I’m alive!
Well, it’s been a crazy year already, but I’m hangin’ in there!
It’s 53 days into 2008 and already I’ve been on the road 22 days and 6,011 miles so far.
I’m currently writing from Minneapolis where I’ll be for another couple days. I recently returned from Austin, Texas for the first Hunter Tour (now OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball Tour) stop this year. It was muggy and balmy all weekend. It was a loud, torrential downpour the whole time.
I flew into Dallas to meet my friend Carter. After a quick stop at the Flying Fish for three pounds of crawfish and a dozen oysters on the 1/2 shell, we made our way to Austin to meet up with my new friend John from Phoenix. The three of us headed over to Fast Eddies for a solid evening of practice.
The tables here are, well, interesting. The rails are super springy, but the bed is super dooper slow. So, you really have to stroke the ball like crazy to draw or stun to the rail where you’re aiming but then it just takes off from there, sort of. The non-Aramith balls and humidity from all the rain didn’t help much either. The first few racks were rough, but eventually I was stringing together rarunscks. Carter said later it was like he was practicing with the ghost. I was feeling great!
Unfortunately, the next day was a different story. I never really regained that same euphoric feeling all day. I struggled and struggled and even when I won, I felt like I just barely played well enough to do so.
It was great seeing everyone again. We had a full field of 64 new and returning players. During the player’s meeting, they even had the 6 Regional Tour Championship qualifiers get up and take a photo. It’s a well-run ship.
In my first match versus Belinda Lee, I was down 2-0 before I took a bathroom break and came to my senses. I came back and won the next 7 games to close out the match. One of the things I love the most about this game is that you never know what your opponent is going to leave you when you get to the table. It’s like a fun little surprise everytime.
I won my next match 7-4 against last year’s Regional Tour Champion, Amanda Lampert. It was a miracle! Overnight, the room had decided to recover two random tables. Amanda had played her first match on one of them and we were scheduled to play our second match together on the other one. This table was out of control. The cue ball was sliding all over the place and we were both getting hooked left and right. With a little luck on my side, I managed to squeak out a win. It almost seemed that everything was going my way.
My next match was much closer than it was supposed to be. I missed an 8 ball to win 7-5 and the next thing I knew, it was hill-hill and she was at the table. She missed the 8 ball and I still didn’t get good shape on the 9, but managed to make it anyway. Ugh…
Unfortunately, luck could only get me so far. When I met up with Tara McCracken in my next round, she was on fire and I was very not. She played great and I continued to struggle. I had few chances and I wasn’t taking advantage of them. This would put me into the final 12 on Sunday.
I returned Sunday morning for my 10 o’clock match against Kyu. I made two dumb mistakes in the first two games and immediately lost some confidence. I took a break and came back to win a couple games. I continued to struggle a bit and unfortunately, by the time I finally got going, a sad roll left me hooked on the 3 ball. Game over. 
Here are the:
Tomorrow, I’m playing in some big table 9 ball tournament at Two Stooges. I’m looking forward to some solid competition against some new faces.
I’m leaving to drive home either Sunday or Monday morning. I feel like I have a booked schedule for everyday from now through June. Whew! I’m not complaining though. I love it.
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