News

All stats are in and entered, just not enough time for me to get printouts and emails. Sorry. But everything correct online.

-Scott-

Got the scoresheets finally from Tackle Box and Outlaws - entered all the stats so the website is up to date (through March 3rd games) in regards to individual stats and team standings/points.

I'll try to get recaps tonight or tomorrow.

-Scott-

Sorry, had to skip week #14. But all the stats are in, except for the Tackle Box's scores for the past two weeks. The Empire is on the road now, and I've talked to Curt to get things straightened out, so they are hopefully set. But now I haven't received anything from Jonny and the Alligator Humpers for their past two matches, against the Empire in week #14 and the Bankers in week #15. So I apologize, but I can't update the stats and print outs with 3 teams now involved with missing info.

Here's the results from week #15:

The Outlaws were home against the Stickmen on February 25th. The Stickmen were actually in the lead going into the Beer Frame. Paul 'Wall' Thurman got all 3 of his games to help the cause. But he and Cowboy Rob teamed up in the beer frame and lost to Gregg and Shawn 2-0. Gregg stayed at the table and got 3 more, Shawn then got 2 more, and Izzy wrapped it up with 3 more to turn a close match into a 13-8 victory.

The Ball Busters were also at home versus Shenanigans. It was all Ball Busters again - Walt and Cal had 3-0 matches, all the rest had 2-1 matches. Cal and Bil beat Mike D. and Kevin L. in the beer frame, 2-0. Final score 16-5 Oasis.

The Down Lo Damned were home taking on the visiting Bulldogs of Oasis. The Damned went into the Beer Frame with a 7-5 lead, then went to 9-6 with Whyatt's 2 wins in the 5th spot. Richard got 'only' one in the 6th spot, but that put them on the hill 10-8. They only needed one more win to take a big match, but they also needed one more player. They didn't have a 7th shooter so they gave the Bulldog 3 free points taking them from 8 to a 'come from behind win' 11 points. Steve and Ed also got the beer frame from the Nixons, 2-0. Final score: Damned 10, Bulldogs 11.

The Playa's were also at home last week - they were taking on their upstairs neighbors, Duffy's. The Playa's got out to a hot start with 2 points from Tom, Rusty, and Larry. Kevin Cibart got all 3 of his in the 4th spot to get the team lead to 9-3 at the break. Captain Ed and Kevin Kinell took the beer frame from Leland and Chef Jason, 2-0, for a free road beverage. Kevin K. and Ed chipped in 2 points each in the bottom half, but in a rare appearance as a closer, Charles won the last 3 games of the night making it a 14-7 Playa's win.

In an Oasis vs. Oasis matchup, the Dragons were 'home' versus the O-Team. This match couldn't get any closer. Teams pretty much traded 2-1 matches in the first 4 games to make the score 7-5 Dragons half-way through. Steve Hambek and Aaron Smith beat Joel and Brian Vignon 2-0 in the Beer Frame to earn the valuable bragging rights (for the night). The Dragons started to pull away after the Scotch Doubles match as Steve Hambek got all 3 of his games to get the (underdog?) Dragons to the hill, 10-5. Kenny Smith made an appearance and got a big win right off the start against Brian V. and got the Dragons to 11 points and the victory. Brian did get the next two points, and Joel wrapped it all up with another 3-0 victory to make the final score 11-10 Dragons.

Again, still waiting for a Tackle Box/Bankers sheet. I'll update when available.

Good luck to everyone in Week #16 - it's an interleague night (the last one of the year) so every team plays - no byes this Thursday. Hard to believe, but just 5 more weeks before playoffs begin!

-Scott- 

All the stats are entered and everything is up-to-date, except for the Empire vs. Oasis Ball Busters match. Empire failed to turn in a score sheet again for Feb. 11th so those team's results have been omitted. I'll be seeing Cal tonight at the Oasis and as I did last week with the Dragons, I'll get a score sheet from the visiting team and enter the details asap. 

So the Empire only has one more home match this season and it's against the Playa's. I'll just have Kevin or Leland send me the results and I'll buy them a beer for their 10 seconds of inconvenience. This will be the last Empire delay of the season - next season we'll work out a different schedule for their bar.

In other news, half the teams won, half the teams lost last week. Some did very well while others did not. I saw Brenon had a 3-0 night with a break-and-run, good job to him. 

With the score sheet delays the past two weeks, I haven't had current printouts. I'll work on getting those posted ASAP. The website is current, except for the aforementioned teams.  Sorry for the lack of recaps, but it's been a busy week.

Good luck in week #14. It's an interleague night so everyone plays - no byes.

