Oh man how bad is this week gonna be in terms of boring matches... MP, PL, TPL all have wins against joke leagues, no relevant action until Wednesday. So the only relevant match on Wednesday...

MATCH OF THE WEEK:

Cheap Shotz @ Devine Cuez. Last time, 6-1 DC, they made Cheap Shotz look like Cheap Hookers. Much closer this time around. Both teams have played very well in the past few weeks, Devine Cuez only slipping up against a lucky and overlooked PZ team, and they still won even though they shouldn't have. Cuez have been tested more lately, and they're in the midst of a very difficult stretch to finish out the MLP season. I've hinted that Cheap Shotz, on paper, is better. The problem I have in picking them is that Devine Cuez has the American League MVP as of now on their side. That could change. I think if you're DC, as home team, you have to set this up so your best plays their best - Lewis has to play Trumpsterized. Talent-wise, he isn't their best. Statistically, however, he hasn't lost. He has won the big games for CZ numerous times this season. If it's not a clinch, it's still a big game, usually. If Lewis has to be wasted against somebody else, Cheap Shotz wins easily, most likely. This match should determine the American League MVP, slight edge to trump & Cheap Shotz, 4-3.

Only other remotely close match in the American League, UP is pretty good, SS is terrible, but they still have a shot at upsetting United Pool. However, Pascal showed on Sunday night that he is just simply good. As long as they protect him from a runbreak by playing him with break, UP will be fine. They win 5-2, maybe 6-1. 3-way tie for 2nd in the AL with either CZ or DC dropping to 5th.

BIG Thursday night in the National League. Start with a struggling Pool Fiction team against Elite Pool Legendz. EPL wins this, they're the #5 seed in the NL because Magic Pool is just an absolute mess right now. They could actually lose to PP who isn't even in MLP anymore, they're that messed up. Back to PFN, something desperately has to change, not the least of which being the absence of Stu & James. Very odd that two of the best players in PFN, and pool in general would just vanish telling anyone anything. Kerry has tried to fill the void with JJ, who has performed well in Interleagues across the board. Suffice it to say, PFN can't be missing anyone Thursday night if they want to hold onto #1. On EPL's side, you have a team that's just as big a nuisance as Magic Pool, but not quite as big a mess. The biggest knock on EPL is they beat one good team - Tourney Pool. Since then, they haven't beat anybody good and got murdered by Lucky Shots 6-1. EPL can win this match, but not based on their track record. As rough as Pool Fiction has it right now, PFN still wins 5-2.

Break and Run plays Tourney Pool, Luis... IN BNR's room, dominates the BLT again Sunday night. Granted, he DOES play in BNR for UIC. But that won't help Break And Run here. Tourney Pool has their sights set on the #1 seed, it's within reach if Pool Fiction and Dream Pool slip up, Tourney Pool rolls to a 5-2 W.

If I could have 2 Matches of the Week I would. Lucky Shots and Dream Pool finish out the week, starting just after the other 2 Thursday night matches. Lucky Shots is a team that is simply rolling right now. Dream Pool without Ash, had a Bye last week, now we see what that does for them. As I've said, he could still coach, or play some way or another. Prosecute me for saying it, but Dream Pool has been caught coaching and such on Cam, so it doesn't take rocket science to come to the conclusion they coach off it as well, and that's just the shallow end of the possibilities. Lucky Shots led by the usual suspects, they're playing the full season this time and actually some are optimistic that they can get all the way up to #3 if Dream Pool falters. Justin has come almost out of nowhere to emerge as a National League MVP candidate, and if LS can get up to #3, he keeps winning big games for them, that's a definite reality. I don't buy into Ray's hype, I buy into the fact he's a solid player having an oustanding season. Kinda like trump with Cheap Shotz. I also buy into Lucky Shots riding this wave of success, winning 4-3.

Week Ten Preview

2008-09-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

Some big, big, big matches coming up this week so let's jump right into the important ones.

MATCH OF THE WEEK:

True Pool Legends @ Pool Legends - From the last match of week 9, to the first match of week 10, Match of the Week. I said in my review of week 9, I don't think Pool Legends can beat TPL. It's just not a team I've seen PL show they've been able to beat. On paper, True Pool Legends have much more talent to showcase than their opponents this week. The key for the "other" Pool Legends Monday night will be simply changing it up. Everyone knows Sova will wait until Game 7 to play. PL is the home team this week. Luckydog can afford to take the chance and if TPL plays a weak player, or someone he thinks he can beat, I would not be surprised to see Sova come out early and try to throw a curve. Regardless, TPL wins this, 4-3, maybe 5-2. Oh by the way, first place in the AL is on the line.

Very fortunate Dream Pool has an automatic win thanks to Pool Pals quitting after not being able to win. They pick up a win to keep in line with Pool Fiction as PFN battles Tourney Pool. This is similar to TPL-PL, in that of late, Pool Fiction has had Tourney Pool's number. PFN a good comeback last Thursday, didn't look great, more a product of Dream Pool choking time after time. They're still vulnerable. You still won't likely see Pool Fiction's lineup at its absolute best, but I do think PFN can beat TP this week. There's always Jamie, and that's a big confidence booster for everyone on the team knowing the big guy is there. Tourney Pool makes a good run at 'em, but PFN wins 4-3.

United Pool plays Pool Loverz... While UP HAS lost 3 straight, big sigh of relief this week. As always, saying PZ will lose because they're terrible will give them a chip on their shoulder yada yada yada... United Pool wins 5-2. Match is close for a short while, but UP ends it quick to keep up in the AL race.

Elite Pool Legendz and Lucky Shots, very intriguing matchup a little further down the National League ladder. Lucky Shots has been on fire as of late, back-to-back 5-2 wins, more impressively a couple weeks ago against Pool Fiction and against a fading Magic Pool squad last week. It's a first-time meeting between these two as well, as Lucky Shots handed Extreme Cues loss #1 on the season back in week 3, soon after EC was replaced by this EPL team. Not to be outdone, EPL has also won the previous 2 matches, both 5-2. But remember I said nobody cares about Pool Pals & BNR anymore? That's who EPL beat. So by that thinking, the logic basically mandates my prediction here - Lucky Shots should win this one 4-3, and scratch and claw back to .500.

Devine Cuez about in the same boat as United Pool as far as who they play this week. It's a matchup with Wasted Shotz. They took Pool Loverz lightly, looked past them, but came ready to play and beat Pool Legends. Lewis and co. won't make that mistake again. Devine Cuez DO roll this time, 5-2, and that's about all there is to say about this matchup.

Magic Pool falling fast but perhaps a little grace at just the right time, they play Break And Run. BNR, despite being irrelevant and out of the Playoff picture, can still play spoiler. Regardless of the result of LS-EPL, Magic Pool will not be more than 1 game out of the Playoff hunt. HOWEVER, why bother right? Magic Pool needs this win simply to assure themselves that they're not dead money. It would be a huge momentum boost, with a Bye against the vacant Pool Pals slot coming up next week. All the pieces are in place for Magic Pool to make the Playoffs. They're getting all the breaks as far as the schedule goes - playing in the weaker Conference, the Bye, having 2 easy weeks in a row, sandwiched in between a match with #5 LS and #4 EPL (2 weeks from now.) If Magic Pool does not make the Playoffs this season, they'd might as well not waste their time playing future seasons. They SHOULD be there at #5 when it's all said and done, and it starts with a 4-3 win against BNR, despite their in-house issues.

Cheap Shotz and Straight Shots cap off the week. At this point SS is all but eliminated and just trying to play spoiler, like BNR over in the NL. I should be picking CZ to just roll over these guys and keep pace in the AL, but Straightshots is one of those teams that no matter how bad they are or how bad they look, still comes up big in one way or another when you least expect it. So, weary as I am here, I'm taking a Cheap Shotz team that's better than its record (much better,) to win 5-2.

Week Number Nine Preview

2008-09-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

Alright, now to save time and space I'm only going to focus on the matches that are relevant in any way shape or form (that means Wasted Shotz-Straight Shots... Not listed. Nobody cares.)

Kicking off the week, Lucky Shots look to follow up on a major upset last week knocking off Pool Fiction, as they play Magic Pool. Magic Pool sits steady at 4-4 alongside Elite Pool Legendz, Lucky Shots comes in at 3-5 and only needs a win to tie for at least 5th, possibly 4th. I think LS has a good thing going right now, and so long as MP tries to rely on guys like K202 to get the job done, he'll continue to damage them long-term, and Magic Pool is flirting, very dangerously if they lose this match, with avoiding a first round exit in the Playoffs - they won't have to worry about playing at all. Look for Lucky Shots to win this one, 5-2 as well.

Elsewhere on Monday night, United Pool takes on True Pool Legends in the battle for 2nd place in the American League. Both teams sit at 6-2, only one game ahead of 4th and 5th in the AL, one game behind Pool Legends at #1. TPL's Ryan has constantly said: United Pool is not that good. How are they [X record?] Well, they force the issue. As a whole, United Pool is not a typical snooker-first team, and they come right at you and make you decide earlier than you'd like to, what to do with the table. They've lost a couple in a row now, and that was after getting forced into a decisive 7th game against Wasted Shotz before Pascal bailed them out. I'll give Dazed the benefit of the doubt, and side with him. United Pool is dangerous, but overall I think TPL is better on average, I'll take TPL to win it this time, 4-3.

On Tuesday night, Break And Run's absolute last hurrah. They sit at 1-7, they're 2 games behind 6th place Lucky Shots. They're 3 games behind 5th place Elite Pool Legendz. If they can win this match, their season still has a tiny glimmer of hope. Pull within potentially one game of 6th if MP upsets LS, 2 games of EPL if they can pull off the upset... Their guys need to actually believe their season is still alive. They need to show up in full force and even then, I don't like their chances all too much. Could come down to a mental battle if it gets close, EPL will run their mouths if it does, might get flustered. It won't get all that close though. BNR gives them a scare, but Elite Pool Legendz comes out with a 5-2 win, and Break And Run is officially laid to rest.

Devine Cuez are tied for 4th place at 5-3. Yes, 4th and 5th places in the American League are FIVE WINS, THREE LOSSES. Best top 5 in one Conference MLP has seen in a while. You actually have to be, y'know, good to make the Playoffs up there. DC deals with #1 Pool Legends, and last time these two met... PL was much, much sharper mentally. They played their game, DC's players got antsy, it affected their games, they played terrible and were lucky not to get swept. I think it'll be more of the same. Pool Legends, simply better. Jason has a few guys that he can use against Lewis, they'll slow things down, they'll annoy DC again, and win 5-2 or 6-1.

Thursday night, Pool Loverz and Cheap Shotz. PZ has at least a hint of momentum and the ability to potentially play spoiler, but don't get fooled. It's still Pool Loverz, this is Cheap Shotz, and yes DC beat CZ 6-1 the first time around... But Cheap Shotz is better than Devine Cuez, and won't need a game 7 forfeit to bail them out. Cheap Shotz win big Thursday night, and yes I'll call it 6-1 again, outside chance of a sweep.

MATCH OF THE WEEK

I'm always hesitant to write a lot about a PFN match, because of the whole conflict of interest crap. However, this is a match for #1 in the National League, and it should be close. Easily the MOTW here in Week 9. I actually think Pool Fiction is vulnerable against Dream Pool this week. You saw last week what happens when they don't have the big guns in a 7v7 format. 5v5 you can get away with it, add 2 games and it gets really tough. Depth is everything in MLP. It's how things work. Dream Pool actually won 5 games out of 7 against PFN in PLC. Of course there were 2 Cam DQs and there could've been 2 more, as DP was caught coaching on YM (borderline, but it was still coaching.) So if they're stupid enough to do all that on Cam, in an all-Cam Interleague... You know that and more goes on, and I think I'm with everyone else just waiting for someone to spill the beans. But as long as this is the regular season, the team is still dangerous. Ash has slipped up a lot lately in interleagues. Lately it has been all on guys like sal bianca, cooldaddy, etc. to carry the load. Pool Fiction, straight up, is better. They jumped ahead 4-0 last time, DP won 3 junk games. This time, I think it'll be a lot closer. In fact, I'll go bold and actually take Dream Pool to take over #1 in the National League. They win the nightcap on Thursday night, 4-3.

Week 8 In Review

2008-09-05T05:48:00.001-07:00

Things got VERY interesting in the 8th week of Season 12, here are some of the major storylines:

ONE LESS ZERO

Lucky Shots knocked off Pool Fiction on Wednesday night, 5-2. LS's the.bawbag got the clinch for last season's National League Semi-Finalists, as they look to make yet another Wildcard run and perhaps gear up for another trip to the NL Semis & beyond. With the upset, Lucky Shots now sits at 3-5, one game behind Elite Pool Legendz & Magic Pool for not only 5th, but also FOURTH. For Lucky Shots next week, it's a showdown with that Magic Pool team, with EPL the following week. Pool Fiction battles Dream Pool next week for #1 in the NL, thanks not only to LS's win, but also Dream Pool's ass-whooping of Break And Run, effectively ending BNR's season. Only one zero remains (and no we won't be counting 10s,) and that's Wasted Shotz, 0-8 now after taking over 8 Ball Joke's 0-for-everything record midway into the season.

