2 0 07 A PA N AT I O N A L T E A M C H A M P I O N S H I P S
‘HAVE FEAR’ SURVIVES
HILL-HILL FRIGHTS
8-Ball Open winner tops record 689-team field at APA Team Nationals.
Story by David Surratt
on where each falls on a skill specthe double-hill, that slide ended. With
MATEUR POOL tournaments may
trum ranging from 2 to 7.
Have Fear only needing one pocketed
not bring the world’s greatest tal(In the middle of the spectrum was
8 ball to send the Houston club home,
ent to the table, but they still tend
APA 4 Jamie Havard of Lucedale,
Davis settled down and let his limbs
to separate the men from the boys.
Miss., who won the 64-player 8-Ball
hang loose, eventually capitalizing
And by men, we mean men who can
Wheelchair Challenge over APA 7
on a tough Pastorek miss to keep his
stomach the high pressure of the final
Charlie Hans from Cincinnati, Ohio,
team alive in the team match, 2-1.
rounds. Men with an unyielding hunby taking two games before Hans
That’s how it goes in this game, as
ger for victory. Men who wear pink.
could take five. For all the major APA
seen countless times during the APA’s
“Most men won’t wear pink,” exwinners, see page 55.)
National Team Championships, held
plained Don Davis right after saving
his Houston, Texas, team,
Dominant Force, from a
3-0 sweep in the American
Poolplayers
Association
2007 Open 8-Ball semifinal
round. “We’re secure about
our masculinity,” he deadpanned, “so we decided
to wear these shirts in the
semis. We also have gray
ones.”
Of course, these teams are
co-ed, and we’ll get to the
ladies, but for now we’ll
just say that the two of
them on Dominant Force
looked more, well, at home
in their vivid, short-sleeve
knit tees than the men.
Whatever color he sported, Davis seemed secure
enough about his match Have Fear had the guts to tough out two hill-hill cliffhangers and finish atop the money list.
It’s a controversial system, but unAug. 17-25 at the Riviera Hotel & Cawith Paul Pastorek, the APA skill level
deniably popular. This year saw a resino in Las Vegas, Nev. One roll makes
7 captain of Have Fear, a daunting
cord 689 teams show up for the Open
or breaks, and individual matches are
squad out of Glen Burnie, Md. True,
8-Ball event — the finals of which
always up for grabs — especially when
he managed to drop three straight
took place Aug. 25 in the “Top of the
they’re sponsored by the APA. The orgames to shaved-head, goateed PasRiv,” a chandeliered, 62nd-floor ballganization’s “Equalizer” handicapping
torek in their 5-3 race, including
room crowning the Riviera. Outside,
system means that players typically
one that featured an elegant five-shot
the August sun was merciless. Inside,
have either more or fewer games to
safety dance that went on for several
the tournament room was smokeless,
take from their opponent, depending
minutes. But when it came down to
A
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE APA
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One had to wonder if a
thanks to Vegas’ late-2006
bunch of cold sticks was
smoking ban. Players who
really the image this team
had puffed table-side in
wanted to rally behind, but
the past had to wait it out
a two-set comeback, capped
this time, heading down to
off by Clayton Allhouse’s (3)
the nearest exit for a quick
blowout win in a 5-3 race
one whenever they got the
over Ken Parquette (4), was
chance.
convincing. The deciding set
Dominant Force stayed
found the Cold Ones’ Steve
more than alive through
Heritage (3) pitted against
match number four, with
a higher-ranked Daniel ViCourtney Peters (skill level
landry (5). That one went
3) sticking out a race to 2
down to the wire, with Viagainst Have Fear’s Mike
landry eventually pulling
Fair (also a 3). It wasn’t
out the case game on a wickthe prettiest match of the
ed 8-ball cut that chilled the
day, but it was one of the
Cold Ones’ spirits and sent
most dramatic. After sloghis Bridge Street crew into
ging through a full table
the last finalist position.
in game one only to blow
“Just try to make balls and
the 8 ball, Peters sat down,
keep going,” said Vilandry,
held her head in her hands
decompressing after the win.
and wept silently for a mo“This is good.”
ment. Things picked up for
In the final showdown,
her — she even bagged a
Have Fear’s Mike Fair
win in that game after Fair
squared off against Bridge
similarly missed the 8 —
Street’s Ed Pimental (5),
but the tears never left her
whose specs, moustache and
eyes, one with an eyebrow
slicked-back hair suggested
piercing above it, the other
Gene Hackman’s surveilwith a thin trail of ruined
lance expert character from
mascara below. Clearly, this
“The Conversation.” After
was more about general
snagging the first game of a
tournament pressure than
4-2 race, Fair entered a backit was about missing a ball.
