Some very positive things happening personally. Since I decided long ago to keep such things off this blog, you’ll just have to wait to meet her. I will say this… she must be pretty special. I’ve not been to church in 20 years, and she’s gotten me there no less than 4 times since late December… and maybe 5. My attitude towards organized religion is perfectly summed up by the Mohandas Gandhi quote “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” That said, I have met quite a few very nice people through her and the friend that set us up together, all of whom go to their church. It’s an interesting change of pace for me… Besides Church, we’ve done quite a few things together, and have quite a few more on the plate for the next few months. I’m quite optimistic.

I’ve been very busy at work lately. In ’08 I was nearly desk bound the whole year working on this and that. In ’09 I will be much more involved in the daily lives of my fellow employees… not sure how well they’ll like that. I am the local representative for Information Security, after all. It’s like the police without the uniform, firearms, or authority. I can’t arrest anyone. I can’t have anyone fired. What I can do is make them feel really bad about what they’ve done. Sometimes, I get baked goods as apologies. I can live with that.

I’ve been playing a lot of pool lately. Monday night, Wednesday night and Thursday nights all see me at various pool halls in leagues the likes of which I’ve never seen. Wednesday is pretty standard in terms of competition, but Monday and Thursday… let’s just say that if I make one mistake, miss one ball, or dry break, I’m done for the game. The competition is fierce. I like it that way. It makes me really focus, though there are nights when it does get tiring.

Cycling has seen a dramatic decline so far this year… without my daily commuting (logistically impossible at this point, unfortunately – at least not without spending a lot of money on another form of motorized transportation to keep either at work or at home so I’m not bike-bound all day), and with the cold, I’m pretty much limited to roller training. While I did keep up with it for a while, I’ve since fallen into a rather “fat and happy” mindset, and haven’t felt the motivation to roll. The weather is looking to warm up soon, though, and I reckon I’ll get my expanding carcass out on that saddle for some long rides here real soon like. I have to, b/c word is that my brother, as well as our hosts in Colorado are training hard for the Triple Bypass… July 11th is fast approaching! I may not be as fast as I was last year, but I’ve no doubt whatsoever that I’ll make it over them there hills just fine and dandy.

That’s enough for now. Later.

The competition is very tough, and is guaranteed, if I pay even a smidgen of attention, to improve my game. I’ve been trying for a couple years now to get in on the Thursday league, and when I was asked to join up while on the way out Shark’s door Wednesday night, I just couldn’t pass it up, even with the already hefty time commitment. I’m “just” an alternate, which means I won’t play every week, but I’m treating that as a foot in the door, and who knows, maybe I’ll play more regularly than I imagine.

Between fighting for every point Monday night at Shooters and then Thursday night at Clarette, I should gain at least one or two balls on my average by the end of Spring!

I hope so, b/c lately, it’s been really tough to take the game seriously. It’s clear to me that I’ve lost some of that “student of the game” attitude I used to take so much pride in a few years ago. In fact, looking back, I don’t really think I’ve had that hunger for pool knowledge and expertise since I moved out here to KC from Lawrence. One of the guys on the Clarette team may be able to inspire that in me again… none of us had a good night last night, but the sideline conversation about the ins and outs of the game, both the physics and the mentality, was fantastic.

In talking with him I realized that I’ve been too complacent in what I know, and actually (horror of horrors) resistant to new ideas, methods, and knowledge. I’ve just not cared to learn anything new, or perfect/correct what I already know. That. Has. To. Change.

And there’s nothing like being on a team of better players, playing against some of the best in town, to force me out of a rut and make that change.

We’d only been playing the Tuesday night league for a single session, but already made our mark pretty well. The wait staff, as well as others working there made it a point to tell us, in no uncertain terms, that we would be back, so just accept it and move on. It was very nice, and made us feel very good. The whole night was fantastic. The four of us had a blast, and made sure that the last night would be one to remember.

