Pool Cue News and Review

Heather Lloyd continues to dominate the southwest with two tour stop wins in the past week.  The first was at Fast Eddie’s in San Antonio and the second came on the ladies tour with the somewhat unfortunate name (oh, like you don’t giggle every time someone mentions the OB Tour… at least they don’t have a tagline that talks about flowing…).  The lady is on fire as of late.  This year she’s had a tough run at the WPBA events, but I’ve got a feeling she might be in for a better showing in Oregon this week.

Well, lets just say that the Wilmington ABC affiliate isn’t a fan of pool.  This morning, they ran a story pissing and moaning about how ESPN showed the International Challenge of Champions instead of baseball.  Yeah, I get that the Brewers/Cubs game was a big deal but considering the fact that WGN is a superstaion that is carried by every major cable and satellite company, its not as if people who wanted to see it actually missed it.  Plus, the guys get featured on TV less often than you can find competitive eating and strongman competitions, so I’m pretty sure that featuring the best of the best in men’s pool is ok, even if the ratings suck (which they inevitably will).

Anyway, if you want to read the article, you can find it here.  Feel free to leave a comment on their site… I know I will.

Don’t even say it.  What do you want from me?  She’s super cute and I’m weak.  I know that I’ve griefed  her on this blog over her wardrobe in the past, but that doesn’t change the fact that little Anna K. has turned into a total fox.  Besides, I can’t help the fact that I have a serious weakness for the petite ladies.

So here’s what you need to know about Anna K.  She’s 21, so she can now legally gamble which she’s said over and over is one of her favorite pastimes (and it makes me feel slightly less lecherous about putting her on the list).  She’s really broken out this year on the WPBA Tour and has established herself as a Top 10 player and one of the most feared names on the bracket.  She has the capacity to beat anyone on the tour on any given day and recently made it to the Semifinals of the now defunct Generation Pool 9 Ball Championships.

Anna was born in Armenia, but grew up and currently lives in New Mexico.  Her WPBA profile says she’s sponsored by New Mexico Golf, but I’m guessing that’s old info, as I’ve never seen her wear a patch.  By the way, if she’s not sponsored, there are some companies that are seriously missing the boat.  She’s going to be a TV regular so I wouldn’t be surprised if a company steps up before the start of the 2009 season and coughs up some dough to be in the Anna K. business.

Oh, for all you MySpacers out there, yes she does have a profile page.  She’s got the privacy flag on her profile though, so don’t start going all freaky stalker on her.

While I’m on the topic, can someone please ask the WPBA to get a new photographer for the player profile pics?  Anna’s hot but her profile picture makes her look like she’s getting her senior year portrait.  The same can be said for a number of other players, who’s pictures simply don’t do justice to just how foxy they actually are.

Ok, there you have it.  Another beauty that once again proves that hot chicks do in fact play pool.

Continuing her move up the woman’s billiards ladder, Yu Ram Cha took down Tracie Hines 7-5 to win the latest Ladies Spirit Tour tour stop in Palm Harbor, FL.  Conspicuous by her absence was tour regular and WPBA pro Debbie Schjodt who has made a habit of reaching the finals in these events.  Without Schjodt, the only other major obstacle for Yu Ram Cha was WPBAer and Florida State champ Tracie Hines.

Another nice victory for the beautiful, talented and completely adorable Yu Ram Cha.

One of the saddest trends I’ve been noticing as of late is the complete lack of anything “new” in the billiards industry.  I’m not talking about the whole low deflection shaft thing, (although it seems that everyone and their uncle is now making a low deflection shaft) I’m talking purely about design.  Making pool cues is an art form, at least it used to be.  Now it seems to be more of a paint by numbers than actual art and craftsmanship.

I’ll give you a couple of examples.  A couple years ago, these Outlaw Cues came out.  Not my thing, but at least they were doing something new with the designs, you know, the whole branded thing and such.  There wasn’t anything else on the market that was like it (that I’d seen anyway).  Then along comes some other company who churns out a line of cues called Desperado.  If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then Desperado is just flat out leg humping Outlaw.

It doesn’t end there though.  Anyone who’s seen the fugly new Predator IKON cues knows what I’m talking about.  Every time I look at the IKON cues, it makes me think of that awful Mambo #5 song… “A little bit of Mezz cues in my butt, a little bit of Schon cues in my sleeve…”.   I mean seriously, how much does the IKON 7 look like a Mezz cue?  And don’t even get me going on how Predator can expect anyone to spend a grand on a Chinese cue.

So what’s the deal?  Are there any new ideas out there or are we just going to see the same crap churned out over and over again?