Ending on a positive note

On Tuesday I sent a message to four of our txt-savvy players that read: "hope to see you all tonight at sophie's, it's been a while. we are hosting a team from edge that beat us 2-3 in oct. we are 4-9 for season, let's improve to 5-9." I wanted to rally the troops, as opposed to intimidate them, which is why I didn't write "let's not make it 4-10." But coming off a five-week losing streak (the last three of which were all 1-4 losses), followed by a two-week holiday break, I was prepared for the worst. Looking at the sheet Tuesday night, I saw that our team was in last place with 39 points. Thinking about this today I did the math: 39 points divided by 13 weeks we'd played thus far leaves us with an average of 3 points per week. Although, for those not familiar with how the point system works, an extra point is granted to every team when they turn in their sheets on time. For example, even if your team gets beat 0-5 on a given night, you'll still earn a point if you turn in the scoresheet along with player's dues. The winning team in the same situation would get 6 points: 1 point for each win, plus the extra point for turning in the sheet on time. Essentially, our average score for the season was 2-3.

So with nothing to lose, we went to battle. After the third game we had the momentum on our side and were ahead 2 games to 1. I took a gamble and put myself up, hoping to carry the momentum further on toward a win. They put up a 5 who I had never played, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I made some embarrassing mistakes, most notably when going for the 8 ball. My nerves were getting the best of me and I was rushing into shots. Missing the 8 a few times caused some big groans from my teammates, I just couldn't get it to fall. In the end I got my wobbles all straightened out, leaving myself with a straight-in shot on the 8 for the win. It was a race to 4 games and I won the first, third, fifth and sixth games. My opponent's two wins came from my mistakes, a scratch on the 8 and an early 8 in the second and fourth games, respectively. Sloppy as it was, the win gave us a little confidence to end the season on (although one of our departing players ended up losing the final match of the night/season). The next two weeks are devoted to the playoffs, and then the spring season begins for us January 29th. I've included a shot of the sheet that I use to tally everybody's scores. I've blacked out the names of my opponents.