-Scott-

Here’s what happened in Week #12 (Feb. 4^th):

The Stickmen were home at the Down Lo as the Duffy’s crew headed down to the basement for some pool festivities. It was fairly close at the break – Duffy’s was up 7-5. Ice Cream was able to get all 3 of his games in the 4^th spot to take the lead. Cowboy Rob and Cele defeated Ed and Evan in the beer frame, 2-1. The bottom half was all Duffy’s – Steve Swim and Evan got 2 each and Ed wrapped it up with all 3 against Scott. Final score: 14-7 Duffy’s.

Over at table #10, the Playa’s were taking on the Oasis Outlaws in probably the top-billed Game of the Week. As expected, it was tied 6-6 after the first 12 games. Charles got 2 – one of them via an 8-ball Break-and-Run (his league-leading 3^rd of the year!), but then Kenny got 2 for his club. Mike Brandt got all 3 to take the lead, but Leland got all 3 of his to tie it up. Matt ‘Tree’ Fields and Kenny Duff got the beer frame against Leland and Kevin, 2-1. In the final matches it was all Playa’s as they got 8 of the final 9 games. Larry got 2, Kevin got 3, and Chef Jason Colabove (the February Upgraded Living magazine cover model) got all 3 of his to make the final score a surprisingly decisive 14-7 Playa’s win.

Sorry ladies – no centerfold layout.

Out at Shenanigan’s, the Rack Pack were hosting the Eagles club. Kevin Langstaff and Mike Dowd each got 3-0 wins for the home team, and Jon COX got a 3-0 win for his Eagles. When it was all said and done, the Rack Pack defeated the Eagles 13-8. Jon COX and Bobbo did get the road beer frame win as they beat Brian and Drew 2-0.

The Oasis Bulldogs were at home as the Tackle Box Alligator Humpers made their way across town. The two teams were tied at 6-6 at the half thanks to a bunch of 2-1 matches. Steve and Robbie got the Beer frame 2-0 against Jonny and Bob Cody. In the bottom-half, though, it was 99% Bulldogs. Robbie “only” got 2 wins, Dennis got all 3 of his, and Ty wrapped it up with a bow and a 3-0 win. Getting 8 of the last 9 games got the ‘Dogs to 14, Tackle Box to 7.

The Bankers had the tough task of taking on their barmates, the Oasis Ball Busters. In the end the Ball Busters ended up with 18, the Bankers 3. The Ball Busters actually ran the first 16 games in a row to make it 16-0 before Barney got the Banker’s first point in the 6^th match. Russ was the Banker MVP as he got the final 2 points of the night off Cal. Walt, Bob Tracy, Bil, Kevin Lombard, and Brian Norman (last weekend’s 4^th place tournament winner) were the 5 players in a row that got 3-0 wins. Eric got his first one to make it 16 in a row, but lost his 2^nd match to Barney. In a surprising underdog note – Bankers Ken Forbis and Russ beat Ball Busters Brian Norman and Eric Nichols 2-0 in the beer frame.

The Oasis O-Team were the third team at home at the Oasis. Their opponent for the week was the Down Lo Damned.  I wouldn’t say it was surprising, but it wasn’t totally what I expected. The Damned are playing great, don’t get me wrong, but the Oasis O-Team have the best squad they’ve had in a long time. But the Damned jumped out to a 10-2 lead at the break thanks in large part to Goran and Tony Tokarski’s 3-0 wins. Dave Larabee and Philo chipped in 2-1 wins to get to that commanding lead. The Nixons were in the beer frame and they beat Chuck and DJ 2-0. Dwayne cleaned things up and tried to right the ship in the 5^th match as he got all 3 for his home team. But Richard Nixon came up next and got 3 of his own, making it 13-5 Damned. Joel, last weekend’s #3 tournament finisher, got 3 more for his Oasis club but it was too little too late as the final score was an (upset?) 13-8 Damned victory.

Out in Durham, the Empire Club was the home team welcoming in the Oasis Dragons. Again, I do not have the Empire’s score sheet so I don’t have results and stats for their match. I play the Dragons tonight so I’ll get the sheet from them. I was tempted (as other captains agreed and have voiced their concerns) of having them spend the rest of the season on the road to ensure I can get a score sheet from a local captain. The Empire only has one more home match for the year, against the Playa’s, so I’ll probably just hit Kevin up to take a picture of the sheet and avoid the delay. Sorry everyone, my hands are tied.

I’ll print the standings and stats from what I have, but realize it does NOT include whatever happened in Durham last week. I’ll update it online tonight, but the printouts/emails will be slightly off. Top Shooter list on the website will be updated tonight as well.

Good luck to everyone in week #13, except for the Playa’s and O-Team – they have their byes this week. Rumor has it Kevin Cibart will be at the Down Lo looking for sparring practice opponents if you are interested. Bring cash.

