Captain’s Log, September 23rd, 2007 

Sincere congratulations go out to Scott Thurber, Frank Vachlin and Karina Mena for winning the 2007 9 Ball Southwest Challenge in Las Vegas. They outlasted a field of 118 teams from Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, Riverside, Orange County, San Bernardino, Ventura, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Santa Clara and several other San Diego teams to claim victory and bragging rights for the San Diego area for another year. San Diego has won this event 2 years in a row. Scott, Frank and Karina won $2,100.00 for their efforts. Congratulations also to Luis Yamasaki, Adam Leon and Miguel Leon on their 5^th place finish.  

This is the 4^th week of play for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday divisions. All new players must be paid up in membership dues on the 4^th week to stay on the roster. This includes teams who have make up matches or have byes this week. In order to keep them on your roster, you must submit fees this week.  

The Summer Session Blast takes place September 29^th and 30^th. Schedules and rosters have been posted on the web site for your viewing and strategic planning pleasure. We are also sending out checks this week for teams who won their division or end of session playoffs for the Summer Session.  The Blast tournament is a qualifying round for the City Championships. The final 16 teams remaining in both 8 Ball and 9 Ball will be qualified to compete in the 2008 City Championships. Because this is a qualifying round, it is important to try to get all of your team members to the match site on time. If you do not get qualified this session, there is still the Fall and Spring Sessions to try to get qualified.  

At the Summer Session Blast, we will have trophies, plaques and patches available for all Summer Session awards. Please note the Blast schedule if you plan on coming down to collect patches for your team. We will have MVP trophies, perfect session plaques and much more available for pick up. Anyone on your team can pick up these trophies or patches for you if you cannot make it yourself.  

Office hours for the San Diego APA league office are 9:00am to 7:30pm daily. The office is also our home. We believe that 10 and a half hours everyday is plenty of time for people to resolve any league related business that needs to take place. We sincerely thank you all for respecting our privacy outside of these office hours.  

Here is a list of things you can do in the event of an emergency during your league matches. If someone is being hostile, abusive or physical, the match is over. Pack up your things and go home. The league office will deal with the issue during office hours the next day. Calling the league office after office hours will only result in the same thing being told to you. If someone is being rude or acting in an unsportsmanlike manner, give the team a poor sportsmanship grade and email or write up the player in question and we will deal with that player during office hours. It is up to each team captain to take control of their teammates when someone is acting out of line. Another way that I always had luck with someone behaving inappropriately during a match is by informing the opposing captain that I will not continue play until the situation is resolved. Whether that takes 5 minutes or an hour, my shooter will not approach the table until the player acting out has resolved their issues. The team manual explains how the league office handles any sort of inappropriate behavior.  

Does every player on your team know how to keep accurate score? While it’s always nice to have a designated person score a match all night, it’s not really fair to that person to make them responsible for scoring an entire match, especially in 9 Ball. Each player on a team should learn how to keep score properly and accurately. It is also important for score keepers to recognize and mark defensive shots. Sandbagging is a term that gets thrown out there during league play quite often. Admittedly, some people will try to manipulate their skill level by missing shots on purpose to increase their inning count. Sandbagging can only take place if the opposing team’s scorekeeper lets it happen. By marking defensive shots each time there is no intent to make a ball, you are doing your job of preventing sandbagging from taking place. Manipulating skill levels is a very serious matter that the San Diego APA league office does not take kindly. There are way more honest players out there that try their best to win every week than there are people who try to cheat the system. It is important for the integrity of the league for the honest players to prevent anyone attempting to cheat from getting away with it. By marking defensive shots or contacting the league office in writing when someone does not appear to be trying to play their best, you are helping us preserve the integrity of the league.  

To be a true team player, you should stick around after your match to cheer on your teammates or to assist in keeping accurate score. Team members who are not keeping score at the time should help the scorekeeper in marking defensive shots as they happen. An extra pair of eyes is always helpful to the person keeping score of a match.  

Shoot Pool Good! Brian and Jill  www.sdapa.com  619-303-0183   sandiegoapa@cox.net      sdapajill@cox.net     sdapalindsay@cox.net