“I really just want to be Parquette, top, and Pastorek went mano-a-mano at the end. and-forth zone of amazing
and miserable shots, defying all atintimidate an opponent. We just try to
left alone right now, thanks,” managed
tempts at predicting where the next
get it done fast.”
Peters during a timeout as teammates
one would go. A deft double combinaThings were still hopping at the othoffered support.
tion on the 10, 11 and 15 balls. Then a
er table, as Bridge Street, a gang from
As it turned out, alone worked pretnearly straight-in miss on the 9. Then a
Fairhaven, Mass., defended their own
ty well for her. Another Peters win in
perfect safety, followed by a scratch the
2-0 lead against the Cold Ones from
game two meant Fair was vanquished,
most distant spectator could see comAkron, Ohio. In terms of attire, it
and the team match score now stood
ing. Sometimes a skill level 3 is a conwas every man and woman for themat 2-2. That’s as secure as it got for
sistent 3; other times,
the Texas team, as another couple of
they’ll average out at
3-rated shooters met for the do-or-die
3 by flipping between
match. Pink-clad Hugo Pena did what
levels 5 and, well, 1 —
he could against Have Fear’s Bill Franwhich isn’t supposed to
cis, but ultimately went down when
exist in APA play — and
Francis sank five straight balls plus
that was Mike Fair in
the black one for game, set, match and
the finals.
a berth in the championship round.
In the end, he faired
“We came out with our two sevens,”
— J O E W R I G H T ( H AV E F E A R )
well, winning the race,
explained Joe Wright with regard
2-1, with help from Pimental’s own
selves on the Bridge Street side. The
to Have Fear’s tournament strategy.
miscues.
Cold Ones went for uniforms of a sort.
Wright was the team’s other Equalizer
“My heart is still racing like crazy,”
“Nothing beats a Cold One,” read the
top-dog besides Pastorek, and his win
said Fair, sweating profusely on his
backs of their blue shirts, right underin the second set over tenacious Barry
way to a bottle of water. “That was
neath a bouquet of cues jammed halfStrickland (7) solidified things early.
completely nerve-wracking.”
way into a barrel of ice.
“Seeing two sevens come out tends to
“SEEING TWO SEVENS COME
OUT TENDS TO INTIMIDATE AN
OPPONENT. WE JUST TRY TO
GET IT DONE FAST.”
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2 0 07 A PA N AT I O N A L T E A M C H A M P I O N S H I P S
Set two found Liza Digrazia (3) of
Bridge Street up against Jason Koch, a
lanky health care analyst with a penchant for impatience and an unpredictability akin to Fair’s. Digrazia raised a
few eyebrows on Saturday with solid
play some opponents saw to be consistently un-3-like. She’d won a key semifinal set over Cold Ones’ Jennifer Repay,
but this one would come out differently.
After a lot of cluster-busting, safety play
and a heavy dollop of coaching (“No,
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no, no,” said Paul Pastorek at one point,
walking out to address Koch’s confusion), Digrazia took game one, but the
next two and the set would belong to
Koch. In yet another double-hill game,
Koch was granted ball in hand, which
he managed to parlay into a five-ball
run that left his team up, 2-0.
“I play with a shovel, not a scalpel,”
he laughed afterward. “When that’s the
case, you gotta get some lucky breaks,
and I got them.”
But this 3-0 sweep wasn’t to be, either. Big Joe Wright (7) registered the
most painful 8-ball scratch and loss of
the day after a lot of hard table work
against Bridge Street captain Scott Demelo (6). Quiet Demelo capitalized,
and Bridge Street was on the board,
2-1.
Alicia Pastorek (3), Paul’s wife, went
to bat next for Have Fear, up against
Vilandry.
“Joe Wright coaches Alicia,” Coach
Pastorek smiled during the set. “I don’t
want to bring that home with me.”
After some gutsy play, Alicia ended
up committing her own set-losing 8ball scratch, dropping both games to
Vilandry in the race-to-2. The third
hill-hill team match of the day was set:
Paul Pastorek versus Bridge Street’s
Ken Parquette (4) in a 5-2 race for the
title.
Alas, it was no contest. Parquette
made a good show, executing a couple of brilliant safeties at one point
in game two, and prompting a welldeserved gin-and-tonic delivered by
teammate Digrazia. But the 7 played
like a 7 as Pastorek, coaching himself, found a way to get out of trouble
every time. After four straight wins,
he found an ugly 1-6-8-ball cluster
in the middle of the table, plus an
unpocketed 4 ball pinned to the side
rail. A failed safety from Parquette
gave Pastorek ball in hand, and that
was that. After picking through the
center mess, Pastorek drilled the
4 ball home, sank the 8 in the side
and smiled to an extent well beyond
what his face had seemed capable of
as teammates rushed out for hugs and
APA organizer Jason Bowman bellowed, “Haaaave Feeeear!” over the
P.A.
