Greetings to all & felicitations again to all Nick Power Cup 2011 Attendees!!

Now that the other 'cup fever' is out of the way, here is the final update for the Nick Power Cup 2011...

Last Wednesday night's final of the Nick Power Cup 2011 proved to be another nail-biting last-minute scramble for dominance as the honour was fought out valiantly by the top dozen or so contenders starting out on the night.

As with all NPC nights, the crowds swelled and the usual jostle between players, camerapersons, enthusiastic onlookers and disgruntled losers took place. The place was abuzz with excited chatter amongst the hyped-up players, supporters, usual rowdy mob of hecklers and the infamous and much-admired Two Guys in the Balcony providing their now-legendary witty and gay reparteé as they diligently reported the unfolding fate of the dwindling cast of pool stars still in with a chance of glory.

The usual band of colourful characters were out in force: Dave G with his Linus-like NPC red sweat band looking as though Sunday tennis and cucumber sandwiches was more his cup of tea, although that night was looking like he had the fire in his belly to take out the honours; Roelof sitting ruefully as his chances for the NPC looked extremely dire; forever-lovable and cuddly John L reluctantly accepting that his chances were also very slim; and, of course, the father and son team in the commentary balcony, Jink and Jink Jnr, providing their highly-authoritative shot-by-shot account of proceedings and the fine intricacies of the game.

Lee, then wearing the yellow stage-leader jersey, started the night with a solid 47 points and had an easy win in the 1st round. This immediately knocked out many of the lower-end contenders including Roelof (14), Aidan (12), Dan T (12) and Henare (9). Unfortunately, for Justin (37) and Dean (29) they managed to do this to themselves in disappointing and career-limiting 1st round losses. Lee went on to beat already-eliminated Roelof in the 2nd round. Meanwhile, Peter T was also inflicting some damage by eliminating well-placed contender Phil P (29) in the 2nd round, then going on to pants-down Y-Fronts in the 3rd round... no, seriously, his name was Y-Fronts... check the draw!

Going into the 3rd round, Peter T's only hope now was that Lee was defeated and sunk less than 4 balls. However, Lee, with gritty determination, managed to secure a win against potential spoiler, John L, thus cementing his clutch on the coveted trophy. Henare also made a late bid for grabbing at least some of the glory and went into the semis only to eventually also fall to the mighty Lee juggernaut.

Peter T, although realising he had made his dash for the finishing line perhaps a week late, was not going to let Lee take out all of the honours on the night and went into the finals cranking the pace up one more notch. His solid finish against Lee gave him the top honours on the night but his overall NPC 2nd-place score of 67 was still woefully short of Lee's impressive 82 points.

On behalf of all HPDPers and especially those who proudly participate in this most prestigious of sporting spectacles, many congratulations to:

Lee, the winner and holder of the Nick Power Cup 2011.

Lee was presented with the cup at the traditional presentation ceremony held at the local Level One venue after the completion of the pool comp. The wild reveling continued into the wee hours as per usual with a higher-than-normal level of casualties reported the next day.

The following table shows the final results for the top 20 scoring players for the Nick Power Cup 2011. All results can be found here.

rank	name	points	week 1	week 2	week 3
1	LEE	82	32	15	35
2	PETER T	67	21	6	40
3	DAVE G	56	13	31	12
4	PHIL P	43	7	22	14
5	OZZIE	41	29	12	-
6	DANIEL	40	-	40	-
7	JUSTIN	39	14	23	2
8	HENARE	37	7	2	28
9	KEVIN	36	-	36	-
10	DEAN	35	15	14	6
11	DAN T	32	5	7	20
12	JL	29	-	7	22
12	DAVE H	29	6	-	23
14	ROELOF	28	7	7	14
15	DAVE T	26	20	6	-
16	ALLAN	23	-	23	-
17	BARRY	19	-	13	6
18	AIDAN	18	4	8	6
19	Y-FRONTS	16	-	-	16
20	JIM	14	-	-	14
20	SHAYAN	14	-	14	-

NPC 2011 Final Results:    http://stats.hpdp.org.au/NickPower.cfm?year=2011

HPDP 2011 Pool Comp Update:

Roelof (191.5 pts) still maintains his lead despite having a bout of off-form nights over the past few weeks. This may also be partly due to the increased level of competition that the NPC fires up in the hearts of players young and old. His lead over 2nd place-getter, Peter T, has narrowed from an impressive 52 points (Week 36 - 21/9/11) to just 21 points. With just weeks to go, will Roelof be able to maintain the lead he has held since he snatched it from Peter T in Week 30 (10/8/11)? Will the 3rd and 4th place-getters, Lee (118.5) and Dean (114) be able to bridge the ever-widening gap to the lead, particularly after Lee's spectacular NPC performance?

