Back in the saddle

Well, Region III was a great time. We finished up on Thursday and after a short five hour scoot home, I had some unscheduled time to kill before heading to the FFA Foundation meeting that evening. After the Foundation meeting, I scooted over to the Twisted Parrott for our mid-season positioning round.

Brian, Tom, and I were scheduled to play the second place team - 3's Company. It was a sad state of affairs, at least from my perspective. I went 1-8 over the course of the night. It was a shadow of what I hoped to be. Especially for a playoff night. And to be frank, 3's Company will make you pay for any misses that you make. We ended up a 3-1 rounds loser, and avoided the skunk, by the grace of a tie-breaker criteria. Brian should be credited with coming through with the clutch win to secure the tie and then subsequently tie-break. Tom also came through in the next to last game to help put us in position to make a run for the lonely win. Sheesh. No help from me, and dead weight is the nicest thing I can say about my performance.

Sunday night - I got a chance to play in the Sunday Night 9-ball tournament at Big Dog Billiards in DM. (Race to 6 on winners, 5 on losers, winner break) Usually a high calibur tournament, it usually draws the best players in DM and I am usually a two-and-through, although I have made some break through performances. Perfection is the key, as any minor imperfections (and in my game there are many) will be fatal, as these guys (and girls) take no prisoners and will make you pay with losses. And then they have the next break and usually tack on a run of two or three (or more) racks(games).

Overall, I was happy with my performance. I ended up tied for 5/6th place in a 30 person field. A couple nice wins, and a couple could-have-beens. I was particularly happy with the performance given Thursdays 1-8 game.

1st game was with Duane and after some trading of poor shots, I ended up with a 6-4 win.

This advanced me to the next round on the winners side against Jamie F., who is the best player in DM in my uncles' opinion. I tend to disagree, but he is no doubt a top quality player. I won 6-2, in no small part to several non-typical misses by Jamie and a couple of shots that I made that I usually don't. Nothing spectacular, but he made mistakes and I didn't. A good win, but nothing to get excited about, because he crushed me last time 6-0.

If I get one good win per tournament, I consider it a good showing. In this tournament, I got two, but not in a row.

Third round front side -- Mike A. -- IMO, the best player in DM. We went to 3-3 ,with some good break and runs, and I got a couple of good games in. In the 7th rack, I missed a chance at a run out and for the life of me, I can't remember what it was. And true to form, Mike got out -- broke and ran three for the win. I get the rack and 4-3, with a break and I might have had a chance at something, but it was somewhat closer than our matches have historically been. Maybe it's an indication of a small improvement.

Back side matches -- I won over Anthony after being up 4-0 in a race to 5. He came back to 4-4 after a couple nice run outs, and an early combo. In the final game, he missed the 5 or 6 and I ran the last three for the win. Into the Money -- and it had been a long time since.

Next game was the title fight for the Pride of Home Town bragging. -- Jim P., a long time pool player from the old town. I have never beaten Jim and he historically plays way better than I do (or used to). After a 5-1 win, I couldn't believe it. He missed a couple routine shots that we somewhat un-characteristic, and I played well. I will say that the work on my break is paying off as I usually made a ball or two and had position every time in that game. It is nice to have some confidance in that portion of the game, especially after some hard work.

In the last game (and I got to run, so will cut this short) I lost to Tom, who I shouldn't have. up 4-1 and ended up on the hill. he missed the seven, leaving me a short cut shot to play. After hitting the ball going to the far end of the table and back for the nine. I played for perfect shape instead of getting close, left the cue in the jaw of the pocket, leaving an thin razor cut on the nine into the opposite corner pocket. I made the shot, but typical of that shot, scratched in the opposite end of the table, opposite corner. By one ball length, any easier and I would have been good. A chance at 3rd place and locking up 4th.

Even though, a good night and a good finish.

Later