HAPPY TRAILS... AGAIN

I don't know who has quit more times over the history of MLP; Me, Moe, or Pool Pals. Regardless, Pool Pals have once again left MLP, supposedly, after EPL beat them 5-2 Monday night. The first to reap the benefits of their departure? Tourney Pool, unless somebody replaces PP. So pencil Tourney Pool in at 6-3 for now, just a game out of 2nd place by the end of Week 9. Oh by the way, they get a rematch with Pool Fiction for their next real match in Week 10. Before quitting, Pool Pals had started 0-4 before picking up a win over Lucky Shots. Pool Pals departs with a 1-7 record, and a mere 20 wins on the season, one more than Break And Run at the moment for the 2nd worst record in the NL. Last time Pool Pals quit, however, it was only a 45-minute hiatus. So, who knows?

DEVINE INTERVENTION

So the Sports Center jinx hit not only Devine Cuez hotshot eng.ishman, who lost his first game this season (now 7-1,) but apparently the entire Devine Cuez team suffered. Coming into the week at 4-3 and battling Cheap Shotz for the #4 spot in the American League, DC looked like they would just run a line right through Pool Loverz on route to more serious threats to their record. Well... Not so much. Trailing 0-2, Pool Loverz, who had just picked up win #1 last week against Wasted Shotz, rallied to take a 3-2 lead, capped off by PZ Captain & MLP Admin Lenny winning game 5 over lackin_skillz. Well, after Game 6, when real_fkin_deal saved it for DC, Pool Loverz was lackin_playerz. They had to forfeit the final game of the match, and Devine Cuez gladly took their 4-3 win and quickly exited You Got Lucky, stage right. A fitting name for the room in which the match was played, no? Cheap Shotz did beat United Pool the following night, 4-3, when Ant defeated Ketan in Game 7. So both leagues, DC and CZ, now sit at 5-3 in a tie for 4th place. United Pool has lost 2 in a row to drop to 6-2, True Pool Legends also sit at 6-2. As far as head-to-head records between the tied leagues: United Pool holds #2 via tiebreaker, beating TPL 4-3 earlier in the season. By the way, they play each other next week. Between Devine Cuez and Cheap Shotz... You may remember, Devine Cuez put a big ol' mushroom stamp on Cheap Shotz in round 1 of their home-and-home battle, 6-1. Next week, DC takes on #1 Pool Legends. Cheap Shotz gets a suddenly dangerous Pool Loverz team.

BIG LEAGUE DOMINANCE

I bet you thought Miz's run a couple seasons ago was something special in terms of the MLP Big League Tour. Luis has already passed Miz's mark of 4 tourneys in a season, and still has many more to go. What's so significant, though, about the Big League Tour? Let's examine. In a given week, you have to win anywhere from 5-7 games in a row. Now, one may think it's pretty easy if you catch fire somewhere and go on a streak. While that's true, it can't be used to describe what Luis has done. Lulu has done it multiple times in the 1v1 Tour on Sundays, but also won the most recent 2v2 Tour at the end of August. In August ALONE he won 4 Big League Tours. What we're seeing is quite possibly the most dominant performance by any one player in any form, in MLP history. Luis has also withdrawn from the ladder before, erasing his total stats from previous seasons. Yet still, in the Hall of Fame, he sits only 3 behind Miz in Tourneys Won.

Week #9 is just around the corner. Things have become very interesting in both Conferences. Previews will come over the weekend.

Second half... GO!

2008-08-31T06:46:00.000-07:00

One half of the MLP Season out of the way and now for the most part the 16 leagues will get set for rematches with everyone. One of those rematches will be under the spotlight as Match of the Week.

But first, it's a first-time showdown with Elite Pool Legendz, to kick off the week for Pool Pals. As has been well-mentioned before, EPL replaced an Extreme Cues team with a flare for the dramatic. A pair of 4-3 victories for EC before players simply started leaving, for various reasons. The hotspot for those players, the team some of them played for last season - Pool Pals. So around full-circle we come. Pool Pals simply needs a stellar 2 months just to make the Playoffs. Elite Pool Legendz could bury them right here. At 3-4, EPL sits in 5th place in the National League. A win over Pool Pals would put PP 3 games behind, with then 6 to play. They could do the same to Break And Run should they lose to Dream Pool, or simply next week when EPL plays them. I think EPL will finish off this Pool Pals team. PP is going into its matches just waiting for something to go wrong, and when it does... everything shuts down. EPL wins this one 5-2, maybe even 6-1.

Also Monday night, a blowout that's pretty easy to call. First, a shout out to Pool Loverz on getting win #1 on the season last week against Wasted Shotz. Second, a shout out to Devine Cuez to congratulate them for the 6-1 smokeshow they're gonna put on Monday night. There really isn't much to say about this one. The pressure will be on Straight Shots to keep up in the race for 5th, as Devine Cuez will be 5-3... FIVE WINS in 5th place in the American League. Daaaaaaamn. By the way, Straightshots 2-5 coming into this week in 6th place. Turn out the lights.

MATCH OF THE WEEK:

Cheap Shotz @ United Pool. Need I say anything more to justify calling this the Match of the Week? United Pool won 4-3 back in week 1, and it's gonna be even closer this time. There are some people who keep saying: "How is UP doing so well? They're not that good!" - Well, I've played against them in big matches in every big interleague. I've captained against them in big matches. United Pool is always ready to explode, and right when you think they're starting to slip, they drop one on ya. They'll come ready to play this week, and game one will decide everything. If CZ can slow it down against a rapid-fire United Pool team, they will win. Look for the ABCZ's, Ant, and Ben, to come up big Tuesday night, and win this one 4-3 to level the season series.

Also on Tuesday night, Pool Legends will visit Straight Shots. Look for SS to draw some momentum from United Pool if they're able to beat Cheap Shotz for a second time. It would mean that SS could pull within 1 game of 5th place at 3-5. Next week SS would play Wasted Shotz, while CZ plays PZ... Then Week 11, a showdown between Straight Shots and Cheap Shotz. Back to this week, however. Pool Legends, far and away better than their opponents this week. If you remember, it was a SWEEP to start the season against SS. No sweep this time. Straight Shots will put up a fight, but Pool Legends will win 5-2 and maintain its #1 standing in the American League.

Pool Fiction and Lucky Shots kick it off Wednesday night. By the way, that's 47 hours after a showdown in PLC. Rewind back to the opening week here in MLP, LS's Michelle openly requesting no future matches with Pool Fiction in any interleagues because it's always a verbal (or textual?) brawl. The rivalry is renewed all week long here. Remember, Lucky Shots did have a 3-2 lead initially before a Cam DQ gave Pool Fiction that same 3-2 lead, PFN went on to win 5-2. I think it'll be just as heated this time, and even closer. No Cam DQs, just a straight 4-3 win for Pool Fiction. Having James and Jamie at the tail end of any lineup is one hell of a luxury. Even trailing 2-3 every now and then, Kerry has to like her chances with even 1 of them waiting for game 6 or 7.

Tourney Pool will play Magic Pool in the "other" match on Wednesday night. Simon scheduled not only to play for LS at 6:00, but ref this match at 7:00. Something to look out for as the night progresses. Tourney Pool has been a little off lately, Lisa's gone, Ross is in charge now, there's this that and the other thing... Magic Pool has issues too. Remember when Gaz played for Mad Skillz, and he was such a distraction that I felt MZ was suffering because of it? Magic Pool has "that guy" - some will remember George, the guy who has found himself kicked out of the previous two seasons. He came dangerously close last week against Pool Fiction, getting Tom DQed in the opening game, and nobody in Magic Pool realizing: Just because you're scheduled to play, does not entitle you to an invite back to the table. Two MP players were removed from the match early last week, and they were VERY lucky to be allowed to play at all. I think as far as this week goes, MP just has more mental issues than Tourney Pool does and they will get in the way this week. Tourney Pool will take care of things early, and Luis and co. will win 5-2, in a repeat of week 1.

Thursday night, True Pool Legends takes on Wasted Shotz. The question surrounding this match is: What is Wasted Shotz? Is this league good? Well this is the team that went 3-3 against United Pool. Is this team bad? A 6-1 whooping at the hands of Pool Loverz seems to suggest as much. This week, Wasted Shotz deals with TPL and I shouldn't have to say it, but TPL is far better than Pool Loverz. Just remember, 8 Ball Scratch took True Pool Legends to 4-3 in week 1, before they turned into a joke and quit down the road. If Ryan doesn't respect Wasted Shotz, like he didn't respect 8BS, this will be a close match. I think he learned his lesson, though, and TPL's just gonna open up on them. 6-1 True Pool Legends.

And finally, Dream Pool and Break And Run. This match may not have much meaning in the grand scheme of things, but BNR is in desperation mode. This team likely needs to win 5 out of 7, AT LEAST, to overtake EPL or whoever may be in that 5-spot. Then there's the match next week with EPL following this. For Dream Pool, it's about winning to be in position to try and take #1 from Pool Fiction next week. Both leagues have HUGE matches next week, and the team that wins THIS week will be the one that worries about its match THIS Thursday night. I like DP in this match. BNR will need to come out strong to match players like Ash, and Sukioo. If DP leads Ash like they usually do, and BNR goes with Jason as they have since he switched, it's gonna be 1-0 DP in a hurry. BNR will need its players there when the match starts, not 5 games in. Dream Pool wins this, based on what I've seen all season, 5-2.

Only one player remains flirting with perfection this season - Devine Cuez star eng.lishman is 7-0. While there are players at 6-0 and 5-0, only Lewis has played all 7 weeks and won all 7 weeks. Again Devine Cuez takes on Pool Loverz this week, look for Mr. Perfect to remain so for at least 1 more week.

Tennis, anyone?

2008-08-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

Usually when you see a pair of 6-1 scores you're watching Rafael Nadal at the French Open. And, of course... When people play Nadal you see a lot of unforced errors.

But, occasionally you may see it in MLP. That was the case tonight as Four leagues came into tonight's action with 1 win... TOTAL.

I'll avoid using the obvious pun about Pool Loverz wasting their opponents, and instead point out PZ got win #1 right at the halfway point of Season 12, with a 6-1 thrashing of Wasted Shotz. Wasted Shotz had previously pushed United Pool to a 3-3 deadlock, before Pascal sank their hopes of a massive upset. With the help (or lack thereof) of 8 Ball Scratch's pathetic season, Wasted Shotz drops to 0-7. Pool Loverz, meanwhile, are 1-6 and almost DOUBLED their total wins (they came in with 8.)

Now for the ass kicking I actually watched.

When Pool Pals played Lucky Shots in Week 5, they were the winless wonders looking for something to spark their season. Two weeks later, Break And Run are in that situation... You know what they say about history...

Game one, pp_sh00ter (formerly l_wes_l) playing early because he has to leave. He's opposed by Jason Lippitt. Wes played LIKE he had to leave quick too. A series of bangs, all working until he got to the final 2 stripes. He did what little he could but outnumbered something like 6-to-2 in balls, no challenge at all for Jason to just play a couple safeties, and Wes's desperation cuebank didn't hit the mark. Jason runs out to give BNR a 1-0 lead. Later in the match, Moe & others would talk quite candidly about their teammate while he wasn't there. In fact the start of game three was delayed while Kerry and even BNR Captain Dina asked everyone to cool off.

But hey there was another game played before all that happened. ms_dina_mite (Michelle) for Pals, BNR sends up oral.embrace (Annie.) As expected, this game was simply decided not by who made the big shot, but by who made the last mistake. Game started off rather quickly, then slowed up a bit midway through. The ending featured a frenzy of missed shots and failed position shots. In the end, Annie left a difficult, if not impossible, cut for Michelle to try. Better would have been a bank off the right rail going bottom left, but she opted to try the cut going to the bottom right pocket... No dice. Annie would finish out with a couple good, smart shots thrown in and BNR would double the fun - 2-0.

After all the chatter about Wes subsided, it was th3 green m0nster's turn to win for BNR. Standing in his way, though, was sicc_steve. Steve would have a go at a run, all the way to the 8-ball but would leave the blackball on the bottom rail. His ensuing bank attempt for the top middle would miss well to the right (short) side of the pocket, and it would be all m0nster the rest of the way. ...Until HE got to the 8. A very routine 8-ball shot, not far away from the bottom left pocket, only ball left on the table. Missed it badly to the lower rail, steve would steal the game and PP had what looked to be a boost of momentum. It's 2-1.

Game four featured the romper, pi.l2ate, for BNR. Opposing him, nick_ownzz. Later in the match nick asked whoever might be able to answer "how are we losing 3-1?" Well... This game held at least 25% of the answer. A very slow start to this game. Romper actually looked like he was gonna try to bang a couple times and try to run it out, but after an early miss decided to play it safe & slow. Nick got down to a couple solids during the course of the game, aided a bit by romper. Both solids were near the top rail, connected by a stripe, and midway between the middle and right pockets. On nick's final shot, he handed the game to Romper almost like giving up. He separated the 3 balls and, thus, freed up romper's stripe. From there, the former Lava Pool Lounge standout would make little more than a series of tap-ins to put BNR on the hill, 3-1.

