|
***
Fall/Winter
2024 Season ***
Team &
Individual Standings
Week #4 Posted
*** Congratulations ***
Harmony {Mike) won Public House {Mark}
for the
Winter 2024 Championship
*** Congratulations ***
Gentries {Mr. Beery's) won Gentries {John}
for the
Winter 2023 Championship
***** NOTE
*****
This website is provided as a
courtesy to the players in the league.
It takes me about 20 minutes
per week to do all of the stats and publish them here if I
don't have to go tracking down missing scoresheets so ...
in addition to sending a pic of the sheet to Laura each
week, please also send a copy directly to me.
If you have any questions or
concerns about the league, schedules, teams, players,
rules, etc. please contact Laura.
If you have any questions or
concerns about the accuracy of what's posted on this
website, contact me directly.
John (516) 835-1058
Congratulations to Tack Room
{Bob} for finishing in
1st place over Keiley's {Tim}
in
the Fall 2018
A couple of things that I'm
working on. While it's easy for some to be able to access
this website to get the stats that they want to see, I
would suspect that others might appreciate getting it in
printable .pdf format and e-mailed directly to them so
thay could bring it along to their next match and share it
with the rest of their team. I've already worked out most
of the bugs so if you're interested, send me an e-mail
(with your name and team affiliation) to
john@thepoolleague.com.
Also, I'd like to start
working on simplifying and explaining some of the rules
that we have in this league. Yes, there are a lot and yes
some of them are confusing but the point of them is to
attempt to even things out between the good and not so
good teams without resorting to ratings, innings,
handicaps and all sorts of other things that can even get
more confusing. This league was and will continue to run
on the premise of "play to win" as opposed to "play to
screw your opponent into losing".
So the 1st thing that
I'd like to try would be for you to participate in some
poll questions and let's see how much of a response we
get. You can try the poll by clicking
HERE.
Congratulations to Tack Room {1} for finishing 1st in the
Fall 2017 League and
Kiley's {Tim} for coming in 2nd
Congratulations to Kerryman's {Frank} for taking 1st Place
in the finals vs TNT at Waitstill's this past Wednesday
Final Team Standings,
Playoff Schedule Week #3
&
Week #14 Individual Standings
Posted
(Still missing a couple of sheets)
Summer
Season Playoff Results
Congratulations to Carlos from Sport Billiards {Paul}
for winning 1st place in the Double Elimination Tournament
for his team last night. He won 7 games straight without a
loss to secure the win. Don from T.N.T. secured 2nd place
for his team and Billy took 3rd place for his team
Peppers.
I walked into Sport Billiards at about 7:30 last night,
bought a beer and never found the time to finish it. There
were a few issues with things getting out of order in the
beginning but we worked them through. Only having 2 tables
to play on and split at different ends of the pool hall
didn't help either but we made it through and most of the
feedback was positive. Learned a few things and I did take
some of the suggestions seriously so for the next time,
I'll do better. Finding a place with 3 tables would help
even more. Madeline was playing exceptionally well last
night and had a fan club cheering behind her. She's going
to win one of these tournaments outright one day. Special
thanks to Danny who "took one for the league"
and had to play an extra game (which he lost) because of a
screw-up I made with the schedule. Also special thanks to
Tony M (from Sport {TM}) for jumping in on his own and
helping out with running the tourney. Cost me a few drinks
but I definitely got the better part of that deal. Thanks
also to the owner of Sport Billiards, Carlos, for letting
me use his place and supplying food for everyone during
the tournament. My thanks to all who showed up. Thanks for
the suggestions and positive comments (the negative ones
too) and let's get the Fall Season started on time this
Wed.
As of now we're
locked in with 32 teams in 4 divisions. There's another
team that just called today to get in but unless we can
get 7 more, we'll have to stick with what we have. I'd
rather stick to the 32 without any "byes" than
to spread thin and have off days during the season. The
only holiday this season is the Wed before Thanksgiving.
We'll probably only have the top 16 teams in the playoffs
and the last playoff game (maybe the last two) will have
to be moved to another day besides a Wed to accommodate getting the Winter Season started on time. Again it's a
matter of having maybe 40 teams start playing in a new
season right away or having them all wait an extra week or
two while 4 teams finish up their season. We'll cross that
bridge when we come to it.
If anyone knows of any teams that still want to play, have
them call before Saturday and there's the possibility (but
no guarantees) that we can get them in.
I'm looking forward
to having a great Fall season and good luck to all in it.
Thanks,
John
Summer 2015 Season
Starting Wed 7/15
A little more about me, my goals and how I'd like to help with the league.
First off...rumors that I'm taking over aren't true. Laura is in charge but I do have a lot of influence with her.
For those of you that don't know me, I was involved in and ran the league for about 20 years before other issues (to be explained at a later time) compelled me to give it up.
My goals...
Communication - there is already a Facebook page where we can all interact, post whatever anyone wants to about their games or anything else and that I can use to interact with everyone, explain rules, etc. and have an open forum of communication. Search
Facebook for the "Long Island Pool League". Like it. Add it. Whatever, and let's get it started.
Restore the Individual Stats - a lot of people have been asking me about this and I'm going to rewrite the programs to get it done. Things have changed since I first started with the league when people used to complain that they didn't want to spend a quarter on the pay phone in the bar to call in their scores (Yes. The league and I are that old). Going forward I intend to have a special number set up so that at the end of the match, both team captains will take a pic of the scoresheet and text it over. We'll work out the details later but this is the way I'd like to go with this.
Consistency - I want to be able to set up the seasons so that everyone knows what's going on and when every season will start. As of now, we're going to run a short summer season and then get back on track with the Fall season starting on September 9th. Registrations will be due no later than the week before. Now you know (and you will be reminded) so if you miss it? We'll miss you that season.
Expansion - Purposely left this for last. There certainly aren't near as many bars as when we had 128 teams in 16 divisions of 8 so we'll never get there again but in reality with the programs that I've written to do the schedules and keep track of the stats, it's actually easier to run with more teams. Why I left this for last? If we do well with my first three goals, this one will take care of itself.
