The APA 8 Ball South Coast Championships

The South Coast Region of the APA held the 8 Ball Championship at The Arena Sports Grill and Bar in Simi Valley, California this past week end of June 6-7, 2009. The 9 Ball Championship will follow next week end and also be held at the Arena. The Arena just happens to be my home court but my teams were not fortunate enough to make it this season and so The Maximillians have been relegated to the postion of spectators and sometimes cheer leaders for our friends who did make it. That is not all bad, but I believe I am safe to say that most of the players on The Maximillians would rather have been involved in all the sweat and stress that goes along with the race for those coveted spots at the APA Nationals.
A lot of 8 ball teams arrived at the Arena Saturday morning all full of excitement and anticipation. The prize for the 4 winning teams would be a trip to the APA National Team Championships in Las Vegas, NV Aug. 21 – 29 at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, and of course a lot of the cost of that trip is covered by the APA South Coast Region. When the clouds of chalk dust cleared only four lucky 8 ball teams would be making their plans for that trip in August. That means that, mathematically speaking, one team out of 8 would make it. Those are not bad odds either, so there was good reason for every single player there to be looking forward to the next 12 to 36 hours or so of 8 ball battles.


Of course pool would not be pool if there were not a few cocktails to be consumed. Heather had the situation well under control on that battle front. Double wielding a couple of Buds, Heather backed them up with a great smile as she did her part to lighten the mood of the competition which managed to get heated to a boiling point on several fronts at a time any way. The entire staff of the Arena ran around waiting on pool players and spectators non-stop with cold beverages and great food from the kitchen of the Grand Vista Hotel which is conveniently right next door to the bar.
Dan was on hand to make sure that APA members and other customers were all taken good care of as he ushered in a birthday party group and did what ever else it took to keep thing moving along smoothly. I even noticed him sweeping up some spilled pop corn from the floor at the end of the bar while the bartenders were busy catering to customers. Dan has gone above and beyond in making the APA welcome at the Arena and has encouraged many 8 ball and 9 ball teams (my own included) to make the Arena their home.

Taz and Phil were both there making sure the all the players and matches moved along according to schedule, at least as much as humanly possible. They really have these tournaments down to a science. While some players are kind of slow pokes and some matches drag on beyond belief it all seems to work out in the end when Phil and Taz are holding the reins. The DJ Booth seems like it was made for Taz and she takes full advantage of the control booth like setup to keep the tournament information updated and on target. She keys into her trusty laptop computer, the most recent match results and then post that info on the main Bracket Posters out on the patio where everyone and anyone can follow their own team or like in my case the team of friends who were still in the competition. In the APA all players handicaps are recalculated immediately after every match allowing the league to keep players and matches properly rated according to the APA Equlizer System even as matches develop throughout the day and evening hours.
Since there are no full time referrees on duty during these championship matches, someone has to be the judge when there is a possible rule infraction about to occur. Phil and Taz, as "Tournament Directors", share in the responsibility of over seeing the matches and either of them can be summoned by a player to observe a close hit. They must position themselves in a way that allows them to observe the shot then judge, based on APA rules, as to the legality of the hit. Some times a game, a match or even the championship itself can hang in the balance of outcome of a single such shot and it is very important that the call be made within the APA rules. As you can see in Phil's expression, it is a duty taken very seriously.