There’s nothing like having a tough tournament weekend and then killing three hours at the airport Monday morning to face my thoughts and reflect on the experience.
There were a million and one excuses I could’ve used for why I didn’t do better this weekend. I guess the most prevalent one was, again, that I seriously need to learn to deal with sloooooooow opponents. They just completely suck the life outta me! I probably shouldn’t be divulging my weaknesses like this, but hey, I’m learning to deal with it.
First, this weekend’s tournament was held at Rusty’s in Arlington. Tracie V., a regular, long-time OB Cues Tour patron, single-handedly raised almost the entire $2,000 of added money herself. The stop would not have even happened if it weren’t for her determination. Go, Tracie!
Rusty’s Billiards is a quaint little pool room with 16 8-foot Brunswick Century’s sprinkled with a handful of coin-op and 9-foot tables. You enter the poolroom on the left side, the smoking side, and through a doorway to your right is the non-smoking area. The tables played well. The pockets were friendly and they used Championship cloth that I haven’t had much experience with. It was interesting, like the object balls rolled quickly but the cue ball did not. The tables all played the same from one to another which was also nice.
My only two complaints were that the tables are uncomfortably close together (in a my-a$$-is-on-your-table-if-I’m-left-with-a-rail-shot sort of way) and their assortment of plastic racks couldn’t keep the balls together. Perhaps I’ve just been spoiled by my Delta-13. Aside from that, the bartenders and wait staff were all fantastic. They brush and wipe down the tables after every rental and the owners even called on Sunday to welcome us back next year.
My first two matches started off pretty strong. I gave up a couple games that I shouldn’t have but over all, ran some nice racks and for the most part, I got out when I was supposed to.
My third match was against my friend Amanda where after being ahead 3-1, I just completely buckled. I can’t even describe what happened. She made some mistakes and had some unfortunate things happen to her early on for me to jump ahead, but then I couldn’t stop miscuing, scratching, and just plain missing. I made mistake after mistake and you just can’t do that against Amanda. I think the final score was 7-4??? Either way, I was pretty disappointed with myself afterwards.
I won my next match against Deanna whom I’d never played before. I remembered that Nicole had lost to her at Bogies a few months ago so I knew she played well, and she did. It’s always refreshing for me to play someone new, and especially someone I hadn’t played before. I won that match as Amanda struggled against Heather on the table behind us.
I began wondering if maybe I lost to Amanda for a reason. Maybe I was sent down a better path for me. Unfortuantely, that was not the case. In my next match, the last and final match of the night, a match that I had waited over an hour to play would turn out to be the last match for me of the main event.
Our match started off strong for me. I was ahead 3-0 and felt great. I made few errors and was hitting the ball really well. In the fourth game, some safeties and allowing her at the table would prove to be fatal for me. It’s tough to say whether she was playing slow intentionally or if that’s seriously her normal pace. She’s an excellent player and plays way too well to take THAT long on each shot.
Either way, it worked. I allowed her to completely suck the life out of me. UGH… At 4-4, after EVERYONE around us (that started after us) had finished and left, I finally requested our match be put on the clock and low and behold, she started moving faster and was still making balls. It was a miracle!
I don’t know what was more frustrating, the fact that it took her 25 seconds to get out of my way after she missed, or the 25 seconds it took her to get out of her seat after I missed, or just the slow loafing around the table in general. All of which were incredibly painful. Sadly, it’s my own fault I lost. I think maybe I’m too analytical. I waste entirely too much time trying to figure out how such a good player could need so much time and by the time I finally get to the table, my brain has melted.
In the end, she was ahead 6-5, broke dry and hung the 9 ball. I pushed out, leaving her a long tough shot on the 1 ball with the cue ball frozen to the rail. She missed the one and left me a long 1-9 combo. I made it to make it hill-hil. When the 9 ball hung up on her break, I immediately got new life and believed that it happened for a reason and I was meant to win that match.
Unfortunately, when I had a chance at the table at hill-hill, I made a strong opening shot, but a couple balls later, ended up with a long back cut on the 5 ball that I missed. She ran out in shot-maker form, leaving herself a less-than-ideal shot on the 8 ball. I commend her for making it and winning the match but I will never understand why people play SOOOOOO SLOW…..
That loss definitely left a mark and took a little while for me to get over (sorry, Carter & Cristina). I was still feeling uninspired Sunday morning as I arrived for the second chance tournament. Fortunately, I played just barely well enough to win.
I wish I had better news to report, but that was it.
Frank, on the other hand, really enjoyed himself this weekend and turned out to be quite the conversation piece. After the leg injury, I decided to shuffle some things so I could take him on the plane with me. The most common responses were, “OMG! I thought that was a real dog!” or “He looks so real.” Yeah, I know that’s the point.
Now, I just have three whole weeks to prepare for working at the US Open with InsidePool and another month before my next big event.
Thanks for taking me along to meet everyone on the OB Cues Tour! Everyone there was really nice… especially that lady with the pink hair. Plus, getting to fly in coach instead of being packed with the rest of the luggage was a major bonus!