It began on Friday night, July 22nd, with a 38-player, mini 9-ball tournament, won by Joe Pierce (over Harold Pierce in the finals), and ended at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, July 25th, when Eddie Adams missed a 9-ball that would have brought his opening set in the finals versus hot seat occupant Corey Morphew to double hill. With the definite potential of yet another game, and the possibility of a second set that might have taken them until noon, Adams, in his words, "just ran out of gas," missed that 9-ball, and allowed Morphew to complete his nearly 48-hour, undefeated journey. The $1,500-added event had drawn 87 entrants to Janet Atwell's Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
Though an "A" player (Adams) made it to the finals, it was "B" players – Morphew and Jerry Varnado – battling for the hot seat, and eventually, prevailing in the event. Morphew downed "AA" player Jeff Abernathy 10-7 to get into the hot seat match, while Varnado defeated Adams 7-5 to join him. Morphew sent Varnado to the semifinals and waited (and waited, and waited) for his return.
Abernathy moved to the one-loss side and picked up Greg Taylor, who'd gotten by Steve Dye 9-4 and Ron Park (2nd place on the tour's last stop) 9-5. Adams drew Keith Jones, who'd defeated James King 7-2 and Wes Davis 7-6. It was Adams and Taylor advancing to the quarterfinals; Adams with a 9-3 win over Jones, and Taylor with a 9-7 victory over Abernathy.
Adams and Taylor were the only "A" players left in the event, and one of them, of course, had to go in the quarterfinals. Adams prevailed 9-4, and faced two "B" players in a row. He took care of the first one 9-4 in his rematch versus Varnado in the semifinals, and moved into the first set of the true double elimination finals.
In spite of the hour, Adams battled to a 7-6 lead. With the handicaps, he needed two to win the match, Morphew needed one. It came down to that final 9-ball, which would have allowed Adams to join Morphew on the hill, but the 'tank' was empty and Morphew completed his undefeated weekend and half day.
Though their names do not appear on the list of payouts, Tour Director Shannon Daulton requested mention of Brian White, Okinawa Slim, Scott Howard, Mike Higgins, Justin Harris, Edwin Russell, and Haskell Brown, who were awarded free entry fees for their 17th through 24th place finish in this epic struggle. Daulton also thanked Janet Atwell and her staff at Borderline Billiards, as well as sponsors Andy Gilbert Custom Cues, Nick Varner Cues and Cases, Mike Davis Exterminating, Tiger Products, and Delta-13 Racks.