Prior to game five, Moe had some advice for his Pool Pals teammate, xmr.coltonx. Whatever it was, it seemed to work for a brief while against haka.warrior (Ross) of BNR. This game, like the last one, started off very slow. Neither player really seemed to gain any kind of advantage. Fast forward ahead quite a bit, haka would try to bang it open a bit and go for the kill. His cut shot on the 13 rattled in the bottom middle pocket and stayed out. Colton would try his hand at a run. Started with the 2-ball bottom right, but the cueball came around to the top left side and dropped his 4-ball as well, which had been hanging from a previous shot. Later in the run, because the 4 dropping left him such a difficult run, he had to guide the 1-ball from the middle of the table to the bottom left pocket. That would miss. After a couple intentional fouls from Ross, it did look like Colton the game well in hand. However, a terrible long shot attempt with no english or control of any kind for that matter yielded a scratch, and Ross finished the job easily, as BNR clinches it, 4-1. It's win #1 on the season for BNR but they weren't finished...

n_o_w_e_a_k_l_i_n_k_s defeated YOUNGFAME, amidst disappointment over the denial of Cam in the game expressed by Moe. That was aided by a simple cuebank Craig made. Moe & PP did not express the same disappointment when Jason's (BNR) Cam request was denied by Wes in Game 1.

Final game, BNR's ace in the hole from the previous Pro Interleague Season kccwc1 beat Danielle to conclude a 6-1, one-sided affair to put it lightly.

With the win, as previously mentioned, BNR improves to 1-6 on the season and matches Pool Pals' win/loss record at 18/31. Of course, with the win BNR now holds the head-to-head tiebreaker at this point in the season, making BNR 7th and dropping PP to #8. Next week it's another end-of-week match with Dream Pool, similar to their confrontation back in the opening week as the 2nd half of the season reaches us. Dream Pool beat BNR in that match, 4-3. BNR unable to get the match to kccwc1, who won, in game 7 before DP clinched it in the 6th game.

For Pool Pals, a similar 1-6 record and 18/31 as mentioned. Next week for Pool Pals it's a first-time showdown with Elite Pool Legendz. You'll recall it was Marky playing for Extreme Cues who beat Pool Pals back in the first week of this season. Now, Elite Pool Legendz have taken EC's spot and will look to improve their Playoff standing, while helping hammer Pool Pals' coffin shut. Before that, EPL still has to play Thursday night against Dream Pool. A match that will surely send Sophie to the madhouse by the end, when Ash & Dan inevitably go at each other.

Also a reminder, with the final Friday of August coming up, it's time for another Big League Tour 2v2 tourney. All the details are right there on the MLP Main Page.

Cya in the 2nd half!

How to cut down on Cam DQs

2008-08-25T05:23:00.001-07:00

I was discussing this, this morning with the Head Admin of another Interleague. I didn't want to go into a long-winded debate with this Admin because it was early, and I didn't want to waste their time. So I figured, it's relevant in MLP, as any other Interleague, so why not discuss it here?

The center of this whole issue is: What is the purpose of using Cam? Well, obviously it's to ensure the game is played legitimately and there is no doubt as to the honesty of either player. So, that's surely why players ask for Cam, right? In that case, why should it not be required for the loser to send THEIR Cam tape as well? Let's look at the reasons why they should in the first place:

1: Saves time. If one Cam tape doesn't make it or is DQed, obviously the loser of that game has to send their tape. Thus you're looking at a potential TWO HOURS to clear a tape from Game 1, AND there's no guarantee that loser will get the win, because THAT tape may be disallowed for whatever reason. Why not have the loser send their tape immediately? It leads right into my second reason.

2: If the idea is to prove the legitimacy of the game... Then just from a moral standpoint, the loser should have to prove they did not cheat at all in their game. Does it have any relevance towards the match if the winning tape clears? Of course not. However, if the point is to prove the legitimacy of the game, as I said in the first sentence here, then why does the loser get a free pass except in an emergency?

3: Similarly, if Cam is used for the SOLE PURPOSE of preventing cheating, then that second tape can prove the legitimacy of a tape that is DQed for the only reason I've seen a tape DQed in MLP in the past 365, hell... 730 days. The timestamp. If the loser of that game, and the Admins of MLP, are so concerned about the legitimacy of the game, then they would ask for both tapes and would sync the 2 up at the break (Cam Player allows multiple windows to play different videos, and is very easy to use,) and watch them. This is not rocket science, ladies and gentlemen.

What it comes down to, is laziness, in my opinion. It appears to be the unwillingness on the part of both the players and the Admins, to take that extra step and truly ensure Cam is being used for what it should be used for - Ensuring the legitimacy and honesty of the game or match being played.

I told this specific Head Admin, when asked what my thoughts were on an all-Cam Interleague: It is feasible, but no Interleague has Admins with the mental capacity, or logical thinking capabilities, to be ready to run an all-Cam Interleague. Why is that? The answer is simple:

None of them have shown they know what Cam is to be used for. If you're going to distribute a cracked program worth hundreds of dollars, and require everyday people to use it, you should at least do the players that support your Interleague a favor and learn how to do it, and why you're doing this. This goes to ALL Interleague Admins anywhere.

Match Of The Weak - v2.0

2008-08-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

With the final week of the first half of this season right around the corner, certain teams are showing they're not going away as some expected, such as Dream Pool and Devine Cuez, while others are up "that" creek and left their paddles at home.

There's still life for a couple of those leagues though, and this match may carry as much significance here in week 7 as it could in week 14 when they square off again...

Of course, I'm talking about Break and Run and Pool Pals.

BNR has become almost a grab bag of low-to-mid-level players from other leagues, mixed in with the usual traditional Break and Run players. Yet even still, despite having a team on paper that looks decent at worst, they still sit at 0-6, a record shared by two other leagues both in the American League. And even then, Wasted Shotz has shown they'll beat a few teams and play spoiler. So really, BNR is only in the same light as Pool Loverz. But with all that said, they still have players that can knock off good players. The question this far into the season is, at 0-6 will some of these players show their true colors and abandon ship? IF BNR loses this match Wednesday night, it won't matter whether those players stay or go - they will only be playing 7 more weeks of MLP before the good teams take over in the Playoffs and leave the rest behind.

With Pool Pals, you have more of the same. An equally-abysmal 1-5 record and just not enough depth and interleague-savvy leadership week in and week out to put together a good match. Six weeks into this so far unsuccessful campaign we've seen the usual frustrations break out - players ripping on captains, early leads blown by momentum, charged by pessism. At this point, when the going gets tough on a given night, the team seems to just shut down and say "here we go again..." They're almost more infatuated with individual results rather than team results. A 3-4 or 2-5 loss is just fine for the winners, who might go off and hold those wins over the head of that game's opponent.

Having watched the Pool Fiction team I play for thrash them both in consecutive weeks, I am pretty much obligated to go with the team that took less of a beatdown. So I like Pool Pals to win this Match of the Weak, as they did the last one 2 weeks ago against Lucky Shots. PP wins on Wednesday night, 5-2.

Match Of The Week: #6

2008-08-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

Almost to the halfway point in the season and a couple leagues have now quit MLP - Extreme Cues replaced by Elite Pool Legendz, and now 8 Ball Scratch at 0-5 has quit. When the going gets tough, you know the rest.

But for MOTW we turn to two leagues in the American League that are very much in this season - Pool Legends, and Cheap Shotz.

Pool Legends sit at 4-1, the only blemish coming at the hands of the TRUE Pool Legends. Even still, PL holds the 2nd-highest win/loss record in the American Conference, 1 measly game behind 5-0 United Pool. The match likely marks a reunion between xlx_psuhke_xlx (now easy.money) and his former PL team. Trav reportedly went to Cheap Shotz hoping there would be less pressure on him to be the big guy in the lineup. Well, he didn't fully get away from PL, as they'll meet up again perhaps, on Tuesday. As for the rest of the Pool Legends team, everyone by now knows the style they play - a very slow, bordering on obnoxious style, and they do tend to oversafety quite a bit. Generally they'll pass up a decent run to try and set up a series of tap-ins en route to the 8. Because of this, their overall accuracy on shots does suffer. Once you get used to safetying so much, you forget how to line up some shots and it gives CZ just a little bit more leeway on the kind of shots THEY leave for PL's players.

On the other hands, you have that Cheap Shotz team at 3-2, looking to improve its Playoff standing. With the only league with a prayer outside of the top 5 (SS) at 1-4, the AL Playoff teams are just about set. CZ's now competing to just stay ahead of the pack and get as close to #1 as possible, though it's unlikely anybody will overtake UP - They even get a Bye against 8BS this week and will be 6-0. So what does CZ have that Pool Legends doesn't? Not much. You have to like trumpsterized and midwestern_pool_champ of course, and trump does have 2 clinches. On the flip side, Pool Legends has Kalpz (life.steala) and if you pay attention to or care about the MLP Ladder Hall Of Fame, the winningest player by far in MLP history, Luckydog.

Cheap Shotz HAS to get out to an early lead, with guys like Ben, Scott, and Travis. If after 3 games they trail 2-1, you can almost hand PL the win. CZ has to have the luxury of deciding who they want to face Luckydog in game 7 - Trump or midwestern. While doing that, though, they still need an answer for Kalpz & s.aints (Matt.) This puts ALL the pressure on games 1-3, in addition to the pressure that always comes in games 6 and 7.

As for an actual prediction in all this... I think Pool Legends win it, 5-2. I don't think the early players get the job done for CZ, and the match is won in the middle.

Opinion: Sportsmanship.

2008-08-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

Ryan had his turn on the importance of the opening game, now my say on sportsmanship and this unwritten rule (which doesn't actually exist) that you must ALWAYS cater to the other person.

This thought is based primarily on the events at the end of the Pool Legends vs. Pool Loverz match. With the score 4-2 Pool Legends, and Lenny absent from the table, unbullevable calls miss.iggied to play. When he's reminded that s0sew was supposed to play for PZ instead, he tries to change the call. That, of course, cannot happen.

So Jason, PL Captain, decides to make them stay with the original call. PZ's apparent wannabe-captain is visibly upset and snidely remarks "nice sportsmanship." Therein lies the whole point of this article. Why is this standard supposedly in place, that if someone does something stupid, they should be somehow rewarded for that? That's the kind of BS you see when someone jumps in front of a train and sues the railroad company for damages.

Another point raised by unbullevable, is that Jesse, the ref, should have waited for PZ's Captain. Well in that case, what was unbullevable doing calling anyone? By his own logic, he should've shut his mouth (or shoved his hands under his ass, whichever you prefer) and waited for Lenny to make a call. Instead, by doing what, by his own implied admission, made him and PZ look absolutely stupid (the last thing that team needs,) he assumes the role of Captain and calls an ineligible player. It's his own ignorance. Why should, especially after 11PM, anybody cater to him, and compensate for his ignorance?

It's the same standard when someone "slips" and taps the cue, or clicks on an ad and somehow gets booted and forfeits. Apparently, the winner or beneficiary of the event is expected to cater to the person who screwed up. BUT, the same people who take exception to others takind advantage of their opportunities, are the same people who would accept a cam tape being DQed because of a timestamp error, when it's clear there was no cheating of any kind going on.

When did this become a rule, that when you (meaning anybody) screw up, I have to give up my advantage and halt the game so I can give you a mulligan? Oh, I can actually answer that... It becomes a rule briefly, when you are the one screwing up.

There's also another layer to this - the sportsmanlike action for unbullevable and company to take, would be to accept the fair, and correct may I add, decision of the official. In this case, that's Jesse. Wish Pool Legends a good season in the future, and thank all involved for a good match. But of course... Nobody on that side of things tonight thought of that. Maybe its because they weren't concerned about sportsmanship. Maybe it's because they weren't catered to. Well, even still... At this point in their season they should be used to this sort of thing. Or, maybe they shouldn't worry about it trailing 2-4, after their own wannabe captain's mistake, at an hour before midnight.

In fact, nobody, winless or undefeated, should be worried about being penalized for a boneheaded mistake. They had it coming to them. Accountability is the greatest word of all-time. It has all the characteristics of a powerful warrior - Strong, firm, ruthless, and feared by many.

Stay classy, MLP.

Week #5 Predictions

2008-08-11T00:08:00.000-07:00

Alright, so 4 weeks down; both conferences have: an undisputed #1, a 3-way tie for 2nd, a team that is 2-2, two teams tied for 5th @ 1-3 and 2 teams dropping faster than Pommys fatass when he jumps into a lake. WELCOME TO WEEK 5! No need for a big intro this week - I'll make 2 predictions per conference and be done.

American League
-United Pool WILL NOT hold onto the #1 seed going into the playoffs
-The Top 5 teams will remain the same and make the playoffs (seedings will change, however)

National League
-Poolfiction WILL NOT reliquinish #1 - am I ballsy enough to say they'll go unbeaten? Not yet.
-The winner of this weeks Luckyshots/Pool Pals match will finish the season with a wildcard spot (at worst).

Anyways, I'm REALLY getting sick of going 5-3 in my picks for the week, let's try for at least 6-2, shall we?!

