News

Thanks for a great year!

The Pool Party/Awards Banquet held at the Empire Club in Durham was a great success - thanks to all those that helped and participated. I believe we had a record amount of raffle prizes - both the Women's and Men's league raised a substantial amount of money to start off the 2010-2011 season. Many went home with great prizes - especially Joby who won the Dale Perry custom cue. Congratulations to all! Thanks to the many businesses and people who provided and donated the great gifts. To name a few:

Master's Music and Vending

Tuscan Ridge Golf Club

Leo Oviedo

FunLand / Cal Skate Chico

Butte Community Bank

Oasis Bar & Grill

and special thanks to all the Women's League players who brought gifts of their own!

Keep practicing over the Summer - and we'll see you in the Fall!

For more pictures of the event, check out the photo gallery link in the left-hand column.

-Scott-

2009-2010 Pool Party and Awards Ceremony

Saturday, May 15th, 1-4:00pm

Empire Club in Durham

UPDATE!!! Want to go to the Pool Party in Durham but don't want to drive (especially back)? Great news! Vicki, the Women's Pool League president is offering a FREE (minus gas tip) ride on her bus, to and from, the Empire Club! She's going to use the bus she uses for work to haul up to 35 people to and from the party. She will make more trips if necessary. The bus will depart from the East side of the Farmer's Market parking lot, between 2nd and 3rd St., on Flume St (across from the News and Review building) at 12:30pm, and will return there at 4:00pm or so. All you have to do is find a safe ride home from the parking lot! There it is - officially NO EXCUSES to party this Saturday!

Despite all rumors and propaganda regarding a date and location change, it is official - the Pool Party (men's and women's) will be held at the Empire in Durham THIS Saturday, May 15th, 2010,  starting at 1:00pm as scheduled. As with every year, we rotate the venue from home bar to home bar and this year the Durham hot-spot has the honor of playing host. On tap will be a spread of dishes donated by the Women's league, a tri-tip BBQ, pre-paid beer (free for you), Men's and Women's league raffle prizes, pool tournaments, trophy presentations, and lot's of fun. Admission is free for 2009-2010 pool players (this is where your $15 went), guests are $5 for dinner (no free beer). Be sure to car pool and find a designated driver, or get your team to go in on a taxi-van and split the fare! Festivities should be wrapping up around 4:00pm, but the bar of course doesn't close until much later.

If you have any raffle prizes your business or a friend's business would like to donate, please email me at scoresheets@sbcglobal.net. We will be sure to publicize and thank those businesses offering to help.

See you in Durham!

-Scott-

2009-2010 Top Shooter

Mike Karol - Oasis Bulldogs

In a very well played Top Shooter Tournamant, Mike Karol held off some of the best in the league and was crowned Top shooter. With the win, Mike earned $100 cash with the honors.

Here's a re-cap:

Round One

In the first match of the first round, the Bulldog's Jim Brown was up against the Down Lo's Jason Colabove. In a race to 3, or best out of five, single elimination format, Jim Brown won 3 in a row knocking Jason out of the tournament.

The second match of the first round was Mike Brandt, Sr. of the Nuggets taking on Oasis top shooter Joel Russo. Joel efficiently won the first 3 games as well, moving on to the next round.

The third match was a Nugget matchup between Mike Karol and teammate Kenny Duff. The two traded wins, but then Mike won the next two, gaining the victory and a ticket to the second round.

The final first round match was between Bulldog Keith Whitworth and Kevin Cibart of the Down Lo. Keith got one win, but Kevin scored three to knock Keith out, and Kevin went on to round 2.

Round Two

In round two, Jim Brown was paired against Joel Russo. In a close match, Joel knocked out Jim with a 3-1 victory, which propelled Joel to the Finals.

In the other final four matchup, Mike Karol had to take on Kevin Cibart. The winner would face Joel in the finals. In another close match, Mike Karol held on to win 3-1.

Finals

In the final game two of the leagues best stepped to the table to see who would be crowned this year's Top Shooter. In another 3-1 match, Mike Karol out-dueled Joel Russo in a great match up. Both players shot well - each had some great runs, and of course made some excellent, clutch, high-pressure shots, but Mike made the right ones at the right time and earned himself $100 and the designation of the Chico Mens Pool League 2009-2010 Top Shooter. Congratulations Mike - you can pick up your trophy at the league party on May 15th at the Empire Club.