Go to Facebook. "Long Island Pool League". Let's get this going!!!!
The
Final Playoff match between Lisa's and Kerrymen's {Frank}
will be held this Wed, July 1st at the Bold O'Donoghue in
Oceanside.
On
another note.... I, John Wilson, have decided to get more
involved in the running of the league. I'm going to work
in concert with Laura to try to revitalize and expand it
as much as possible. It's a difficult job and Laura has
been pretty much doing it by herself for the last few
years. I intend to bring back the individual stats,
modify/explain some of the rules and ultimately
communicate more openly with and among the players in the
league.
Welcome to the Winter 2011 Season
Many bars have many requests, most of them being �I do
not want to play this bar� and �I need to be in the
same division as that bar�.
We do our best to accommodate everyone, however
some requests cannot be accommodated without travel.
It�s difficult to make everyone happy all the time as
well as have all 48 teams get along. Please understand
that we do try to accommodate your requests, but there may
be other issues preventing us from honoring your request
as well as the bar owners request will take precedence
over yours.
Remember if it were not for the bar owners sponsoring your
team, you would not be playing pool.
We do ask that we make these wonderful, supportive,
understanding and GENEROUS bar owners that sponsor your
team as well as the other 47 teams in the league HAPPY.
On another note, we have received many requests over the
seasons for us to DO / DO NOT mail standings to the bars.
This past season, we did not mail anything unless
you requested it. We
ask that you Call, Text, E-mail or Scream Really Loud so
that we can hear ya if you would like standings mailed
weekly to the bar. As
always, what is on the web is more up to date than what is
mailed. Again, to mail the standings out, is not cost
savings technique for us, but more of a waste of time and
stamps etc as many bars have stressed they do not want
them mailed or they just don�t get them so there is no
need to mail them. Please
let us know if you would like them mailed.
If we do not hear from you, your home bar will not
receive the standings via mail each week.
Good Luck to you all (but more to us for dealing with you)
J
Your
wonderful and outstanding and most of all forgetful league
operators;
Laura
&
Kim
(631)
921-5582
(516) 233-5563
Winter
2010 Season Finals
Pool House {Nash} - 1st Place
Pool House {JC} - 2nd Place
Fall
2009 Season Finals
Tack Room - 1st Place
Purple Frog - 2nd Place
The
Fall 2009 Season Welcome letter from Laura is copied
below:
Hopefully
this season will get off to a good start.
For those of you who do not know me, I am Laura.
I have been involved with the league for a number
of years working with both Carlos and John.
I am looking to improve the league to make it
better for everyone, but your help is needed too.
The
standings and any info you get in the mail are never as up
to date as what you can access on the web site.
I will make everything available for you to view
and print right off of the web, however each week the
standings that I have as of Friday night will be mailed to
the sponsored bar. The
standings will be updated frequently on the web and
anything printed off the web will be more up to date that
whatever is received at the sponsored bar. Team standings will not be mailed to the team captains
unless prior arrangements have been made through me. Also,
please note the rule about the winning team forfeiting a
point for not calling in their scores; I WILL enforce this
season (probably one of the only rules I will enforce all
season, LOL).
A
big question that I hear a lot is �Why do we have to
chip-in for the cost of the pool table on match night?�
This was not my idea, but I do agree with it.
The reason for this league is to bring business
into the bar on a typically slow bar night and as I do
work in a bar I am in complete agreement with it for the
reasons that it was instituted.
There have been a few complaints the league has
received about this rule from a few players and a few bar
owners but most of the people understand why it�s being
done. As with any changes there are always some who is not
going to be happy with it. If I were to make a rule that the bar has to buy the first
round of drinks I can guarantee you that I�d get a call
saying �But I don�t drink. Can the bar just give me
the $3.50 instead of the drink?� The reason the rule was
put into place is very simple. In order to expand the
league (which would ultimately result in different bars to
play at and less travel between the bars) I need to make
it more attractive to the bar owners. Now I do know that
some of the bar owners are not going to ask for the $12.
I�m certainly not going to force them to take your
money. It�s their prerogative, but if they do request
it, it�s up to the team captain to collect it from the
team and give it to the bartender/bar owner on the night
of play. There are some that may only collect from the
away team. Again, it�s their prerogative.
For
the last few seasons, it�s been difficult to keep the
league up to 48 teams. 48 teams is just above the break
even point for me after expenses for printing, postage,
awards, administrative fees, etc. For the little that is
made, it�s not really worth the aggravation, and as most
of you know, I will not let the league aggravate me.
With more teams, you�ll ultimately benefit from
shorter travel time and more diversified teams to compete
against. If I can ever get the league back up to 64 teams,
I can afford to reinstate the Gold Conference, but as in
the past seasons, I will do my best to group the better
teams locally so there are no blowouts.
I
am here for you and do answer 90% of all my phone calls.
If I do not answer and you leave a message, I will
call you back. John
will be around to help me out with the league and to keep
the website updated, however he will not be reachable.
One of the main reasons John has left the league is
that there is a lot of BS involved and I do not blame him.
I will not tolerate any BS.
I have a bigger set of balls than he does.
Everything is spelled out to you in the rules, and what is
not spelled out, I will answer.
One last thing I will enforce this season (prior
the season starting) is that �All league fees are due
for your team to be entered into the league�. I am available to pick up money or it can be dropped off or
mailed at anytime prior to the registration deadline. I look forward to your continued support and an improved
league. Please
call me with any questions or concerns (631-921-5582).
All the best for a successful 2009 Fall Season!!!!
John
asked me to add the following:
While
I won�t be actively involved in the day to day operation
of the league I am committed to helping Laura run the
league better than I could run it these past few years. I
just don�t have the enthusiasm that I had 10 or 20 years
ago when the league started. Laura lives and breathes the
pool league (and she does have a bigger set of balls than
me) and that�s what the league needs to survive (as
there is really not a lot of profit to be made).
