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. :)