Despite abandoning the presidency to a more able man, I still retain some influence and have been requested to carry on my quarterly reviews. So here goes...
5 matches into the regular season and we have just the 2 teams unbeaten and only 1 team still searching for their first win. The biggest shocks have come in the number of top players who have had their butt's kicked by 'so-called' lesser players (yes, Mark Barnes, we'll come to you shortly.)
Championship A:
Pinoy Mafia have assembled a crack squad of sure shooters (all from the Philippines...Hello, Seh Chul) and look set to be this year's dark horses as they lead the Dark Horses who were dark horses last year but now everyone knows about them so they're surely not dark horses anymore but they are still called Dark Horses. I hope you can follow the logic of that preposterous sentence? Boomtown Rats and Wonky Dics (yes, that's what everyone thinks of them as anyway) have been inconsistent and Strokers have been bemoaning their lack of available 1900 players. King Pub The King (dreadful name! not least because there are more than one of them and they seem to have at least one queen - they do play above a transgender bar after all) look dangerous and have only played matches against the top 4 so far. Shenanigans are determined to be relegated this season!
Championship B:
Scrooge Pub Marvelous (another dreadful name - it's not 1950s England here) lead the way although suffered a surprise defeat last time out to the combative JJ's. It leaves Sin Bin Bombadeers - they still can't spell - as the only unbeaten side in the division although they have had a bye.King Pub Seoul and the Pain look like they are trying to embark on a truly average season. Misfits have finally found their level, even if their table remains decidedly un-level. Super Power have been hot and cold and Kozels (the league might want to check on sponsorship rules) seem to be content with propping up the rest.
Championship C:
Phillie's Frigates lead the way - that just sounds wrong, doesn't it? - Phillie's have never won anything before!!! Anyway, they have a slight...wait a minute, they lead by 12 points - what is going on in this division? Anyway, they are leading from Black Hole (again, surely a mistake?). The two tradition powers of the lower echelons, Scandal and Sweet Life, are struggling in mid-table - although both have had a bye. Shih Tsu have become this year's Zzyzzxxxzxzx and are making it difficult for me to spell their name. Pheasants are living up to the Phillie's traditions. Ballisticks have a new team and a worse spelling and Blame the Cue have the most appropriate name and are yet to win a match.
Special Games:
This is the year of the underdog - 1900 players beware! In the first week (I didn't think this would be beaten), Wonjun Kim stunned Seh Chul Park in the very first match of the season. It would take a special player to deny Wonjun the goliath trophy, step forward Mark Barnes...sorry, step forward John Redmond. Coming into the match he was rated at 1390. He took down a player who finished in last year's top 10. A gap of almost 500 points. It would have been over 500 had Mark not lost his first round to Brendan. Kathy Koh looks destined to take out the female goliath award as she stunned Kelly (the only Wonky Dic without a Wonky Dic) with a brilliant black.
Good luck to all with the next 5 matches.
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- Written by Dominic Johnson
- Category: News
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The Winter/Spring 2017 Itaewon Pool League Season will kick off with our regular organisational meeting on Wednesday January 11th at 7:30pm in Shenanigans. Anyone wishing to enter a team should sign up on the night with a 100,000won deposit and full contact details regarding the team. The league season will officially break off the following week on January 18th.
Details:
Organisational Meeting: 7:30pm at Shenanigans on Wednesday January 11th
Deposit Required: 100,000won (Full Fees 350,000won per team)
Details Required: Sponsoring Bar, Team Name, Captain's Name & Contact Details
There will also be proposals and issues that need to be discussed before the new season starts and we would encourage all captains to stick around and participate in any votes that maybe required. If you have a proposal for the new season please post on the forum or contact one of the new league officials (Lenny, Chris, Mark or Jumie).
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- Written by Dominic Johnson
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Oz and Bernard showed true Hall of Fame form in helping us put this schedule together. It is not perfect, and I am sure that some teams may feel "screwed", but hopefully all will understand the complexity of the process.
With 23 teams, byes are necessary. With two teams playing out of all but one bar, and with all of the other parameters of our league, it was truly a nightmare coming up with a workable schedule.
As you can see, we had to spread the season out over 21 weeks in order to make it work. Most teams have 10 home and 10 away games, but some teams are at 9 and 11 or 11 and 9. Two teams, Fat Alberts Scandal and JR Pub Pinoy Mafia, only play 19 matches. We apologize for these things, and ask for your understanding. They could not be avoided.
The first matches will be played tomorrow, Wednesday, January 18th.
Here is the schedule for the first week:
Scrooge Pub Wonky Triangles at Shenanigans
Shenanigans Boomtown Rats at King Pub The King
Bull and Barrel Misfits at Sin Bin Bombadeers
King Pub Seoul at Scrooge Pub Runners
Wolfhound Kozels at JJ's
Fat Alberts Scandal at Phillie's Frigates
Bulldog Shihtz at Dolce Vita Sweet Life
Dolce Vita Blame the Cue at JR Pub Black Hole
Phillie's Pheasants at Wolfhound Dark Horses
JR Pub Pinoy Mafia at Bulldog Super Power
JJ's The Pain at Bull and Barrel Ballisticks
Sin Bin Strokers have a bye the first week
Good luck to everyone this season!ÂÂ
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- Written by Lenny Erickson
- Category: News
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This coming Friday sees our End of Season celebration. Please come and join us at the Crown Hotel for a complete review of an extraordinary season. There should be some laughs, some tears and plenty of alcohol.
Details:
Date: Friday, December 16th
Time: 7pm
Venue: Crown Hotel
Entrance: Free to those who played 3 or more weeks of the season (1-2 weeks = 15,000won, guests = 30,000won)
At the banquet we will hand out all the trophies and awards for both individuals and teams. Draft beer will be available for the first time at the banquet and as usual there will be a 50/50 raffle, a range of excellent food and the night's entertainment will be compered by Mr. Lenny Erickson.
The Finals:
Many congratulations to the 3 winners of each of the divisions on Wednesday night and, just to break with tradition, we'll start our round up in the B Division which saw possibly the result of the season. Sin Bin Bombadeers took the title after destroying Zzyzx with a brilliant set of opening games to race into a 6-0 lead. Nerves crept in during the second set but Dabu and Jason steadied the ship and brought the boys home. This was a staggering upset. Zzyzx had only been beaten once all season prior to last Wednesday (7-8 against the Champions of the A Division - Dark Horses). In that run they had straightened out the Wonkies, drowned the Rats, poured water on the Smokin' Aces and annoyed the Angry Birds. Sin Bin were 100-1 shots before Wednesday but the form book was ripped up in specatular style. In the top league, the Dark Horses were really anything but that. They also produced a wonderful opening salvo and raced into a 6-1 lead at one point over the Smokin'Aces. Four runs were recorded as the Nags neighed their way past the league winners. The best match of the night was at Shenanigans where Boomtown Rats and Dic-Taters played out a nail-biter. Rats eventually took 3rd place after midnight as they subdued the determined underdogs. In Championship C, reason returned to the throne and Super Power did indeed prove to have too much force for the Free Shots. Once again, congratulations to all the winners and commiserations to the failures.
Thank you all for another great season and it has been a pleasure. See you at the banquet!
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- Written by Dominic Johnson
- Category: News
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