Winter
2009 Season
Final Team Standings
are posted
Final Individual Standings are posted
Gold Conference winner is Purple Frog {FF}
Silver Conference winner is Tack Room {1}
Overall Winner (Gold & Silver) was The Purple Frog
The
Double Elimination Tournament was help at The Pool House
on Sunday May 17th. The winners of the tournament were:
1st Place - Gregg Spano - St. Stephen's {BS}
2nd Place - Keith Aiello - Bold O'Donoghue {2}
Steve Nash - Pool House {NTZ}
Notes on
the status of the league.
Laura is moving into being the prime manager, president,
owner or whatever you call it of the league. I'll be
stepping back and be responsible for providing her with
the customized programs that I've developed to manage and
run the league and will be responsible for the upkeep of
the website. The break this summer will allow me to close
out everything from the past seasons (trophies, awards,
etc.) so that she can start fresh this Fall. To be honest,
I've lost interest in running the league and I believe
it's time for someone who is more enthusiastic about
managing it to take over. Laura has been involved with the
league for many years now and will be a perfect
replacement to take over and hopefully expand the league
and make it better. Although I'll be in the background,
I'll be doing my best to help her manage and run it better
than I ever could by myself.
Posted 5/3/09
Final team standings and playoff schedules are posted.
Playoff seeding was determined strictly by point average
with 1 vs 16, 2 vs 15, etc. The winners of the Gold and
Silver Conferences will win Satin League Jackets. At the
end of the playoffs, the winners from the Gold &
Silver will play each other to win an upgrade to the
leather jackets.
Note that there is not enough time to fit a summer session
in because this season was pushed back because of the
holidays (Christmas and New Years) and because of late
registrations. The Fall Season will begin on time the 1st
Wednesday after Labor Day (Sept 9th).
Posted 4/28/09
Tomorrow (Wed 4/29) is the last week of the season.
Playoffs will start next Wed (5/6). All of the Gold
Conference teams are eligible for the playoffs (with the
exception of one that forfeited out and one for
non-payment of league fees). The top 4 teams from the
Silver conference (no wild cards) are eligible for the
playoffs except those that forfeited their last away game
of the season. Playoff schedules will be posted on the
website this Saturday evening.
Posted 4/7/09
Sorry for the delay in getting these posted. I was out of
town for the last week
Posted 3/28/09
Apologies for the voicemail filling up on Wed night. It's
fixed now.
Posted 3/7/09
Individuals up to week #4 are posted. Laura's still
working on week #5. We should be all caught up by next
week.
Posted 2/16/09
Apologies......due to a death in the family the team
standings were not mailed out last week and due to the
Monday holiday, they probably won't get to the bars by Wed
this week. I'm hoping to have everything back to normal
next week. I appreciate your understanding and again, my
apologies.
Posted 1/5/08
We had 32 players participate in the Double Elimination
Tournament yesterday. In the end, Pool House {NTZ} ran
away with 1st (Nash), 2nd (Tezi) and 3rd (Billy) place.
The Winter 2009 Season begins on Wed 1/28. registration
forms are available via the link on the left. Please
register (and pay the fees) early so that I can get the
season started on time.
Posted 12/22/08
Reminder that the Double Elimination Tournament will take
place at 2:00 PM on January 4th at The Pool House. All
trophies and plaques for this (and past) seasons will be
available at the tournament.
The 1st week of playoffs will begin on January 7th.
Playoff schedules will be posted here by the end of this
week. All the teams eligible for the playoffs are
highlighted in yellow on the team standings sheet. Please
take note that while the top 6 teams and 2 wildcards were
supposed to be eligible, the 6th team in division 6 was
excluded because they forfeited their last away game of
the season.
Posted 12/16/08
Okay, so I've been alerted that the Feb 1st date below
happens to be Superbowl Sunday and we definitely won't be
scheduling the playoffs for that day. The following
weekend is no good because of an APA tournament at the
Pool House. It's back to the drawing board.
Posted 12/14/08
Unfortunately since we got a late start on the season and
since both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve fall on a
Wednesday, the playoffs won't start until January 7th.
That also means that the earliest that I can start the
Winter 2009 Season will be January 28th. So here's how the
playoffs will work. Since it will be such a long time
between the last week of this season and the beginning of
the next season, 32 teams in the Silver Conference (top 6
in each of 5 divisions and 2 wild cards) will be eligible
for the playoffs. That will give more teams a chance to
play at least once between the end of this season and the
beginning of the next. All 8 teams in the Gold Conference
are also eligible for the playoffs. At the end of the 3rd
week of the playoffs, there will be 4 Silver teams left.
For those that remember, I did say that I would create a
2nd Gold Conference Division for the next season. If at
all possible, those 4
teams will automatically be in that 2nd Gold Conference
Division and will start their next season on Wed 1/28 with
what will be the 1st game of that season and also the
semi-final game of this season. I will adjust the
schedule so that the home team for that match will be the
one that had the highest point average this season. Their
final playoff match for the Silver Conference will be at
The Pool House an Sunday. February 1st at 1:00 PM. The
winner of that match will be the winner of the Silver
Conference and each team member (that has played at least
25 regular season singles games) will be awarded at least
a Satin League Jacket. At the conclusion of that game
(approximately 3:00 PM) the winner of that match and the
winner of the Gold Conference will play for the League
Championship and an upgrade to the Wool/Leather League
Jackets. For the upcoming season, the other 4 teams for
the 2nd Gold Conference Division will come from the top
teams in the Silver Conference so if you finished 1st or
2nd in the regular season of the Silver, you have a very
good chance of being placed in the Gold Conference next
season.
Playoffs for the Gold Conference will be as follows: All 8
teams make the playoffs. Their final match will take place
on Wednesday, January 21st. If one of the finalists is not
a bar from the Pool House, the match will be played at a
neutral bar of the leagues choice. If both teams are from
the Pool House, the final match will be played at The Pool
House. The final match between the Gold and Silver
Conference will be played at approximately 3:00 on Sunday
February 1st.
