Dave’s Good Stuff

I played in my first Sunday afternoon tournament in weeks today. Since I no longer feel like I NEED the money from tournaments when I enter, I thought I would be able to play with a clearer head. Not so much. Well… sort of, but sort of not also.

Jesse, the manager listened to our local cuemaker, Chris Klindt about the current handicap system being… lacking somewhat. Used to be that whoever was running the tournament would just take the players and guess at their handicap. You can see how that could cause problems. The person in charge was never dishonest, but leaving something like that up to opinion, even well-meaning opinion is just asking for trouble. So they’ve adopted the something along the lines of the NPL handicap system. I’m not sure about the details, and I know it’s different than what’s behind that link, but after playing today, I like it.

I didn’t do too badly today. There were two notable matches (in the absolutely huge pot of 6 whole players). The first was against a guy named Brian, who I pretty much tromped 5-0. He’s one of those guys I’ve been afraid of for months, so beating him today was something of a milestone. I’d have been happy with a closer match, but after I got to 3, he just lost heart. The second was the last. It was against a guy named Tim. He’s not as good as I, but I just couldn’t get the rolls that time. He put me in the loser bracket early on (I had to win 5 while he only needed 3… he’s not as good, but he’s not THAT far behind me), which I think put my confidence on hold for our next encounter. The second match was a race 6-4, which is better, but I just couldn’t make it happen. No confidence, no focus. I didn’t deserve it and he did. Simple as that.

Still, it did feel good to play feeling I didn’t HAVE to win.

My Handicap: King
Matches:

bye
1. 5-2 (opponent rank: 5) W
2. 2-3 (opponent rank: 3) L
3. 5-0 (opponent rank: 5) W
4. 3-4 (opponent rank: 4) L

My Place: 2nd
My Winnings: 30

Dave’s Good Stuff (the name of this website as well as my in-house BCA-style 8-ball team) is starting a new session in two weeks with the same line-up that won us 4th place last session. Last night was signup, which meant free pool and free beer (for you freaks that like that piss) all night in the back room. It’ll be a bigger session too. Nine teams last session has turned into 12 this time around. 4th place out of only 9 teams may not seem like much, and maybe it isn’t, but for a team consisting of one obsessive, two beginners, and one part-timer, we didn’t do too bad. Somehow, I’m not sure how, we beat out arguably better players. Not that I’m complaining.

Anyway, about last night… While I didn’t have so much of the beer, I *did* have so much of the pool. Craig and I started around 6:15pm, pausing only briefly for the actual signup part of the signup night. He took off around 12:30am or so, which I was going to do, before I was distracted by a friend of mine who roped me into a few more games, which meant I was there for another hour. 7 hours. 7 hours of nothing but pool is the very definition of a Good Thing™ to me. At least when I’m giving my A game, which I most certainly was. To take a moment to boast, I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone call "Bullshit!" on me so many times as was called last night. For games at a time, I just couldn’t miss! That doesn’t mean I was breaking and running, but it does mean that if I wanted to cue ball to go somewhere, it did. My shots were on, my safeties were on, my break was on fire… it was just a great night, no matter how you look at it.

I know from hard experience that such nights really are the exception. The A game, by definition, is the exception. It’s when you’re potential is right out there on the table. No one can play at the top of their game all the time. It’s just a simple fact of the game. But it’s those rare Dead Stroke nights that give us evidence that we are improving, hope that we will continue to improve, and insight into how to do so.

I recall the end of one game where Craig just shook his head and called me "Mr. Position." It’s not really the sort of nickname I’m hoping to cultivate, but it made me think about the game I’d just played. Thing is, I wasn’t thinking about it at the time. I was just shooting. I broke, ran through the table quickly in my head, and then ran through the table quickly with the cue. Everything just came together. If I was ever out of line, it wasn’t by more than an inch or two, and always in the right direction. I made my shots, but far more importantly, I put the cue ball where I needed it to be for the next shot and two or three shots down the line. That happened more often than not for about 3 of last night’s 7 hours. I played relatively well the rest of the evening, but for those 2-3 hours, I was in the zone, and it felt great. Two phrases come to mind. "Don’t think! Feeeeeel…" and "Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try."