2011 Comp Ladder : http://stats.hpdp.org.au

Filming and commentary of the NPC 2011 was continued last Wednesday and is now in the capable hands of master filmmaker and Herr Direktor, John L, to bestow his boundless critique and editing skills upon what I am sure will be yet another fine display of audio-visually-magical trickery and craftsmanship. Keep an eye on the HPDP website to catch the final edited versions!

Community Announcement:

In response to certain complaints and queries in regards to unavoidable production delays in announcing these results, HPDP community members should be reminded that the very best way to ensure that you have instantaneous live updates for NPC or normal HPDP comps is to actually attend these events on the night!! This will not only provide immediate results, analysis and critique, but will also involve you in the spirit of fun competition these auspicious occasions always foster. The next best way is to check the results on the HPDP stats website. The final results for the NPC 2011 were posted on there within minutes of the comp finishing last Wednesday night.

All the very best for the rest of this very exciting year and good luck with your training and preparations for the Nick Power Cup 2012.

Peter T

Update: The winner has been announced!

Here's the latest High Jinx gag but this time there's a difference... there's no caption.

That's where you come in.

This morning the cartoonist had a silly thought - instead of using his idea for a caption, why not put it out to the ever creative HPDP community?

So here's the deal, leave a comment with your suggested caption and next Wednesday the 9th of November the winner, as judged by the artist, will be announced (so you better get along to to the comp!). The winner will have their caption digitally etched into the cartoon and it will be posted here on the HPDP site.

 

Last night saw the first night of the most-anticipated and revered sports event in our entire planetary system plus a bit past Alpha Centauri, around the corner and take the first laneway on the left, the Nick Power Cup (2011).

As usual, the event was surrounded by the usual awe, glamour and glitz as the stars of the pool industry were out in force to show their support and take a crack at winning this most-coveted of prizes. The HPDP film crew were enthusiastically buzzing and swarming to capture the play and gain exclusive interviews with celebrity players whilst the huge and ever-growing, eager audience waited impatiently for the show to begin.

And what a night of pool it was although with some early shock disappointments and clear displays of match nerves. Proving that the mystical fire and passion the NPC brings out are truly powerful forces not to be easily dismissed, current 2011 champ, Roelof, succumbed in the first round securing a mere 7 points out of the maximum 32 on offer (16-player comp). Peter T, currently second placed on the 2011 ladder, fared better by going on to the semis and claiming a solid 21 points towards his aim of having his name etched for the 4th time on this most-adulated of trophies. NPC newcomer, Ozzie, managed to secure 2nd spot with 29 balls sunk on the night. A disappointing 1st-round loss was also experienced by the NPC 2010 dark horse 2nd place-getter, Henare (7pts).

Full marks (32) go to Lee, who shone through to take out the night and put himself firmly at the top of the NPC 2011 ladder. Lee's form has been sporadic over the years, this being best highlighted when comparing last night's result to his last year's NPC placing of 23rd equal (13pts total). Excellent work, Lee. I would like to personally nominate you for Most Improved Player 2011 - NPC Category.

In the ongoing 2011 pool comp standings, current leader, Roelof (190pts) added just a single point to his total last night whilst 2nd place-getter, Peter T (154pts), further whittled away Roelof's lead by another 3 points. Highlighting the critical importance of attendance in actually gaining any points, the absence of John L (96pts) last night meant that Lee (109.5pts) was able to steal John's undefended 4th place whilst also closing in rapidly on Dean (113pts) in 3rd. This year's countdown to the grand final appears set to being a nail-biting photo-finish once again.

