Happy Holidays!

I went on the holidays sooner than I could sneeze. I did win one game on the winners side in something of a very lop-sided draw the the Turning Stone Casino Championships usually presents because none of us are seeded. Then lost two straight games. But it's all good. I was looking maybe even too much forward to the end of the season on top of struggling with a tenacious lingering flu. Now I am still spending most of my time in bed catching up on perhaps well deserved rest. This fall has been quite hectic in many ways. You win, you lose. You're healthy, you're sick. You are happy, you are sad. lives have begun, some others ended.

These times have taught me an invaluable lesson. Don't forget where you came from, treat your loved ones and friends with respect. I have taken some of these for granted and I have hurt some people down the road. I am sorry for that. I realize now more than ever it's important to show who are the people that mean something special to you. In other words, I am defined by what I am surrounded by. I am what I eat, breathe and think. Having good people around me has brought me success. I won't ever forget that. You know who you are. I can't thank you enough.

You know when you have character, you also have people who hate you no matter what. Like the great Paul Newman said: "I'd rather have Character even if it meant some people hating me." So it sums up like this; You simply can't please everybody. I choose not to spread myself so thin.
Rest in peace, my friend. Paul Newman was a great inspiration to me, I wish I had a chance to thank him in person.


I think I am generally a pretty happy person and I hope people take me for more than just a stone-cold killer. There is a different person under that tough skin of mine.

Now it's time to go one a well over-due Holidays and perhaps some Partay!

I wish all the blessing and more happiness to you all for the New Year!

Yours Sincerely,


Mika

Leaving Las Vegas

The Mosconi-Cup has yet again been completed and this time in the
favor of the Americans.

I have to say they really earned capitalizing in nearly every opportunity they got. Specially the first two days were a killer for us. Ended 7-2. It looked like it was going be better a couple of time but Johnny, for instance made a great come-back from trailing 1-5 against Darren Appleton. We just could not get the roll of the ball those two days.

The third day was looking a lot better as we nabbed the fist two games.Thorsten won an epic battle with Deuel and me and Ralf won our doubles against Dominguez/Deuel. then the fourth game with double Archer/Deuel VS Appleton/Hohmann was one of the most critical matches. It went hill-hill. Thorsten played a good safe, Deuel kicked at the ball, hit the wrong side and double-kissed to a safety. Appleton could see just a part of the ball, played for another safety but left Archer a window. Archer capitalized and Deuel just barely went along. So instead of 5-8 overall score it was 4-9. Shit happens. I managed to win the final game of the night beating Oscar Dominguez 6-4. Total score:5-9.

It looked pretty good as we were staying positive and making a bit of a comeback early Sunday by Ralf Souquet winning over Shane Van Boening. it was just 6-9 for USA. Then Dennis Hatch came out strong against Niels Feijen beating him 6-0 to get on the "hill". Thorsten Hohmann kept us alive playing great to beat Johnny Archer 6-1. So with scoreline 7-10, we had a re-match with Shane and Ralf. This time Shane was more fluent and took it home.

Congrats to team USA.

It would have been nice to win the Mosconi and add that title to an already outstanding season I have had. I do still have a chance to improve the year as the Turning Stone Classic is starting day after tomorrow. That's my birthday! 17th of December.

Vegas Baby!

Morning walk with the team...action starts tomorrow at MGM

World 10-ball Champion

It is only in the equations of an attempt at True Form that you can definitely find out when things get screwed up. Because if it's just nearly perfect you know you are not doing the right thing. and you can probably tell what is the fault. Not to say it will ever be perfect. But oh these aspirations that I have. Call me stubborn.

These kind of things can happen in a tournament. Thank God for Double elimination. Due to the format, I have been able to bounce back in tournaments.

US OPEN was an extreme version of a come-back. The 10-ball World Championships that just finished a few days ago was another type of come-back. I actually wasn't playing all that great the first few rounds. But as the tournament progressed, I did identify some things that needed work. One was the break. Another was choosing the right kind of tip that would benefit me the best under these conditions. Luckily I have a couple of spare shafts. In the end I chose Kamui black Medium. The combination of that and my Mezz WD700 is a killer. I did have a Kamui black on the other shaft as well, but this one was slightly softer. Another thing was for me to not take the loss in group stages lightly. Hijigata out-broke me. I went to the gym and ran 10K. I wanted to have a hard run, yet time to meditate on what's really going on.

After my match with Manalo, which I narrowly won, I went to hit some balls on one of the side tables. I found the perfect match. shaft and tip. Also, decided to use a longer butt for the break cue instead of the Power Break 2 by Mezz. For some reason, the break from the "box" is easier with standard length.

Sometimes it's just very little things that makes you have the right kind of confidence to win a championship like that.

Of course another key of winning to to find that driving force to close out matches. almost everyone of my last three games I ran two or three final racks without looking back.

Yet it's crazy that its actually happening. There is a certain amount of things you can never control, it just seems It's not happening to me at crucial situations.

Go figure.

I guess the main thing is to stay humble and accept that there is no substitute for hard work. Keep playing, keep loving the game. I am blessed to have a talent, won't ever take it for granted.


Now it's time to celebrate with some friends. At least one night. Then it'll be time to start focusing on the Mosconi-Cup.



Yours Truly,


-ICEMAN-