That concludes the 2009-2010 season! Congratulations again to the Bulldogs - 2009-2010 champions, and Mike Karol - Top Shooter. The only thing left is to party. The league party again will be on May 15th at the Empire Club in Durham, starting at 1:00pm. There will be awards, raffles, and some great food. This is where your league dues go, so take advantage of it - you deserve it after such a successful year.

Have a great Summer - practice a lot - we'll see you in the fall. Don't forget to check back with this web site for more information, and of course some great discussions in the forum. Thanks to everyone for their help this year, especially the captains. Your assistance and patience made my challenging transition to interim president an easy and fun one.

-Scott-

Bulldogs Win!...Bulldogs Win!

With no disrespect to either team, I (as well as many in attendance) didn't see this one coming. The #2 seed Bulldogs came out and shot their asses off, knocking off the undefeated #1 seed  Down Lo.

Charles started things off getting all 3 from Dennis, and that's about as good as it got for the Down Lo. Henry was next up for the Bulldogs, and he got all three from Jason. Then Keith stepped up, and got all three from Kevin Cibart. The Bulldogs #4 shooter, Jim Brown, got two out of three from Russ, giving the 'Dogs an 8-4 lead at the beer frame. The Bulldogs then got the beer frame as Frank and Henry competed against Charles and Mike Leitner. At this point everyone knew the Bulldogs were in great shape heading into the second half of shooting, but if any team could overcome the 4-point deficit, it would be the Down Lo and their remaining shooters. The Down Lo's sixth spot shooter was Gregg Prenderagast, going up against Chris Urbach. Gregg won one, but gave up one game with an accidental 8-ball scratch, and Chris earned his second win with some great clutch shots. Now the Bulldogs were on the hill with a 10-5 lead, needing just one more for the championship. Up to the table stepped Frank, taking on the Down Lo's Larry Hiller. Frank took care of business and got the deciding and championship point in his first game, giving the Bulldogs a decisive 11-5 victory, and the honor of being the 2009-2010 Chico Mens Pool League Champions. The Down Lo earns silver with their 2nd place finish.

The consolation match to determine the third and fourth place teams took place the night before, in a match between the #3 seed Oasis Nuggets and the #4 seed Towne Lounge.

This tense and close match started off with Mike Karol getting two versus Ed Tice. Mike Brandt, Sr. was next up against Tony Tokarski, and Mike got two out of three. Steve Hale took on Kenny Duff in the third game, getting two out of three for the Lounge. Paul Airth was the Nugget's fourth shooter, getting two out of three from Stephen Wells. The Nuggets were up 7-5 at this point heading into the beer frame. Jason and Kevin won the beer frame for the Towne Lounge in two straight games against Bill and Lee. Jason was the only 3-0 shooter on the night, getting all three against Moses, putting them in the lead 8-7. Kevin Kinnell came out in the 6th spot and put them on the hill with a two out of three effort against Jimmy Scott. The final shooters were Izzy for the Nuggets and Jessee Hill for the Towne Lounge. Needing just one more for the victory, Jessee gave up the first one to Izzy, making things more interesting at 10-9, but Jessee came through in the second frame and got the deciding eleventh point, giving the Towne Lounge a close 11-9 victory, and a place on the podium in 3rd place overall.

So as the playoffs are completed, here are your final top teams:

Champions: Oasis Bulldogs 

2nd Place: Down Lo

3rd Place: Towne Lounge 

Congratulations to all the teams making this 2009-2010 playoffs a success. For everyone else - October is only 7 months away. Keep practicing for the 2010-2011 Chico Mens Pool League season!

Only two more events left for this season - Top Shooter Tournament on April 1st at the Oasis, and most importantly(?), the end-of-the-year Pool League Party and Awards Ceremony at the Empire Club in Durham on May 15th at 1:00pm.

Quick note for those stat watchers - when you are viewing the list of players in the 'Statistics' page (located in the green left-hand column), all stats will be displayed by default - including regular season stats, playoff stats, and tournament stats. Now that playoffs have been included, some players will have more games and stats because they were involved in the playoffs, compared to those who weren't. You can filter these stats to show only the ones you are looking for, or a full summary, by checking or un-checking the appropriate boxes next to 'Game Types', then pressing 'Refresh Stats', in the upper yellow area. And of course you can filter these stats just for one team or the whole league. FYI.

And finally, be sure to vote in this month's poll - located in the bottom of the right-hand column.