The table below shows all the current standings in the NPC 2011 ladder. With two more weeks of jockeying for top position to go, anything is possible.

rank	name	points	week 1
1	LEE	32	32
2	OZZIE	29	29
3	PETER T	21	21
4	DAVE T	20	20
5	DEAN	15	15
6	JUSTIN	14	14
7	DAVE G	13	13
8	GAVIN	7	7
8	ROELOF	7	7
8	PHIL P	7	7
8	HENARE	7	7
12	DAVE H	6	6
13	DAN T	5	5
14	AIDAN	4	4

NPC 2011 Results:    http://stats.hpdp.org.au/NickPower.cfm?year=2011
2011 Comp Ladder : http://stats.hpdp.org.au

On a related topic, as you will no doubt be aware, the NPC is currently being filmed by the HPDP film crew (Chick Stick Productions) for eternal safe-keeping of memories. Edited scenes will be made available on the HPDP website once Herr Direktor, John L, has applied his incredible talents and magical mystical trickery to the editing process. This leads into the next point which alludes to the requirement for "absolute bucketloads of that magic" to be applied...

Any general queries in regards to this footage (particularly that on the night of Wed 12 Oct 2011) or any issues arising from any mishaps and/or technical problems that may have been encountered, should be directed to the "nominated" (following a unanimous retrospective vote-of-confidence in his abilities on the night) temporary director, -->> Jink <<--. All liability for any of these aforementioned complete and utter f*ups has been absolved on all other involved, irresponsible parties. Good luck, Jink!! We're right behind you (at a very safe distance!!)... on behalf of all those other irresponsible parties.

May the chick-stick (a.k.a. girlie-stick, seafood-extender) never be with you!!
[Apologies to all females (including those who should be), feminists, wowsers and big girls' blouse users of chick sticks for what is clearly a highly sexist but humourous reference to a well-established industry standard measurement of one's pool 'girliness' [Apologies: refer to disclaimer for 'chick-stick']]

Peter T

NOTE: Following a query last night, it should be pointed out that NPC points are NOT awarded for buyback games i.e. only your first attempt ball count will be included.

NOTE: Don't forget to regularly check for updates on here for always-enlightening news, current events, video clips and rib-shattering humour at its very very best!!

First week played Wed 12th October. Week 2 & 3: 19th and 26th October.
See post below for Week 1 results and commentary. For just results, click here...

rank	name	points	week 1
1	LEE	32	32
2	OZZIE	29	29
3	PETER T	21	21
4	DAVE T	20	20
5	DEAN	15	15
6	JUSTIN	14	14
7	DAVE G	13	13
8	GAVIN	7	7
8	ROELOF	7	7
8	PHIL P	7	7
8	HENARE	7	7
12	DAVE H	6	6
13	DAN T	5	5
14	AIDAN	4	4

Just when you thought it was safe to take off your sox.

Greetings and felicitations fellow HPDPers!!

This is to confirm that the 2011 Nick Power Cup starts next week:

      Wednesday 12th October 2011 @ 7:30pm

and continues on Oct 19 and Oct 26. Please make sure you let everyone know about this most special and prestigious event, the highlight of the HPDP calendar, respected and revered around the Glebe, the Globe and the beyond. As is customary, the final week will include the time-honoured NPC handing-over ceremony (if necessary) to the new champion by the current holder... oh that's me! :P

Important Note: Beware of unscrupulous scalpers selling closing ceremony tickets at exorbitant prices. See Dean in the laneway for more reasonably priced tickets including those covered under your standard, gold or platinum Cash4Pool membership plans ;)

Also, it is my special honour to be able to take this opportunity to wish our very own forever lovable, forever furry, forever grumpy John L a very happy birthday for today. Let's hope that still more age may begin to mellow him yet. Commiserations also to more-grumpy-than-usual John for just missing out on a special birthday eve pool win last night against Kidi in the final. Obviously those extra 364 days have allowed John to show some improvements in this area at least. Well done, John!!!

Last night's results have already been posted (reflecting the new more-streamlined assignment of responsibilities as detailed in last week's ermailing). Little has changed in the top placings, with the exception of John L's thrilling late points-grabbing dash. Peter T managed to claw back a single point from the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut Roelof after disappointing, lack-lustre displays from both last night, which left some in the vast audience baying for an immediate refund. It is hoped that the NPC may further inspire not only these two players but all players possessing the burning desire to have their name engraved on the most coveted of all pool trophies in the known galatial neighbourhood, the Nick Power Cup.

See y'all at next week's NPC kickoff. Good luck to all. May the best man/woman/[insert other options] win!!

Best regards
Peter T

HPDP - An equal opportunity organisation - We'll let anyone play - Like, even the C & M Sisters :P

 

 

Our resident consumer advocate Dan Mccartan takes on the Mites.