2nd, Last, and 3rd
Here’s a quick tournament recap from the last week. I still have a ton of photos to upload and many great stories to share.
I ended up losing the A-side match to a very good player named Monica. It was refreshing to play some new faces and Monica played great against me. I did play outstanding in my next match against Ashea whom I met last month from Phoenix. I could tell from some of her decisions that she was not an 8-ball player so I just tortured her.
Finals of the US Amateur Open
Unfortunately, I still couldn’t beat Monica in the finals. She was ahead 3-1 and at 3-2, we had a safety battle that I patiently grinded through and when I finally had a shot at my last ball in the side, I had to punch it in with inside and missed it. That sucked. I really felt like I had the Big Mo’ on my side too and could’ve won the next game. Regardless, she played well against me.
I was slightly annoyed to discover that they were allowing players to participate in more than one division. The biggest winner was the 17 and under girl who was able to play in the Open, Women’s, AND Juniors events. The only unfortunate part about this is that they allowed matches to be held up due to players still in other division matches.
I guess you really had to try to maximize your chances since the payouts were such a joke. In the Women’s 8-ball event, there were only 10 ladies and at $70 entry, first paid $300, I got $130, and third was less than $100. If I only played in the women’s 8-ball and 9-ball events, and scotch and won all three of them, I wouldn’t have broken even. How sad is that?…
Interview with Charlie Williams
Mike and I were both happy to find out that 9-ball matches didn’t begin until 7p.m. Thursday night. However, that meant work, work, work for us that day. We were at least able to hit the beach that morning before heading into the poolroom around 3p.m.
Mike took photos all day while I did about five interviews until it was time for our matches.
I knew it would be a learning experience for me to jump from playing reporter and staring at the permanent-retinal-damage-causing lights all day to being a competitor but in all honesty, it was quite refreshing.
My first match was against Monica again. I hadn’t hit a ball since our last match together and I just decided I was going to enjoy myself. I didn’t even warm up but it was crazy. In the first two racks, I was making everything from everywhere. I was loose and calm. I made a couple great runs and then I think I might have been a little too loose. I ended up scratching on two 9 balls. [diagrams to come] They were both nice shots too but I just kinda let the cue ball get away from me.
I was still playing great and didn’t hold it against myself. It wasn’t until 2-2, that I realized how well I was playing and accidentally stopped to think. That was when I missed the first ball that I wasn’t supposed to. I hung a 7 ball and in the next rack, I did the same thing and hung a 6 ball. That was so aggravating.
My next match the following morning would be just as brutal. I was down 3-1 and made two sick 9 balls to made it 3-3 and was in the midst of the most perfect, textbook run until I made a dumb mental error on the 7 ball and left myself a goofy, in-between angle on the 8 ball. I forced it out of the corner two rails and scratched in the side getting to the 9. It was a complete heartbreaker. [diagram to come]
Lastly, the Scotch Doubles division started on Sunday and Mike and I ended up finishing third after losing our first match. Not much to report other than playing scotch with him has been some of the best, highest highs as well as the toughest, emotional lowest lows.
I did about 20 interviews over the course of 4 days and here are most of them:
I leave for LAX super early in the morning for a promotion at The Pool Table Company in Bakersfield Friday & Saturday. If you’re in the area, please stop by.
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