Final Note: There will be a Double
Elimination Tournament at The Pool House on Sunday,
January 4th at 2:00 PM. All of the plaques/trophies from
this (and previous) seasons will be there. Anyone can win
but "you have to be in it to win it". We have up
to 5 tables to use so the tournament will run smoothly no
matter how many people show up to play.
Posted 9/14/08
Note: We're not making up rules just to try to annoy or confuse anyone. Our intent is to even the playing field (in lieu of handicaps) so that the weaker teams might have a better chance of advancing in the playoffs. Please keep this in mind and work with us to get it right and make it fair for all.
The following rule has been reworded and moved to the top of the rule sheet. This is probably the most important rule in the league:
"The team captains may agree to modify any of the �Supplementary Playing Rules� rules before the match begins. In the absence of any prior agreements between the captains, the league rules will take precedence."
Amended: The "shoot again" rule does not apply to the break or when shooting the 8 ball.
Added: If a team places a player on the scoresheet who shouldn�t be able to play in a particular set, it is the responsibility of the opposing team to alert them and have that player replaced with a player who is eligible to play in that set. If nothing is said and the player starts the game, the game will count towards the team points but will not be included in the individual standings for the ineligible player.
Added: If you commit a foul and as a result of that foul your opponent is left with only the 8-Ball left to shoot at, your opponent will be awarded Ball-in-Hand.
Posted 9/11/08
Note!!! All New rules!!!! Please disregard all of the old
ones.
Show up at the bar every week (any bar and anytime you
want) and wait for the other team to show up. If you do
happen to be there at the same time they are, play a few
games. They can play their rules and you can play yours
(it really doesn't matter). Don't bother calling in the
scores or sending in the sheets (this way I can just pick
out of a hat who wins the prize at the end of the season).
Works for me. Whaddya' think??
Posted 9/9/08
Team packages (schedules, scoresheets, envelopes,
rules, welcome letter, etc.) have been delivered to every
bar except Point Break, BC's and The Pool House. These
will be delivered tomorrow. There are a few rule changes
this season. Read the welcome
letter (that's also included in your team package)
for a quick summary of the changes. There's also
information about the playoffs, Gold Conference, etc.
Laura and I will be calling all the team captains today
and tomorrow to make sure that everyone knows where
they're playing. If you find out where you're playing on
this site, send me an e-mail or leave a message on the
league phone (to save us a call).
Congratulations to the Island Park Ale House for winning
the Summer 2008 Season Championship over Pool House {CC}.
Posted 9/8/08
Schedules for the Fall 2008 Season are posted.
Team packages will be delivered tomorrow.
If you do see your schedule here, please e-mail me (or
leave me a message) to save me the phone call (I do have a
lot of them to make).
Posted 8/30/08
Well, Laura, Richie and myself did my best to get
everything started on the 3rd but that's not going to
happen. There are 44 teams registered (I need 4 more to
fill the last division). Also with the holiday weekend
there just wouldn't be enough time to get everything
delivered and make sure that everyone is ready to play.
So the season will start on Wed, Sept. 10th. To see if
your team is registered, please click
HERE. If you're not registered and want to
play, the last 4 openings are on a 1st come, first served
basis.
The final playoff match between Pool House {CC} and
Island Park Ale House will take place this Wed. Sept 3rd
at St. Stephen's in Valley Stream at 8:30 PM. (Would have
been at The Pool House but since one of the Pool House
teams is in the finals, it was moved to a neutral bar).
Come down and watch these two teams battle it out for 1st
place Wednesday evening.
Posted 8/18/08
Still not getting a lot of feedback on registrations for
the upcoming season (which is the norm).
To see if your team is registered, click
HERE. (Updated 8/21/08) Because of the holidays this year we will
have to start on Sept 3rd, with or without your team. If
you're not shown as "Committed" or
"Registered" please contact me as soon as
possible to let me know if you want to play.
Posted 8/8/08
Final standings are in. Top 16 teams make the playoffs.
Those colored in yellow are in the playoffs. Playoff
schedule will be posted tomorrow evening (after I verify
the posted scores against the scoresheets).
New season starts Sept 3rd. Get those registration forms
in to me as soon as possible. Thank you.
Posted 8/4/08
The last week of the Summer 2008 Season. The top 2 teams
in each division and 2 wild cards will make the playoffs.
Playoffs start on Wed 8/13. There will only be 2 teams
left in the playoffs by the 3rd week (8/27). The final
playoff match will take place on Sunday 9/7 @ 6:00 PM at
The Pool House (unless one of the Pool House teams is in
the final two). The Fall 2008 Season will begin on Wed
September 3rd. The season has to start on time because
both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve fall on a Wednesday
this year (along with the fact that we traditionally skip
the Wed before Thanksgiving too). Registration forms are
available by clicking HERE
or the link to the left. In order to start the season on
time an create a Gold conference (to group teams by talent
and make it more competitive for all), please get your
registration forms in as soon as possible.
Posted 6/4/08
Well, the Summer Season is about to get under way. A new
division was added and some teams were juxtaposed to limit
travel distances. There are 3 new teams this season;
Rigby's, Johnny Malone's (aka Lily Flanagan's) & Black
Shamrock (aka Cahoots/Triple Play/Harp). Pool House {NTZ}
is now Doc's {NTZ}. J. Farrell's {2} is now Waitstill's. A
couple of the J. Farrell's {2} players started a new team
out of J.C. Walker's. Bongo's, The Railroad, B.C.'s and J.
Farrell's {1} are taking the summer off.
New schedules will be sent out for Divisions #3, #5 &
#7. The schedules that appear here on the web site are
correct. I believe we contacted everyone to let them know
where they're playing tonight. Let's hope all goes well
tonight (and for the rest of the season).
