President's Message
Itaewon Pool League Members
I am your pool league president. I realize that I was not technically, or even remotely, elected as such. I was granted the right to be your pool league president, and I want to thank you for that. I also realize that I don't have the mandate of the league members, but I do have a solemn responsibility to you all.
I feel that I fell short in carrying out that responsibility regarding the A Division playoffs. And I would like to apologize for that.
As many of you may know, there was an unfortunate forfeit and disqualification in the Championship match of the A Division. It was brought to our attention during that match that one of the players was a ranked professional Korean billiards player. According to the Itaewon Pool League rules, this player was ineligible to play, and therefore the playoff match should have resulted in a forfeit.
Let's go back a week to the first of my mistakes as your president. During the quarterfinal playoff match between my team, the Boomtown Rats, and the disqualified team, one of the players on my team mentioned to me that the player in question was a professional. I was surprised to hear that, but my team told me not to raise the issue, because it would seem like a case of sour grapes and they felt that we should have won the match nonetheless. I decided not to raise the issue and wait until the season was over. At that point, I was planning to quietly investigate this and prevent the player from playing in the future, if the rumor proved to be true.
That was a mistake. And I wish to personally apologize to Scrooge Pub Wonky Dics for that. I should have stepped in at that moment to prevent further damage. I forgot my responsibility as president, and instead made that decision as a team captain and as a private individual. This apology goes out to the whole league, because my inaction jeopardized the integrity of the league.
After the final was played, there was some debate over what constitutes a professional player, and a lot of time was spent on trying to determine if, in fact, this player was a professional.
While this was unfolding on Thursday morning, I contacted the opposing captain, and that captain told me that they would accept the outcome of the match, although they felt that it was a problem that needed to be resolved for future seasons. The Executive Committee accepted that, and I contacted the captain of the disqualified team and awarded them the victory.
That was my second mistake. I once again forgot my role as your league president. In my mind, if the opposing team accepted the outcome, then the problem was resolved and peace was preserved and friendships league-wide were not destroyed.
Meanwhile, indisputable evidence was pouring in that the player indeed was a ranked professional, recognized by a major Korean billiards association. This evidence could not be dismissed.
The next morning, after yet another sleepless night, I contacted my harried Executive Committee and gave them the disheartening news that the decision needed to be reconsidered. We met one final time, and with the help of some very wise advisers, came to the conclusion that our first ruling was inconsistent with the rules and previous rulings. Many times in the past teams have forfeited playoff games due to playing players that had not met the minimum game requirement. One team was expelled from the playoffs because of intentionally losing matches in order to play in the Best of the Rest tournament. We then changed the ruling to a forfeit.
In summary, the Executive Committee did its job. It took a while, and mistakes were made along the way, but the right conclusion was reached, unfortunate as it may be.
Once again, I would like to apologize for my own part in all of this. I felt that my intentions were good, but in the end, my personal feelings should not come into play in making this type of decision. It doesn't matter if I agree with a particular rule or not, the rules are there for a reason. Rules can be amended, repealed or modified, but they cannot be ignored.
I will continue to serve you as president of the Itaewon Pool League, and I will endeavor to do so with more wisdom than I displayed on this occasion. If anyone has an issue that they would like to raise with the committee regarding this, please feel free to contact us.
Lenny Erickson
- Details
- Written by Lenny Erickson
- Category: News
- Hits: 1618
The Business End of the Season Review
Well, we are rapidly approaching the playoffs and, indeed, a few teams have played their last regular season matches and many things are still up for grabs. Who will be top player? Will the Dark Horses hold on to top spot despite winning 2 less matches than Wonky Dics? (I'm not bitter!!!), Will John Owens complain again about Sunday playoffs? Will anyone understand Johnny Magyaros's next forum post? Will JJ bring bring his own special brand of personality to the banquet and interrupt things as he did during the captains' meeting? And finally, who will win Championship C?
Championship C:
I know, it's not the normal place to start, but seriously, take a look at the standings! 2 points covers 4 teams. Lenny has been congratulating himself the past few weeks, complimenting himself on the fine job he's done in organising such even and competitive divisions (Rat Killers are still moaning though). Nowhere is this more evident than in the 3rd tier. All 4 teams have matches against higher ranked opponents, so it may well be a case of may the best loser win! Sweet Life possibly have the easiest match on paper but their opponents could still take top spot in their division. Any slip ups could allow Scandal, Black Hole and that team named after a dog to steal promotion.
The last time I talked about this division I accused teams of being far too friendly. That has changed thank god, I don't actually believe in god, so thank the pool gods. Ballisticks and Frigates got into a bit of argy bargy about the length of time their match took. Official sources tell me the match ended at 3:06am and Frigates have claimed gamesmanship was employed. However an Irish spokeswoman (I don't wish to reveal my sources) said "There was no such thing as slow play, we are both simply crap teams." Just to prove how crap Frigates (they were leading the division half way through the season) are, they have slipped below Pheasants in the standings (How did that happen?). Blame the Cue simply have nothing to play for this week apart from to see which JJ can come out on top.
