ARCHIVE: GOOD STUFF WORTH KEEPING!
FOUNDER MEMBERS SS LEAVE UIC
OCTOBER 2013: Straightshots were founder members of UIC (the Universal Interleague Competition) when it started in the summer of 2005, winning the Premiership title in its inaugural season.
SS have participated in all but one season up to and including Season 18 and without doubt are the longest-serving league competing in UIC. However, after a long run in UIC, we have now decided to withdraw because of the circumstances which took place at the end of last season. Without wishing to elaborate on everything, I will say that Joe, one of the UIC admins and captain of Deep Pockets (our opponents in the play-off Final), deliberately went out of his way to manipulate a cheap win. We have timed evidence proving this, yet the UIC Head Admin, Roy, has refused to discuss the case since October 2013 by ignoring Shelle and myself.
Since that farcical night, Deep Pockets have merged with Deadstrokes (Roy's league) which explains why Roy needs to keep Joe sweet. We will not be a part of any form of manipulation or cheating, nor support a Head Admin who ignores an official complaint because it suits him to stay chummy with the chief culprit involved.
Due to his notoriously heavy-handed and over-officious approach, Joe is an admin who has instigated more problems in various interleagues than anyone else I know. His judgement at the best of times is questionable and last season he deliberately screwed SS up on more than one occasion. Due to his ineptitude and incompetence as an UIC admin, SS will NOT compete until he is removed.
It is a sad state of affairs that UIC's longest-established members should be treated like dirt on the HA's shoe. Such loyalty does not deserve the behaviour of unscrupulous and blatantly unfair individuals, so we refuse to participate in Season 19.
Sometimes in life, whether or not people dismiss online activity as being unimportant, one has to stand up to wrong-doings on a matter of principle. This is one such case where Shelle and I will not accept blatant manipulation and gross cheating in UIC, and will not carry on regardless to appease others. We must remember the age-old adage that cheats never prosper.
TWO CONSECUTIVE UIC DIAMOND DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
WINS FOR SS
MARCH 2012: SS win one of interleague's top prizes for the third time in total and become the first league to hold both UIC 5-v-5 and UIC Swiss titles at the same time
In September 2011, Straightshots achieved something which had not been accomplished since 2005 – we won the UIC Diamond Division Premiership title! Given that in 2005 UIC held its inaugural competition which SS won, it's been 13 long seasons for us to finally repeat that historic achievement. And we had to do it from being complete dead in the water underdogs, which made the feat even more amazing!
With a few weeks to go until the end of the regular season, SS had a record of won 5 and lost 9. We were sitting in 5th place and out of the top 4 required to qualify for the Premiership play-offs. Under the captaincy of Jonathan (leafed_leafs), the team became increasingly stronger with the resolve to keep fighting. And slowly the results improved enough to turn a losing season into a positive one – the next 6 matches were won and SS finished Season 14 on 11-9. More impressively, they leap-frogged over Deadstrokes and grabbed that vital fourth spot!
In the play-off semi-final, SS comfortably defeated a deflated DS team which had allowed a seemingly safe play-off position to dissipate. Then, in the preliminary final, Latino Pool Legends, the regular season runners-up, were beaten by Jonathan's emerging team which reached the Premiership Grand Final for the second time in three seasons. And there we met the powerful team of Freedom, regular season winners and the force which had basically dominated most interleagues during 2011.
Not to be outshone again in the Grand Final, SS cantered home to a 3-0 win in match one and just about pipped FR in match two by 3-2, grabbing an impressive 2-0 overall win and with it, our first UIC Premiership title since Season One!
I personally have been very pro-UIC for as long as I can recall SS taking part, other than when we withdrew from UIC for a season following controversy around Season 9 I think it was. I have been fortunate enough to have captained SS to three UIC Emerald successes (and winning three Emerald Captain's award to boot) but my only captaincy in the Diamond Division led to a disastrous campaign and bottom place. So I know just how hard it all is and take my hat off to Jonathan and his team for winning this title.
Not only did SS take that UIC title, but we actually retained it in March 2012, making it back-to-back Diamond championships for the first time in 15 UIC seasons, a marvelous feat given that the League were struggling activity-wise for the opening months of the year. SS again did not have the best of regular seasons but managed to make the play-offs and shock favourites Sexy Poolerz in the Final.
SS also took the first 4orce 4v4 carry interleague prize and for good measure won the UIC Swiss Season 9 title for the sixth time and first for three seasons; in fact, we became the first team to hold the UIC 'double' at the same time - champions of main UIC and UIC Swiss!