Posted 6/2/08
The 11th hour. Schedules are made, printed and almost all
delivered. Season is due to start in less than 48 hours
and guess what?? My phone starts ringing with more teams
that forgot to register along with two new teams. Soooooo.......new
schedules will need to be made up and mailed for division
#3 (for all those except Shamrock in div #3, you're
schedule for the 1st week unchanged for week #1 but you
will get new schedules mailed to you next week). Bottom
line is that there is now another division. Boston Garden
& The Office are back in and I need to to go crazy
making sure everything is set up for Wed. It really would
be nice to get all the registrations in by the deadline
but I'm sure that will never happen.
Posted 6/1/08
Schedules are now posted for the Summer 2008 Season. Two
teams (Boston Garden & The Office) didn't make it in
due to late registrations. For the summer season the
schedules were made up with the emphasis on travel
distances and not team strength. It's a short season. Have
fun and stay safe.
I am expecting to have enough teams this fall to reinstate
a Gold Conference. Where your team placed in the last two
(and this summer) season will determine which conference
that you're ultimately placed in next season.
Congratulations to Pool House {NTZ} for
winning the Winter 2008 Season. Island Park Ale House
finished 2nd.
Posted 5/29/08
There are 36 teams now registered for the Summer Season so
we'll be able to get everything under way this coming Wed.
Schedules will be posted here by Sat night (possibly
earlier) and we'll be delivering the packages of
scoresheets, envelopes, etc. probably on Monday &
Tuesday. This being the summer league, I'm trying to set
up the divisions based on travel distances instead of team
strength. It's a short season (10 weeks) so let's have
some fun and leave the killer instincts for the upcoming
Fall & Winter Season. We will have a Gold/Silver
Conference this coming Fall.
Posted 5/27/08
The start of the Summer 2008 Season has been delayed by a
week due to late registrations. Yes, I know that I should
just start with whatever teams did register but then it
would end up costing me more than the fees I would collect
and it would be even more difficult to keep the travel
distances to a minimum. As of this past Friday evening
(when I should have been making up the schedules and
getting everything ready), I only had 24 teams. I figure
that after paying Laura to do the stats and mailings,
postage, envelopes, scoresheets, trophies, plaques,
jackets, paper, ink, toner, etc., it would have cost me
about $500 more than I would have collected. I was very
close to canceling the Summer season altogether (while I
don't care about how much I profit from this league, I
really can't see putting up with the aggravation and
losing money besides). Right now, I'm sitting with about
34 teams (enough to offset the league costs and make a
small profit) and as soon as I can find 2 more I'll get
everything ready.
So who did register on time? By register, I mean send in a
registration form and pay the fees?? Tina from Shamrock
(she's always the first) and S.B.'s. The rest were just
phone calls (meaning that I'm going to have to "make
arrangements" to get the league fees (oops...I forgot
to add fuel costs into the league expenses)). Okay, I'm
done venting for the moment.
Since the season has been pushed back a week, I was able
to schedule the final game of the playoffs between Pool
House {NTZ} and Island Park Ale House on Wed 5/28/08. The
match will take place at Bold O'Donoghue in Island park.
There's plenty of room to watch so stop by tomorrow night.
One final note....there's a major rule change this coming
season necessitated by those teams that insist on adapting
APA strategies to this league. This is a "play to
win" league. When you have 6 balls on the table and
your opponent only has one, the idea is sink all 6 of your
balls and the 8 ball like a true sportsman would, not
continually bury your opponent until he/she fouls out and
loses. The following rule (being instituted this season)
has been used in professional 8 ball before. Ironically,
it was instituted because people thought it boring to
watch 8-ball on TV where players continually made
defensive shots instead of just trying to win the match.
It also helped to speed up the game (something we could
all appreciate on a Wednesday evening). The
rule..............
On any missed shot (legal or otherwise), your
opponent has the option of having you continue your turn
(shoot again).
The idea behind this is very simple. For the most
part it won't make a difference in most of the games that
are played but....when you're up against that player who
is hell bent on hiding you until you foul out, he/she will
be forced to play to win.
Posted 5/3/08
Again I want to remind everyone of the Double Elimination
Tournament on May 18th at The Pool House at 2:00 PM. If
you participated in the league this past season, you are
eligible to play in the tournament. Anyone can win. All
the trophies/plaques for this season (and prior seasons)
will be there.
Final individual standings are posted. Sorry for the delay
but I needed to get all the sheets before posting them and
as it was very close for the top overall shooter this
season. Congratulations to Chuck Guaritano from Pool House
#3 who finished with the highest average in the league.
Congratulations also to Frank Freeman from the Railroad
with the most runouts (11). There was a huge
disparity in the number of runouts/8-on-breaks between the
divisions (Frank was the one that pointed it out to me).
Divisions #2 thru #6 had a total of 56 runouts/8-on-breaks.
Division #1 had 96. By the way, the record for runouts/8-on-breaks
was set close to 20 years ago by Tom McCloud who had 18 of
them in one season.
On another note.....since the Summer season doesn't start
until the 28th of May, only the final two teams will have
to play on a Sunday. The final match will take place at
The Pool House (unless one of the Pool House teams is in
the finals) on Sunday June 1st at 6:00 PM.
Posted 5/1/08
Week #1 of the playoffs went off without a hitch.
Purposely didn't make the courtesy calls but it looks like
all of you found out where you were playing by the
schedule on this website. It's now just after midnight on
match night and the playoff schedule for week #2 is
already posted.
Posted 4/19/08
I don't know why but some of you are getting a little lax
in calling in the scores?? Playoffs start on Wed April
30th. The top 5 teams in each division (plus 2 wild cards)
make the playoffs. Any scores not called in by the time I
make up the playoff schedule will result in 0 points for
both teams. Any postponed games that are not made up will
result in a forfeit for the team that postponed.
Summer Season?? Haven't made a decision on a start date
yet. It will be a 10 week season though.
Double Elimination Tournament?? 5/18 at The Pool House
(2:00 PM). Free practice that day from 1:00 PM until the
start of the tournament.
