Dave’s Good Stuff

Tonight was horrid. It was embarrassing. It was even a little humiliating. I’m just glad I wasn’t playing for anything more than the cost of the table.

I started over at Dean & Lydia’s place. They weren’t there, but they’ve extended an open invitation to play without them being there. I wasn’t doing too bad, but at some point, I felt something inside click. A silent mental click as loud as a Howitzer that signaled the end of any decent shooting for me this eve. I gave up. Don’t know why, but I just decided that I’d had enough pool for the night. I just wish the part that decided such a thing had communicated that to the part of me that wanted to plow on. Had it, I might not have uselessly sunk so many quarters into the 9-ball table.

There really does come a time when it’s better to just walk away. Cut your loses and step away. Take some time to gather yourself back together, and come back later. I should have walked away from Dean’s table and never set foot in the Pool Room tonight… I think it would have been better for my game. As it is, I have a night’s worth of lazy habits and (more troublesome) mental baggage to overcome. I’m sure I will, but the time it takes me to overcome tonight’s ghastly performance is time I could be spending improving.

Still, it wasn’t a complete wash. I did talk with Chris and Sherry, our local cue-maker and his wife and had a good time there. He recommended some books by Phil B. Capelle, which I may pick up. I think the mechanics of my game are ok… I have a solid bridge, a smooth stroke and a centered stance. I prefer to get right down on the cue for most shots, but don’t mind standing up a bit when necessary. My problem is the mental game… and that’s a big problem, b/c I’m one of those that believes pool is mostly (in the area of 70 to 80%) mental.

I’m playing again tomorrow with another friend… maybe I can get back into the spirit of things for that.

Tonight kicked ass. Sure, I lost $2.50 playing 3-ball for quarters (to say nothing of all the quarters I plugged into the 9-ball table before that - it’s only a quarter a game, so no biggie), but I reconnected with a friend I haven’t seen in many many moons.

About 2 years ago, maybe a little more, I registered at Ladders Online, a place that lets you hook up with people you wouldn’t normally meet and compete in any number of sports. It’s actually pretty nice, though I haven’t used it but once. Not long after registering, I got an e’mail from a guy named Matt Strausz who saw my name there, and challenged me to a race to 13 in BCA 8-ball. That was my one use.

We set it up to play at the Pool Room on a Saturday at 1:00pm. I showed up early to warm up a bit, half-expecting to see him there. He showed up, a tall lanky fellow with a custom (carved) ebony cue with a 10mm shaft. It was fancy. We started playing, and I took the lead with 6 games to 0. He ended up coming back and winning 13 games to 8 or 9… I can’t remember exactly. Point is, he was good. We hung out a bit, and ended up forming a team in the local (unofficial BCA) 8-ball league. With some (relatively) amazing shooting all around, we ended up at 2nd place, and won a small amount of cash for our efforts. Dean and Hafid of Monday/Wednesday night pool were the other two members. *sigh* Those were the days…

So tonight Matt shows up from his year long haitus in Manhattan and Wichita, and it turns out he’s moving back! This pleases me greatly, b/c Matt is a most inspiring shooter. One of the friendliest, most outgoing and eager to share players I’ve met, he’s also one of the best. We actually played a game tonight, though he was in a bit of a hurry. I think his hurried state hurt him, b/c he missed his first shot after I put two in on the break (a very easy shot, actually), allowing me to run a few until I missed. He made the 6, but uncharacteristically missed the 7. I nearly hooked myself on the 8, but pulled my very first successful massé out of my rear and went on to sink the 9. I’m very much looking forward to more games in the future… if I’m lucky, we might even be able to swing another league team. :)

I just got finished with a 4 hour long 8-ball and Straight Pool afternoon at the local pool room. They re-covered their 9′ tables with Simonis 860 (which is what was on there before, but it was horribly abused by disrespectful patrons and sharp overhead lamp shades), and the table I was on played very nicely. Not too fast, not too slow, no table roll and tight pockets.

I played an elderly gentleman by the name of Jesse (assumed spelling) several games of 8-ball and two games of 14:1 to 75. We were pretty much back and forth on the 8-ball games… I’d win one, he’d win one, etc. But I took control of the table in 14:1. I felt bad about the first game, in spite of Jesse’s insistence that I not, when I won 75-26. I don’t think I had a single inning below 6 balls. The second game, however, was a different story. It was much slower, the table wasn’t nearly as forgiving, and my margin of victory was much smaller with a win of 75-74 (or maybe 75-72… I don’t know - either way, it was a very close game).

Going to play today was a spur of the moment thing, and I’m glad I did it. It was much fun. I can’t wait until tomorrow to see how I play at Dean’s house… or the Pool Room if Dean won’t be home.