Players Prepare For Trip To Bally’s! Volume 17, Number 2, March 2017 VNEA 8-BALL NEWS & VIEWS THE MAGAZINE FOR POOL PLAYERS Regional Events... Chasing Charlies! League Players Dreams Do Come True In Vegas! Check Out What’s Inside This Issue... 2017 Las Vegas Championships Details 2017 Junior Championships Details Inside 8-Ball News & Views Features 2 President’s Report 4 The Doctor’s In 6 2017 Junior Update 12 Charter FUNShop 15 Billiards With Briesath 16 Regional Events 26 2017 Vegas Details 38 2017 Hall of Famers 39 State/Prov. Tourn. Editors... Tom Elum Publication Chair Gregg Elliott Executive Director Brian Elliott Marketing/Promotions Editor reserves the right to edit and reject all 26 submitted materials and/or advertisements. All rights reserved. Reproduction or other use of editorial content is strictly forbidden 15 4 without consent. VNEA encourages all members to submit articles, pictures, etc. of activities in your area. Forward comments, materials and advertising inquiries to VNEA Headquarters. 16 March • 2017 1 President’s Report by Judy Mehle With The Smell Of Spring In The Air The VNEA Eyes Vegas! Current VNEA President, Judy Mehle from BMW Billiards in Loveland, Colorado It seems like we were just celebrating the Holidays and now I look at the calendar able to ensure an awesome pool playing I look forward to seeing everyone at Bally’s. and it’s almost SPRING! It’s crazy how experience for every player that decides time flies. And I know that a lot of players Until then... take care and God bless. to make the trip to Vegas. Not to mention are busy with their State and Provincial all of the extracurricular activities that the Judy Mehle Tournaments right now so I wish everyone VNEA President VNEA has planned the best of luck. Play hard, play fair and throughout the event bring home the hardware. But most of including the ever- all, have fun and enjoy your tournament popular Team experience. There’s nothing like it. Opening Ceremonies As leagues start to wind down, that means Suds & Chips Mixer BMW that we are all getting that much closer to and the Awards Banquet Finale which BILLIARDS the 37th Annual VNEA World Champion- ships! Bally’s will once again be playing has grown increasingly Ft. Collins • Loveland • Greeley host to our VNEA players community and popular with the Ph: 970.391.7664 Fax: 970.663.1276 they have such an amazing property for all addition of our CASH e: [email protected] of our players to enjoy. The newly remod- GIVEAWAYS! eled front of Bally’s has added several new restaurants, tons of unique shopping options and a variety of fun-filled, outdoor entertainment. Our players are sure to enjoy their stay at Bally’s. This years event will once again feature thousands of league players from around the country and the world battling it out on nearly 300 Valley Pool Tables in an amazing 53+ events. There is truly an event for every person of every calibre. The idea of our incredible Champion- One lucky player will take ships is to make sure that everyone has a home this incredible, One-Of-A-Kind, chance to compete with other players of Customized “37th Annual” Valley Home Table a similar skill level. With all of our events at the upcoming Vegas Championships! and many different divisions, the VNEA is 2 8-Ball News & Views NEW The Cougar Duramith™ magnetic cue ball by Aramith The new generation. The Cougar Duramith magnetic cue ball features the Duramith technology with its hi-tech engineered molecular structure enhancing drastically the longevity of the balls while minimizing significantly table cloth wear. With a life-time that exceeds up to 8 times that of the average polyester and phenol-like resins, reaching easily up to 40 years in residential use, Aramith balls are the logical choice for both the trade and the player. Duramith™ the new benchmark With the Duramith™ Technology, the Aramith resins entered their 4th generation. With a totally overhauled resin formulation with new hi-tech reticulation, cross-linking and curing technologies, the Aramith products now set a new benchmark in quality, durability & longevity, increasing their service life up to 50% during which : their through-hardened vitrified surface and core holds their With its new Duramith™ formulation, the 4th generation Aramith 4 life glossy look products cross new boundaries, guaran- their specifications, rebound and playing consistency throughout teeing the lowest cost of ownership. the set is maintained all along the cloth wear and white marks that so easily ruin the look of the table are minimized their friction resistance minimizes burn spots as well. The Valley Cougar is a