Posted 4/14/08
Note the name change to the league. Originally (20 + years
ago) the league started out as the "Nassau Bar Pool
League". About 8 years after that, it was
changed to the "Long Island Pool League". When
Carlos took it over (about 6 years ago) , he changed it
back to the "Nassau Bar Pool League". In an
effort to expand the league (beyond Nassau County) and
because I like the way it sounds, the league name is being
changed again to the "Long Island Pool League".
Posted 4/1/08
Rule clarification - The rules state that "one
player may play twice in only one of the singles
sets". That rule is in there because you need to have
a minimum of 4 players to play the match and if you have
only 3 players, you'll end up forfeiting 3 of the singles
games (and one of the doubles matches). Now as sometimes
happens, a team will let it's opponent play with only 3
players or they'll make a mistake and schedule someone to
play more than 4 times. In the absence of a protest, the
matches will stand as played. But what happens to the
singles games? It's not fair to allow someone to play more
than 4 singles games while everyone else is limited to 4.
Here's how it works. When a player plays more than 4 games
in a match, the first 4 that he/she was
"eligible" to play are counted towards that
players individual stats and the remainder are counted as
"ineligible" (but counted towards the overall
team score). Example: Gary plays 2 games in the 1st set, 2
in the 2nd set and 2 in the 3rd set. Both games in the
first set are counted towards his individual stats. Since
he was only eligible to play one game in each of the last
two sets, only the 1st game of each of those sets is
counted towards his individual stats. It does not matter
which are wins or losses. When he played that 1st game in
the 2nd set, he was eligible to play and it counts for
him. He wasn't supposed to play that 2nd game in the 2nd
set so the game does not count towards his individual
stats. The same goes for the 3rd set.
In doing the individuals this week, I just came across two
sheets where a player played more than 4 singles games
(yes, one of them was named Gary). The method described
above is how it's been done for the last 20 years in this
league and how it will continue to be done.
Posted 2/21/08
All the scores for week #5 have been called-in and posted
here. Week #4 Individual stats have been updated (added a
few missing sheets) and everything is printed and ready to
be mailed to the bars so you'll have it in time for your
next match. This is the way it's supposed to work. I'm
still missing a few of the scoresheets for weeks #1 thru
4. Take a look at the team schedule and note the color
codes. If your match isn't highlighted with a color it
means that I don't have that scoresheet. If you have it
(or a copy) mail it in as soon as possible. Remember that
in order to be eligible for any individual awards, all
your scoresheets must be submitted (I can't let anyone
leave out that one week that you may have gone 0 for 4 for
the night). You can expect the individuals for week #5 to
be posted no later than this Tue (if I have your
scoresheet).
A little note on what that word "preliminary"
means in reference to the Team Standings. What it means is
that the standings that are posted are based solely on the
scores that were called-in. People have been known to make
mistakes when calling in the scores. If you see a score
that's wrong, don't be overly concerned about it. Yes, you
can call in the correction but when I do the individual
stats from the actual scoresheets, the program that I
created will match the individuals to the scores that were
called- in. The scoresheet itself is the determining
factor as to what the correct score is and the Team
Standings will be corrected to match what's on the
scoresheets.
By the way...............I still have no idea who
"Danny" is????
Posted 2/19/08
Getting back to my 2/13 post about not being a mind
reader......Courthouse {1}...for weeks #1 thru #3 they had
a "Dan" and a "Danny" playing each
week. No names or signatures on the back of the sheet. I
could have gone through the season without a problem if
they had kept it like that.........but...........in Week
#4 on the front of the sheet they listed a "Dan
M." & a "Dan S." and they signed the
back of the sheet also. So who the hell is is
"Danny"?!?!?!?! I have NFI (no idea). Soooooo....until
someone on that team takes the time to give me a detailed
explanation of who was who and when who played, anyone on
that team with the name of Dan (or Danny) just won't be
included in the individual stats.
PRINT YOUR NAME LEGIBLY ON THE BACK OF THE SHEET. IF THERE
ARE TWO PLAYERS WITH THE SAME FIRST NAME ON YOUR TEAM,
ALWAYS INCLUDE THEIR INITIALS ON THE FRONT OF THE SHEET.
Posted 2/14/08
All the scores are in by Thu night and I'm able to post
your standings already (and start printing them out for
mailing in time for next weeks match). This is the way
it's supposed to be. A win-win for all.
Some other news.....I going through the individuals, I
think we broke a record in Week #1. In the J. Farrell's
{1} vs Railroad match there were a total of 8
runout/eight-on-break games between the two teams.
Surprisingly, Railroad had 5 of them and still lost the
match by one point to J. Farrell's.
Posted 2/13/08
Was able to get weeks #1 & #2 individuals posted.
Should have week #3 posted later tonight. Please note that
somewhere on the scoresheet (preferably the back) you
should print your name legibly so that I know who the heck
you are. Also note that I'm not a mind reader. I can
already see some problems that'll make it difficult to
accurately post your standings. There are a few teams out
there with duplicate names. For example there's a team out
there with a Mike H. and a Mike K. Now I know from
experience that I'll get a scoresheet from them where one
of the Mike's doesn't show and the scoresheet will only
show "Mike" with nothing on the back to tell me
which Mike it is. I have another team with a Dan & a
Danny. I know the same thing is going to happen with that
team too. Please always sign in on the back of the
scoresheet and if you have two (or more) people with the
same first names, always put their initials next to their
name on the face of the scoresheet (even if only one plays
that night). Thank you.
Another important note........
I can't enter your individual standings if I don't have
your scoresheets. Missing scoresheets are the main reason
that people get dropped from the individual standings
sheets because I don't show them as having the minimum
number of games played. Before you call the league to ask
why you're not included in the individual standings,
please check to make sure that I have your scoresheets for
all the weeks that you played. There is a real easy way to
do this. If you check the "Weekly Scores" on the
website, there's a color code that shows the status of the
scoresheets. If your score is highlighted in green, it
means that I do have the scoresheet for that match and it
was entered into the individual standings. If the score is
not highlighted with a color then I do NOT have the
scoresheet for that match.
