Pool Cue News and Review

So I was kicking around YouTube this morning and found a pretty interesting little video.  Yes, I know its purely promotional when you get the owner of a company to talk about his products, but its still pretty good stuff.  If you’ve ever wanted to know how the OB-1 shaft (and the OB-2 shaft for that matter) is different than the ubiquitous Predator 314 shaft, you should watch the first two minutes of this video.

As I’ve said before, all the playability is in the tip and the ferrule.  As far as I’m concerned, splicing is just a gimmick that cuemakers use because its easier for customers to get their head around that idea.  Not much need to watch the video after the first two minutes since Royce just talks about the OB Cues Tour (which by the way is an absolute treasure trove of megahotties… Cristina DLG, Heather Lloyd, Samm Diep, Ashley Nandrasy, hubba hubba!), but the explanation of the shaft is pretty interesting.

As far as a review for the OB-1 shaft, I totally dig it.  I’ve played with both the OB-1 shaft and the Predator 314 shaft and I love the feel of the OB.  The cue ball deflection seems to be about the same, but the feel of the OB-1 is far superior to the 314.

Well, November is here which means that most of my favorite tours will be going into hibernation until the spring.  This weekend is the season finale for the Ladies Spirit Tour (where I’ll be pulling for PCN hottie Niki Rasmussen), next weekend is the finale for the WPBA tour and the weekend after that is the finale for the OB Cues Tour, home of PCN hotties Heather Lloyd and Cristina De La Garza.

While we’re on the topic, this weekend’s Spirit finale should be a good one.  In addition to foxy Niki Rasmussen, I’m guessing that we’ll see the likes of WPBAers Debbie Schjodt, Tracie Hines and Yu Ram Cha.  I’m guessing the curvilicious Shanelle Loraine might show up as well although she hasn’t quite figured out the whole “pool” part of being a pool player quite yet.

So treasure these next few weeks friends, because once they’re over I’ll be going back to reviewing products and pushing you to go buy them at places that are nice enough pay me through their affiliate programs.  Hey, I gotta make a few bucks here and there to pay the bills, don’t I?

If anything, you’ve gotta say I’m consistent in my lingering obsession with pretty brunettes.  For November, our hottie of the month hails from the lone star state in the form of one Cristina De La Garza.  Not much is known about her since she likely took a look at my inquiry email and said “ewww… who is this creepy stalker” before hitting the “please block any and all further emails from this address” button.  Can’t say I blame her though.

Naturally, if there’s a hottie in the billiards industry, they’re going to show up on Inside Pool’s video podcasts.  Sure enough, Ms. De La Garza appears to have filled the void left by Rachel Abbink, doing interviews at the US Open along with Samm Diep.

Cristina seems to spend most of her playing time on the OB Cues Tour where she’s currently ranked #7 on the points list.  At the last tour stop, she finished second to last month’s hottie Heather Lloyd and she took the WPBA qualifier, so I’m guessing we’ll be seeing more of Cristina next year.

Not convinced of her supreme foxiness?  Well I’ll leave you with this shot of Cristina courtesy of the OB Cues Tour (like I wasn’t going to use the fully extended stretching across the table shot).  

(photo credit to the OB Cues Tour)

What can I say… I have a serious weakness for adorable brunettes.  This month’s hottie profile comes from the Lone Star State in the form of one Heather Lloyd.  Normally, Heather plays the OB Cues Tour, but lately she’s been piling up the WPBA qualifier wins, putting her in pretty much every WPBA event this year.  Her best WPBA finish in 2008 thus far was just a couple weeks ago in Oregon where she finished 25th, putting her on the verge of cracking the Top 40.  In fact, as a result of her stellar play this year she earned an invite to the WPBA Championships in Florida next month, no qualifier required.  Seriously, how foxy does Heather look in this picture from her website taken by Shayla Neris?

Ok, here’s what you need to know about the megaswish future WPBA star:

Cue: James Hanshew Custom
Cue Weight: 19oz
Sponsor: G-Cue Billiards in Round Rock
Other Hobbies: Golf, Tennis, Yoga
Titles: OB Cues/Hunter Classics Tour Champion 2006 & 2007

Like many of the other full time pool players, I imagine that when Heather earns her tour card, you’ll still be seeing her from time to time on the OB Tour.  By the way, she’s also got a kickin’ new website at http://www.heather-lloyd.com which you should definitely check out.  One more shot of the lovely Ms. Lloyd courtesy of the OB Cues Tour.

Did you see the picture of Heather Lloyd and Cristina De La Garza on AZ Billiards this morning?

All I can say is that I need to spend more time checking out the OB Cues Tour.  Yowza!