-Scott-

Here's the results from the first round of the Chico Mens Pool League March Madness-

The #1 seed Down Lo team was 'home' at Nick's hosting the #8 seed 8-Ballers. The Down Lo squad got out to a great start, up 9-3 at the half, thanks to a bunch of 2-win matches and Larry's 3-win match. Russ and Kevin took care of business for the beer frame, beating Krad and Pops. Gregg got 1 in the 5th spot, and Russ sealed the deal in the first game of the 6th match, giving the #1 seed team a quick and efficient 11-5 victory. The Down Lo will now play 'home' at the Oasis versus the Nuggets.

The #2 Seed Bulldogs were home taking on the #7 seed Empire Club. The Bulldogs won the race to 11 in the 6th game of the night, winning 11-5. Chris got all 3 to help the Bulldog's cause, as Captain Steve got the match-winning point. The Empire did win the beer frame, as they were able to toast the end of their rough season. The Bulldogs will now host the Towne Lounge in the Final Four.

The #3 seed Nuggets were home at the Oasis taking on the #6 seed Oasis O's. The Nuggets shot out of the gates with 3-0 wins from their lead-off shooters Kenny Duff and Mike Brandt, Sr. But Oasis O shooter James struck back with a 3-0 win himself, against Mike Karol none the less, and Slade got 2 out of 3 to make the match close at the half, Nuggets up 7-5. The Original O's won the beer frame, but Stacy had to buy either way. In the bottom half, Moses got 2 for the Nugs, but Joel struck back with 2 of his own. Oasis' Troy was left with the daunting task of now having to win all 3 versus Jimmy Scott. Troy won the first one, making it 10-9, but Jimmy won the second frame propelling the Nuggets on to the next round. The Nuggets will be at home next week, playing as 'visitors' hosting the Down Lo.

In the #4 seed versus #5 seed matchup, the Towne Lounge had home field advantage against the Oasis Dragons. Steve hale got all 3 versus Brenon to help the Lounge go into the beer frame up 8-4. Rob and Micah beat Jessee and Prana in the beer frame. The beer frame gave the Dragon's Rob a good warm-up, as he shot 6th and got all 3 versus Jason Jones. Similar to the Nuggets/Oasis matchup, it came down to Travis of the Dragons to have to win all 3, and again, similarly Travis got the first one, but Howard got the second win to give the Town Lounge a close 11-9 victory. As mentioned, the Towne Lounge will face the Bulldogs, at the Oasis, in the second round.

So the Final Four match-ups will both take place at the Oasis this Thursday - a great opportunity for those players and teams knocked out to come and watch two games in one place, to see who goes on to the 2009-2010 Championships! The top seeded team will have the choice of which table to play on - either next to the kitchen, or in the back corner. It looks like the 3rd/4th place game will take place at the Oasis no matter what happens, on Wednesday, March 23rd. The Championship, on Thursday March 24th, will be at the Oasis as well, unless it comes out to be the Towne Lounge versus the Down Lo, where the Lounge will be 'home', but the visiting team on paper.

Good luck to those that are left - hopefully we will have 2 great games this week!

-Scott-

Just a note - doesn't affect much besides top shooter standings and the beer frame leader, but in the make up game between the Nuggets and Empire, the Nuggets won 13-8. Kenny Duff and Mike Brandt, Sr. got all 3 for their team, and the Nuggets won the Beer Frame.

With the beer frame win, the Nuggets overtook the Down Lo and are the 2009-2010 Beer Frame Champions!

Now that I have all the stats for the year, I've updated the Top Shooter standings - Jason Colabove is the Top Shooter going into the tournament, which takes place on April 1st at the Oasis.

Have to give some props to Kevin Cibart of the Down Lo - he is the highest ranked shooter who played in every game of the season. Even playing every week, he managed to achieve almost a 76% win percentage, and third place in the standings. Watch out for Kevin in the Top Shooter Tournament April 1st.

This has not been a good season for the Chico Mens Pool League - and an especially bad couple of weeks. The League has lost another member and brother, Mike Diekman of the Oasis Dragons. I just heard tonight of the bad news, and the report that I got was that he was killed in an automobile accident over the past weekend. I didn't get much more information, and will post more as I get it. I didn't know Mike very well, but his teammates speak very highly of his character, friendship, and love of pool. Unfortunately I never got a picture of him to post to put the name with the face. For those of you that attended Larry's service on Monday, you'll have another chance this week to say goodbye to another teammate or friend, as Mike will have a memorial get-together at his home bar, the Oasis, on Thursday night, starting at 5:30 before the Oasis' final game of the regular season. Come hungry, and be prepared to toast this fallen player. Good bye, Mike. We'll miss you.