Posted 2/7/08
Well it seems like a lot of people read the rule about
calling in the scores within 24 hours. I actually had all
of them by 2:00 PM today. What that means is that you can
now see the scores here by Thursday evening and I can
actually get the sheets printed and ready to be mailed so
that you'll have them at the bar by this Wed. So all is
good with that, so far.
I should have the individual standing (including week #3)
on the web site by this Tuesday.
I'm not getting many complaints about chipping-in $12.00
per team so that seems to be working well too. Funny but
the teams that are known to spend a lot of money at the
bar on match night are calling me to ask who they should
give it to and the teams that typically spend less than
$20/team on match night are complaining about it. Go
figure?!?!?
Let me tell you what I'm finding out from all
this.......contrary to what some teams may think.....pool
night is not a "free meal". The bars are in this
to make money. I'd like to make some too but unless I get
more teams, I'm just keeping my head above water right
now. The teams that typically spend a lot of money when
they play pool on Wed night and are generous with their
tips aren't complaining at all. Those that are looking for
that "free meal" and some free pool games
without spending more than $5.00 (including their tip) are
the ones that are complaining the most. Why doesn't that
surprise me? What's the deal here???? Does anyone really
think that a bar should pay me $23, pay $27 to $36 for the
table and then buy your team $20 worth of pizza so that
you can walk in with your soda, stiff the barmaid, eat 2
or 3 slices of pizza and play pool for
free????? Are you that cheap that $3.00 (or less)
per week is going to impact your budget that much that you
can't afford it?!?!?!?
Let me be very blunt about this. Those same teams that are
complaining about having to chip-in the $12.00 / team are
the reason that we had to institute a rule like this in
the first place.
If you do have a complaint about having to chip-in a few
bucks every week to play in the league, don't waste your
time complaining to the bar owner, barmaid, your team
players or the other team. Call me. Complain all you want.
I'll be happy to listen to you and pacify you while
thinking to myself what a cheap bastard you really are.
People write me with questions from time to time and
instead of answering them personally, I'm going to start
posting some of the better questions (and answers) here.
- How many teams in each division go to the playoffs?
(I was thinking it would be the top 3 or 4 teams in
each division) That depends on how many teams
are in the league, whether it's the summer league,
whether or not there's a Gold/Silver conference, etc.
To answer your specific question....32 teams this
season. Top 5 in each division plus 2 wild cards
(teams in good standing (no forfeits) with the next
highest point totals).
- What makes an individual player eligible for the MVP
recognition at the end of the season? (does their team
have to go to the playoffs?) Every team
gets at least one MVP plaque. The idea behind this is
that each team, regardless of where they finish the
season has some kind of award. It is usually the
person on your team that has the highest average on
your team and has played the minimum number of games
BUT......the team captain has the option of awarding
that plaque to anyone that he/she feels should be the
MVP for their team regardless of their average or the
number of games played as long as they let me know
before the end of the season. It doesn't even have to
be a member of your team (bar ownere, a fan that
cheers your team on every week, etc.).
- Does every team that goes to the playoffs get a
recognition plaque for their home bar? (or is it only
the top 3 teams in the playoffs?) The
top 3 teams in each division get plaques for their
placement in their division.
- What are the other recognition plaques that are
given out by the league? There are
plaques for 1st, 2nd & 3rd place players in each
division based on the individual standings. There's
also a plaque for the most runouts/eight-ball-on-breaks
in the league. There's a league leather jacket for the
top individual player in the league. There's also a
Double Elimination tournament at the end of the season
where you can win league jackets.
Fall 2007
Season
Final Standings are posted via the link on the
left under "Past Seasons"
Congratulations to Pool House {CC} for finishing in 1st
place and Papa Doc's {A} for finishing in 2nd place.
Note that these 2 teams have changed sponsorship for the
Winter 2008 Season. Pool House {CC} is now playing out of
Bongo's and Papa Doc's {A} is now playing as Pool House {NTZ}.
Double Elimination Tournament
The Double Elimination Tournament was be held at The Pool
House on Sunday January 13 at 2:00 PM.
Congratulations to the winner,
Sal Garcia from Pool House {CC}. Finishing in 2nd place
was Gary (G-Money) from Papa Doc's {B} and in 3rd place
was Jim Rago from Point Break
Changes
in the new season - please note well
There are going to be some major changes
in the upcoming season. First of all, Richie (owner of the
Pool House) is the new owner of the Nassau Bar Pool
League. Laura and I will continue to support the league
under his direction and hopefully be able to expand and
improve it.
After much discussion with Richie, the following changes
are being made:
In the interest of recruiting
new teams, each
"team" will be responsible for chipping-in
$12.00 each week to the bar that they're playing at to
help pay the expense of the table. We're sure that many of
you will balk at having to pay to play pool but it's the
only way that we can have any chance of expanding the
league. While the league fees haven't really gone up in
the past few years, other expenses have gone up.
Basically, it works out to about $23 per home game for
league fees. Add to that about $20 for a couple of pizzas
(or whatever other food the bar provides). Add on another
$27 to $36 for the cost of the pool table and it comes to
about $75 on average that the bar has to pay out for your
team each home game that you play. I can tell you from
experience that it's very difficult to talk any bar owner
into the concept of shelling out $75 to have 10 people in
his/her bar on a Wed night (some of whom might not spend a
dime). Bottom line is that if we can advertise this league
for $50 or less per night, we'll have a better chance of
recruiting new teams (and keeping the ones that are
already in the league). More teams, less travel, ability
to afford a gold conference, etc.
Now to put this into perspective, on a team with only 4
players, each player would have to chip-in $3.00 (to the
bar, not the league) every time they play. $3.00 per week
for 14 weeks works out to $42.00 for the entire season.
Chump change, really. And if you have more than 4 players on your
team, it works out to even less.
Other Rule Changes:
The rule about losing a point for not calling-in the
scores will take effect this season.
If you forfeit your last away game of the season, you will
be ineligible for the playoffs or any awards.