registred trademark of Valley-Dynamo. JanuaryAugust • 2013 3 The Artistic Pocket Newsletter By Tom Rossman NEVER MISS AGAIN - CREATING YOUR OWN GALLERY OF SHOTS! I have written many articles on “how to improve your shot-making abilities” attached to the literal “sights and sounds” of balls dropping in designated pockets. The engrained perception of the end result of this process is one that almost all players seek, but sometimes gets derailed for one reason or another. How a player deals with an unintended “miss” often seals his or her fate for the game or even the entire match. Someone who can assess a “literal miss” as a “make in disguise” will experience a quick recovery from a perceived failure. As an example, the professional antics of the Harlem Globetrotters and the “Table Trotter” style of “Dr. Cue” illustrate “programmed misses” in a literal sense and convert them to “makes in disguise” or the “thing to do” on the court (or pool table) via humorous actions that are “part of the act”! Being able to mentally curb the rising tide of frustration and over analysis from missed shots is critical to renewing focus and achieving established goals. I would like to provide two unique catalysts to change mental perception and sooth the pain of a literal miss. First of all, let’s assume a person calls a “safety” on a specific shot where the object ball hits a cushion and remains on the table. That 6-letter word (s-a-f-e-t-y) technically allows you to literally miss a ball without having a “pity party” of sorts. If you really think about it, a player gets away with a miss with the simple uttering of the word “safety”! Now, imagine shooting a shot with a literal miss attached to it! The opportunity to implement the programmed assurance of the word “safety” to this situation lies before you. Instead of dwelling on what went wrong, immediately and internally say the word “safety” – the right brain hears and absorbs this foundational game term and transmits a calming effect to the left brain, which often gets too analytical on the missed shot. A second ointment to addressing literal misses is unique and far-reaching in scope. It has been estimated that there are over sixty-four quadrillion points on the table playfield (if scaled accordingly). On each miss the object ball will stop on one of these points (or an infinite number of other points, if the ball goes off the table). Stopping an object ball at a specific point on (or off) the table has great mental value if one’s perception of the miss is transformed to a thing of beauty – a portrait of sorts – to be stored in your right-brain “gallery of shots” (made or missed). As in any gallery of images, frames around them make the picture complete. My mother assembled hundreds of jigsaw puzzles and sealed them with special glue. My father built decorative borders (frames) out of various woods and put them around the puzzles. The framed puzzles were placed on the walls of our home – a beautiful gallery of special colors and themes – memories to last a lifetime! To change your perception of a miss, try to experience the joy of watching the object ball roll to an unexpected location that will never be duplicated again. Venturing into the unknown can produce huge rewards; namely, creating your own “gallery of shots”! Imagine the ball stopping somewhere different each time in relation to the bigger picture of an infinite creation. Imagine a custom designed wood frame around each stopped ball. Imagine hanging the framed image of each “new” shot on one of the infinite storage walls of your right brain, becoming part of your own mental “gallery of shots”! Framing the misses in your game and life will soon become for you beautiful “makes in disguise” as you look at them from a different perspective – special one-of-a-kind art pieces, created exclusively by you. Even though these “tricky mental techniques” may sound nonsensical at first, you will be pleasantly surprised at their effectiveness in the long run as “parachutes to success” in your game and life. Just as I have used the “humorous quips and antics” of a “Dr. Cue” show to entertain with on literal misses, you can use the special mental tips in this article to “never miss again” and to discover the Picasso within your mind and heart! On a side note, I have not missed for over 30 years and I look forward to adding to my “gallery of shots” until next time when... The “Doctor’s In” The Drs In... 4 8-Ball News & Views Everything Pool Players Need in One Place FREE SHIPPING + EASY 1 YEAR RETURNS *Applies to all orders $50 & up to the lower 48. 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