| Donovan
- 10 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 136
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marknizzi said: | ... Last January my fingers took the ultimate beating at Post Traumatic Stress Arena (PTS) :), ... only the very strong can exit that Airhockey house of horror, unscathed. |
:) lol
You did alright your first visit. It was a house of horror but not for you!
Donovan
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- 10 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 658
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Donovan said: marknizzi said: | ... Last January my fingers took the ultimate beating at Post Traumatic Stress Arena (PTS) :), ... only the very strong can exit that Airhockey house of horror, unscathed. |
:) lol
You did alright your first visit. It was a house of horror but not for you!
Donovan |
Yeah....you're right. We all have had our share of frights there. My biggest was last January when Danny went for like 20 minutes between sets to use the bathroom next to the match room. It through me off, and stunk up the rest of the match for me. You blow Danny!
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| sjrbat
- 10 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 527
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Congratulations to Billy for defending his ranking against Brian.
As many predicted Billy to win, so it was not a big surprise.
What was a surprise was 16-1!!!
Billy is playing awesome and Ehab will have his hands full tomorrow!!!
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| fractalzoom
- 10 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 201
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Chicago is representing well right now. Very impressive wins.
Don has has a perfect prediction so far and nobody outside of Chicago predicted even a Q win... let alone a 4-0 win. Sy is a different player than August, but Q has seen quite a bit of the cross lwu attack Billy uses. There's a good chance Don's predictions will hold true through the day.
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| sjrbat
- 10 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 527
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congradulations to Q!!!
I saw some of the match and he has improved immensely.
Since he is defending now, he has chosen to play a 3 of 5 tonight. looking forward to a toughmatch.!!!
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| AParra
- 10 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 82
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You played very good Q. I thought it would of been a better match, but my old defense showed up and I was moving to much on all your cuts and cross. Congalutions
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| stubbs7
- 10 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 582
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Congrats Q! There's a new master elite in Chicago now!
Q was very impressive. Scoring lots of cuts and crosses throughout the match from a big variety of releases. Good job by August, fighting to the very end.
Next up for Q is to defend his rank against a much improved Syed.
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| sjrbat
- 10 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 527
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Thank you to Q for playing the match even if he didnt have to.
Q definitely has improved since I saw him last and will continue to be a force to be dealt with in the future of air-hockey.
I watched the first 2 sets of Q vs. August this morning and had my game plan (LWU, LWO, CROSS) ready and stuck to it through out the match, slowly adding wrinkles as the match went along.
Q shot a variety of shots the first set but the following 2 sets he stuck to the RWU/CUT combo.
It was a well-played match from both of us. I had trouble blocking Q's blistering RWU and he had trouble blocking my LWU.
So back to #5, and hopefully this time I will stay here.
Take care....
Syed
P.S. Don with the "ToldUso" handle on Ustream, thanks fot the extra motivation. :)
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- 10 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 658
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Okay, so Q. proved me wrong today. What an inspiration it is to see a youngling beat a proven player like August, and then shut up a know it all player like myself, up. Q., you're lucky you are so gifted and talented, to come down and beat a top quality Texas player in Airhockey, especially considering the amount of talent, you and your state of Illinois, lacks! :) I'm gonna drink to this one...actually i already started drinking...a couple of hours ago. Even if i feel like an @ss tomorrow for writing this, i just wanted to share my thoughts (my current thoughts, lol) with you. I'll make sure to call you with another impersonation tomorrow should you win again. I won't say who it will be of, but i think you'll like it.
Bottoms up!
-Nizzi
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- 10 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 658
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Oh $hit. So i just posted my last message like a minute after Q. lost to Syed. Damn dude, guess no impersonations for you.......
Congratulations to Syed on becoming a "master elite' again. He's been a go getter latley. I also hear Syed's been working out, and hitting the gym, but we all know the only thing he's been doing, is pushups over Danny Hynes. :)
I look forward to watching the matches tomorrow. May the best player win.
