The Comox Valley Pool League wrapped up its fifth season of organized competitive play April 3, 6 and 7 with playoffs.
It was a tight race in league standings for the top three teams. Sharpshooters held first place most of the season, then in the last few weeks team Drive By sped right past them to take first with 96 rounds won. Sharpshooters and Chalk-A-Holics were tied at 92 rounds won, but Sharpshooters had more points so they took second and Chalk-A-Holics finished third.
The league wrapped things up April 13 with a banquet at the Westerly where 110 guests show up for dinner, awards presentation and danced the night away with live music from Machine Gun Kelly. "The food was delicious and the band was excellent and turned the night into a jam night. Who knew our league had so much great talent!" said CVPL founder Rose Kantor.
The awards banquet started with presenting a $2,045 cheque to YANA that was raised throughout the year with 50/50 draws at the Avalanche. There was a last minute donation from Conway and Lynda Pauls that brought it up to $2,545.
"Big hugs to you two and a big thank you to all pool players, Andrea's Wednesday night poker players and all Avalanche customers that support these registered raffles that help made this donation possible," Kantor said.
"In our league we have such a huge skill level of players that we split the league into two divisions for playoffs. It was voted to play a round-robin format with 10 teams in the A Division playing for points with no handicaps at the Avalanche Bar & Grill," Kantor explained.
In the B Division it was based on overall points with handicaps and played out of Chalk Lounge in the Westerly Hotel. It was a weekend of two, 12-hour days of continuous pool playing that brought out the best in all players.
Team Drive By (Alwyn Bishop, Steve Tasko, Merv McMartin, Bernie Caton and Tom Lambourne) comprises five, age-60-plus men who play regularly out of the Filberg Centre and are known for playing snooker. Lambourne, the captain, said they heard so much good about the league they decided to put a team in.
"His main concern was if he could even keep his players awake past 10 p.m. to compete with the young bucks. Well they proved they could and made it through the long playoff days. A drive-by shooting is what they inflicted upon us all on the table and dominated to became the new A Division champions," Kantor said.
A Division winners: 1st Drive By 1219 points, 2nd Sharpshooters 1150 points, 3rd 4 Men & A Lady 1142 points, 4th Chalk-A-Holics 1110 points, 5th Team Cuddles 1103 points, 6th A Rack No Phobia 1065 points, 7th Classics 1051 points, 8th Choc-O-Lot 1050 points, 9th Misspent Youth 1014 points, 10th Off The Rails 911 points.
In the B Division the spread from first to last place was 89 points. Last year's champs Chalk-N-Awe had a good hold on first but were taken out by the Breakers (Al McDougall, Gail Szymanski, John Taylor, Evan Scarff and Neil Hawkings).
Breakers' captain McDougall said he's never been happier to have the opportunity to be a part of the CVPL. "We're not just a group of pool players, but have become a family and thanks to Rose for all the hard work that made this possible for everyone."
B Division winners: 1st The Breakers 936 points, 2nd Chalk-N-Awe 924 points, 3rd Apogee 876 points, 4th Mex Hookers 874 points, 5th Who's High 871points, 6th Cue-Tease 870 points, 7th Pick Up Stix 854 points, 8th Sunnydale Odds R 847 points.
Other award winners: Top Lady - Deb Williams. Top Male - Dominick Grenier. Most Consecutive Wins - Bill Laramee, 24. Star Shooter of the Playoffs - Wener Ostwald. "Our little star of the event was Chrissy Kobus who got her first stat and it was in playoffs!" Kantor said.
Each week every team scored their opponents a rating from 1-10 based on their good sportsmanship. This year, team Cuddles (Cindy Brown, Kriss Myott, Christie Tipper, Jim Brown and Keith Pastak) with almost a perfect score are the best sports.
On the opposite side of the fence is the Butt Head Award. "This is done in good fun and to encourage them to become a better sport," Kantor said. "This year there was a four-way tie and they are all on the same team, the Sharpshooters: Dominick Grenier, Jason Ruston, Rob Horton and Phil Asturi. They accepted the award as a group and promise to become better sports as well as change their team next year!
"This event takes a lot of support each year to become such a great success and it wouldn't be possible without the support of our sponsors. We truly thank all of them," Kantor said.
"If you would like to learn more about playing pool in the Valley check out our website at comox.pplms.ca or contact Rose at crazyaboutpool@shaw.ca or 250-218-8819 We have a 12-week Summer 8 & 9 Ball League starting May 8. Call now to register."
– Comox Valley Pool League