Week 2
Lots of good thoughts running through my mind today. I'm still feeling really good about the summer APA session, my new teammates and playing on Monday nights. We had our first away match last night and we won 4-1 (the team we played, from Identity, only had four players show up, so one of our wins was by forfeit). When I picked up the sheet on Sunday I must say I was a little humbled to see that I had gotten bumped down to a SL4. But it is certainly fair and much deserved, as I simply have not been keeping up any sort of regular practice regimen. It was no surprise considering my dismal 3-7 record last season. On the other hand, it was a little bit of a relief last night to only have to win three games, against another SL4.
My opponent said he had played in the league before, but that it was a long time ago. This made me skeptical, but I didn't ask him what his skill level had been. I couldn't help but overhear, however, as I was taking a few practice lags, him going over the basic rules of the league with his captain. I lost the lag by about an inch and it was a stinger as he stayed put at the head of the table chalking up as I racked. But halfway through the first game I was on a three-ball run and I nailed a cross-side bank and intentionally didn't look to see if it went in. It did, and in my peripheral vision I could see him sort of shake his head and adjust his stance in slight discomfort. Little by little, small clues kept coming into my head as to this guy's true league experience. At one point in the first game he missed his ball entirely and the cue ball went whipping around the table, hitting no balls at all. Just to be courteous and safe, I asked out loud to anybody, "Ball in hand?" That's when I heard my opponent say to his captain, "I thought if you hit three rails it wasn't ball in hand." I don't care how long ago it was he played on the league, but I certainly think that's one rule he would have remembered.
I won the first game with a soft shot into the side pocket. Pretty soon we were nearing the end of the second game and I only had the 8 ball left on the table when he hit a shot too softly and nothing hit a rail. He seemed a little confused and annoyed when he realized that meant ball in hand for me. As I made the no-brainer shot on my 8 to go up 2-0, he said something like, "It usually takes me two games to warm up." Then, as I was putting my final dollar into the table he asked me, "Do you mind if I just hit these last few balls in?" I gave him a sort of "Hello?!" look and said, "Well we're sort of in the middle of a match right now." His captain chimed in and said it was too late to be taking warm-up shots.
Now, many times I've admonished my teammates, when they're playing a weak opponent, "This is easily going to be the easiest match of the season for you." But I refused to let myself think that about this match. Because at any point I could have lost a game and that certainly would have affected me mentally. His best shot of the night was a safety and it was suggested to him by a coach during a time out. I tried to kick out of it and the cue ball went flying off the table. We went back and forth an inning or two when he left me with a fairly easy runout scenario. After sinking my final 8 ball I went over to shake his hand and then went to sit down. That's when, as they were trying to figure out who to put up next, I heard the captain murmur something to the effect of "That guy's a 4?" It was my first win in over two months, since April 8th. And it immediately called to mind my most convincing win ever, which was my first league match ever, in February of 2006, when I crushed another weak SL4 three games straight in less than ten innings. Doing so must have raised a few flags at the APA office, because the next week I found myself ranked a SL6. Even though that only lasted a week, it was still kind of fun to brag about. I do wonder how long I'll get to be a SL4. Hopefully it'll last more than one week.
My opponent said he had played in the league before, but that it was a long time ago. This made me skeptical, but I didn't ask him what his skill level had been. I couldn't help but overhear, however, as I was taking a few practice lags, him going over the basic rules of the league with his captain. I lost the lag by about an inch and it was a stinger as he stayed put at the head of the table chalking up as I racked. But halfway through the first game I was on a three-ball run and I nailed a cross-side bank and intentionally didn't look to see if it went in. It did, and in my peripheral vision I could see him sort of shake his head and adjust his stance in slight discomfort. Little by little, small clues kept coming into my head as to this guy's true league experience. At one point in the first game he missed his ball entirely and the cue ball went whipping around the table, hitting no balls at all. Just to be courteous and safe, I asked out loud to anybody, "Ball in hand?" That's when I heard my opponent say to his captain, "I thought if you hit three rails it wasn't ball in hand." I don't care how long ago it was he played on the league, but I certainly think that's one rule he would have remembered.
I won the first game with a soft shot into the side pocket. Pretty soon we were nearing the end of the second game and I only had the 8 ball left on the table when he hit a shot too softly and nothing hit a rail. He seemed a little confused and annoyed when he realized that meant ball in hand for me. As I made the no-brainer shot on my 8 to go up 2-0, he said something like, "It usually takes me two games to warm up." Then, as I was putting my final dollar into the table he asked me, "Do you mind if I just hit these last few balls in?" I gave him a sort of "Hello?!" look and said, "Well we're sort of in the middle of a match right now." His captain chimed in and said it was too late to be taking warm-up shots.
Now, many times I've admonished my teammates, when they're playing a weak opponent, "This is easily going to be the easiest match of the season for you." But I refused to let myself think that about this match. Because at any point I could have lost a game and that certainly would have affected me mentally. His best shot of the night was a safety and it was suggested to him by a coach during a time out. I tried to kick out of it and the cue ball went flying off the table. We went back and forth an inning or two when he left me with a fairly easy runout scenario. After sinking my final 8 ball I went over to shake his hand and then went to sit down. That's when, as they were trying to figure out who to put up next, I heard the captain murmur something to the effect of "That guy's a 4?" It was my first win in over two months, since April 8th. And it immediately called to mind my most convincing win ever, which was my first league match ever, in February of 2006, when I crushed another weak SL4 three games straight in less than ten innings. Doing so must have raised a few flags at the APA office, because the next week I found myself ranked a SL6. Even though that only lasted a week, it was still kind of fun to brag about. I do wonder how long I'll get to be a SL4. Hopefully it'll last more than one week.
posted by Cary at 6/10/2008
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