-Nizzi
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| sjrbat
- 10 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 527
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Wow Nizzi!!! I think no more drinks and the forum for you. LOL
Yes, I am trying to get in shape. But its like taking pebbles off of a mountain!!! It is tough!!!
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- 11 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 658
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sjrbat said: Wow Nizzi!!! I think no more drinks and the forum for you. LOL
Yes, I am trying to get in shape. But its like taking pebbles off of a mountain!!! It is tough!!!
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Ahem...sorry about that lushy rant last night. I tell ya, the things i say and do when i've had a few. It's almost as bad when i'm sober. ;) Good luck with the working out and dropping weight, Syed. Maybe you can join Danny sometime at the salad bar, as i've heard he's been giving it a go, and he actually likes it!
Now, sorry to have hijacked the thread. Also, i think a lot of the Illinois players and all their talent. Stacked with it!
Today, i look forward to seeing more great battles, especially Billy vs. Ehab. Good luck, and may the best player win.
-Nizzi
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| airhockeyjedi
- 11 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 102
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sjrbat said: Thank you to Q for playing the match even if he didnt have to.
Q definitely has improved since I saw him last and will continue to be a force to be dealt with in the future of air-hockey.
I watched the first 2 sets of Q vs. August this morning and had my game plan (LWU, LWO, CROSS) ready and stuck to it through out the match, slowly adding wrinkles as the match went along.
Q shot a variety of shots the first set but the following 2 sets he stuck to the RWU/CUT combo.
It was a well-played match from both of us. I had trouble blocking Q's blistering RWU and he had trouble blocking my LWU.
So back to #5, and hopefully this time I will stay here.
Take care....
Syed
P.S. Don with the "ToldUso" handle on Ustream, thanks fot the extra motivation. :) |
Watched part of the match. Well played, Syed. Others will learn from your observations of how to play Q. Seems like Brian had a tougher time. His combination of shots created a different look for Q. That match was closer.
Always remember Jesse's speech at "The Bank" in Colorado where he stated the old "Lost in Space" TV show famous quote of "Crush, Kill, Distroy". You did just that. Congrats.
When is the Ehab vs Billy match planning to start?
Vince Schappell
2007-2009 USAA Treasurer
USAA Member since 1980
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| fractalzoom
- 11 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 201
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Congrats, everyone!
Big wins by Billy, Q, Syed, and Brian. I didn't get to catch most of these, but I'll have to watch the archives as soon as I have time.
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| Mike C
- 11 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 459
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fractalzoom said: Chicago is representing well right now. Very impressive wins.
Don has has a perfect prediction so far and nobody outside of Chicago predicted even a Q win... let alone a 4-0 win. Sy is a different player than August, but Q has seen quite a bit of the cross lwu attack Billy uses. There's a good chance Don's predictions will hold true through the day.
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I predicted a Q win over August. I didn't think 4-0 though!
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| sjrbat
- 11 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 527
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Congratulations to Billy for defeating Ehab 3 sets to 1 earlier today.
The first set they traded some close games and then dominated a game each. Tied 2-2 Billy took over and won the next 2 with his traditional LWU, LWO, Cross attack along with great defense.
The second set Ehab came out firing and easily won the set 4-1. The difference was he was able to defend a lot better.
The 3rd set, Billy was down 0-2 and suddenly he found the RWO open on Ehab and from there on that was his money shot. He won 4 straight games that set.
The 4th set, Billy continued with the RWOs along with his usual shots and took control of the set 3-1 and finished it out in the 6th game.
I think both defenses played at a high level through out the match and that helped Billy since Ehab usually has the better defense. Billy's offense was definitely better and he had more shot selection to chose from. Ehab stuck to his LWU, LWO, Cross but as the match went along Billy got better and better stopping those shots.
It was fun watching two great players battle it out.
Congratulations to Billy again and in this trip he was 7 sets to 1 and 29-11 in games!!! Very impressive!!!