Turning my attentions to our interleague situation in general, I believed that our fortunes were taking a turn for the better a couple of months ago. After the incredible success we had as a league last year, SS endured a torrid start to the New Year in interleagues. We lost so many quality players, quite a few like Nish and Ben defecting to Freedom, amongst others. So our slump as a major force in interleagues coincided with the emergence of a quality FR team, one which took over our general domination of inters during the first quarter of 2011.
However, slowly but surely, SS has seen the return of some top players over the summer months, individuals such as Brad, Pita, Nick and Nhan. In raising the quality of our playing strength, the SS teams have improved results-wise hence our overall prospects are definitely looking far rosier than several months ago.
Before I took over from Steven (steven.rules) as SS Interleague Coordinator in 2009, Straightshots had moved from being one of the top inters teams in the early days of MLP, PLC and UIC to one of stark mediocrity for several seasons, merely making up the numbers in the way teams like MIB, PDZ and UO did for a long while in recent seasons. Just look at the few trophies SS won between 2006 and 2008 – very few comparatively speaking (see 'Roll of Honour'). With Marie's invaluable contribution from 2009 onwards, SS slowly but surely climbed back onto the inters pool map by being hugely successful. Winning the early UIC Swiss championships certainly paved the way and got our players into the winning mentality. And we pushed on from those early days to becoming one of the top inters teams around.
I mention this because I continue to be hugely proud of the Straightshots reputation. I class us in the top bracket with Pool Fiction, Latino Pool Legends, Break And Run and most recently Freedom and Sexy Poolerz. SS are one of the best and I want to keep us right up there. I get mocked for the effort I put in, for the Commitment and Cam policies we have adopted, but the hecklers are envious and jealous of the organisation and success of the Straightshots Pool League.
And our UIC Premiership win in March merely continues the trend. SS are winners and I hope you, as a member of one of the best leagues around, will proudly play your part in the coming months to keep us right up there!
UIC SWISS: STRAIGHTSHOTS GOING FOR TITLE NUMBER SIX!
FEBRUARY 2012: Overall, UIC Swiss has been very kind to SS. We have won the team championship no fewer than SEVEN times.
A successful template incorporating good organisation was set up when UIC Swiss first started in 2008. Marie (milly_molly03, more recently Un1que) was our UIC Swiss captain and with the excellent cooperation of our players we dominated UIC Swiss for a long while, winning the first 5 competitions in succession. With Marie stepping down, I then departed for a new challenge and was fortunate enough to take ICA (International Cue Addiction) to the UIC Swiss Season 6 championship, which finally broke the SS monopoly.
With myself moving onto Eight Ball Crushers and Marie giving up pool more or less altogether, Straightshots slipped into a relative decline in UIC Swiss, finishing in a disappointing third place in Season 6 and again in Season 7. But after I returned from 8BC midway through Season 8, we turned a poor start into a mini-revival and managed to grab the runners-up spot behind Freedom, having been an all-time low (fifth) before Shelle invited me back. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Marie for her fantastic organisation and management skills which brought SS unparalleled success in UIC Swiss. It was great getting her back again for the last two seasons because her contribution of support and motivation has always helped enormously.
For the first time since SS won UIC Swiss (Season 5), I was involved from the start of the season in Season 9 and my task was to bring back the team championship to All Mixed Up! Having missed two and a half seasons through being with ICA and also 8BC, I am delighted that things went to plan and SS was again successful in Season 9 and 10 after missing out for three seasons. Whereas SS lost interest in the Swiss whilst I was gone, now we have plenty of dedicated players who want to succeed with us again. The proven successful formula is back and with it, the commitment and dedication of some very talented players.
This article is a pep-talk of sorts (with a couple or reminders further down) but more importantly a sincere thank you for your involvement so far. Shelle and I really do want SS to win this title again and hopefully you will remain focused to make it happen during the remaining weeks. We are lucky to have the likes of Karen and Shelle plus myself who will give up our places to let others play; my belief is to encourage players to play and win for the team, even if it means I do not get to play myself. For me, the team comes first and foremost each and every time.
A reminder that UIC Swiss is by invite only. With only 5 places to fill at each tourney, please accept any invites coming your way. If you want to jump prior to an invite, please let me know beforehand so that I do not invite too many! Also, remember we have a 'Stay 'n Play' policy... every point COULD count so even a 0-2 can be turned into a positive 3-2, and those 3 points could be vital in the team standings – never give up and leave early. Check out the UIC Swiss page on this website for full information about the competition. With YOUR commitment and dedication, together with our typical proven SS organisation, I am sure that we will continue to challenge for the place that we made our own for 5 successive seasons, followed by two more championship wins – First Place and CHAMPIONS!
