Pool Cue News and Review

With the BCA Nationals just around the corner, I thought I’d let you all know about one of the coolest cats in the biz. When you hit the show, between sleeping through your match calls, dropping Jacksons at the blackjack table and getting hammered at the Splash Bar, take a couple minutes and stop by the PoolTees booth. For all you cynics out there, no, Jake isn’t dropping any coin with me to get some pimpage. I just think his shit is the balls. Seriously, how can you not throw some karma at a guy who last year hosted a fat guy wet t-shirt contest at the APA’s?

If you’re one of the three people that reads this blog on a regular basis, you’ve seen the picture of Jasmin kickin’ it on her ride wearing one of Jake’s shirts, but I don’t just dig his stuff because he can convince a smokin’ hot blond to wear his shirts for free. The reason his gear kicks ass is because he’s quickly becoming the Palmer Cash of pool. My only gripe? Dude needs to come up with more designs. He’s got 10 right now, but it seems like they’ve been the same 10 for a while now.

By the way, if you’re going to buy a funny non-pool shirt, buy it from T-Shirt Bordello instead of Palmer. They pay me a commission and I seriously need some lettuce to pay my $100 per year hosting fee.

Admittedly, I know next to nothing about snooker, but apparently the holy grail of this sport is to score a perfect 147 break and if you do it during the world championships, you get a reward of 147k pounds (about $300k US). Ronnie O’Sullivan just did it and as they always do, someone posted it on YouTube. If you’re interested, just check out the vid below. Pretty amazing, but what’s really sick is that this is the 3rd time he’s done it. Even if you’re like me and don’t know dick about the sport, its still worth a watch, as the focus and ball control is simply amazing.

So after a few weeks of not really dieting and sort of going to the gym, I’ve found that my fat factor has held firm at 198 lbs. I’ve tried the shortcuts… green tea extract (lame), hoodia (total waste of dough) and even Alli (ugh, you don’t even want to know) but after watching the other guy from Charles in Charge and freakin’ Tina Yothers drop like 30 lbs each in 8 weeks on Celebrity Fit Club, I’ve got no excuses left. Shit, even Screech lost like 25 lbs. By the way, can I say that I totally dig Tina Yothers. She seems like just about the nicest chick on the planet and is miles away from being that weird teenager walking around with live beetles for jewelry.

So anyway, I’m doing the Fat Smash diet (hate you Dr. Ian!) and working out daily now. No grains, just fruits and veggies with a little meat for like the first two weeks. This shit is way lame, but if I’m gonna rock my board shorts and Tom Selleck chest mullet this summer at APA Nationals (like I’m good enough to play anything but APA), I can’t be chasin’ the ladies off shakin’ my gut like a giant bowl of pudding.

So anyway, I felt like I was gonna pass out at the gym today thanks to my hearty breakfast of egg whites, onions, peppers and salsa but vanity (or the desire to not be called “bitch tits”) always seems to win out.

I was bombing around Inside Pool the other day and found a great little story saying that the WPBA will be keeping track of stats for all their players. They’ll be tracking stuff like lags, break and runs and balls on the break as well as various other stats. My opinion on this? Hell Yeah! Realistically, pool is a slow game. It carries a pace more along the lines of baseball than basketball and as a result, there’s the potential for a lot of dead air. I’m not a huge fan of how Dawn, Mitch or Ewa call matches, but they really don’t have all that much to talk about between shots. These new stats not only give them new topics, but gives viewers different ways to follow, track and analyze their favorite players.

Is this going to be the “it” factor that kicks pool on TV into gear? Probably not, but it’s really nice to see someone trying something, ANYTHING, new. Clearly the new WPBA head honchess is applying some of her golf background to pool. Now if she could only get the ongoing production question settled, she might be able to get the league back on track.

By the way, even though she’s been bashed heavily for it, I’m very much in favor of her decision to do a rankings reset. As far as I’m concerned, they should reset the rankings at the beginning of every season. I really don’t dig on the rolling system that they used to use (and that is used by other pubs).

If you’re a pool junkie, I’ve got a special treat. Well, by “I” I really mean ESPN Classic but hey, I’m the one who’s telling you about it, so that counts for something, right? So here’s the deal: It seems that ESPN Classic is finally living up to its name and will be running some classic matches from the 70s and 80s. You won’t see names like Allison Fisher or Jeanatte Lee there. What you will see is the likes of Minnesota Fats, Irving Crane, Willie Mosconi and Cowboy Jimmy Moore.

For the hardcore billiards fans, this is the equivalent to seeing Nickalus and Palmer in the final pairing Sunday at a Major, Johnny Mac screaming at a line judge in a match against Jimmy Connors or Sargent Slaughter punking out The Iron Sheik. If you’re a casual fan, check it out anyway. Here’s a partial list of what’s on tap. Keep in mind that all the times are EST.

04/28/08 10:00A 11:00A LUTHER LASSITER VS. U.J. PUCKETT
04/29/08 10:00A 11:00A LEGENDS OF THE FALL- HALL OF FAME TRICK SHOTS
04/30/08 10:00A 11:00A COWBOY JIMMY MOORE VS. LUTHER LASSITER
05/01/08 10:00A 11:00A LUTHER LASSITER VS. IRVING CRANE
05/02/08 10:00A 11:00A WILLIE MOSCONI VS. BABE CRANEFIELD
05/05/08 10:00A 11:00A WILLIE MOSCONI VS. COWBOY JIMMY MOORE
05/06/08 10:00A 11:00A WILLIE MOSCONI VS. COWBOY JIMMY MOORE
05/07/08 10:00A 11:00A COWBOY JIMMY MOORE VS. LUTHER LASSITER
05/08/08 10:00A 11:00A BABE CRANFIELD VS. U.J. PUCKETT
05/09/08 10:00A 11:00A JOE BALSIS VS. IRVING CRANE
05/10/08 11:00A 11:30A LUTHER LASSITER VS. CICERO MURPHY
05/10/08 11:30A 12:00P MINNESOTA FATS VS. LUTHER
05/11/08 11:00A 12:00P WILLIE MOSCONI VS. IRVING CRANE
05/12/08 10:00A 11:00A WILLIE MOSCONI VS. U.J. PUCKETT
05/13/08 10:00A 11:00A MINNESOTA FATS VS. IRVING CRANE