CaliRed
Verified Member
Meeting him the forums first, he seemed like a really nice guy and had a sense of humor to boot. Everyone commented on what a humble down to earth guy he was in real life.
I met him here on the 2nd day of the Banks, and went over and taped his match. Before he had had some runs of 13 and such in previous matches. This match I taped, he had a 3 or so, but beat the guy 3-0. I spoke with his friend Casey, and learned how he came to meet John. It was all because of red chalk and miscuing
Since then I have tried to attend every one of his matches and record anything I could. Of course several of his were on the TV table and I couldn't record those.
The buzz at the Derby, was all about him three-peating in the banks division and possibly winning the all around again. Everywhere you go, you would hear that, I would hear well-wishers inject that into their comments with him.
So you had to know he was feeling a incredible amount of pressure to do this. I'm sure he had set that goal with himself too, but on top of his goal, you can't help but feel like "everyone" is wanting you to do this feat. Everyone is rooting for you.
He also wins the bank ring game, which increases the expectation of him doing a three-peat.
As he moved further into the later rounds of banks, as he continued to show why he is the greatest banker on the planet, destroying his opponents, that pressure had to continue to increase. He ended up losing to Sylver Ochoa, which means now, every match is his last if he doesn't win.
Yesterday, he has a onepocket match with Jose Parica on the TV table. The 1st game took forever, all the balls got tied up near the side pocket of Jose's side. John is no champion onepocket player, he will tell you that himself. So if he doesn't have any kind of shot, he's just going to bump and run. He's not going to be hitting 3 or 4 balls over to his side and all that.
So after this long 3 hour match with Jose, which he wins.... he has to go right to the banks. The banks is all behind now. Right off he loses to Sylver. I didn't see that match, so not sure what happened.
He ends up playing Francisco Bustamante on the TV table and Francisco gives him a run for his money. He was behind and came back to win. You can start to see the pressure of this whole thing building. He survives Busty.
He plays a few more guys and does well. It's now time for him and Alex The Lion on the TV table again. We only got 7 people left now. The Accu-stats arena is packed for this match. The buzz of three-peat is heavy in the air. John destroys Alex with a master show of banking ability. Alex gets down on his knees and bows to the master banker. He knew he had felt the power of John Brumback.
It now comes down to John playing Ronnie Alcano and the winner of that plays Alex.
Ronnie wins the 1st game, and the banks aren't going for John. The banks are just not cooperating in this set. Ronnie is having some health issues, he's coughing and standing near the garbage bin when he isn't shooting. But he able to pick off banks here and there with all the balls tied up. There is lots of safety play, as a lot of the balls are on the spot. John made 5 balls on break in the first rack.
You could feel all the pressure of this situation. The pressure just continues to rise and rise with each match. The "expectation" keeps rising and rising from the crowd. It all comes down to the match with Ronnie. And suddenly those banks that were going are rattling in the pocket and leaving Ronnie a easy shot.
He was fighting as hard as he could to shake it off. He would split the pocket, make a beautiful bank and would think now he could put something together, then the next one would rattle or he would miss by inches.
The crowd would cheer every ball he made, because they wanted him to win, to get the three-peat.Ronnie would make a ball and mostly silence.
Ronnie wins the 1st 2 games and is on the hill. Now John must win 3 straight racks. He wins his 1st rack, but you can tell it is not all right. It was a mighty struggle to win that game. The banks were still not cooperating.
Ronnie picks off a few more banks and a few bobbled banks by John left Ronnie a few more. Ronnie played well in this match and deserved to win, he was also battling some health issues and a crowd that didn't want him to win.
But John was battling so much more. The weight of thousands of pool fans "expecting" him to win. The weight of being the greatest banker on the planet and the expectation that comes with that. I'm sure also the personal goals and expectations he had for himself also were tremendous.
If the bank gods decide they are not going to cooperate with you and on top of that, you got all of this other stuff going on... it makes for a crushing defeat.
The dream was gone, the "expectation's" were shattered. To be so near to it all, and have it ended in such a way.
I saw the shock, the disappointment, the numbness on the face of his friend Casey. I saw the disappointment, the anger towards himself, the disbelief, the finality of it all in John's face.
