Tony “The Snake” Cardillo (left) accepting the bronze traveling plaque from the Voyager’s Ted Beery
Joseph F. Giammarino
The Pool Players of The Brooke Billiards Club (PPB) would like to thank the Voyager Billiards Club, Ted Beery, and the Voyager Billiards Team for their cue skills, camaraderie, friendly competition, and a cordial luncheon at RoadRunner Grill after the 8-Ball challenge. Another big thank you goes out to Tony “The Snake” Cardillo, PPB’s Travel Team captain, for organizing this event.
On Jan. 13 the Voyager Travel Team ventured over to SaddleBrooke’s Catalina Recreation Center for an 8-Ball Team Challenge. We were competing on four 9-foot Diamond Pro-Am pool tables for temporary ownership of a traveling bronze plaque. The PPB has had possession of the plaque since Jan. 13, 2023. The PPB team was made up of four two-player teams, and the Voyager’s also had four two-player teams. Our teams consisted of Fred “The Baker” Dianda and Gary “One Rail” Barlow, Dominic “The Doctor” Borland and Joe “Ball Breaker” Vidmar, Phelps “Montana” L’Hommedieu and Joe “Fast Eddie” Giammarino, and Tony “The Snake” Cardillo and Dick “Highlander” Dunbar.
The format was simple and interesting. Each of our teams would play each of their teams three games of 8-Ball, with each game won being one point for the winning team. There were a total of 48 points in the match. PPB and Voyager were tied after the first round 6 to 6. The second round was also a 6 to 6 tie, so after the second round, we were tied at 12 each. The third round was a mirror image of the first two rounds, with an identical score of 6 to 6. So, going into the fourth and final round, the PPB and Voyager were tied at 18 to 18. The final round found the PPB needing to win 7 games out of 12 to win the right to put the bronze traveling plaque back up on the wall in the CRC Billiards Room. The PPB did it! The fourth-round score was the PPB 10 and Voyager 2. The final score was 28 to 20.
This event was the continuation of a friendly rivalry with Voyager. SaddleBrooke is proud of their team, and they thank Voyager for venturing to SaddleBrooke and competing in this Travel Team match.