CTCPOOL Billiard Blog

New products are now available at www.ctcpool.com/store . CutThroat CueSports is pleased to announce the availability of the following new products. Mind Training for pool is now available on CD. This CD was produced by renowned Clinical Hypnotherapist Craig Townsend. The program was written with pool specific visualizations and affirmations with the help of CTC founder Brad Royce. The CD features proven relaxation, visualization & affirmation programming to help bring out the champion in you.

 Other new products include The Weight of the Eight wall clock and The Calling-Metropolis 11X 17″ Poster. All products are available for immediate purchase, so order yours today!

June and July have been busy months for CutThroat CueSports. No, sales haven’t been through the roof, unfortunately, but some strategic alliances, partnerships and collaborations have been forged. First, was the addition of www.ballbreakersllc.com as the first authorized dealer of CTC’s products. Our products are currently featured in the decor section of their site and more will be added as more products are created.

Next was the unlikely pairing of CTC with Craig Townsend, a renowned hypnotherapist who has worked with Olympic athletes, major corporations and individuals. I was asked by Mr. Townsend to help customize a program for the pool player to help focus, overcoming past limitations, realizing your full potential, strengthening confidence, belief, performance and results to new heights. Having suffered through extremely prolonged slumps and being a “head case” myself, I believe I was able to offer unique and profound insights into the struggles of a pool player.  I am a strong believer in hypnosis. I was able to quit smoking over three years ago as a result of hypnosis after all my other attempts had failed. Check out Craig’s program @ Mind Training for Pool Players - Mental training info for competition pool players, including a hypnosis / visualization mp3 download, and a free subliminal.

 Lastly, we have begun working with Tony Palma of Main Street Productions on efforts to help launch the filming and production of the movie “9-Ball”, slated to star Jennifer Barretta. I have read the screenplay and am excited about its commercial potential and look forward to the impact it likely will have on the billiard industry.  This film could have a similar effect on billiards as The Color of Money did in the late 80’s. So, CutThroat CueSports will be prominently and actively attempting to help get this movie made. We will do so by bidding for product placement, help with merchandising sales and promotion, gaining grass-roots support for the project and aide in raising the needed capital for filming to begin. For information on how you can help email us @ info@ctcpool.com or visit www.mainstreetproductions.com

When you walk in to a pool hall or billiard parlor, you never know whom you’ll meet. That is one of the great things about pool; the diversity of people who play the game. There are always characters in sports, but none that rival those belonging to the pool community. Having grown up through the 70’s & early 80’s as an avid baseball fan, I lived to see an era of great characters. Mark “The Bird” Fidrych, Goose Gossage, Rollie Fingers, Reggie Jackson, Luis Tiant, and so many others. Nicknames were more common and exotic then. “Oil Can”, “Catfish”, and the “Mad Hungarian”, to name a few.   The nicknames seem to be fewer and the characters seem to be a thing of the past. Maybe it is the big contracts and the higher emphasis of business and investment that has made the game less for boys and more for businessmen in uniform. The game is still great and still played at an amazing level of skill and athleticism.

To me, the game that boasts the greatest level of characters is pool. All I need to do is look at the friends I have made over the years. In the pool world, I have befriended people from many walks of life and backgrounds that wouldn’t be likely acquaintances under normal circumstances. I have friends that are many years my senior and many years my junior. Most of these people would likely have nothing in common with me, except for a love for pool.  Of course you tend to find other things in common as you talk, but those conversations would likely never take place without the foundation of pool.

Pool players seem to be a different breed of person. Many are addicted to action and competition. They love to be apart of it or around it. They are poolroom rats, they linger to watch or talk pool when they are not playing. These players all have stories, and always an audience to hear them. They talk about conquests, tournaments, money games & brushes with the legends of the game. And many of them sport nicknames. “Cornbread Red”,  “The Magician”, “Bugs”, “Nubs”, is a few as colorful as the characters themselves. The game is great because it is played by men, women and children, by wealthy and poor and by the strong and the frail. What really makes it great is that you can find the unlikeliest friends from any of them.

I have always been a big fan of well designed pool & billiard apparel. I’ve had some interesting concepts rolling around my head for a long time and in some cases, it has taken over a decade to see many of my concepts materialize into the marketable, cutting edge T-shirt designs that they are today.

Today I will highlight the popular Weight of the Eight designs and give an insight into how they were conceived.

The Weight of the Eight (WO8):

  The concept for the WO8 originated in about 1994. We formed a small company, selling cues, running tournaments, planning to open a poolroom, and we called it Atlas Billiards. A relative of mine was reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and I was always intrigued by the thought of replacing the world on Atlas’ shoulders with a giant 8-Ball. I made my first crude sketch and had a graphic artist I knew, superimpose an 8-ball over the picture of Van Halen’s 5150 CD cover. It would take another decade before I finally decided to do something with this simple but intriguing concept. The WO8 is designed to show the gravity or significance of the 8-Ball in a typical bar room game. It also shows the burden or pressure often felt when trying to sink it when a match, game or tournament is on the line. Copyright © 2007 CutThroat Creations, LLC.

The Weight of the Eight (WO8) Cavewoman:

  I decided that I wanted a version with a woman holding up the Eight as well. I anticipated this design would appeal to women mostly, but have found that most of my male friends preferred this design for themselves, to the Atlas version. This version was done intentionally in contrast to the male version. The class and poise of the WPBA largely inspired it, particularly in the 90’s when I followed the pool scene much more closely. Pool had been riding the great wave of enthusiasm derived from The Color of Money and pro tournaments were frequently being televised. The men’s pro tour had been divided & hindered by infighting and power struggles. Conversely, the women maintained a unified front and a single-minded purpose to promote and progress their tour’s viability. The men’s tour split in two and the WPBA remained united and excelled, increasing their visibility at every opportunity. With great ambassadors such as, Eva Laurance, Jeanette Lee, Lorie Jon Jones, Allison Fisher, Vivian Villarreal and many others, the tour has become a model of stability. It is with these great achievements in mind, that the WO8 lady would not succumb to the pressure or The Weight of the Eight!

After many delays and obstacles, ctcpool.com is finally up and running. The CutThroat CueSports pool and billiard apparel & accessories line for 2008 are available to view and many are available to order immediately. CutThroat CueSports is also seeking new dealer applicants. For information please email info@ctcpool.com

 We look forward to an exciting 2008!