-Monday Night-

7pm - True Pool Legends (3-1) @ Straightshots (1-3)
Location: All Mixed Up
Last Week: True Pool Legends def. Pool Loverz 5-2 / United Pool def. Straightshots 4-3
Watch List: tpl_xlx_e_f_c_xlx & ss_xl_0wnz_lx
Outlook: Say it ain't so! TPL played a match where the score WASN'T 4-3 last week? lol. The possibility of Steve (xlx_e_f_c_xlx) making his return after a few weeks away makes this match worth watching on it's own - just think of how badly his SS opponent might wax him after his hiatus! SS is coming off of a week that saw them lose 4-3 (the match was over in 6 games) to the AL-leaders, United Pool. They put up a fight in that match and if TPL isn't careful they may find themselves, once again, relying on some "Pommy-heroics" in game 7. TPL isn't a deep team, but when their top 7 show it's a handful for any league in MLP. SS comes into this match with motive, as they don't want to slip any farther behind CZ for the Wildcard spot; if they do -the AL Top 5 may be clinched by week 9. TPL can't shake the "close-match" monkey off of it's back, and this one ends up closer than expected.
Prediction: 4-3 True Pool Legends

8pm - Cheapshotz (2-2) @ 8 Ball Scratch (0-4)
Location: And Far Away
Last Week: Devine Cuez def. Cheapshotz 6-1 / Pool Legends def. 8 Ball Scratch 4-3
Watch List: cz_canadianpoolking & 8bs_i_luv_titties69
Outlook: So, once again, CZ takes a loss in the week previous only to find themselves staring at some poor helpless bottom feeder the following week. I like that 8BS appeared to put up a fight against PL last week, but at the same time, w/ the style of play Jase and co. play it sometimes hurts them just as much as helps them, so score can be fairly misleading. I don't wanna take anything away from 8BS, but I just can't see them putting up much of a fight in this one.
Prediction: 5-2 Cheapshotz

-Tuesday Night-

6pm - Poolfiction (4-0) @ Break and Run (0-4)
Location: Welcome to the Jungle
Last Week: Poolfiction def. Extreme Cues 7-0 / Tourney Pool def. Break and Run 6-1
Watch List: pfn_tacoby_bellsbury & bnr_jasonlippi01234
Outlook: Two teams heading in completely opposite directions, only to get even farther apart after this match. Jason will get his first crack at his old league and let's all hope he doesn't harbour as many bitters feelings towards PFN as his brother Simon did when he jumped to LS. Of course, Jason's departure was mainly based around playing time, and in that sense I don't blame him at all. Look for PFN to rest 1 or 2 of their big guns and for BNR to pick up a win or 2 along the way. BNR's going to have to wait at least 1 more week to pick up their first win of the season.
Prediction: 5-2 Poolfiction

7pm - Pool Pals (0-4) @ Luckyshots (1-3)
Location: Sweet Dreams
Last Week: Magic Pool def. Pool Pals 4-3 / Dreampool def. Luckyshots 4-3
Watch List: pp_exquisite_marky & ls_simon.kitto
Outlook: Match of the "Weak" here. This one's tough. Both teams are underachieving with decent looking lineups. I want to take PP, but all we've seen for them is complete disarray. Until Neo gets back, or a captain that understands interleagues and the players participating in them steps up to the plate, I just don't see this team picking up any creditable wins. BLAH - but Luckyshots are Luckyshots - ya know what I'm saying? What the hell is a predictor to do. Fine...
Prediction: 4-3 Luckyshots

***Match of the Week / Upset Special***
7pm - Devine Cuez (3-1) @ United Pool (4-0)
Location: Back Somersault
Last Week: Devine Cuez SMOKED Cheapshotz 6-1 / United Pool def. Straightshots 4-3
Watch List: dc_xlx_skill_xlx & up_united.pooler
Outlook: So UP coming off of a weak where they squeaked passed SS, and DC off one where they completely destroyed my AL preseason favourite CZ. These 2 leagues play each other in like 3 different interleagues this week, so there's no doubt they're going to start bitching at each other sooner or later (with the mouths they have on the players over in DC, this is inevitable; unless of course they're winning - but even then...lol). I don't see this one being a blow-out, but I can't help but feel UP gets knocked off their #1 perch this week. Jordan and Lewis will be key players in DC's upset bid.
Prediction: 4-3 Devine Cuez

-Wednesday Night -

9pm - Pool Loverz (0-4) @ Pool Legends (3-1)
Location: Afraid to Lose
Last Week: True Pool Legends def. Pool Loverz 5-2 / Pool Legends def. Straightshots 4-3
Watch List: pz_king_of_8br & pl_ooo_franchise_ooo
Outlook: The AL punching bag strolls into Afraid to Lose to battle Jase and PL on Wednesday night. PZ tripled their win count on the season (1 --> 3) versus TPL last week and they'll be looking to take a few more off of PL. Unfortunately, I just don't see PZ being too fond of PL's over-obsessive snookers. Depending on how many runs the Legends screw up, this one won't be too close.
Prediction: 6-1 Pool Legends

-Thursday Night-

8pm - Tourney Pool @ Dreampool
Location: Advanced Lounge III
Last Week: Tourney Pool def. Break and Run 6-1 / Dream Pool def. Luckyshots 4-3
Watch List: tp_deep_cerebro & dp_kimbo.slicee
Outlook: I'm still not sold on DP. They've picked up MJ which would help anyteam, whether it be PFN or 8BS but I just don't know. I know TP is definitely a more deserving #2 seed and will be sitting in a tie w/ MP at the end of the week though. I have to commend DP though, I think I predicted them to finish the SEASON w/ 3 wins and they've already reached that in week 4. Unfortunately, they won't pick up win #4 this week, "Mr. BLT" (Luis) and his gang should cruise in this one.
Prediction: 5-2 Tourney Pool

-Friday Night-

7pm - Extreme Cues (2-2) @ Magicpool (3-1)
Location: Advanced Lounge II
Last Week: Poolfiction def. Extreme Cues 7-0 / Magic Pool def. Pool Pals 4-3
Watch List: ec_do-we-have-anyone-to-play-this-match & mp_daknight_4u
Outlook: This match doesn't deserve much of a write-up. Maybe one line per EC player I expect to play. Nah, just kidding. Last week, MP (once again) crushed my Upset Special pick as it took PP down in a very entertaining match that went the distance (that means game 7, people). For this match, I say MP stomps the 1, 2 or 3 players EC brings to this game as the clock gets closer to striking midnight on EC's time in MLP.
Prediction: 6-1 Magic Pool

Best of Luck to All Leagues this week!
_______________________________
Last Week: 5-3 Overall: 19-13

Week Five: Match Of The Weak.

2008-08-10T23:56:00.000-07:00

With Extreme Cues out of the race (in due time, thanks to such brilliant management at the top over there,) the National League has become a 7-team battle for five playoff spots. So we look at the three at the bottom of the NL - Lucky Shots, Pool Pals, Break and Run. Talent-wise, they're all together. And they're not as bad as their records would indicate.

The question surrounding Lucky Shots is will they keep their team for the full 14 weeks or will people just play for a month or so, and then quit and leave the dedicated ones to mop up the mess?

For Pool Pals, it's whether or not if/when trustneo returns, will too much damage already be done? Will this Pool Pals team be like the last PP group that started a season 0-5?

Break And Run has the same question every season - they always look like such an improved team... Will they ever actually deliver and make anything that resembles a Playoff run?

Perhaps two of those questions will be answered, or at least have some light shed on them, simultaneously on Tuesday night. While Break And Run will have the tall task of trying to overcome Pool Fiction, Pool Pals and Lucky Shots will also be playing... Each other. A combined record of 1-7 may never have had this much significance in all of MLP's 11 (soon 11.5) seasons. Two leagues that have underachieved at a level that would force pity from some who have had the misfortune of watching their matches. Pool Pals had its best shot to turn everything around on July 22nd. A 3-1 lead, with everything going their way, it looked like Pool Pals were about to avenge their opening night loss to Extreme Cues. Instead, Tourney Pool rallied for an amazing 4-3 victory, and the frustration in Back Spin started to mount.

Lucky Shots has had a similar fate. In their opening match, they battled Pool Fiction in what has turned into a Duke/UNC-esque rivalry. And again, as has happened many times before between PFN and LS, controversy and drama reigned supreme. Forgotten would be the 3-2 lead that Lucky Shots held over the 2-time defending Champs, when a tape was disqualified and a win reversed, giving Pool Fiction the 3-2 lead instead. PFN would win that match 5-2.

Lucky Shots does have the lone win between these two, however. A 5-2 win over the soon-to-be dead Extreme Cues, which was already on life support at the time, despite the 2-0 record. In that match, we saw the guys Lucky Shots needs, in order to win. Ray, Joey, Simon, etc.

Well, something's got to give this week. Someone actually has to win this match. For Lucky Shots, a win would spell what at this point would look like an insurmountable 2-game lead over Pool Pals and, presumably, Break And Run should Pool Fiction take care of them. This matchup will come down to simply who shows up, so I have two predictions just to cover myself. IF Ray, Joey, and Simon play this match for LS, they will win 4-3. IF even one of them does not play, Pool Pals by a small miracle will be on the winning end of that 4-3 score, and will, 36 days later, have win #1 on the season.

Intriguing Match of the Week?

2008-08-05T23:39:00.000-07:00

We all know how to use the MLP page to look at the numbers. PP, BNR, PZ, and 8BS are all at 0-3, and it's safe to say that PP is the best 0-3 league in MLP. On the NL side specifically, 3 teams are at 2-1: MP, DP, and TP. But, is it safe to say which league is the best out of those 3? DP looks to be picking up a few good players lately, TP has some pretty solid players that can pull out wins constantly, and MP is looking to prove themselves this season, although having their only loss from the aforementioned TP, while taking out LS and BNR in the past two weeks. Although i think TP takes the cake out of these 3, let's focus on one of them.

This brings us to an intriguing matchup happening on Thursday, that could set the tone for each league for the rest of the season.

MP(2-1) vs PP(0-3)

Don't let the numbers fool you. MP is 2-1, but if you look at the past 3 weeks:

MP loses vs TP Week 1 2-5
MP wins vs LS Week 2 5-2
MP wins vs BNR Week 3 5-2
The first 3 weeks tells me to predict that MP is going to end up being a .500 league down the road, just coming short of having enough superpower and experience to knock out big named leagues, while having enough to take out the easier leagues.

And PP's last 3 weeks:

PP loses vs EC Week 1 3-4
PP loses vs TP Week 2 3-4
PP loses vs DP Week 3 2-5

PP has had a rough start to their season, but this match may be where they can start their rebound and hop out of last place. If they are still there, PP has players like oldschool l3am, moe, marky, neo, and airtech, that are worth mentioning as good players that have a chance to take PP to playoffs.

As for the match, look for PP to bring the mentioned players, and MP to bring their usual lineup (excluding jordan) which includes danny_efc, my_lyrical, dont_miss, mike_oneill, etc. I predict this one to go to either go to the wire, PP winning it 4-3 in game 7, or PP taking the clinch in game 6, perhaps ending the match at 4-3 anyway.

Playoff Talk:

If PP loses: they will quickly fall into desperation mode and start to lose their chance at a deserving playoff seed, especially in the division that they're in. They are in the same division as MP, so giving MP the win would be mean a double-whammy and rally cap time for PP.

If MP loses: This will set the tone for the rest of their season. They will fall against the greats, but scrape past or steamroll the lower-seeded leagues, making for a average record, and start the wildcard battle with LS. If they win this they will come out with a big ego boost and perhaps enough momentum to A. spark the eye of "insert random skilled player " that wants to switch leagues to make a name for themselves and B. be able to afford losses in the future and clinch the wildcard spot over LS.

The match is Thursday at 7 pm in Backspin.

Week #4 Predictions

2008-08-05T15:03:00.000-07:00

Three weeks down. Two conference leaders. Two four-way ties for 2nd place with a record of 2-1. Two lonely teams at 1-2. Four teams that need to step it up! WELCOME to week 4! First off, I'd like to welcome Boti to the MLP SC team; he'll be focussing on random things here-and-there as well as doing one recap during the week (besides Match of the Week - we're letting Cubby keep his job), focussing on an "intriguing" match-up or one with playoff implications. Secondly, WOW @ the dominance shown by TP in last night's BLT. Luis may have came away the individual winner, but him and his team-mates combined for a very commendable 23-5 record! Congrats guys! Anyways, onto the picks.

-Monday Night-

***Match of the Week***
8pm - Devine Cuez (2-1) @ Cheapshotz (2-1)
Location: Custard Pie
Watch List: dc_uber.geeky & cz_fhm_champion
Prediction: 5-2 Cheapshotz

-Tuesday Night-

6pm - Extreme Cues (2-1) @ Poolfiction (3-0)
Location: Bad Times
Watch List: ec_xlx_english_professor_xlx & pfn_derekgnr
Prediction: 6-1 Poolfiction

7pm - United Pool (3-0) @ Straightshots (1-2)
Location: All Mixed Up
Watch List: up_pool.chicky & ss_superstar.xxx
Prediction: 4-3 United Pool

8pm - 8 Ball Scratch (0-3) @ Pool Legends (2-1)
Location: Afraid to Lose
Watch List: 8bs_dan_poolman & pl_dynamite_que
Prediction: 6-1 Pool Legends

-Wednesday Night-

7pm - Pool Loverz (0-3) @ True Pool Legends (2-1)
Location: Blurry
Watch List: pz_infatuation_xxx & tpl_x_just.in_x
Prediction: 5-2 True Pool Legends

8pm - Tourney Pool (2-1) @ Break and Run (0-3)
Location: Welcome to the Jungle
Watch List: tp_ball_brilliance & bnr_redhot_2003
Prediction: 5-2 Tourney Pool

-Thursday Night-

***Upset Special***
7pm - Magic Pool (2-1) @ Pool Pals (0-3)
Location: Backspin
Watch List: mp_dont_miss_2007 & pp_l3amm_aka_legend
Prediction: 4-3 Pool Pals

8pm - Luckyshots (1-2) @ Dreampool (2-1)
Location: Advanced Lounge III
Watch List: ls_brutalbutlucky & dp_xsoubanhx
Prediction: 4-3 Luckyshots

And there ya have it. Considering the number of fingers I was able to use while making this post - I don't think it turned out too bad. Sorry for being short this week, hopefully next week's will be longer when my hand starts feeling better. Good Luck this week all leagues!
___________________________
Last Week: 5-3 Overall: 14-10

Week 4 Match Of The Week... Tonight?

