After a very productive 32 days at home, I packed up and hit the road again yesterday. 14 hours and 940 miles later, here I am. Man, I’m outta stroke! It was so nice to stay put for so long that I felt like an old woman yesterday after only 200 miles into the drive. Believe it or not, that was my longest stint at home since December of 2007 when I was home from November 27 to December 30 (according to my 2007 travel miles).
Since last I wrote, I’ve really gotten a bunch of stuff done.
Tonight, I broke in a new piece of my favorite chalk for my upcoming trip to Tampa. YAY! I know, I know, I’m a total chalk geek. I can’t help it. Four and a half months of use and it’s only more than half gone?!?? That’s terrible! I really didn’t play enough pool this summer!
Sunday
I had a good time at Sunday night’s big table 9-ball tourney. I saw a lot of old faces and also many favorites. I will not disclose the location of this tournament because I have a few gripes about the place. Well, first of all, they’re probably in over their heads attempting to hold a pool tournament there since it’s not really a pool players’ place.
- The tables are way too close together. Your cue ball could be at the second diamond and you’ll still have your bum on the neighboring short rail. That’s unacceptable!
- They recently recovered many of the tables but they did not replace the rails. So, the tables play nice and slick but the rails are completely dead.
- The lighting is horrible.
- You get completely blasted by the giant speakers that are directly above the tables. I can’t even get the balls to rack tightly from the vibration of the bass.
- I won’t even get into who they have working as the “house pro” there but only just to say that he does not have the credentials that he represents himself to have. True story.
- Not only are the tables close to one another, but at one table, if I was left anywhere on the one side, I had a leg up on the couch. It was within two feet from the table and unmovable.
So, I’m sure it’s a fun place to hang out and drink and pick up chicks, but it’s no “pool room” or place for any serious pool playing, so I don’t think recommend having tournaments there.
Oh! So, about the tournament, there were 14 players, $5 entry, race-to-3/2. I played a total of 8 matches to come in second and win $35. I played really super in the beginning followed by some mediocrity, followed with a big scoop of gawd awful playing with a whole buncha luck on top in my two matches to get into the finals. Overall, I had fun.
Monday
Last week, I decided that straight pool and Monday night football do not really belong in the same building together. This week, it was a toss up between football and Rockies playoffs. Eek! I did manage to win both my matches through it all.
Match #1, 100-91 in 39 innings. I started off strong but let him back in the match. He’s pretty new to straight pool so he didn’t know much about where to leave the break ball or how to play position for it, but he could run 10-14′s like nobody’s business.
Match #2, 100-66 in 28 innings. This was a make-ahead match that my friend Dave was kind enough to play since I’m going to be gone for a month. I played pretty well in this match. High run: 22. Eh, barely blog-worthy.
Tuesday
I got to meet and hang out with the one and only Dr. Dave! YAY! He is only the biggest pool nerd as pool nerds come, and I mean that in the most envious, endearing way possible. If you haven’t checked out his videos and articles, do it NOW! Not only does he have the theories, but he has the means to prove and disprove them. You can’t argue with a high-speed camera, baby! No offense but he was messin’ around with them long before Time Warp was around.
The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards
I'm laughing because I just racked poor Dr. D running to get in the photo. I'm surprised he's still smiling.
Dr. Dave and Tom Ross are currently working on a 5-disc Video Encyclopedia of Pool Shots. How exciting!
This comprehensive series illustrates over 750 shots, how to shoot them, various applications, and, of course, the physics behind them. More information to come!
The cost will be around 100 bucks for the set and the first one will be ready to order by the holidays. I’ll have it for sale at my store and I’ll keep you updated here.
On a side note, for being as completely brilliant as the man is, Dr. Dave is so super cool, humble, genuine, and gracious. I’m looking forward to collaborating with him on some videos of my own.
Wednesday & Thursday
The past couple days were kind of a wash. I did get to practice for a couple hours on Wednesday intermittently between teaching, errands, laundry, and packing. Yesterday was my big driving day.
I’m looking forward to a big practice day tomorrow with my friend Dave.
