Great Moments in Pool History - 2014

2014 - Booth beats Whiteside

You know the guy. The one who constantly rubs it in your face, who taunts you with his successes at every opportunity, who trash talks his relatives, his co-workers, even his kids? The guy you just have to beat? Well apparently Booth knows him better. His name is Whiteside (C Whiteside, to be precise), and he's her brother-in-law.

Each year, as Spring approached, Booth thought "this is the year." She filled out her entry form, she crossed her fingers, she publicly announced her intentions to beat her nemesis. But from 2003 (Booth's first year in the contest) through 2013, it never happened.

2013 was especially painful, as Booth fell to Whiteside by a mere point, 219 to 218. It seemed like the dream would never come true.

And then it did. The very next year. In 2014, Booth bested Whiteside, by 20 points, no less (245 to 225). It was a great day for underdogs everywhere, a tribute to the impossible dream.

Booth hasn't beaten her brother-in-law since. Her overall record against her arch-rival: 1-16, a 5.9% success rate.

At least it's not zero.

But Booth vs. Whiteside is not the only blood feud we've instigated here.

K Ripley has been playing in the contest since she was K Wanger, and each year she has proclaimed her only goal is to beat her father (R Wanger), her brother (M Wanger), and her husband (P Ripley).

The good news is, she's been a lot more successful than Booth. While it's close, over the years she has a losing record against father R Wanger (7 wins, 9 losses, and a tie). She has managed to thrash brother M Wanger, 4 wins against 2 losses, and beat her husband P Ripley, 7 wins against 5 losses. She even managed to spank her son (A Ripley) in the only contest the tyke entered.

But no blog post about bitter competitors can be complete without mentioning B Peloso and K Sullivan. In her first contest, K Sullivan finished in second place. She proceeded to trash-talk B Peloso for an entire year, and it was on. K Sullivan beat her rival again in 1999, and again in 2000. And two out of three after that. But then B Peloso struck back, winning three of the next four years. Back and forth and back and forth. At this point, both suggest their only interest in entering is bragging rights over the other.

So what's the result? You guessed it: 9 wins for K Sullivan, 9 wins for B Peloso, and a tie (in 2014). Yep, it's a complete deadlock.

K Sullivan declined to enter the contest this year.