2008-08-04T05:20:00.000-07:00

Well, yeah. It's actually a bit of a down week in MLP on paper, without a lot of real big matches. But here's one that figures to be competitive depending on what's going on with the mysterious Devine Cuez team.

Tonight's only match, Devine Cuez @ Cheap Shotz. In a week where there are such blowouts scheduled as TPL-PZ, PL-8BS, and UP-SS (which meh, MAY be close...) this match figures to be a good, entertaining match with both leagues trying to start some momentum going towards the middle of the season.

On one hand, you have Devine Cuez, which has had a revolving door of players and a lot of "will they or won't they" going on. Adding Dan (tw.ista) certainly helps the team, while everybody in MLP continues to benefit from what is presumably going to be a slow, painful death for the Extreme Cues team. Then there's Jordan, and whether or not he'll play. Having been away most of the weekend, I'm not entirely up-to-date with that. Regardless, there are still guys like llvllagic (as Dazed's stomach turns at my mention of his little bro,) and on his game, goodwooter is as good as anybody in the DC lineup.

Cheap Shotz is trying to prove that it might the right decision to stick around in MLP, going against what similar low-activity powerhouses 8 Ball Runners and Cue Keepers did. One personnel problem to deal with, scott22883 won't be playing after being boxed retroactive to an incident during week 3's Big League Tourney. Obviously having players using IDs like fhm_champion and midwestern_pool_champion kinda makes a match without Scott a little easier for CZ. Still, it IS a hole in the lineup for the Season 9 Champs, and this leaves the door open for Devine Cuez to pull a fast one on 'em.

Both leagues are almost identical in record; both sitting at 2-1, only one win in the win/loss record separates them. The most important game in this match will be Ben's. Everyone by now has heard the tales (more like encyclopedia-esque volumes) of Ben's games in MLP, and the slow play of Pool Legends 2 weeks ago definitely got to DC. In a match where mental sharpness may well be the deciding factor, the decisive edge goes to Cheap Shotz, and I take the more mature players here in CZ to win 5-2 to kick off the week.

Opinion : Game 1 Importance

2008-07-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

Game 1; many may argue that is the center piece of irrelevance with regards to many matches. Others, call it the pinnacle of the match in which momentum is either gained or lost. Amidst all of the dust, smoke and barriers, the truth that many fail to uncover is that Game 1, barring game 7, is the most important. I say that with absolute confidence. As a captain, home or away, nothing makes me happier at the beginning of a match then getting that first win out of the way. It takes the pressure off of the next couple of players, as they won't have to worry about putting the team into a hole, which allows them to play their game. Besides this, it also provides the obvious: a surge of momentum. How does winning game 1 effect a captains strategy? How does losing game 1 effect a captains strategy? And possibly the most important: What kind of players should play game 1? All of these questions will be discussed in the first of (hopefully), a series of discussion posts, which will be put up every couple of weeks. I can hear all of those "good players" out there snickering, already.

Note: Many factors contribute to matches such as stength of opponent, home/visitor, who has break, etc.; for the purpose of this article, I will be looking at all of the following in basic context, ignoring most/all of these variables.

Alright, your team has just lost game 1, as a captain, where do you go from here? Basic math tells me that we now need to win 4/6 of the remaining games, or 67%. Not gunna lie - that kinda sucks. So what kind of player should I play now? Someone that shoots like Cubby? Fuck no. He's playing game 8. The most important thing to note here is that no one wants to fall into an 0-2 hole and be forced into winning 4/5 (80%) games down the stretch no matter who they have on their roster. Depending on your depth, you're more-than-likely going to have to move someone you wanted to play in game 4 or 5 up into this slot. Game 2 has now become an almost must-win situation, and all of this because of the loss in game 1. Lose game 2 as well (*cough* like those hacks over in TPL *cough*), and you're going to need one hell of a comeback to pull out this match. Personally, game 2 is where I like to stick my weaker players (no offense if any of you reading this play #2 for TPL at any point for the duration of the season), after a game 1 victory. Since I've now had to move a player up into the #2 spot, my weaker player is now going to have to play at a more crucial stage in the match.

Okay, now you've won game 1; what next? Winning game 1 is always the plan, so a captain shouldn't need to adjust their initial strategy. Basic math says you now only have to win 3/6 games (50%) to win the match. You gain an entire 17% just by winning the first game in comparison to losing it! As I mentioned previous, I now have the option of playing my weakest player without risking falling behind in the match. Everyone else stays exactly where I was hoping to play them later on, and who knows, maybe player #2 can give us a commanding 2-0 lead. That's just my thinking though, some captains prefer taking the torch and running with it after they get that first win, hoping to knock their opponent out early. As you can see, it is much easier to captain after getting that game 1 win under your belt, in comparsion to losing and having to switch gears.

Finally, what kind of players are suited for playing in the #1 spot? Personally, my ideal #1 player would be someone who is great at adjusting to whatever style of play is required from him/her. In game 1, you don't know who has break, so playing a pure runner with a weak snooker game is out of the question - unless, of course, that's the only type of player you have in your arsenal lol. I'd also suggest playing someone who is confident w/ their game. When a person believes that they're going to beat whoever is thrown at them, it goes a long way in determining how well they play. Of course, many of these people don't take too kindly to losing. If you have a player like this on your squad, and they're not already your game 7 player, perhaps you should step back and think about where this player is going to be most useful in your lineup.

Now, before you "godly players" snicker about how you're "too good" to play that early, take a step back and think about how much winning that first game can do for your team. Why not give your team some momentum? Why not give them better odds at winning the match? Why not give your captain a chance to stick to their gameplan? If you ask yourself all of these questions and still find a selfish response, perhaps you're one of those players a team would be better off doing without. Until next time, MLP!

Take advantage of the comment feature at the bottom. Seeing as how this is an opinion post, I'd love to hear what everyone elses views are on this topic!

LS Comes Out of Slump, 8bs Doesn't.

2008-07-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night.

Ryan's Prediction: 4-3 EC

Pickems: 11 EC 9 LS

Pickems match Ryan's prediction to a T. 7 PM MLP Takes us to a National League match in SL7 for a team looking to keep their undefeated season, and a team looking to put themselves on the scoreboard and not in a deeper hole. Let's go to the action:

Match 1: ls_im_just_jeremy vs ec_PERRY589
Gametime: PERRY and jeremy both take turns shooting a ball a piece, when things turn and Jeremy tries to finish out the game. Jeremy gets unlucky on a leave on the last solid and safetys to give PERRY the stick. With a lot of room to maneuver PERRY makes a safety across table to take command of this game and leaves Jeremy with little to work with. Jeremy can't come up with a return safety and PERRY leaps into action, going around the table and with confidence takes EC to an early lead.

Match 2: 1-0 EC ls_snow.queen333 vs ec_xlx_english_professor_xlx
Gametime: English Professor takes snow.queen to school early by trying to put together a run. 4 Balls in, and snooks. Back to snow. Nope, Back to English.. English makes a bank into top middle but no leave for last ball. Tap to snow. We go ahead in time to a cue bank 8 ball shot by english that just missed. Snow tries to finish it off but falls short on power, missing her ball. English with BIH takes down the 8. 2-0 EC.

Match 3: 2-0 EC ls_the.bawbag vs ec_xlx_n0.0ne_xlx
Gametime: Easy break, n0.0ne sinks 4 balls, and chooses the snooker option to get out of trouble. A few shots made by each player then it turned into a snooker battle. N0_0ne trying to snooker while opening the table up, and bawbag playing defense. N0.0ne would eventually slip up and bawbag finishes the run with a few important shots to give LS the much needed start to their night.

Match 4: 2-1 EC ls_xcanuckleheadx vs ec_x_silent_assassin_x
Gametime: Canuckle goes for the run, and has a hard combo shot to make. Canuckle makes the combo but gets unlucky with the leave. Snookers. Silent runs 6 balls in a row before hitting a roadblock at the 7th. Can't come up with the shot, and canuckle out-snookers silent to win the game.

Match 5: 2-2 ls_luckyshots_tony vs ec_snooky.technician
Gametime: Snooky break, with more taps than a tapdancing competition. Original, right? Tap tap, both players wind up making their own mistakes, snooky makes his last mistake, and Tony capitalizing with 2 balls left and BIH. Tony wins to take LS into Game 6 3-2

Match 6: 3-2 LS ls_aa_for_life vs ec_ll3oto
Gametime: Boto vs AA. AA looking for the clinch, boto looking for the save. Another long snooker battle. No offense in this game, all defense. Boto winds up losing it after a 4 to 1 ball disadvantage at the end followed by a good breakup by aa. AA finishes it off and 4-2 LS clinches the much needed win.

Match 7: 4-2 LS ls_simon.kitto vs ec_marcoo_ec
Gametime: marcoo's first appearance in MLP, goes for the much unneeded tap break. Simon says enough is enough and goes for the run , but stopping short at no leave for his last stripe. Marcoo chokes up on one of his balls, leaving a shot for Simon. Simon takes the win and LS defeats EC in a much needed victory for LS and cripppling EC's hopes of stardom.

LS is now on the board at 1-2, and we are down to only 1 undefeated team in each conference. UP and PFN. both with identical win/loss records.

In other events, 8 pm saw itself in a battle between 8bs and DC. Last week 8bs didn't have a full set of 7, and this week, brought a full team, eventhough 2 got dq'ed for not having enough tourney games for the week. DC clinched in game 6, with game 7 ending in an early 8 (wasn't so early in the game, but it was before 8 ball shot!). DC joins TPL and PL at 2-1 in the AL while 8bs joins PZ at the bottom of the barrel, sinking lower to 0-3. Both 8bs and PZ see grim opponents in week 4.

Pool Fiction Dominates Tourney Pool

2008-07-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

Pool Fiction had won seven straight interleague match games against Tourney Pool heading into Tuesday night. Previously, in PRO, xlx_ogges_xlx won the eighth and ninth games in a season opener, his second and third wins of the night, and Pool Fiction had swept Tourney Pool 5-0 in the PRO Playoffs. The question remained: Could Pool Fiction carry it over into Major League Pool?

Game one featured derekgnr for Pool Fiction, while Tourney Pool at home replied with emmitt22_da_man. In the latest edition of Pool Fiction v Tourney Pool, it was he who had Pool Fiction's cue.ball up against the ropes in an hour-long opener. This game flirted with the one-hour mark as well. Both players had their chances throughout to make one or two big shots to take control, but it would be a glitch that ultimately gave Derek the upper-hand. With balls cluttered up in the top right corner, the Tourney Pooler tried a carom shot. Not only did the shot miss, but the cueball glitched through another ball and ended up on the opposite side of it. Derek would hold the advantage throughout the remainder of the game, and though he needed a handful of safeties along the way, he gave Pool Fiction the 1-0 lead.

In game two, Tourney Pool was reacquainted with xlx_ogges_xlx, who as previously mentioned, picked up three big wins against them three months ago. Three months is a long time, but neither he or his opponent, tam_s0, seemed to care. Tuesday's second game would last even longer than the first, which lasted just under 40 minutes. Again, both players had plenty of opportunities, and both players blew some chances that were even served up on a silver platter, multiple times. While the game lasted over 40 minutes, xlx_ogges_xlx and tam_s0 could've easily finished in as little as 15 minutes. However, as sloppy as the game was, both derek and xlx_ogges_xlx did more than enough to earn their wins. Multiple times they found themselves at a huge disadvantage, but kept making just the right shot so that they didn't give up an easy run, or fall too far behind. As the game progressed, tam_s0 just lost it. Eventually, he let loose with a desperation bang attempt trying to force the issue. That attempt failed, and Pool Fiction took a 2-0 lead, five shots later. Perhaps the most remarkable fact about this long, sloppy game, was that there were no fouls committed by either player.

A trend was forming already in this match. In game one, derekgnr made all eight of his balls himself. In contrast, his opponent made only four of his balls that were potted. In game two, despite three misses, xlx_ogges_xlx made all eight of his balls, while tam_s0 made just four of the five that fell. Game three was no different. Pool Fiction Captain kerryanne_24 put up xlx_bpk_xlx (Jamie) with the break, while Tourney Pool called on ball_brilliance. Jamie broke the same way he usually does, by hitting the rack and scratching. This play usually serves as a challenge to the opponent to try and run him. More often than not, the player tries it, fails, and leaves an open table. This wasn't much different. This time, however, ball_brilliance had a chance. An opening bang of sorts, but an easy miss left the game entirely in Jamie's hands. No run yet, however. He merely safetied, a play he'd make only a few times in this game. When the National League's reigning Most Valuable Player got his first chance to run, it was short-lived. A couple shots in, he faced a cluster of balls on the right side. A bank safety attempt failed, and ball_brilliance barely had a chance to make him pay. Unfortunately for TP, when he got to his final two solids, he had no shot on them. His safety would prove useless as well, as Jamie was left with a wide open shot. That led to another, and another, and another, until he reached the eight and, of course, made it. For the curious, xlx_bpk_xlx had eight shots made, in eight attempts. On the flip side, ball_brilliance, four. Pool Fiction leads 3-0.

