US Am Open in JAX - Day 1
It was a long Day One. Yesterday seemed like three days all smooshed into one.
My day began with a 9a.m. meeting at the office. Then, I…
- Did some more laundry
- Tried to pack
- Made a bunch of phone calls
- Caught up on some writing
- Tried to pack again
- Did some more work
- Organized all the stuff I wanted to pack
- Taught my clinic at 7p.m.
- Finally finished packing
- Left for the airport around 10:30p.m.
My original flight was supposed to leave DEN at 12:55a.m. and arrive in Hot-lanta at 5:42a.m. for my 7:05a.m. flight to JAX. Simple, right? When I arrived at the gate at 11:15p.m. there was a line of people at the counter and the departure time had been changed to 1:45a.m. Yikes! That would put us in at 6:40a.m. and leave me with 25 minutes to haul booty through the ATL airport. So, I joined the line.
When I got up there, as a backup, she booked me on the next flight to JAX from ATL that would depart at 10a.m. in the event that I missed my connection. This would put me in JAX at 11:17a.m. As it turned out, it would’ve also been the same flight that Mike was coming in on.
Normally, my eyes are closed before the doors on the plane are. I’m one of those people that are usually passed out before we even take off. Of course, now that I’m flying during the hours that I’m supposed to be sleeping, I couldn’t for the life of me fall asleep! I think I may have dozed off twice. Once, just before the girl in the window seat needed to use the restroom and once again just as we hit the ground.
I was flying DELTA (coincidentally, not to be confused with the DELTA-13, who happens to be the official rack for the pro events this weekend) whom I haven’t flown in many years and each seat had its own little touch screen monitor where you could watch television, rent movies, play games, and even play trivia (which I ended up doing) just like the kind you play at the bars where the sooner you answer the more points you get and it shows the seat number of the other people that you’re playing against! Yeah, that was a waste of 25 minutes I could’ve been sleeping.
Anyway, we finally landed and I got off the plane in ATL at 7a.m. “No way am I going to make my connection,” I thought. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world though once I realized I would’ve been on the same flight with Mike. But, we decided I wouldn’t miss it on purpose and just to see what happens.
So, I check the monitor and high-tailed it to B-32, from B-21. There was no line. Not a good sign. I rushed up to the counter and asked, “Is the Jacksonville flight closed already?” “She’s fixin’ to make an announcement about it,” she said. Her announcement: “We’re sorry for the delay. There were some technical difficulties and we need everyone to return to the original gate (which ended up being B-22, directly across from where we parked).” Wow, what an odd coincidence.
I finally arrived in JAX around 8:30 after another sleepless, sort of, flight. 24 hours later and I’d only slept maybe a couple hours and I would still have to wait almost three more hours for Mike’s flight to get in. I got my bags and laid down on this bench for a little 2 hour nap, I think. The entire night had just been a blur.
Around 11:30, Mike finally got off the plane, we grabbed his bags, picked up the rental, and headed to the amazing B&B Inn we’re staying at (right on Jacksonville Beach!) to check in and drop our bags off and then went straight to the pool hall. By around 2p.m., I was playing my first match.
The Tournament
My first match was against Cristina whom I know from the OB Cues Tour. I’ve only recently gotten to know her a little better and she’s super cool. She has great mechanics and is a total hottie too! Anyway, the race was originally to 3 but we asked them to at least make it a race to 4. Seriously! I flew all the way from Denver for this thing!
Cristina and I both struggled a bit but I think she was just struggling a little more than me. She’s a very good player. I’ve only played her once about a year and half ago at Amateur Nationals and we went to the hill. Yesterday, I won 4-0, but 9 out of 10 times, I’m not supposed to. It should be a pretty even match.
I was happy for the win however because that meant I got a chance at a rematch against Emily, bad-hit-on-the-hill girl from Payson. The match started out rocky for me. I missed two half-pocket cut shots and she ran both of those racks. Being down 2-0 in a short race to 4 is a pretty big deficit. But then, in rack 3, she didn’t get out and I won that game. I broke and ran the next one to make it 2-2 and just played super smart and steady to win the next two games. Score: 4-2 for the home team. Yay!
My next match was against a local girl called Nickie something? It was refreshing to play someone new. It seems that the more I’ve been traveling and competing, the more I’ve been seeing the same people around and I always end up drawing them too. She played well, but I was playing extra well, for me.
Everything just felt right and worked out. I did make mistakes but very few. I did hang two tough 8 balls, but I played them with speed and knew that if I’d missed, I would leave them blocking her balls. She sold out both games. I also made the most wicked back cut carom shot after getting on the wrong pocket for the 8 ball. (diagram to come)
I strategically picked through the last rack after she broke dry and won the match 4-2. I’m really happy with what’s happening right now and it’s only the beginning of the weekend. I hope I can ride it out and continue this great feeling and performance.
Fortunately, that was the last match of the day and Mike and I both return today on the winner’s side. He got a bye and won two matches. He’s playing at noon and I play at 2p.m. We had a nice, fresh seafood dinner and brief stroll on the beach before calling it an early night.
Work also starts for me today as the 14.1 event begins and I’ll be interviewing and reporting on matches in between my own. I’m looking forward to it.
More to come. See Day 1 write-up
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You go girl…
Now you know how to shoot killer pool: NO SLEEP.
;o)