Upcoming Announcement

Be sure to check out http://www.8ballexpress.com/ this Thursday for an exciting upcoming announcement!

Start of Session

Good to see everyone today at the Start of Session meeting. Happy to see new faces and the familiar ones. If you got any questions/comments you know the numbers. Also, as always, available on Twitter, Facebook and email for the early morning risers.

Looking forward to the following Blog Posts:
1. "Team Names of Note" List
2. "You've Got To Be Kidding Me" Nicknames
3. "Stop Playing So Slow - We Gotta Go To Work in the Morning" Splitting Matches Reminder
4. NEW! Feature Host Location Review
5. And many more to come...

Welcome back players! Looking forward to the new year and new session. ~Dawn

Wishing You and Yours...

I am pretty much done for the session, going to enjoy some much needed R&R. I do have my cell phone and will answer any calls or return voice mails within 24 hours.
I will be at Badfish Billiards in Matthews this Wednesday around 7pm helping a brand new team of people out of a brand new bar learn about 8 Ball Express - scoring, handicaps, etc. Come on out for some fun if you are interested. I promise to be drinking and B&S-ing for pretty much the whole time. Come join in the merriment! :)

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

True "1" Test

New 8 Ball Express test to determine who is a true "1". If you learn something from this clip, you get to be a "1" handicap. (And I'm not talking about the flossing part.)


How to Chalk a Billiard Cue -- powered by eHow.com

Playoffs Got You Wound Up?

Playoffs got you wound up? Check this clip out!

Good for a chuckle in the middle of these very serious playoff times:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/101512/saturday-night-live-ladies-billards

Rack 'Em Pub & Billiards - Matthews, NC

FYI: Ever tried to get a team into Rack 'Em and you couldn't? Got privy to some info. and wanted to pass it on ASAP.

This upcoming session there are a few openings you may be interested in. If you want to play, please let Bob/Blake, the bartender or us know before week's end.

Space availability is first come/first serve.

Sundays - Inhouse 8-Ball. There is an opening for a team and possibly a few slots for players. Great relaxed division and a great way to start the week!

Mondays - May have some availability for a travel 8-ball team.

Tuesdays - Travel 8-ball and 9-ball. Travel is contained pretty much to a five mile radius and lots of fun.

Wednesdays - Travel 8-ball. Travel is contained in a five mile radius.

Thursdays - Inhouse 8-ball & 9-ball travel. With the addition of 3 more 9-ball teams an inhouse could be created. This Inhouse 8-ball division produced last Winter's $10,000 winning team, so the competition is high but the people are friendly.

Email info@8ballexpress.com for more info.

Playoffs Are Coming!

As both a friend and a league manager, kindly let me offer the following tips to those who will be in the playoffs to ensure a safe and happy holiday post-season:

• Two people will step to the table, one will win and one will not. Accept this and move on. Do not talk bad about their mother or question their moral up bringing if you loose. You just look silly and I may have to laugh at you and include you in a future blog post.


• I don't care how good a player is or what your put up strategy is, if a player is drunk or drinking heavily, play them early or not at all, then call a cab. You can check with the bartender before hand if not sure or make them do a practice lag to judge. If the ball flies off the table, ends up in a pocket or they try to lag with a coaster, just go ahead and bench them. They probably weren't going to win anyways.


• The rules are the same in post season as in regular season. Keep this in mind during the regular season AND the post season. While it's not right, if during weeks 1-13 you've let opposing teams go over the handicap limit, take 20 minute time outs, run late and then weeks 14-playoffs turn around and hold them to every rule in the book, don't be surprised if they don't exactly send you a Christmas card or ask for a group hug when it's all over. How about, for the most part, sticking to the rules through the Session to avoid this sudden change of good will. This will help people learn rules and hopefully avoid unnecessary confrontation. Chances are you will see your opponents again/play against them after all is said and done, so treat them accordingly.


• Week 2 of the Playoffs is not the optimal time to bring up handicap questions. If you see something Playoff Week 2 you've never seen before, like a 2 running racks, ok then, it is the optimal time. But if you've known/suspected for a while that a handicap is not right, let us know as soon as you can. If you know something isn't right the ENTIRE Session or even the 2nd half of it, but only let us know if your team looses AFTER the matches are all done, the situation is a lot messier than it has to be. We can handle the issues much better if we know there may be an issue AHEAD of time. Contact kim@8ballexpress.com right now if you have a handicap complaint or if you think there may be another issue at a match coming up.


• Don't take out your issues/stress/problems on your opposing team or your league manager. Hey, we've all got problems these days. How about you leave yours at home and let everyone have a good time! If you can't don't be surprised if you are removed from the league. One bad grape will not be allowed to spoil a bunch (or a division).


• 8 Ball Express is competitive but above all else it's about coming out each week and having a good time.

Now, good luck and have fun!

New Divisions Forming For Jan 2010 Play!

In case you are interested, there are some new things happening in our area for next session.
New Divisions:
* There will be a Wednesday 8-ball Inhouse out of Sharky's in Mint Hill with a min.
of 6 teams. If you are interested, let Sharky's or me know.
* New Tuesday 8-ball Travel Division forming on the North/West Side of Town. New locations include an awesome new bar that recently opened in the old Derita Station location. It's now "Da Bear's Den" (as in The Chicago Bear's) and they really did a great job with remolding and offer a full kitchen, patio and tons of tvs. Let them know if you want to play Tuesday 8-ball travel.
* Open spot in Tuesday 9-ball travel for 1-3 teams.
* New teams forming out of the recently opened "Bad Fish Billiards" in downtown Matthews. Check with Danny Caldwell for more info. Travel any night S-Th 8-ball or travel Tues/Thurs 9-ball.
* New locations joining and looking for a few members such as Yesteryear's, Five Steps, Sharky's, Da Bear's Den, Bear's Lair, Jillian's, Bad Fish Billiards and a few others. If you are interested, email me at dawn@8ballexpress.com.
There are some more things in the works and we are VERY excited about 2010 and hope you are too!

The Video Encyclopedia of Pool Shots

COURTESY OF DR. DAVE - PRESENTING THE VIDEO ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POOL SHOTS:

"I'm very excited to announce the release of the first DVD in an instructional series I've been working on with Tom Ross this past year. The series is called: The Video Encyclopedia of Pool Shots. If you are interested in checking it out, I have a video trailer for the entire series near the bottom of the page here:

http://www.dr-dave-billiards.com/veps/

The first disc, which includes 1 hour and 27 minutes of video, covers basic shot making and position play. Video excerpts for a collection of shots from the DVD can be viewed online here:
http://www.dr-dave-billiards.com/veps/disc_I.html

Here's the outline of the entire series, and here's the complete list of shot categories included on Disc I.

The series includes over 750 shot categories within 50 different major categories, with over 250 "gems" of the game. We think, and we hope you agree, that the series is the most comprehensive collection of useful pool shots ever published (and demonstrated).I think Tom and I made a good team for this project because he is an experienced player, coach, and instructional columnist, and I have more skills on the understanding, illustration, and explanation side of things. I hope you guys like our stuff. We have worked really hard on this project ... months of planning, months of filming, and months of editing and production. It has truly been a labor of love.Please check out all of the video clips online. Also, if you think the series might be of interest to others, please help spread the word.

Thank you for your time,
Dr. Dave"

This One's For Tony G.

This one's for Tony G. Found it!