On March 24, 72 teams from all over the United States, came to Valley Forge Pa. to play in one of the largest pool tournaments of the year. Buddys Billiard Leagues sent 5 teams to this dream team event.
from Phoenixville"Suds and Studs" from Chester County "Come and Get Us"
captain Benji Crigamire captain Alan Armstrong
Tom Derosato Paul Zelesnick
Jerry Britt Russ Lloyd
Ron Bates Jim Hammond
Steve Haines Andy Tobelmann
Greg Leflar Joe Petrella
from Chester County "Red Rose All Stars" Lee Trythall
Jim Ryan from Kutztown "Foxys Billiards"
Steve Gill captain Jim Hertzog
Conley Doss Matt Slobodine
Doug Sutton Rob Krause
Fred Christy Steve Warwick
Joe Coover Jim Krause
Ron London Randy Drilbelbis
Gary Druss Rob King
from Western Berks Co. "R&G Shooters" Ray Staska
Richard Parker
Robbie Sands
Cliff Manuel
Curt Lafollette
Jean Foust
The payouts for the dream team event were, Teams from Buddys Leagues that won money were,
1st place-$8000 Come and get Us -------$375
2nd place-$4000 Foxy's Billiards-----------$100
3-4th place-$1000 Red Rose all stars-------$100
5-8th place-$600 Suds and Studs----------$100
9-16th place-$375
17-32nd place-$100
All the teams I talked to stated that they had a chance to win more matches but they made mistakes or the balls just did not roll their way. The only team that just never got a chance to show their stuff was the R&G Shooters the tables, balls, and player advantages seem to always go to the other team. I know they have a lot of talent but it does not show when your sitting in the chair all the time. The one thing that I was very proud of was that no team from my area complained about handicaps. The tournament was run very well, allmost every match started right on time. I liked the way they balanced tables by holding a match with the 6-7's, that always go long, then putting a match with the 2-3's that caught the tables back on time. One of the observations that I noticed was, many of the 4 handicap players had break and runs, I watched two 4's shoot back to back break and runs against the R&G Shooters. This is the BIG tournament and this is when everybody has to play their best and everybody expected to see alot of great shooting. The players from Buddys could only put together 2 break and runs, Bob Koller 5 handicap and Joe Petrella 6 handicap.
There was a singles tournament for the 2-3's, 4-5's, and the 6-7 handicap levels. There were 15 players in the 3 handicap tournament and Mike Jansen from Buddys Chester County division came out the champion. He won $400 and a six foot rosewood trophy. CONGRATULATIONS!!
also in the singles matches were Gary Druss 4 handicap, he won $300 by coming in 5th in the largest tournament containing 4-5 handicap players. Andy Tobelmann 5 handicap won $100 by coming in 9th.
Finally, after losing in the dream team event all teams could enter into a second chance tournament for a $100 entry fee. In this tournament each team puts up five players and each player only gets to play one game, the first team to win 3 games wins the match. 40 teams entered this tournament on sunday, including 5 players from the "Come and Get Us" team, each player puting up $20 for the entrance fee. Not 1 single break and run was shot by the team but they kept capitalizing on the other teams mistakes. I am not capable of this but I learned a long time ago "if you can't run 8 balls don't shoot 7" and game after game the opposing players cleared off the tables to leave only one or two balls. The come and get us players cleared the open tables. The matches were like watching reruns, each match just like the last one. Without a single break and run just solid open table shooting they won the tournament. The 1st place prize was $1500 and a 4 foot rosewood trophy.
Congratulations!!! Captain- Allan Armstrong
Jim Hammond
Paul Zelesnick
Russ Lloyd
Andy Tobelmann