-Scott-

Tim Larson and Mario Castelan

1st and 2nd Place

2016 Chico Winter Open 8-Ball Memorial Tournament

February 6th, 2016

After all the planning, all the stressing, it actually worked out pretty dang awesome. We had 64 of the best players in Northern California competing for the top prize - $500 cash. Players came from all over - Yuba City, Willows, Redding, and of course Chico. The tournament was held on 8 tables - 6 at the Oasis, 2 at Jackie's Billiards Academy next door. The tournament really did fly by pretty well, and fairly smooth, considering the amount of players. In the end it was down to the two big dogs from Redding, Tim Larson and Mario Castelan. They battled back and forth for 5 games - complete with the amazing shots, the unbelievable misses, and the suspense only a final match can bring. It went hill-hill (2-2). Mario made a rare miss. Tim cleaned up and ran it out for the handful of cash. Mario still walked away with $225. Tim will also receive the inaugural Chico Winter Open trophy at the end of our season at the Pool Party. Joel Russo was the top Chico player, getting third place and $100 cash. It's safe to say everyone in attendance will be looking forward to the 2nd annual in 2017. Be sure to sign up as soon as it's announced - it will be sold out for sure. We had about 45 signups before we even showed up at the Oasis, and can't do any more than 64. We didn't have as many CWPL players as we would like - hopefully next year they'll be better represented!

I've attached a .JPEG of the ginormous 64 person bracket as it looked at the end of the tournament here, and a PDF version in my email. 

Right-click the above image, save it to your desktop and open with your image-viewing program to zoom in.

We had to use a laptop/projector to shoot the brackets on the wall, but it was so big we still had to scroll up/down for everyone to view. Thanks to all the players who were understanding of the limited space and presentation. We'll have a better solution for 2017. 

Congrats to Kenny Duff - winner of the 50/50 raffle. Still waiting to see a raffle or drawing he doesn't win. The benefit of the other half of the 50/50 cash pot was Cancer Connections of Enloe Hospital. 

Special thanks to Meredith, the Chico Womens Pool League president for helping with everything - from planning to execution. She and I both found a way to get a match or two in, even though our heads were in about 30 different places! Thanks to Jackie for everything she did - the extra tables, the tournament expertise, and donating her drink sales from her Billiards Academy to our charity. Thanks to Stacy Schaefer for being an amazing host. Again, instead of actually charging us to use his facility, he did the opposite and actually kicked in almost $500 for the prize pot, as well as full use of his tables from noon to 10pm. Amazing - a true businessman who knows the benefits of having a sponsored tournament in his house, on a Saturday afternoon. His staff did great keeping on top of the drink sales and busy kitchen. Thanks to Steve Hambek of the Oasis Dragons - he was our hitman, our bounty hunter, our enforcer. Steve: "Who do you need and where?" Scott/Meredith: "Joe and Mike, table 7." Steve: gone, on the hunt. Larry Hiller - ideas galore, plus manning the raffle tickets all afternoon while were busy on brackets. He wasn't even in the tournament - he was just there to help. Leland - thanks for helping out at the end - sorry your car got jacked. Paul 'Wall' Thurman was a big help with the brackets as well. And everyone else who did what they could to help this go smoothly. Meredith and I kept telling each other how amazingly well this is actually going - contrary to our nightmares the night before.

Save the date for 2017 - the 2nd Annual Chico Winter Open!

-Scott-

Here's the (brief) results from week #11 (Jan. 28th):

Playa's whipped the Shenanigan's Rack Pack 18-3. Rusty, Jeff, Jason, and Leland all had 3-0 wins. One of Leland's was via an 8-ball Break-And-Run. Leland and Jason beat Mike D. and Matt in the beer frame.

In another butt-kickin', the Eagles were handed a 17-4 lopsided win versus the Oasis Outlaws. Mike Brandt and Mike Karol, and Bulldog, each got 3-0 wins. All the rest of the guys only got 2-1 wins. Bulldog and Tree beat Bobby V. and Donny in the beer frame, 2-0.

The Bankers were home versus the O-Team in week #11. The O-Team was up 9-3 at the break, but with a couple 2-1 wins in the bottom half they made it semi-respectable and walked away with a 13-8 loss versus a great O-Team. Russ was the lone 3-0 winner. Chuck and Chris S. couldn't beat Rich and Barney in the beer frame.

The Ball Busters were also at home at the Oasis as they welcomed in the Down Lo Damned. The Damned kept it real interesting before the beer break - they were tied at 6-6. Ball Buster Walt's 3-0 leadoff victory was cancelled out by Tony Tokarski's 3-0 win in the 4th spot. The other two top-half matches swapped 2-1 scores. The Nixons kept the night rolling with an (unlikely?) road beer frame win versus the Ball Buster's Cal and Bil, 2-1. Cal said "enough of that" and turned things around in the 5th spot going 3-0. Then Eric Nichols "only" got 2, as did Kevin Lombard. Final score: Ball Busters 13, Damned 8.