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| sjrbat
- 11 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 527
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Vince said: Always remember Jesse's speech at "The Bank" in Colorado where he stated the old "Lost in Space" TV show famous quote of "Crush, Kill, Distroy". You did just that. Congrats.
Thank you Vince. Jesse handed that down to Danny when they were training together and Danny has repeatedly told me, if they can't stop it, why bother with anything else?
I try to follow that whenever I can :)
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| travis
- 12 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 530
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Wow. Four shutouts and a 3-1. I definitely was NOT predicting that. I had a feeling Q wouldn't be leaving Houston empty-handed, even though I didn't predict it. I just didn't expect the scorelines to appear so one-sided.
Congrats to Billy and Q for taking away higher rankings, and to Brian and Syed for bolstering their ratings.
Travis Luscombe
AirHockeyWorld.com Webmaster
http://twitter.com/air_hockey
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| travis
- 12 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 530
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sjrbat said: Wow Nizzi!!! I think no more drinks and the forum for you. LOL
Yes, I am trying to get in shape. But its like taking pebbles off of a mountain!!! It is tough!!!
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Think of it this way: you didn't put on the weight in a day. It's going to take more than a day to take it off. 
Just remember that it will be worth it in the end!
Travis Luscombe
AirHockeyWorld.com Webmaster
http://twitter.com/air_hockey
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| MRosen
- 12 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 71
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sjrbat said: It was fun watching two great players battle it out.
Congratulations to Billy again and in this trip he was 7 sets to 1 and 29-11 in games!!! Very impressive!!! |
Congratulations to Billy & Q on their new rankings!
You're both knocking on the door of even more incredible achievements at #2 & #6.
Your dedication & devotion are a big inspiration to many of us.
I wish that I could have been there to see the great matches with Ehab, Syed, Brian, and August.
All of these fierce Masters involved have really elevated the Sport in their lives over the past two years; which has benefited all of us.
Thanks to Donovan for web-casting and hosting World-class play!
Michael "Ricochet" Rosen
Commissioner - Major League Air Hockey
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| Q
- 12 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 497
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First, I have to thank a bunch of people....
Billy...congrats on getting the number 2 spot in both ranking and rating. The past couple months of practice was fun, but more importantly it helped bring my level of play up from after the last nationals and got me to a point where I could face off against the Houston masters. Couldn't have done that without all of the training and lessons along the way.
The rest of the IL players (Dan, Goran, Eric, John, Jon)...thanks for the great practices along the way as well. The sets, matches, and pick up games helped tremendously in order to see different styles of play and work on being able to make sdjustments to try and win games/sets.
My opponents from the weekend: August, Syed, Brian. These were some really great matches for me and a tremendous learning experience. The set counts were all shutouts for the winner but each match had some really great battles and great moments. Looking forward to going back over the archived videos and rewatching some of those.
Against August, no set was lower than 4-2. The 3rd set came down to a 7th game and in the 4th set, there were 3 7-6 games. August made me fight for every point at all times. Thanks for the match August!
Against Syed, I think the key difference in this match was that Syed had an attack that was a go to for him at key points in the match. When I tried to adjust to his LWU attack, he complimented it extremely well. The first set could have gone either way but after that, Syed was able to play really well and secure the win. I took a lot away from this match and Syed was great the rest of the weekend when we were discussing what had happened in the match and he gave some advice on possible areas I can work on to play better. I hope for great matches in your upcoming defenses of the number 5 spot.
Against Brian, this was a great battle. A lot of long long points at key moments like 6-6 and even in the middle of games at 4-4. (a few points got close to the 2 minute mark). The first set, there was a lot of offense and close games as Brian and I had never played a game against each other before and we adjusted to each others games. The second set, Brian was able to control the games with his cross-straight and it wasn't until the 3rd set that I could adjust and we had another really tough battle like set 1 going the full 7 games. By this time we had 9 7-6 games and 2 7 game sets....very close. In set 4, it appeared to be another set that was going to go the distance with 7-6 games in games 2-4 but Brian was able to stop my attack in game 6, get out to an early lead in the first of 2 match games for him and secure the win.