Asked what he’d do with his share of
the $25,000 top prize, Paul Pastorek
sobered noticeably.
“Well, I have four children. ...”
Enough said. As for Bridge Street
captain Scott Demelo’s piece of the
$15,000 his team would take for second place?
“We missed our flights back by making it this far,” he said. “So some of
this is going toward hotel and flight
expenses.”
That’s serious pool-playing — something else that separates the men from
the boys.
October 2007
8/31/07 1:59:27 PM
2 0 07 A PA N AT I O N A L T E A M C H A M P I O N S H I P S
8-BALL OPEN
Winner: Have Fear
Members: Michael
Fair, Jonathan Beam,
Jason Koch, Joseph
Wright Jr., Paul
Pastorek, Alicia Pastorek, William Francis
and Michael Alt.
Home: Glen Burnie,
Md.
Prize: $25,000
Final match: 3-2
Top finishers: 2. Bridge St., of Fairhaven, Mass., $15,000; 3.
(tie) Dominant Force of Houston, Texas, and Cold Ones of Akron,
Ohio., $7,500; 5. (tie) The Chosen Ones of Trenton, N.J., Ms.
Rhonda’s Pool Fools of Summit, Miss., 20th Street of Philadelphia, Pa., and This Is It of Jackson, Miss., $5,500.
LADIES 8-BALL
Winner: Refuse to
Lose
Members: Amaryllis Perez, Deeqa
Nur, Racquel Scott,
Debra McMullen,
Kathleen Ward,
Jessica Lewis, Lisa
Eckstein and Teena
Lewis (not pictured).
Home: Arlington, Va.
Prize: $10,000
Final match: 3-1
Top finishers: 2. 8-Up of Fairfield, Ohio, $5,000; 3. (tie) Black
Widows of Dallas, Texas, and Miss-Underestimated of Seminole,
Fla., $2,500; 5. (tie) Under Dawgs of Bristol, Pa., Parkway Pets of
Chattanooga, Tenn., The Heartbreakers of Fort Wayne, Ind., and
Step Aside Ladies of Jackson, Miss., $1,000.
8-BALL DOUBLES
Winner: Z’s Odd
Couple
Members: A.J. Loyd
and Stephen Krotek.
Home: New Stanton,
Pa.
Prize: $5,000
Top finishers: 2. Cues
and Crown (Henri Lemoi
Jr. and Corey McCormick) of West Warwick,
R.I., $3,000.
Recap: In the race to 4, Z’s Odd Couple won the lag, but the
table quickly went in Cues and Crown’s favor. In the second game,
Z’s played more strategically, setting up shots for one another. Z’s
captured the third and fourth games as well. The fifth game was
played with caution, as control of the table bounced between the
teams until Z’s finally closed out, 4-1.
9-BALL OPEN
Winner: The Way
We Were
Members: Bill
Modica, John
Stewart, Al Solotky,
Frank Barkalow, Dave
Piotrowski, Vince
Sacco, Kevin Kennedy
and Nick Lepone.
Home: Trenton, N.J.
Prize: $15,000
Final match: 52-28
Top finishers: 2. Lethal Weapons of Chanute, Kan., $7,000; 3.
(tie) Red Rooster of Philadelphia, Pa., and It Is What It Is of Joliet,
Ill., $3,500; 5. (tie) Blue’s Cues of Latham, N.Y., Wicked Stix of
Houston, Texas, The Arena of West Monroe, La., and Q-Club of
Terre Haute, Ind., $2,000.
MASTERS
Winner: Goof Troop
Members: Gary
Sunda, Paul Joko,
John Balan, and Rigo
Pena.
Home: Monterey
Park, Calif.
Prize: $7,500
Top finishers: 2.
Billiards & Barstools
(Michael Stevens,
Matthew Bryan,
Steve Lingelbach and Gary French) of Beaverton, Ore., $3,300.
Recap: Joko and Stevens started off the first game. Stevens made
two consecutive 9-on-the-snap breaks and captured the first four
games. Joko took the next five wins, but Stevens captured the last
three. In the second round, Pena dominated French and won seven
points in a row. Balan captured three more wins and the title, 15-10.
9-BALL DOUBLES
Winner: Fire-N-Ice
Members: Tammy
Brathbury and Stacy
Gisclair.
Home: Morrero, La.
Prize: $4,000
Top finishers: 2. Fobia (Darren McCannon
and Joseph Gieseking)
of Bloomington, Minn.,
$2,000.
Recap: The race was
14 (Fire-N-Ice) to 38 (Fobia). Fobia won the lag and McCannon
started the match. Both teams played level and calm, and, after
the first rack, Fobia led, 5-4. Fire-N-Ice started off the second
rack, and played consistently until the end. Fobia made a few good
safeties and managed to stay ahead of their opponents, but in the
end Fire-N-Ice won, 14 to 16.
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