STRAIGHTSHOTS END THE YEAR WITH A RECORD FIFTEEN INTERLEAGUE TITLES!
DECEMBER 2010: What a fantastic end to the year STRAIGHTSHOTS enjoyed in interleagues! Having won the World Pool Championship's World Cup Season 7 Final to add to the Global Interleague Trophy (for the second time), SS won the WSOP (World Series of Pool) Championship by defeating Deadstrokes 2-0 in the Final held on December 20th and 21st.
This latest achievement means that Straightshots won no fewer than 26 trophies in 2009 and 2010. Given that the overall trophy count of the League was exactly 50 at the time, the last two years gave us phenomenal success.
In WPC Eight Ball Crushers were defeated by 2-1 in the best of three play-off. 8BC won the first match 4-3 but SS stormed back to take the second leg 4-2 and force a decider. This Straightshots took easily by 4-0 on December 1st to win the WPC title for the first time. Deadstrokes provided the opposition in the WSOP Season 2 Final, which SS reached by finishing second ion a tough group followed by superbly beating the strong Pool Fiction and Latino Pool Legends teams in the play-off qualifier and semi-final. DS themselves did very well to reach the Final, knocking out Eight Ball Crushers and Break And Run. But SS proved to be too strong in the Final and won 4-2 and 4-3, with Pita taking the seventh and deciding game against Cameron.
Said SS Inters Coordinator Nigel, "The success of SS in interleagues this year has been incredible. Winning WSOP and WPC recently are firsts for the League. Congratulations to everybody who played in our GIT, WPC and WSOP successes. We now have FIFTY trophies in total, an amazing record which is second to none."
"I am proud we won GIT but I am happier about the WPC win because we came so close but could not quiteachieve the glory of bringing home to SS the World Cup victory," said Shelle who was the WPC captain, "andfinally we have it." Nigel added, "We won WSOP the hard way. Second place in a tough group was a good result in itself, but defeating PFN and LPL in the play-offs just to reach the Final showed the strength of our team."
At the beginning of December, SS beat Freedom by 5-3 in the deciding best of 9 match to capture the Season 3 Global Interleague Trophy. The SS team overcame a strong FR line-up to win the Final by an overall score of 2 matches to 1.
The success against DS in WSOP took the SS total of interleague competitions won in 2010 to a record-breaking 13, beating the tally set during the previous year of 11. "2009 set new grounds for SS in terms of trophies won," said Nigel, "and I never thought for one moment that it would be bettered. But we have grown from strength to strength. It's a measure of the commitment, reliability and, of course, quality of all of our players which has achieved so much, together with excellent organisation and captaincy abilities. Well done, everyone!" He concluded with, "the essence of Straightshots is TEAM WORK at its best. Or as Marie, former Joint InterS Coordinator, used to say: T.E.A.M. – Together Everyone Achieves More. So true!"
STRAIGHTSHOTS WIN THE G-I-T TITLE FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THREE SEASONS
NOVEMBER 2010: Straightshots beat Freedom by 5-3 in the deciding best of 9 match to capture the Season 3 Global Interleague Trophy. Jonathan (drunk_canuck), Don (hp_king22), Nick (nick_a_dick), Nhan (nhanxx) and captain Shelle (shelle4461) were the team that overcame a strong FR line-up to win the Final by an overall score of 2 matches to 1.
G-I-T SEASON THREE FINAL, MATCH THREE REPORT: STRAIGHT SHOTS 5, FREEDOM 3
Players' won/lost records in the Final shown in brackets. *Break
GAME 1: fr_ll_eskimo_ownage_ll (2-0) v ss_drunk_canuck* (1-1) – REGULAR 8 - 1-0 FR
Jonathan got the decider underway with a hard break but failed to put any balls down. FR captain Petey sunk a spot then missed but Jonathan made a crucial mistake by missing the open balls which let Petey back in the driving seat. He sunk his next five balls, potting an angled green in bottom left to leave him just the 8-ball. A bounce off the centre pocket gave him a shot at top right, which he took with aplomb to seven-ball Jonathan for a surprisingly easy opening win.