"The league reserves the right to change/create any
rule at any time during the season at our own discretion
or whenever it seems appropriate or just because we feel
like it." (we're going to call it the
"Harry" rule)
Posted 10/16/07
Cue Sticks & Supplies - I keep forgetting to post a
link to this site. One of the guys that used to play in
the league (Teddy from what used to be Theo's and most
recently O'Donoghue's) runs an e-Bay site where he sells
Cue's, Cases and Accessories. He's local to our area
(Freeport, I think) and he'll work with you if you mention
that you learned of his store here on the web site. Link
posted temporarily below and permanently on the right
sidebar.
http://stores.ebay.com/BEST-PRICE-POOL-CUE-STICKS-N-CASES
Posted 9/29/07
Still not getting all the scores called in. The new rule
will be made up this week, Mailed out on Week #4 and go
into effect on Week #5.
How it might read :
The winning team is responsible for calling in the scores
by 6:00 PM on the Thursday following the match. If the
scores are not called in by the winning team within the
prescribed time, they will forfeit one point from their
total score. If the losing team called in the score within
the prescribed time (even though it is not their duty to
do so) and the winning team failed to call in the score,
the losing team will be awarded that point. For the first
infraction of this rule, I will waive it if you call to
cry and whine that you didn't know about it. After the
first infraction, crying and whining will get you
nowhere..
Posted 9/22/07
Well that last post did prompt a few phone calls (and some
support on imposing a penalty for not calling-in scores).
Obviously, the people that access this website are more
involved with what's going on in the league. Those that
only get what the bar disseminates of the stuff that's
mailed to the bar are pretty much left in the dark. That's
unfortunate but there's not a lot that I can do about it.
I run into people every season (that have been playing in
the league for years) that don't know there is a web site.
Do me a favor (for those of you that can). Print out a
copy of the latest standings and individual stats before
you go to your match on Wednesday and leave the copies in
plain sight of the other team. If asked where you got
them, just let them know.
Posted 9/20/07
This whole concept of calling in scores must be too
difficult for some people to fathom. I'm still missing
scores from week #1 (meaning that they didn't mail the
scoresheets in either). I hate having to add more rules
(especially mid-season) but the only way to get the
"point" across is to have the winning team
forfeit a point for not calling in their scores. Be on the
lookout for the wording of the new rule here and in the
envelopes within the next couple of weeks.
Posted 9/15/07
Registrations again this season (as are all seasons) was a
nightmare. Before going on, my thanks to the few of you
that did register on time. For the rest, there will be
some changes next season. This "I thought I had 2
teams but I only have one"; "I know it's Monday
and we're starting on Wed but I forgot to register";
"You know I always have a team, why didn't you just
put me in?", etc., etc. has got to (and will) stop.
You wonder why the schedules aren't out until the last
minute? It's because of things like the above. Once I have
a solid number of teams (divisible by 8) it literally
takes me about an hour to get the schedules calculated. If
everyone were to actually register (and register the
number of teams that they really do have) by the
registration deadline, I'd have the entire season schedule
done, posted on-line and mailed a week before the season
started. The problem (well at least one of them) with this
league is that we've gotten too "friendly" with
the registration process. People assume that I'll know
that they have a team (or maybe even two), Had I done that
this season, I'd have scheduled Bongos, R.C. Dugans &
Rigby's this season and yet none of them have a team. Of
course if I neglected to put them in and they did indeed
have a team, I'd be the bad guy for leaving them
out.
For the record....the Winter 2008 Season will start
on January 16th. If you're not registered (and paid in
full) by January 9th, you won't get in. Period!!!
I've already posted the Winter 2008 Registration Forms via
a link on the left so there isn't any excuse to not get it
and the fees in on time for next season.
Soapbox time.....I did enjoy running this league years ago
and when I had 128 teams, I did make some extra money on
it. With only 48 teams in the league and with the expenses
of awards, jackets, tournaments, printing costs, postage,
etc., I'll be lucky if I make a grand this season (which
will help offset losing a few hundred on this last summer
season). The money that I do make on the league is
definitely not worth the aggravation (especially the
registration nightmare) to make it worth my while. Add to
that that I still have the task of going out and
collecting registration fees from a lot of the bars that
haven't paid yet (and some of them will require a second
(and possibly a third) visit).
Posted - 9/11/07
Note that only the first few weeks of the full league
schedule that was posted here last night (9/10/07) were
correct. The last 2/3rds of the schedule were incorrect. If you did happen to print it, please discard it.
As of 9:00 this evening, I was able to fill the last
division so all of the schedules in Division #6 have been
changed. As of this evening, I believe that between Laura
and myself, we've contacted all of the teams via phone,
voicemail and/or e-mail to let everyone know where they
are playing
NEW!!! There is a link to the left that will give
you access to all of the individual schedules. Just click
the link, select the team you want and print out the
schedule(s) that you need.
Not new but I'm not sure that everyone knows it's there....There's
a link to the left named "Address List". On that
web page is a list of all the bars participating in the
league. If you click on the bar name, you'll be taken to a
Google map that will show you exactly where the selected
bar is. From within that map you can click the "Get
directions To Here", put in whatever address you're
at and get detailed directions to the bar.
Posted 9/10/07 ..... Finally !!!!! At the 11th hour
(literally)!!! The
nightmare is "almost" over.
The 47th team was added at 11:30 tonight (I do still need
one more team to fill division #6).
The team that has the "bye" in that division
this week is the team that called to register on Friday
night with 2 teams and when I called to verify on Sunday
they really only had one. Well at least that problem was
offset by another team that had registered 1 team but
really had 2 and forgot to tell me. The above only
scratches the surface of what goes on during the
registration process (if you can call it a process).
I am hoping to get another team to fill the
"bye" spot so if anyone knows of a team (or some
players wanting to form a team), please let me know.
Enough of my rambling.....Schedules are
posted (click the link on the left).
If you do view your schedule here, please send me an
e-mail to let me know and save me (and/or Laura) the phone
call.
|