It must have been busy at the Oasis as the Bulldogs were also at home taking on the Empire Club of Durham. Keith, Brenon, Dennis, and Robbie all had 3-0 scores to help their team to a 15-6 victory. Curt had a 3-0 tally for his Empire club to keep the score a little less disastrous. Dennis and Robbie won the beer frame, defeating Zach and Curt.

The Down Lo Stickmen were on the road at the Tackle Box. Dave Kaplan started the night off with a 3-0 win, but Joe and Charlie kept it close with 2-1 wins. It was 7-5 Stickmen at the break. Joe and Jonny beat Paul Wall and Madsack in the beer frame, 2-0. Cowboy Rob got things back on track for the Down Lo with a 3-0 win in the 5 spot. Scott squeaked out one win, and Keith wrapped it up with 2 to make the final score 13-8 Stickmen.

The Dragons and Duffy's were on their bye week.

I still need to collect a few more scoresheets for week #12, February 4th, before I can do any recaps. The scores I do have are entered. I assume most of the sheets are in the box at the Oasis since they are all O-teams, except for Durham. We'll see if they are all there, but I'm assuming not. I'll post asap.

Good luck in week #13, except for the Playa's and O-Team - they have a bye week.

-Scott-

Click on Flier above for downloadable/larger PDF image

Here's the recap from last week (week #10):

The Rack Pack were home taking on Ed and his Duffy's crew on Jan. 21st. It was 8-4 Duffy's at the break thanks to Woot's 3-0 win and Paul and Ice Cream's 2-1 victories. Ed and Kevin won the beer frame against Rob and Matt, 2-0, for the away-team victory. Ed stayed at the table and won all 3 for Duffy's to get them to 11, Swim got 2 more to make it to 13 points. Mike D wrapped it up for the 'Pack with a 3-0 win, but it was a little too late as Duffy's left with a 13-8 victory.

The Empire Club welcomed in the Down Lo Damned for week #10. It was all Damned as they won 14-7 on the road. Tony, Philo, and Richard Nixon each got 3-0 wins for the Down Lo. The Nixons, Richard and Whyatt, beat Zach and Steve S. for the beer frame, 2-1. 

In a big prime-time match at the Down Lo, the Playa's welcomed in the Oasis Bulldogs. The two went toe-to-toe the whole night. It was 7-5 Oasis at the break thanks to Steve's 3-0 win. Charles 'only' got 2 out of 3, but one of those was a break-and-run. Kevin and Leland won the beer frame 2-0 against Ed and Brenon, one of those wins was also a break-and-run. Ty got 2 points in the 5th spot to get the Bulldogs to 9, but Rusty squashed that with a 3-0 win for the Playa's. So it was 9-9 going into the last match - Kevin Cibart vs. Dennis. Dennis got the first one to get to 10-9 Bulldogs, but Kevin stormed back and got the next and final 2 to take his team to an 11-10 victory at home.

Over at the Oasis, the Outlaws were playing their barmates, the O-Team. In a close 12-9 match, the Outlaws were victorious. Kenny Duff had a break-and-run win. Ricky Martin was the lone 3-0 winner in the night. Kenny and Mike Karol beat somebody (nobody listed) for the O-Team in the beer frame, 2-0.

The Bankers were also at home at the Oasis - they were playing the Dragons. Jim W. started things off strong for the Bankers getting a lead-off 3-0 win. But Rob C. came right back and got 3 for his Dragons. The teams traded off 2-1 wins for a while until Steve Hambek got all 3 in the 6th spot. Final score: Dragons 12, Bankers 9. Steve and Rob beat Jon and Neil in the beer frame, 2-1.

Also at the very busy Oasis, the Ball Busters were home playing the Tackle Box. Nothing to see here. Keep moving, folks. (19-2 Ball Busters, with the beer frame - way to go Brian, Eric, Gary, Kevin, and Cal - ya'all got 3-0 wins).

The Stickmen were on the road at the Eagle's club last week. The Stickmen were up 7-5 at the break - Scott chipped in with a 3-0 win to help the cause. In Brandon Fuggin's last game in Chico (he moved to Georgia for a work opportunity) he teamed up with Dave Kaplan to beat Robin and COX in the beer frame, 2-0. Thanks Brandon and good luck! In a close bottom half, teams traded 2-1 wins and the final score ended up being a close 11-10 Stickmen victory. 

Good luck in week #11. It's the second-half of the season and the second-half includes bye weeks. For example The Dragons and Duffy's have the week #11 byes, they don't play tonight. But in interleague nights (like next week) everybody plays, no byes.

Don't forget about the Tournament! See the flier at the top for more information. Space is going to fill up fast so get in line now!

Sorry, no updated printouts this week - too busy getting the tournament set with Meredith and Stacy. But stats and team standings are current on the website.

-Scott-