GAME 2: fr_legend.skillz* (2-1) v ss_hp_king22 (3-2) – BANK THE EIGHT OR CUE BALL - 2-0 FR
Cameron's hard break did not produce a pot which allowed Don to quickly sink two spots. But he gave his opponent another early visit and Cam sunk 4 balls plus one of Don's before a horrible leave on his red made him try a bank, leading to a scratch. Don then potted 5 balls comfortably, giving him a chance to bank on the black which was just to the right of top middle. However, his attempt nicked both sides of the pocket and stayed out. Cam took his time to pot his 3 remaining stripes, then banked the 8-ball – which was just to the left of bottom middle – superbly into the top left pocket.
GAME 3: ss_nick_a_dick* (2-3) v fr_travis (1-4) – REGULAR 8 - 2-1 FR
For the third game running, the break failed to sink anything, Nick leaving a spread-out table but he was quickly sitting again after a uncharacteristically bad miss by Travis. Nick did not waste the gift of this open invitation to clear the table and duly obliged, neatly potting each ball in turn, mainly to the top and bottom right of the table. With the cue ball located near the top right pocket, he finished with a long black in the top left pocket – the second 7-ball of the match.
GAME 4: ss_nhanxx (3-1) v fr_A_D_A_M_* (2-1) – REGULAR 8 - 2-2
Adam's open break put down a blue spot but he quickly let Nhan take his turn and the SS player potted five stripes (and one spot on a rebound) before snookering himself against the bottom right cushion. He was left to try a bank on the yellow bottom right, which he excellently achieved, leaving a relatively comfortable orange which was potted bottom left. Nhan then sunk black in the opposite bottom pocket to level the scores.
GAME 5: fr_legend.skillz (3-1) v ss_nick_a_dick* (2-4) – REGULAR 8 - 3-2 FR
This time Nick's break potted a purple stripe but left a congested table mainly to the right side. After a tap by Cameron, Nick missed his next attempt and allowed the FR player to sink one ball before putting down a spot off a stripe by mistake. With another ball down, Nick had a difficult long pot top left which just glanced off Cam's red and missed. Cameron was not going to miss this golden opportunity and took his time in sinking his remaining 5 colours. With his cue ball in the jaws of the top right pocket, his attempt on the 8-ball bottom middle was successful, proving the 'no-line' theories incorrect!
GAME 6: ss_nhanxx (4-1) def fr_chap_and_lad* (1-3) – REGULAR 8 - 3-3
Sid failed to pot anything with his break, leaving nearly all of the balls in the right hand side of the table. Nhan potted 3 stripes but gave a ball in hand after a safety by Sid. He sunk 4 balls easily enough but badly missed an angled cut bottom right. Nhan then deliberated long and hard – his 3 remaining balls were near the top right pocket but he didn't have a clear pot available. He opened up his 3 balls but gave Sid an easy red but the green, potted bottom middle, sent black safe bottom right, covered by Nhan's red. Then followed a pot and a safety, with Sid attempting to bank Nhan's yellow. Ball in hand to Nhan brought red pushing black just short of the pocket; Sid's reply was too heavy a touch on Nhan's red... and the 8-ball dropped out of turn to make it 3-3.
GAME 7: ss_shelle4461* (2-0) def fr_chap_and_lad (1-4) – REGULAR 8 - 4-3 SS
SS captain Shelle took to the table with her cautious safety break, taking stripes early on and leaving most balls to the right against the cushion. After a couple of safe taps, Sid potted a few balls, snookering behind yellow to the left. But he messed up the ball in hand, scratching top left with a thumping bottom spin shot to pot his red. A disastrous mistake which gave Shelle four relatively straight-forward pots. Her final orange went down top right, leaving a long black. After taking a long time to line up, she potted home bottom right for an unexpected bonus win.
GAME 8: ss_hp_king22 (4-2) def fr_ll_eskimo_ownage_ll* (2-1) – REGULAR 8 - 5-3 SS
Petey's safety break left most of the balls unmoved; both players then traded safeties for a while, with one ball potted each along the way, before Don managed to sink a second ball. He then opened the balls up with a crucial pot and proceeded to clear the table without much fuss. With the black ball resting an inch away on-screen from the bottom right pocket, Don's tap with his cue sent the 8-ball slowly down to record a 5-3 victory.
CONGRATULATIONS to Shelle and her SS team for winning G-I-T Season Three, emulating what we did in Season One. An exciting 2-1 win against Freedom after beating Season 2 champions SP in the semi-final. Well done to Don who won the G-I-T MVP award. :)
