Tom and Joe simply waltz to a Scotch Doubles championship

Left to right: Joe “Fast Eddie” Giammarino, Tom “Ski” Kaliski, Paul “Bankster” Callas and John “Hole in One” McKinney

Left to right: Joe “Fast Eddie” Giammarino, Tom “Ski” Kaliski, Paul “Bankster” Callas and John “Hole in One” McKinney

We would like to thank our generous sponsors: La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant, Xpert Automotive in Catalina and Temperature Control Inc.

On April 30, 2016 Pool Players of the Brooke hosted a Scotch Doubles 8-Ball Tournament. The tournament directors were Dominic Borland and Joe Giammarino. The following field of 14 players gathered to play competitive 8-Ball, and after a blind draw the seven partners were Jim “Shooter” Fabio and Jay Clary, Tom “Ski” Kaliski and Joe “Fast Eddie” Giammarino, Dan Stebbins and Richard “Loose Rack” Galant, Jim Kauffman and Terrance Sterling, Dominic “The Doctor” Borland and Randy Smith, Paul “Bankster” Callas and John “Hole in One” McKinney, and Dave Brinker and Bob “Ski” Bujnovsky.

Definition of Scotch Doubles: Two players per team. One partner takes a shot, if he makes a ball then the other partner takes one shot until they miss, then the opposing team has their turn at the table. This format equalizes a player’s skill level because it does not allow a skilled single player to run the table.

Results: 1st Tom “Ski” Kaliski and Joe “Fast Eddie” Giammarino; 2nd John “Hole in One” McKinney and Paul “Bankster” Callas.

Recap: Tom “Ski” Kaliski and Joe “Fast Eddie” Giammarino’s road to the championship started by beating the formidable team of John “Hole in One” McKinney and Paul “Bankster” Callas in the first round and sending them into the losers’ bracket. Their second round match-up against Dominic “The Doctor” Borland and Randy Smith would turn out to be a hard fought match that would end with a two-to-one win by Tom and Joe. Next up for Tom and Joe was Jim “Shooter” Fabio and Jay Clary, again Jim and Jay put up a good fight, but Tom and Joe were just too much for them to handle and Tom and Joe won another two-to-one match. Meanwhile John “Hole in One” McKinney and Paul “Bankster” Callas skillfully worked their way through the losers’ bracket beating everyone they matched up with to earn another chance against Tom and Joe. John and Paul would have to defeat them twice to steal the championship from Tom and Joe. John and Paul came at Tom and Joe with their best 8-Ball of the day, but in the end Tom and Joe prevailed and were crowned 8-Ball Scotch Doubles Champions!

Sponsor’s Gifts: La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant – Terrance Sterling – Gift Certificate; Xpert Automotive in Catalina – Jay Clary – Gift Certificate; Tom “Ski” Kaliski – Temperature Control Inc. – Gift Certificate.

A fun day was over after three and one-half hours and 26 games of Scotch Doubles 8-ball. The 14 participants consumed seven pizzas and a mound of salad, competed and met some new friends that shared their passion. That is a good day!

Pool Players of the Brooke wants to extend a big thank you to all our participants and to Jim Fabio for delivering the pizzas hot and on time! Rack ‘em up!