Pool Fiction called zl_stu_lz, as it looked for a 4-0 lead for the second straight week. Last week, PFN won four straight to open up a match with Dream Pool. That match finished 4-3. Tourney Pool Captain xl_sassy.lisa_lx looked to superstaaaar (Matt) to keep the match alive. Just like Jamie had gone 8-for-8, Stu followed, though it wasn't as clean. With only a couple balls left on the table, in two instances that looked like easy finishes for a player like Stu, he didn't add the right power and backspin to set up the next shot. Despite all that, both times he played the right safety shot and kept the upper-hand over Matt, who had picked up a huge win for Tourney Pool in last week's marathon match with Pool Pals. Stu finished his final solid, and the eight, Pool Fiction 4-0.

Pool Fiction would go on to win 6-1, winning the first six games to stretch the individual game streak to 13 over Tourney Pool. In game five, cue.ball beat deep_cerebro. Game six saw jasonlippi01234 beating lnspired_spin. Game seven went to Tourney Pool, as lvlr.ownage beat devilstature to end the streak. At one point, xlx_ogges, xlx_bpk, zl_stu_lz, and cue.ball all combined to make 27 conescutive shot attempts. That streak ended with an early miss by cue.ball, his only one of the game. On Tourney Pool's end, lvlr.ownage easily had the most impressive game, going 8-for-8 without a foul, the only perfect game of the night. After derekgnr forced three fouls from emmitt22_da_man in game one, Tourney Pool didn't commit any other fouls until lnspired_spin did so in game six. Match time: 3h 3m.

SHOT STATS ------------------------ Made/Att -- Fouls

TOURNEY POOL

emmitt22_da_man --------------------- 4/6 ------------ 3
tam_s0 --------------------------------- 4/7 ------------ 0
ball_brilliance -------------------------- 4/6 ------------ 0
superstaaaar --------------------------- 4/8 ------------ 0
deep_cerebro -------------------------- 5/6 ------------ 0
lnspired_spin -------------------------- 4/6 ------------ 1
lvlr.ownage --------------------------- 8/8 ------------ 0

POOL FICTION

derekgnr ------------------------------------ 8/9 -------------- 1
xlx_ogges_xlx ----------------------------- 8/11 -------------- 0
xlx_bpk_xlx ------------------------------- 8/8 --------------- 1
zl_stu_lz ----------------------------------- 8/8 -------------- 1
cue.ball ------------------------------------- 8/9 -------------- 0
jasonlippi01234 --------------------------- 7/8 -------------- 0
devilstature -------------------------------- 4/5 ------------- 0

Tuesday night's win puts Pool Fiction alone in the lead in the National League at 3-0, with a 15-6 games record. Extreme Cues awaits the defending MLP Champions next Tuesday night, again at 6:00. Tourney Pool falls to 2-1, and dip below even in win/loss record, at 10-11. Break And Run is next on the agenda, as TP tries to rebound.

Elsewhere this week, United Pool needed only 43 minutes to gain a 5-0 lead over Pool Loverz, and the final two games were forfeits as UP won 7-0. The win puts United Pool at an American League, and MLP-best 15-6, tied with Pool Fiction in the National League, in its three wins through the first three weeks. Pool Loverz continues to drop, at 0-3 and just one win out of 21 games tallied this season. For United Pool, Straight Shots sits on the horizon in week 4, while Pool Loverz will visit Blurry to take on True Pool Legends.

TPL was involved in a far more intriguing match on Monday night, taking on Pool Legends in a rematch of last season's National League Semi-Final. Just as with last season's matchup, True Pool Legends came out on top, this time needing all seven games to do so. True Pool Legends' anchor, hornypom, beat Pool Legends Captain sexxxy_luckydog17 in that seventh game to cap off a quality comeback effort. For True Pool Legends it's another 4-3 result, the third of the season for TPL, sitting at 2-1, and 11-10 overall. Pool Legends drops from the ranks of the unbeaten, and sits at 2-1, with a 15-6 record to equal United Pool. As mentioned, True Pool Legends welcomes Pool Loverz, while the "other" Pool Legends will wait for 8 Ball Scratch next week.

Tuesday night was not as pleasant for True Pool Legends Captain, and Sports Center Writer Ryan. His Upset Of The Week was once again thwarted, as Magic Pool defeated Break And Run by the score of 5-2. Once again, Break And Run fell behind 3-0 but this time didn't get to game seven. Magic Pool's mike_oneill43 picked up the win over th3.gl2een_m0nster420 in the sixth game to seal the deal. Magic Pool improves to 2-1 with a 12-9 record, right on the heels of National League-leading Pool Fiction. MP takes on Pool Pals next week to open up week four, while 0-3 Break And Run plays Tourney Pool.

Still to come in the third week of MLP 12, Lucky Shots sits at 0-2, Extreme Cues is 2-0 but without the biggest part of its team. Mark (spin.technician) returned to Pool Pals this week, where he had been Captain last season until being relieved of that role by MLP for cheating. Those two leagues get under way at 7:00 Wednesday night. Also on Wednesday night, Devine Cuez looks to avenge its fall from perfection at the hands of Pool Legends, when DC visits 8 Ball Scratch at 8:00.

Thursday night features a pair of 8:00 matches, with Cheap Shotz looking for its second win of the season, hosting Straight Shots. While they duke it out, Pool Pals and Dream Pool will be playing, as Pool Pals looks for its first win of the season to welcome back the former Captain.

Week 3 Predictions

2008-07-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome back! So, after a dismal 4-4 record last week, it looks like I need to step it up a notch or two with respect to my picks. Now, any team entering this week with an 0-2 record HAS to win or they can kiss their season goodbye, as the wild card teams will most likely get into the playoffs w/ a record of 6-8 or 7-7. In other words, teams that start 0-3 are going to need to go AT LEAST 6-5 in the last 11 weeks of the season to make the playoffs - probably not going to happen. On the other side of the coin, teams with 1-1 records will be looking to stay above .500 and the 2-0 teams will be hoping a win combined w/ a loss from a team their tied with will vault them into #1 in their conference. So what is week 3 throwing at us?

-Monday Night-

7pm - United Pool (2-0) @ Pool Loverz (0-2)
Location: You Got Lucky
Last Week: United Pool def. True Pool Legends 4-3 / Cheapshotz def. Pool Loverz 6-1
Watch List: up_dandi452 & pz_infatuation_xxx
Outlook: Well this should be a quick match. As someone told me last week, the only thing that leaves any suspense for this match is whether UP can beat the record for the fastest 7-0'ing of an opponent in MLP history (apparently, the current record is something like 43 minutes). I just can't see a team with a Games W/L record of 1-13 through 2 matches giving a team that knocked off TPL and CZ in weeks #1 and #2 much trouble. I was on the bad end of the result in week 2 vs UP and have to say that their team showed a lot of character in coming back to win the match, after completely blowing an early 2-0 lead, which saw them fall behind 3-2 heading into game 6.
Prediction: 7-0 United Pool

7pm - Pool Legends (2-0) @ True Pool Legends (1-1)
Location: Blurry
Last Week: Pool Legends def. Devine Cuez 5-2 / United Pool def. True Pool Legends 4-3
Watch List: pl_sexxxy_luckydog71 & tpl_xlx_under_dog_xlx
Outlook: If TPL was 2-0, this would undoubtedly be my match of the week - but they're not -Why? Because Pommy can't bank :( They snuck by a below-average 8BS team in Week 1, and blew a 3-2 lead in Week 2 to UP. In short, this team is hurting and needs a resume-building victory here to get them back on the right track. In the other corner, PL have white-washed the competition through the first couple weeks of the season, and have drawn TPL at a perfect time. Jase is on my watch-list for PL for obvious reasons, as he's their captain and best player. Dec, on the otherhand, has been TPL's go-to player for game 1's early in this young season. If he puts TPL ahead they could well be on their way to a win. If they get behind the 8ball early, like they did against UP, that may force Ryan's hand into playing some of his late-game players earlier than expected. I see TPL finally proving their worth and scraping out the W.
Prediction: 4-3 True Pool Legends

-Tuesday Night-

***Match of the Week***
6pm - Poolfiction (2-0) @ Tourney Pool (2-0)
Location: Crossed Cues
Last Week: Poolfiction def. Dreampool 4-3 / Tourney Pool def. Pool Pals 4-3
Watch List: pfn_xlx_bpk_xlx & tp_deep_cerebro
Outlook: Week 3 and we get our first taste of what the NL Conference Finals should look like. PFN will have the likes of Jamie, James and Stu while TP will have Luis, Matt (superstaaaar) and Emmitt. At full-strength - I'd look for this match to go right down to the wire. Unfortunately, Ross and Trey are both no-shows for this match, putting a huge dent in TP's hopes. Now, in this battle of the lady captains, how does Lisa out-smart Kerry? In my opinion, she has to take advantage of home-table. She's missing key players and has to attack PFN's weaker players (i.e. the players I didnt just list). The "Big 3" are going to "get theres," but if you can upset at least one of them, you stand a chance. In her position, I think I'd throw my weaker players against those 3, hoping for a little luck and at least 1 win. PFN does have depth, and that's why I just don't see Luis/Matt/Emmitt going 3-0 against whoever they play. In the end, depth is going to decide this one, and TP won't be able to supply enough of it for this match.
Prediction: 5-2 Poolfiction

***Upset of the Week***
7pm - Break and Run (0-2) @ Magic Pool (1-1)
Location: Advanced Lounge II
Last Week: Extreme Cues def. Break and Run 4-3 / Magic Pool def. Luckyshots 5-2
Watch List: bnr_kccwc1 & mp_dont_miss_2007
Outlook: So after an 0-2 start to my UOTW Picks, I'm bestowing my weekly jinx upon BNR. This time I think I might be on to something, though! MP's captain Jordan (xlx_skill_xlx) bolted to DC earlier in the week, leaving Jane to captain the team. Not only did MP lose their captain in all of this, they also lost their best (and most legitimate) shooter. BNR showed that they could play w/ my wildcard pick last week, coming back from 3-0 down, only to lose in game 7 to EC. While Dina and Co. will have to over-come MP's home-table advantage, I think they pass this test and avoid starting the season a disappointing 0-3. Look for some late-match heroics from kccwc1.
Prediction: 4-3 Break and Run

-Wednesday Night-

7pm - Luckyshots (0-2) @ Extreme Cues (2-0)
Location: Social Lounge VII
Last Week: Magic Pool def. Luckyshots 5-2 / Extreme Cues def. Break and Run 4-3
Watch List: ls_im_just_jeremy & ec_spin.tec.......errrr ec_sleepyman615
Outlook: Interesting match in my eyes. Last season's wildcard winner LS in a MUST-WIN situation against a team which lost their best player (Marky/spin.technician), after he defected back to PP earlier in the week. I probably over-rated LS in my pre-season league rankings, as they appear to have little-to-no depth at all. EC, on the other hand, are probably the most over-rated 2-0 team in MLP; the weakness of the NL should carry them through into the playoffs, though. In this match, I look for EC to squeak by in a close one; LS just hasn't impressed me thus far.
Prediction: 4-3 Extreme Cues

8pm - Devine Cuez (1-1) @ 8 Ball Scratch (0-2)
Location: And Far Away
Last Week: Pool Legends def. Devine Cuez 5-2 / Straightshots def. 8 Ball Scratch 6-1
Watch List: dc_lllvlllagiic & 8bs_omy_2ez
Outlook: Alright. So. After TPL defeated 8BS 4-3 in week 1, Paul told me to not underestimate them anymore. I noted that, and predicted them to upset SS last week. To reward this bold prediction, they show up w/ 5 people and get smoked 6-1. Never Again, Paul! I can't see this match being very interesting, but I do hope the kiddies from DC keep quiet this week, unlike last week versus PL! JT (the one doing most of the talking at that match) quit DC after Zach didn't play him (a decision that may have very well cost DC a perfect record heading into week 3); in his absense, DC brought in MP's captain Jordan (xlx_skill_xlx). I'm gunna have to say DC upgraded slightly w/ that move, but whether the newcomer plays in this match is yet to be known. I look for DC to roll in this one.
Prediction: 6-1 Devine Cuez

-Thursday Night -

8pm - Straightshots (1-1) @ Cheapshotz (1-1)
Location: Custard Pie
Last Week: Straightshots def. 8 Ball Scratch 6-1 / Cheapshotz def. Pool Loverz 6-1
Watch List: ss_x_tr1ppy_x & cz_fhm_champion
Outlook: Alright, I'm still not sold on SS yet. Get absolutely smoked by PL 7-0 and then turn around and dismantle a 5-player 8BS team 6-1 the following week. Consistancy people - I'm trying to predict here! Meh, doesn't really matter this week - nothing to say about this match except that if Ben loses his game I'm going to laugh in his face (Side Note: PZ Games W/L is 1-20...guess who that 1 win came against :D) lol CZ is going to be too much to handle on this evening.
Prediction: 6-1 Cheapshotz

8pm - Pool Pals (0-2) @ Dreampool (1-1)
Location: Advanced Lounge III
Last Week: Tourney Pool def. Pool Pals 4-3 / Poolfiction def. Dreampool 4-3
Watch List: pp_YOUNGFAME & dp_s_u_k_i_o_o
Outlook: Well, earlier this week, Ash was a douche (SHOCKER!) and withdrew from MLP before Kerry could box him, so that's one less player PP will have to worry about. PP is without a doubt the best 0-2 team in MLP, having lost two tough 4-3 decisions to EC and TP, and will only get better after adding Marky back to their roster. Moe will be captaining this match and looks to give PP their first win of the young season. DP, on the otherhand, is always a difficult league to predict matches for. They could show w/ a strong 7 and blow PP outta the water, or not show at all. I can see Pita and Co. winning 1 or 2 games, but PP should take this one down.
Prediction: 5-2 Pool Pals

And there ya have it. Currently, I'm sitting at a respectable 3-1 in match predictions this week (Once again, my upset of the week didn't pan out lol ). Good Luck to all leagues playing Thursday and Friday, I should be back tomorrow with my Special Post: Game #1 Importance. Take care all.
_________________________________
Last Week : 4-4 Overall: 9-7

Match Of The Week 3

2008-07-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

With 1/7 of the season gone, some leagues start to feel the pressure of being 0-2, 1-1 with a poor record, but there are still leagues that remain 2-0.