All the fans and well wisher's, clapped him on the back and said "good run" and "it's ok", but they all were just words. All those words are so hollow to a person that has just suffered such a loss. I too, was one to try and offer some heartfelt words to try and help him cope with the moment, but I know my words were just that... words.
I was behind him on this long walk back to the hotel room. His friend Casey, following him several feet behind. Both of them deep in their own thoughts, trying to digest what had just happened. Still in shock of how things were looking so good for a win, and then in one match, nothing would cooperate.
In the elevator ride up, I "felt" all that pressure, all that "expectation", all those personal goals you strive for all year, and the pain of not achieving or fulfilling those goals and expectations.
My parting words to him as the elevator door opened were "John, that's why that sh1t's so hard" and I had to leave.
I said those words, because I was thinking of all these athletes from all sports who go thru the same thing. First a win, then the talk of a repeat, you do that, then the renewed talk of a three-peat. The odds of doing a repeat are very high, the odds of doing a three-peat start to get astronomical. And in all sports, there is few that ever win the championship 3 times in a row. And the pressure of a repeat is huge, the pressure of a three-peat is 100 times that.
I was a fan that would have like to see him win, but I am also a fan that recognizes the insane difficulty that it entails.
I am glad all this pressure is off him now. I know the loss is very painful, but it is just a loss. It doesn't change a thing about who he is and the accomplishments he's achieved. He is in a class by himself and that is even more solidified by his run this year. It is also the reason he is being inducted into the Bank Pool Hall of Fame tonight.
You cannot find a nicer, more humble, down to earth guy in pool. My opinion of course. Him and Efren share that trait and we all know what Efren has done.
Thank you John, for letting me enjoy your greatness in this game on the green felt, to see it with my own eyes, the unbelievable ability and skill you posses in this game. I love banks and I have a whole new appreciation for the game, because of the shots I saw you make over and over.
Today, have some fun and enjoy the game again without all that pressure. You earned it
And for God's sake, tonight at the Hall of Fame, don't give us any of that Efren crap of "I got lucky"
You sir, all the greatest bank pool player on the planet.
Below the many faces of a three-peat run. Thankfully now that it's over, we can go back to seeing the 3rd and 4th pictures more often.
I met him here on the 2nd day of the Banks, and went over and taped his match. Before he had had some runs of 13 and such in previous matches. This match I taped, he had a 3 or so, but beat the guy 3-0. I spoke with his friend Casey, and learned how he came to meet John. It was all because of red chalk and miscuing
Since then I have tried to attend every one of his matches and record anything I could. Of course several of his were on the TV table and I couldn't record those.
The buzz at the Derby, was all about him three-peating in the banks division and possibly winning the all around again. Everywhere you go, you would hear that, I would hear well-wishers inject that into their comments with him.
So you had to know he was feeling a incredible amount of pressure to do this. I'm sure he had set that goal with himself too, but on top of his goal, you can't help but feel like "everyone" is wanting you to do this feat. Everyone is rooting for you.
He also wins the bank ring game, which increases the expectation of him doing a three-peat.
As he moved further into the later rounds of banks, as he continued to show why he is the greatest banker on the planet, destroying his opponents, that pressure had to continue to increase. He ended up losing to Sylver Ochoa, which means now, every match is his last if he doesn't win.
Yesterday, he has a onepocket match with Jose Parica on the TV table. The 1st game took forever, all the balls got tied up near the side pocket of Jose's side. John is no champion onepocket player, he will tell you that himself. So if he doesn't have any kind of shot, he's just going to bump and run. He's not going to be hitting 3 or 4 balls over to his side and all that.
So after this long 3 hour match with Jose, which he wins.... he has to go right to the banks. The banks is all behind now. Right off he loses to Sylver. I didn't see that match, so not sure what happened.
He ends up playing Francisco Bustamante on the TV table and Francisco gives him a run for his money. He was behind and came back to win. You can start to see the pressure of this whole thing building. He survives Busty.
He plays a few more guys and does well. It's now time for him and Alex The Lion on the TV table again. We only got 7 people left now. The Accu-stats arena is packed for this match. The buzz of three-peat is heavy in the air. John destroys Alex with a master show of banking ability. Alex gets down on his knees and bows to the master banker. He knew he had felt the power of John Brumback.