Championship B:
This is also an interesting league to be in this week. The utterly dominant and champions elect all season have been Marvelous, However, the previous 3 weeks have seen them renamed as Mediocre. Losing 3 in a row has left a small chink of light for Misfits and King Pub to snatch top spot and claim the dreaded p word. Maybe this division is really about which team doesn't want to go up more. Misfits players were seen opening talking this week about what they need to do to claim 2nd!!! Where is the glory in 2nd? What ever happens, Sweet Life vs Misfits is the game of the week (No-one in the league has ever said that before). At the opposite end of the spectrum, the big question is which JJ's team will fail to beat the drop. The Pain have a 3 point lead and the slightly easier game on paper...however if Kiwi and JJ fire then the Pain really could live up to their name. JJ's play Bombadeers who will no doubt be getting riotously drunk celebrating Jason's departure...is celebrating the right word?
Championship A:
The least interesting division...Strokers could finish top with a big win but they don't want to...again, why does everyone want to finish 2nd!!! Wonky Dics are, to use a Trumpism, the winningest team but look likely to finish 3rd. King Pub Kings have given up...except Doo Mann. Boomtown Rats will finish 4th and Pinoy Mart (sorry Mafia) will be the dangerous floaters. In other news Rat Killers are in this division too.
The big question remains over who will be top player by the end of the season. It's the only real thing of interest in this division...The Riddle vs The Thoto, (what is a Thoto?...hold on I'll look it up...Google said I misspelled it and really wanted the word Photo) so The Riddle vs The Photo - The Photo has simply stormed the league this season and has won 2 singles tournaments, rookie of the year, and probably rear of the year and most charming smile of the year as well. Can he take Top Player too? No pressure Paul :)
- Details
- Written by Dominic Johnson
- Category: News
- Hits: 1209
The Itaewon Pool League Executive Committee Ruling on the A Division Championship
Upon further review of new evidence brought to the committee, it is clear that a player on the Wolfhound Dark Horses is a registered professional. The rules are very clear that if a player is registered as a professional, that player is not eligible. The committee did not want to make any major decisions until concrete evidence was received.
The rules are also very clear that if an ineligible player plays in a playoff game, the player's team must forfeit the match.ÂÂÂ
Therefore, the committee has no choice but to forfeit the match to the JR Pub Pinoy Mafia. JR Pub will now be recognized as the champions.
Because the player in question also played in other playoff games, it is the decision of the Executive Committee that the Wolfhound Dark Horses shall be disqualified from the entire playoffs.
Therefore, 1st Place will be awarded to JR Pub Pinoy Mafia, 2nd Place will be vacated this season, and 3rd Place will be awarded to Sin Bin Strokers.
We apologize for the delay and confusion in this matter. We have, as a committee, discussed this at great length, and this is our final and unanimous committee decision.
운영진에서 알려드립니다.
울프하운드의 선수 중 프로에 등록된 선수가 있었음이 확인 되었습니다.
운영진의 입장에서는 이 모든 상황에 대해 최대한 공정한 결정을 내리려 했으나, 새로운 증거가 제시된만큼 힘든 결정을 내리게 되었습니다.ÂÂ
울프하운드와 JR Pub Pinoy Mafia의 챔피언쉽 게임은 물론 ÂÂ 해당선수가 참여했던 모든게임은 기권으로 처리 될 것이며, ÂÂ 그에 의거해 A리그의 챔피언은 JR Pub Pinoy Mafia, ÂÂ 3등은 Sin Bin Strokers에게 주어집니다.
여러가지 상황으로 인해 공교롭게도 이번시즌 A리그의 2등은 없습니다.
이런 결정을 내리게되어 매우 유감스럽지만, 운영진도 힘든 결정을 내린만큼 ÂÂ 너그러운 양해 부탁드립니다.
- Details
- Written by Lenny Erickson
- Category: News
- Hits: 1267
A message from Jason Braedon from Sin Bin
Jason Braedon from Sin Bin will soon be leaving the country. He asked me to post the following message on his behalf. Since I am a benevolent leader, I agreed to post it. And here it is:
"As most of you know, I'm leaving Korea this month permanentlyÂÂ and I'm having a few farewells with different groups that I've been part of for a long time. I've had many fun, perhaps too many, fun nights with the pool league and many of you. I will be gone before the pool banquet so to say goodbye we will be hosting a pool tourney at Sin Bin on Saturday June 10th @3:00 pm. Entry fee will be 10 000 per person, I will add money to the winner's pot, and some beer for everyone as well. Hope that you can come by, have a brown pop or two, great conversations and memories, and play some pool!
Jason"
- Details
- Written by Lenny Erickson
- Category: News
- Hits: 1095