Two of them play the early match on Tuesday night. Pool Fiction and Tourney Pool will meet up in a rematch of PRO's Atlantic Conference Semi-Final. In a 5v5 carry format, xlx_ogges_xlx (now oggasm) carried Pool Fiction almost single-handedly, winning 3 games including the 9th on a DQ, to lift PFN over TP in that season's opener. In the Playoffs, Pool Fiction ended up sweeping Tourney Pool 5-0, nullifying the carry format entirely.

I think with these leagues at absolute best, Pool Fiction has the edge. Tuesday's 6PM start time really benefits Pool Fiction, with players across the pond such as Jamie, Stu, and Ogges. Tourney Pool is gonna need their big guys, like Trey, Luis, and Emmitt can also be a factor, as he played a brilliant first game in that aforementioned Playoff match.

Both leagues sit at 2-0, both leagues have won 9 games in those 2 wins, and both leagues have had controversial matchups, to say the least. This will be a good match for both sides win or lose, because you can't expect too much animosity at all. As for a pick, I'm taking Pool Fiction to squeak one out, 4-3, not necessarily going all 7 but you can certainly expect it to.

Pool Legends Win Battle Of Perfection

2008-07-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

Usually, when you force a team to commit 20 fouls, you're going to beat that team. That's exactly what Pool Legends did against Devine Cuez in the finale of Major League Pool's second week of action.

Devine Cuez began the night looking as though it'd be the better team Thursday night, as eng.lishman defeated Pool Legends' t0_ez. In that game, eng.lishman shot a perfect 7-for-7, while t0_ez didn't attempt a single shot. Even though eng.lishman committed three fouls in the opener, t0_ez took too long opening up the table, and eng.lishman turned the tables on him, erasing a near-decisive advantage the Pool Legends leadoff man held. One lone foul committed by t0_ez at the end proved to be the fatal instant in the game, as eng.lishman potted his final two balls, and the eight, to give DC the 1-0 lead.

Game two of this match began with what one would expect, a soft break from darkinc87, representing Pool Legends. He was opposed by ll_goodwooter_ll, trying to make an impression in his return to MLP. Among complaints flowing most of the night about the overall pace of the match, ll_goodwooter_ll tried to change things up a bit, breaking up a massive cluster of balls on the right side and going for a run. When that run attempt died, darkinc87 put together a string of quality shots, on his way to levelling the match at one apiece.

Fouls really became an issue in the third game. Devine Cuez put up xdis.enchantedx against xlx_psukhe_xlx in what looked like, and proved to be, a total mismatch. Jeanna, for DC, tried to run early, but three shots in found herself in a world of trouble. With a clear advantage, xlx_psukhe_xlx went to work forcing foul after foul. He forced four in all from Jeanna, while committing an intentional foul to leave her with no free solids left, only the few that were bunched up amongst his stripes. While Jeanna was committing those fouls, xlx_psukhe_xlx methodically set up his stripes for an eventual run. Jeanna did have a glimmer of hope at the end, but instead elected to try and one-up her foe with a safety similar to one he had just played on her. The attempt was unsuccessful, and directly led to Pool Legends leading 2-1.

Game four was a rarity, featuring only one miss, and one foul. Pool Legends put up Kalpz (life.steala,) while Devine Cuez answered with Kevin (llvllagiic.) That lone miss previously mentioned came from Kalpz, who went for a run after forcing the game's only foul. Left with only a bank attempt to try and continue his run, Kalpz took over four minutes trying to determine the correct angle. His orange 13-ball just missed off the upper rail, however, and Kevin dropped little more than mere tap-ins en route to tying the match at two.

In game five, people began to get testy as the match had dragged on at a pace which favored Pool Legends. Events had reached the point where Devine Cuez Captain uber.geeky told one of his players, s0.g0dly, that he would not be playing due to his inability to shut up. Later in the match, he would be removed from the table and declared he was no longer with Devine Cuez. With fouls already piling up against Devine Cuez, l_spin.360_l committed seven more fouls against dynamite_que. To add the proverbial icing on the cake, dynamite_que shot a perfect game, making all seven of his shot attempts and not committing any fouls, giving his teammate a 3-2 lead they would not relinquish.

With the announcement that s0.g0dly would not be playing, Zach (uber.geeky) turned to Devine Cuez Head Admin, nealejess401. In a closing role, Pool Legend s.aints31 admitted even he didn't want to stick around too much longer, leading to a fairly sloppy, yet fast-paced game six. In the end, s.aints31 attempted twice as many shots as his opponent, and also a match-high ten shots. The eight he made, however, are why he was able to shut the door and bring a long night of pool one step closer to an anti-climactic close. In a battle of Captains, sexxxy_luckydog17 knocked off uber.geeky, while forcing three more fouls along the way, to give Pool Legends a 5-2 win. Tonight's match, which lasted two hours and 11 minutes, saw a lopsided foul count of 20-3, greatly in favor of Pool Legends. In fact, t0_ez was the only Pool Legends player to commit a foul and actually lose. Both xlx_psukhe_xlx and s.aints31 won their games.

Pool Legends Captain sexxxy_luckydog17 said after the match, "in last weeek of PRo...we had playoffs clinched...and i didnt bring a full team..and the team i had wasnt trying too hard...dc beat us like 5-3 or something, and got real cocky ... so i wanted this one pretty bad"

With the win, Pool Legends improves to 2-0 on the young season, and an overall-best 12/2 record. Devine Cuez now has 9 wins and five losses to go with its 1-1 record. Pool Legends will kick off the third week of this season with a much-anticipated showdown with True Pool Legends, while Devine Cuez will take on 8 Ball Scratch.

SHOT STATS ------------------------ Made/Att -- Fouls

DEVINE CUEZ

eng.lishman ------------------------------ 7/7 ------------ 3
ll_goodwooter_ll ----------------------- 3/5 ------------ 1
xdis.enchantedx ------------------------ 2/2 ------------ 4
llvllagiic --------------------------------- 7/7 ------------ 1
l_spin.360_l ---------------------------- 6/7 ------------ 7
nealejess401 --------------------------- 4/5 ------------ 1
uber.geeky ---------------------------- 5/5 ------------ 3

POOL LEGENDS

t0_ez ---------------------------------------- 0/0 -------------- 1
darkinc87 ---------------------------------- 6/7 -------------- 0
xlx_psukhe_xlx ---------------------------- 7/8 --------------- 1
life.steala ----------------------------------- 3/4 -------------- 0
dynamite_que ------------------------------- 7/7 -------------- 0
s.aints31 ------------------------------------- 8/10 -------------- 1
sexxxy_luckydog17 -------------------------- 8/9 ---------------- 0

In other action on Thursday night, Pool Fiction once again shared the scene with the MLP Sports Center Match (and Upset Pick) Of The Week, and again picked up a win. This time Pool Fiction jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Dream Pool battled back to take what it could out of the match, as PFN won 4-3. Pool Fiction starts off 2-0 with a league-leading 9/5 record, and plays another 2-0 (9/5) team in Tourney Pool next Tuesday night at 6:00. Dream Pool falls to 1-1, but does maintain a 7-7 win-loss record over its two matches so far, and hopes to take some momentum from games 5-7 into next week's finale against 0-2 Pool Pals.

Working backwards and zeroing in on Wednesday night, Magic Pool delivered a huge blow to Lucky Shots' season, knocking off Season 11's National League Semi-Finalists 5-2. The win brings Magic Pool to .500 on the season, with a 1-1 record and 7 wins and losses, like Dream Pool. MP hosts 0-2 Break And Run next week, while Lucky Shots will try to hand Extreme Cues its first loss of the early season. Lucky Shots sits at 0-2, with a National League-worst 4/10 record.

Perhaps more importantly on Wednesday night, United Pool watched a 2-0 lead evaporate against True Pool Legends, but managed to win the final two games of the match in an equally-impressive comeback bid, as UP bested TPL, 4-3. United Pool was saved by wins from l_ketan_l and a decisive seventh game victory from united.pooler, picking up its second straight 4-3 win and staying unbeaten this season. For True Pool Legends, it's only the first loss, but TPL sits near the bottom of a four-way tie for third place, holding an overall record of 7/7. Wednesday night's match was also the first for True Pool Legend hornypom, as only a player, and not MLP Admin.

Tuesday night was the key factor in Jesse (jmunoz3rd) replacing Chris (Pommy.) Tourney Pool locked horns with Pool Pals in a match that delivered plenty of drama from all angles, while otherwise-entertaining games were played in the background. MLP Admin Kerry (kerryanne_24) had been asked by various different would-be spectators to tell Pommy to stop with the excessive booting. After a short, and bitter argument between the two, Pommy removed Kerry from the match indefinitely. When another MLP Admin, Ross (kingvaughan) asked for Kerry to be invited back, Pommy refused. Tuesday night's whole incident stemmed from the boot of Tourney Pool player ta.lent. Pommy had decided on that specific night, he was in no mood to bother with ta.lent, and booted him the instant he joined the table. Other boots followed, and that ultimately led to Kerry and Pommy arguing, and the aforementioned boot.

Oh by the way, did I mention there was a match? Tourney Pool fell behind in the match 3-1, before emmitt22_da_man, deep_cerebro, and ta.lent's replacement, superstaaaar teamed up to deny Pool Pals its first win of the new season. Thus, through all the mayhem and such the match provided, Tourney Pool begins the new campaign 2-0, and that National League-leading 9/5 record. Pool Fiction awaits the co-leaders of the National League, while Pool Pals sits at 0-2, and a pair of 4-3 losses leaves PP with a 6/8 record going into a match with Dream Pool next week.

In less-dramatic fashion, Straight Shots disposed very quickly of 8 Ball Scratch in Tuesday night's only other matchup. Straight Shots already had a 4-1 lead, when 8 Ball Scratch ran out of players and forfeited the two remaining games, giving SS a much needed 6-1 victory. Coming into the week looking for its first overall win of the season, Straight Shots now sits at 6/8, with a 1-1 match record. That puts SS in the final spot of a four-way tie at 1-1 in the American League. For 8 Ball Scratch, an 0-2 record, with a 4/10 overall record. That 4/10 is second-worst, ahead of Pool Loverz. Straight Shots will take on Cheap Shotz next week, while 8 Ball Scratch will look to rebound against Devine Cuez.

Pool Loverz, by the way, played Monday night. After a crushing 7-0 loss at the hands of Devine Cuez, the second week wasn't much better. Against Cheap Shotz, Pool Loverz only managed one win, and like 8 Ball Scratch, had to forfeit the final two games of the match. Cheap Shotz gets to 1-1 on the season, again with Straight Shots on the horizon, while Pool Loverz sits at an overall-worst 1/13 record, of course going along with the 0-2 mark in the American League standings. No rest for PZ, as a match with 2-0 United Pool waits around the next corner.

Finally, in one of the more entertaining matchups in the week that was, Extreme Cues watched a 3-0 lead vanish into thin air, as Break And Run battled back to force a decisive seventh game Monday night. In Extreme Cues fourth attempt at closing out the match, spin.technician added another gold star to his score sheet, and boosted his All-Star hopes by beating Break And Run's ace in the hole, kccwc1. Extreme Cues picks up its second 4-3 win in as many weeks, and battles 0-2 Lucky Shots next week. Break And Run suffers its second 4-3 defeat, and will visit Magic Pool next.

Week 2 MOTW: No-brainer.

2008-07-20T06:03:00.000-07:00

On Monday night, two leagues began their season a perfect 14/0. On Thursday night of this week, one league will be merely .500 in matches, while the other begins 2-0.

I'm of course talking about Pool Legends and Devine Cuez, playing at the tail end of this week. They square off at 9PM on Thursday, following seven undercard bouts that may or may not be as entertaining. Pool Legends maybe had the more impressive 7-0 victory, being that we don't know much about Pool Loverz other than Straight Shots is probably the better team between them. Still, I can't remember any league beginning its first MLP season ever, without a single game in the loss column. MAYBE Unstoppable when they joined in the middle of Season 1, but that was strictly some of the best players in pool getting together, and calling themselves a league from everything I've heard about them.

Anyways, onto a preview of the match - I think Pool Legends will beat Devine Cuez. You're looking at a team anchored by Jason at the end of it, and guys like Kalpz, Matt, and co. along the way that you need to put your best players up against. They also play a very deliberate safety game, as a whole. Their goal is to bore you to death. Occasionally, they'll lose out to a lucky banger every now and then, but their general rule is to safety until they have a clear run, period. Because of this, they do tend to over-safety a bit as Ryan mentioned in his preview of this match, and that could lead to an unnecessary safety and thus, an unnecessary mistake. Devine Cuez will have two options: Wait out the storm and wait for that mistake, otherwise trying to match the play shot for shot, or to come out gunning and try to end the match quickly.