Look forward to any future opportunities to play these guys again. It was also great to get in some practice games with Houston players (Thanks Pete, Phil, Colin, Albert, Andrew, Ramiro)
All in all, a great weekend of air hockey!
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| Q
- 12 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 497
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| Also, thanks to Donovan for hosting all of the matches. It's great what you are doing with ProTableSports (online streaming, graphic overlays, video archives, etc.). Also the control for the table is a great addition to help with the flow of the games within a set and for accurate scoring.
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| stubbs7
- 12 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 582
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First, a few people to thank: Donovan, for hosting all of the matches. Maria, who was kind enough to help us with the webcast and put up with us arriving at 8am! Q, for all of the practice leading up to Houston and the coaching throughout the matches. Also, to the Chicago player base for all of their support.
Congrats to Q on performing very well in all 3 of his matches. I predict many top 10 finishes for Q in the years ahead. He simply needs more match experience and his game will reach even a higher level.
I think that Syed accurately recapped my match with Ehab. Even though Ehab "only" has two World Championships, he's one of the top 5 players of all time. It took a ton of practice and dedication to beat him yesterday (I'll write more about my training in another thread). Props to Ehab for giving me a great fight.
Brian and I were not as close as we've been in the past. I am sure that Brian will tune his game up and be a force to be reckoned with the next time that we meet. In his match vs. Q, Brian looked sharp - if he plays at that level in the World's, he'll be back in Master Elite territory.
It was fun Houston! 
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- 12 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 658
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Congrats you two on your great accomplishments. Q. you've come a good ways, keep on going. Billy, nice win. Just by watching, i could tell you were most likely going to pull this one out. You worked hard for it, now enjoy gaining back some weight. :) You too Q.. It occurred to me, if i'm 240lbs, how much weight could i lose if i went on the "Billy/Q./Dan" diet? :) I do however kinda like being the size i am. I don't get beat up by women as much. ;)
-Niz
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- 12 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 658
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Oh btw, especially considering his dramatic weightloss, i hear during Billy's celebration after his big win, that he passed out after drinking half a wine cooler. ;)
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| carolina phil
- 14 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 1084
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What a great weekend of AH challenge matches! Respects to all who competed, winners and losers.
Acolades to Billy and Q who won major victories and demostrated the athletic side of our sport. Training and practice and developing a strong competitive mindset make a major difference in your kill ratio.
What the traveling Chicago players did in Houston this weekend is part of a long tradition in our sport. Even before Mark and I traveled from Houston to Philadelphia in late January 1978 to play Jesse Douty and Joe Campbell matches for national ranking in our brand new National Ranking system, individual players would hop cars, planes, and trains to see who was the better player; often with large cash bets up for grabs. And of course there were local one on one challenges.
Betting and traveling matches took place before 1978 in the east and the midwest, with such names as Mike Dicksten, a powerful fast player and early organizer, Monte McCarthy, and with Mike Barry, Joe Campbell, and Jesse Douty. Houston tried it once a couple of days before the first National in 78 with Jesse Douty and Rolf Moore in a close match that Jesse won with side bets in the hundreds. Mark and I preferred de-emphasizing gambling in the sport, replacing it with tournament cash prizes.
One effect of the institution of a ranking system and regualr national tournaments from 1978 onward was to negate the focus on cash betting and shift the interest to gaining position on the ranking ladder and title as National Champion.
Since then, for fame and the thrill of the hunt, playes have traveled far and wide to seek and destroy other players and their games.
Predators and their prey continue to party as we enter 2012.
Carolina Phil
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| Pedro Otero
- 14 Dec 2011
Total Posts: 269
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Hopefully i will make a trip to Houston to play some challenges before next nationals. I will offer a rematch to Danny and Ehab...  I think Danny is out of shape, maybe the best moment to try (again) climb to the number 1
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