It now comes down to John playing Ronnie Alcano and the winner of that plays Alex.
Ronnie wins the 1st game, and the banks aren't going for John. The banks are just not cooperating in this set. Ronnie is having some health issues, he's coughing and standing near the garbage bin when he isn't shooting. But he able to pick off banks here and there with all the balls tied up. There is lots of safety play, as a lot of the balls are on the spot. John made 5 balls on break in the first rack.
You could feel all the pressure of this situation. The pressure just continues to rise and rise with each match. The "expectation" keeps rising and rising from the crowd. It all comes down to the match with Ronnie. And suddenly those banks that were going are rattling in the pocket and leaving Ronnie a easy shot.
He was fighting as hard as he could to shake it off. He would split the pocket, make a beautiful bank and would think now he could put something together, then the next one would rattle or he would miss by inches.
The crowd would cheer every ball he made, because they wanted him to win, to get the three-peat.Ronnie would make a ball and mostly silence.
Ronnie wins the 1st 2 games and is on the hill. Now John must win 3 straight racks. He wins his 1st rack, but you can tell it is not all right. It was a mighty struggle to win that game. The banks were still not cooperating.
Ronnie picks off a few more banks and a few bobbled banks by John left Ronnie a few more. Ronnie played well in this match and deserved to win, he was also battling some health issues and a crowd that didn't want him to win.
But John was battling so much more. The weight of thousands of pool fans "expecting" him to win. The weight of being the greatest banker on the planet and the expectation that comes with that. I'm sure also the personal goals and expectations he had for himself also were tremendous.
If the bank gods decide they are not going to cooperate with you and on top of that, you got all of this other stuff going on... it makes for a crushing defeat.
The dream was gone, the "expectation's" were shattered. To be so near to it all, and have it ended in such a way.
I saw the shock, the disappointment, the numbness on the face of his friend Casey. I saw the disappointment, the anger towards himself, the disbelief, the finality of it all in John's face.
All the fans and well wisher's, clapped him on the back and said "good run" and "it's ok", but they all were just words. All those words are so hollow to a person that has just suffered such a loss. I too, was one to try and offer some heartfelt words to try and help him cope with the moment, but I know my words were just that... words.
I was behind him on this long walk back to the hotel room. His friend Casey, following him several feet behind. Both of them deep in their own thoughts, trying to digest what had just happened. Still in shock of how things were looking so good for a win, and then in one match, nothing would cooperate.
In the elevator ride up, I "felt" all that pressure, all that "expectation", all those personal goals you strive for all year, and the pain of not achieving or fulfilling those goals and expectations.
My parting words to him as the elevator door opened were "John, that's why that sh1t's so hard" and I had to leave.
I said those words, because I was thinking of all these athletes from all sports who go thru the same thing. First a win, then the talk of a repeat, you do that, then the renewed talk of a three-peat. The odds of doing a repeat are very high, the odds of doing a three-peat start to get astronomical. And in all sports, there is few that ever win the championship 3 times in a row. And the pressure of a repeat is huge, the pressure of a three-peat is 100 times that.
I was a fan that would have like to see him win, but I am also a fan that recognizes the insane difficulty that it entails.
I am glad all this pressure is off him now. I know the loss is very painful, but it is just a loss. It doesn't change a thing about who he is and the accomplishments he's achieved. He is in a class by himself and that is even more solidified by his run this year. It is also the reason he is being inducted into the Bank Pool Hall of Fame tonight.
You cannot find a nicer, more humble, down to earth guy in pool. My opinion of course. Him and Efren share that trait and we all know what Efren has done.
Thank you John, for letting me enjoy your greatness in this game on the green felt, to see it with my own eyes, the unbelievable ability and skill you posses in this game. I love banks and I have a whole new appreciation for the game, because of the shots I saw you make over and over.
Today, have some fun and enjoy the game again without all that pressure. You earned it
And for God's sake, tonight at the Hall of Fame, don't give us any of that Efren crap of "I got lucky"
You sir, all the greatest bank pool player on the planet.
Below the many faces of a three-peat run. Thankfully now that it's over, we can go back to seeing the 3rd and 4th pictures more often.
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