The one thing to watch, however, is a former Pool Legend in l3res.hubby, now playing for DC. No secret he'll want to play in this match, and of course both he and Jason know each other very well. A guy like uber.geeky can also put a real wrench in the plans of Pool Legends. God, these names have more periods than a women's health clinic.

Back to previews and predictions, I'm once again going against my colleague's Upset of the Week, and taking Pool Legends to come out on the winning side of a 4-3 score.

Week #2 Predictions

2008-07-20T01:15:00.000-07:00

One week in the bag - No one banned for being too much of an idiot (Cam got 90 days in the box but, well, it's Cam) - Full teams showing up to matches - Minimal drama (with exception of PFN-LS match) - Great start to the season, in my opinion! Week 2 provides a few interesting match-ups, 3 of which I debated on being my upset of the week. However, for all teams, week 2 will pose one of two situations. For the 0-1 teams, they'll be looking to not fall behind the 8 ball this early in the season; 0-2 can be a hell of a hole to climb out of in MLP. On the other side of the coin, the winning teams from week 1 will be looking to ride their momentum past this weeks challengers and take early command in the race for conference champions! Let's begin!

-Monday Night-

7pm - Extreme Cues (1-0) @ Break and Run (0-1)

Location: Welcome to the Jungle
Last Week: Extreme Cues def. Pool Pals 4-3 / Dreampool def. Break and Run 4-3
Watch List: ec_spin.technician & bnr_bnr_teacher
Outlook: Alright, so I watched the majority of the PP-EC match last week, and it's safe to say I wasn't too impressed by either team. That match could've went either way - stupid shots from both sides, botched runs, etc. At the same time, BNR lost to a team in DP that I don't see doing very much this season either. If I learned anything from last week, it's that EC can most likely shoot better than they did, and BNR was most likely playing to about their potential. I'm looking for EC to squeak by in this one.
Prediction: 4-3 Extreme Cues

7pm - Cheapshotz (0-1) @ Pool Loverz (0-1)

Location: You Got Lucky
Last Week: United Pool def. Cheapshotz 4-3 / Devine Cuez def. Pool Loverz 7-0
Watch List: cz_trumpsterized & pz_infatuation_xxx
Outlook: Quite the coincidence on the room name, PZ, because you're not lucky at all. You're about to run into a freight train. A pissed off freight train. Unfortunately for PZ, they're stuck on the tracks and arn't going to find a way off quick enough. After losing in game 7 to UP last week, Ben/Josh and the boys will be out looking for revenge. If they can calm the ego's on that team in time for this match, they might just have a clean sheet. It sucks, but PZ should probably start looking ahead to week 3.
Prediction: 7-0 Cheapshotz.

-Tuesday Night-

7pm - Tourney Pool (1-0) @ Pool Pals (0-1)
Location: Back Spin
Last Week: Tourney Pool def. Magic Pool 5-2 / Extreme Cues def. Pool Pals 4-3
Watch List: tp_kingvaughan & pp_platinumghost
Outlook: So, TP escaped the "Upset of the Week" match unscathed. In all fairness, they were never in trouble the entire match against MP. During the week, TP picked up an elite shooter in ckp_superstaaaar (Matt). If he gets accustomed to TP's "old-school" philosophy of only representing the league if you stay active in it, he'll end up complimenting this team quite nicely over the course of the season. With or without him this week, TP should walk into Back Spin confident, and walk out with another win.
Prediction: 5-2 Tourney Pool

8pm - Straightshots (0-1) @ 8 Ball Scratch (0-1)
Location: And Far Away
Last Week: Pool Legends def. Straightshots 7-0 / True Pool Legends def. 8 Ball Scratch 4-3
Watch List: ss_superstar.xxx & 8bs_dan_poolman
Outlook: Quite interesting week 1 for both teams. In a dull match which saw a HEAVY dose of over-safetying by PL, SS stumbled out of the gate, fell down, broke their ankles and were euthanized on the table by a score of 7-0. 8BS, on the otherhand, gave TPL everything they could handle and more, in a match in which 8bs_s_n_o_o_k_3_d botched a fairly easy 8 ball shot in game 7 vs Craig (tpl_seven_ball3d), which would've given the underdogs THEE upset of week 1. I think SS is ripe for the taking this week, and 8BS has a great chance of picking up their first ever MLP win.
Prediction: 4-3 8 Ball Scratch

-Wednesday Night-

6pm - Magic Pool (0-1) @ Luckyshots (0-1)
Location: Sweet Dreams
Last Week: Tourney Pool def. Magic Pool 5-2 / Poolfiction def. Luckyshots 5-2
Watch List: mp_xlx_skill_xlx & ls_the.bawbag
Outlook: This match pits two teams coming off of rough first weeks. In one corner, MP got absolutely spanked in my week 1 "Upset Special" - apparently Cinderella forgot both of her glass slippers before even showing up to the ball. Thanks for letting me down guys! In the other corner - ls_brutalbutlucky had his tape DQ'd after his timestamp fell off in a game which would've saw LS take a 3-2 lead on the defending champs. All hell ensued following this, resulting in some unpleasant exchanges between players from both teams. LS impressed me more last week than MP did, so I'm taking them to escape from this match with the victory. Being the home team should be enough for them to scrape out 4 wins.
Prediction: 4-3 Luckyshots

***Match of the Week***

7pm - True Pool Legends (1-0) @ United Pool (1-0)

Location: Back Somersault

Last Week: True Pool Legends def. 8 Ball Scratch 4-3 / United Pool def. Cheapshotz 4-3

Watch List: tpl_hornypom & up_l_ketan_l

Outlook: Intriguing match-up here. The so-called "powerhouse" TPL team got taken to 7 games last week by - who? 8 Ball Scratch? Seriously? And UP beat pre-season conference favourites CZ on the road? Surely, this match will be no contest? Not so fast. TPL absolutely decimated UP in PLC last week against the exact same team that UP defeated CZ (matches were both played at the same time). It was 4-0 TPL in that match before UP registered off 3 straight with wins from Candi (pool.chicky), Ste (hornyscots) (on a bad tape from Day (h2o.0nly) - timestamp) and Pete (king.2068). You know Ketan and his gang will be out looking for revenge, and there is a tiny bit of bad blood between the 2 sides after UP defeated TPL in the PLC Championship match last season. It's going to be a fantastic match to watch, and and even better one to be apart of. As much as I hate predicting my own side to win a close match...

Prediction: 4-3 True Pool Legends in a match that lives up to its hype

-Thursday Night-

7pm - Dreampool (1-0) @ Poolfiction (1-0)

Location: Bad Times

Last Week: Dreampool def. Break and Run 4-3 / Poolfiction def. Luckyshots 5-2

Watch List: dp_xsoubanhx & pfn_xlx_ogges_xlx

Outlook: Two unbeaten teams. Only one of them can stay that way. It's clearly PFN, right? I'm not gunna fall of my rocker and do something crazy like predict DP to upset them...am I? Ha - you actually thought I was, didnt you! God, I'm not that stupid. Basically, Pita is DP's best bet at picking up a win in this match, and in a bo7, one win isn't going to move you anywhere but down with respect to the standings. However, I get the sneaky suspicion this match is going to appear closer in the end than it actually was - always seems to happen that way in MLP.

Prediction: 4-3 Poolfiction

***Upset Special***

9pm - Pool Legends (1-0) @ Devine Cuez (1-0)

Location: Advanced Lounge

Last Week: Pool Legends def. Straightshots 7-0 / Devine Cuez def. Pool Loverz 7-0

Watch List: pl_sexxxy_luckydog17 & dc_s0.godly

Outlook: What a way to end the week. Two teams with completely perfect records! Now, in my opinion, DC is more of a "running squad." While PL...well - they're PL - we know that they know how to snooker and about the only tables I've ever seen them run are ones when their opponent has 1 or less balls on it. It'll be a "Tale-of-Two Styles," if you will. So how does DC pull off the upset? This will be a match where they have to pick their spots - going toe-to-toe w/ a PL'er in a snooker match isn't something I'd recommend, so when they get a chance to run a table out or run-break - they have take it. Most importantly, make the PL player work for his/her win. Like I said, I've yet to see someone from PL try to run a table that has 10 or more balls on it. Secondly, they have to get 4 wins in 6 games. We all know Jase is playing game 7 and I don't know of any DC'ers with a snooker game quite up to par with his. If DC can keep these 2 things in mind, I might actually get one of these damn Upset Specials right, yet.

Prediction: 4-3 Devine Cuez

That does it for week 2! Good luck everyone in tonight's BLT and we'll see ya at the tables this week. As always, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom and voice your opinion -in a pleasant manner preferably - with my picks for the week. Take Care!

________________________

Last Week: 5-3 Overall: 5-3

Late Accuracy Key For Tourney Pool

2008-07-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

One shot a perfect game, one didn't miss, and another didn't attempt a shot. It figures that a player that missed 2 shot attempts, and one who attempted none, would be the losing players for Tourney Pool as they beat Magic Pool 5-2 Tuesday night.

TP struck first, as emmitt22_da_man hit key shots down the stretch to knock off Magic Pool's leadoff man, tibetanfightingchipmonk. Even with a pair of stripes remaining, emmitt was able to play a perfect safety to force a foul out of Tom. That would be the fatal moment in game 1, as emmitt finished off his stripes and downed an easy 8-ball to give Tourney Pool a win in its first game of Season 12.

Magic Pool tied the match immediately as dont_miss_2007 beat ball_brilliance. Craig (ball) knocked the 8 in off the break, and on the ensuing rerack, Ian would come out on the winning end of a long, almost uneventful safety battle. 25 minutes into the match, Ian would finally get a chance to run. Although he made his five shots a lot harder than they had to be, he sank them all, 8 included, and tied the match up. It should be noted ball_brilliance never made an attempt to pot a ball.

That would be all Magic Pool would do until the sixth game, despite having plenty of chances. Tourney Pool's mast3r.full survived an over-powered run attempt from mike_oneill43, but needed one last safety to get into position on the 8 before breaking the 1-all tie. He did not miss any shot attempts, making all six he tried and shot a foul-free game. Magic Pooler daknight_4u had plenty of chances, even late in the game to make one big shot on his final stripe, as lnspired_spin was incapable of running wide open tables on several occasions, forcing himself to safety and bide time. In the fifth game, my_lyrical_style_iz_explosive let loose with bang after bang, trying to knock off kingvaughan and pick up a save for MP. Some of those shots came very close to hitting their mark, but getting close just means you missed. Ross eventually went 7-for-7 in the game, committing only one foul as he clinched the match for one of Major League Pool's newest competitors.

Later in the match, xlx_skill_xlx took advantage of a rare miss from Tourney Pooler deep_cerebro to knock Luis off in game six, while t_r_3_y defeated everton------e.f.c@sbcglobal.net, who understandingly didn't care about what was a meaningless game in the context of tonight's match, for win number five. The match took 2h 1m to complete.

SHOT STATS (Games 2-7) ------- Made/Att -- Fouls

MAGIC POOL

dont_miss_2007 ----------------------- 5/6 ------------2
mike_oneill43 -------------------------- 6/8 ------------ 1
daknight_4u -------------------------- 5/9 ------------ 1
my_lyrical_style_iz_explosive ----3/7 ------------ 2
xlx_skill_xlx --------------------------- 8/9 ------------ 0
everton------e.f.c@sbcglobal.net - 4/7 ------------ 0

TOURNEY POOL

ball_brilliance -------------------------- 0/0 -------------- 1
mast3r_full -------------------------------- 6/6 --------------- 0
lnspired_spin ------------------------------ 6/7 -------------- 0
kingvaughan ------------------------------- 7/7 -------------- 1
deep_cerebro ------------------------------ 6/8 -------------- 1
t_r_3_y --------------------------------------- 8/9 ---------------- 1

The win matches exactly what defending MLP Champion Pool Fiction did in their controversial match with Lucky Shots, also winning 5-2. That match, marred with bad blood and controversy all night, spun around completely when Lucky Shots gained a 3-2 lead, but had a game tape disqualified due to the timestamp disappearing. Pool Fiction instead took the 3-2 lead and did not lose afterwards.

In the only other match played thus far in the National League, Extreme Cues made their presence felt in its inaugural MLP match, beating Pool Pals 4-3 on Monday night. Former Pool Pals Captain spin.technician picked up the crucial win against his former team.

One more match remains to be played in the NL, as Break And Run will square off against Dream Pool in Thursday's nightcap, at 9:00.

In the American League, not much place for excitement yet. Pool Legends swept Straight Shots 7-0 on Monday night. In that match, p00l_charlie received a ten-day box from MLP Admin Dina, for complete disregard of the rules. Dina added that Charlie was not even on the Straight Shots team when he played. One hour later, Devine Cuez emphatically joined MLP by sweeping Pool Loverz.

Wednesday night's lone match features United Pool and Cheap Shotz at 7:00, in daz_ed's Match of the Week. Thursday night is your first chance to see the recipient of the first of 14 Gold Memberships being awarded to Big League Tour winners, as seven_ball3d and True Pool Legends play host to 8Ball Scratch.