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 Less than four months after the APA announced that Canada's No. 1 beer would be sponsoring and promoting the Molson 9-Ball League, the Yellowbellies
dropped in on Las Vegas from north of the border and won the $100,000 APA 9-Ball National Team Championship.
It's been a long time coming for any Canadian team, which had previously placed only as high as 5th in the 9-Ball Championship. So color the Yellowbellies, from
Edmonton, Ont., courageous for their efforts, which topped the field of 140 teams and earned $15,000 in prize money. They raced down Traverse St., from Athol, Mass. in the final match and the 2nd
Place team earned a not-too-shabby $10,000 payday itself."What we like most about this League and the tournaments is the handicap system," said Yellowbellies Team Captain Tim Duhamel. "I
thought when we made it out here that we'd be playing the best of the best amateurs, but we actually played other regular people just like us. The handicap system has allowed us to walk away with
a win, and do so having a ton of fun along the way. I've played in other 'championship' tournaments before and this sort of feat would never have been possible."
Duhamel and his teammates proved that pool and fun is a winning combination. They did their part to welcome Molson, the official beer of the APA, into the tournament, and didn't miss a beat when
it came to enjoying themselves in the unique playing atmosphere. "Everyone was such good sports. We even had a team that we knocked out of the tournament buy us some Molson beers to
congratulate us," said Greg Dussome. Added teammate Barry Mathiassen: "We didn't meet anyone we didn't get along with the entire time we were here. We thought everyone was very
supportive of everyone else, considering that this was a competition." Traverse St. just about kept up with the Ontario squad, when it came to seriousness on the felt and fun away from it. "The best
part about being here is to compete against guys just like us," said Traverse Street Captain Gene Brunell. "We're just here to have fun-getting to the finals was an honor in itself."
Good Fella's, from Ambridge, Penn., took home $3,000, trophies, plaques and commemorative champagne for 3rd Place and the 5th Place teams, Bad Guys (Memphis, Tenn.) Park Place Mosher
(Clearwater, Fla.) and Shark Attack (New Orleans, La.) each earned $2,000. Each 9th Place team won $1,000 and every 9-Ball team won a minimum of $350. |
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