We’d been playing the Wednesday night league for some time, and felt it was just time to let it go. Last night was, also, a lot of fun. I’ve enjoyed playing there for the last few years, but I’m thinking it’s time to expand my horizons a bit and move on.

I’m really not sure what’s in store for me and pool when I return in a few months. My game feels pretty good right now, like I’m nearly back to where I was 5 or 6 years ago. I’ll keep playing on my own, over lunch, on the weekends, and the like, but not in league. I may try out some tournaments here and there, just to see what’s up. Who knows? Right now, I’m just looking forward to a little bit of a break.

This morning, Mother Nature seemed to mourn the close of a chapter with clouds, misting and a little light rain. It was pretty chilly for a while too, until I warmed up into the ride.

There weren’t any mini-vans blasting gangsta rap this morning, or groups of suburbanites flashing gang signs. There weren’t any small children playing with their dogs. There weren’t even any other cyclists/bikers/bicyclists out.

Just me.

In the mist.

Slowly making my way into work.

All that said, last night was pretty good. I ran out on two opponents for two 10-0′s. Well… ok, I ran out on one, and while I missed the 8 ball on the other after a tight 7 ball run, he missed, leaving me clear on the 8 for a two inning 10-0. The other two games weren’t so cut and dry, but I did win them 10-5 and 10-4.

I remember back in the day when I was playing nearly every day, I noticed that a really bad day was often followed by a really good day, and then things would level out a while until the next really bad day, which would then be followed by an even better day than the previous really good day.

This holds true even now. Monday night I went to a local Irish pub and had some drinks with co-workers. One of them brought her fiance, and we ended up at the pool table. He was a surprisingly good shot. I probably had an average of 3-4 balls left on the table every time he won, and he won probably 7 to 8 out of 10 times. Granted, I was deep in a pool malaise at the time, but still, even had I cared about what happened, he still would have won handily.

That night of horrible losses was followed by a night of handy wins.

I wonder what tonight will bring…

Defeating the first place team did a lot to bolster the flagging confidence of the team members. Over the course of the last three weeks, they went from splitting the rounds even, to suffering two 1 round nights in a row. Out of 12 rounds, they won 4.5. While last nights performance may not have improved their percentages enough to put them in one of the top three spots, winning the majority of the rounds against the first place team made the team members feel like they were already there.

Of the four team members, two monopolized the 8-ball, each sinking it three times out of four for 37 points each. While the other two team members weren’t able to pot the 8, they were able to maximize their losses with 5′s, 6′s and 7′s. Only once did our team suffer a significant defeat, when, having been unable to pot a ball, an opponent ran out to the 8 for the win, resulting in a zero to 10 score. That game resulted in a tie for the round, but it wasn’t enough to deter the tenacious Deep Pocket players, who were able to hold on to the point lead through the next round to the end of the night.

Looking forward, we’ll have to wait to see how the rest of the teams managed before we can know how last nights performance affected the overall standings. One thing is for certain, however, Deep Pockets will enter next weeks match with heads held high with renewed confidence.

This can be explained by two things…

1. We got 4 points a round in handicap. Take the handicap out and we still won 3 of 6 games, so the handicap only accounts for one round by itself.
2. When my teammates did lose, they lost by a close margin, with 5, 6 and 7 points to the opponents 10. This accounts for some games, but there were some 10-1 and 10-2 games as well. On the other hand, when we won, we won well, keeping the opponents to 10-2 through 10-5.

Still, even understanding the math, it’s just weird. That makes for two weird nights in a row. Two nights that really felt like we were going to come up very short, and in fact, came out the winners.

Two things of note from my games last night…
I beat a guy named TJ with a difficult run-out. TJ is a good friend of mine. Don’t get me wrong. But he’s an arguably better player, and likes to talk a lot of (friendly good-natured) sh*t about it. My run-out was not a gimme, and it felt really good to stick it to him like that (in a friendly good-natured way, of course).

My last game was against TJ’s brother, Kyle. It turned into a battle of safeties towards the end. I was definitely in his head, as he had a tough time with impossibly (to me, at least) easy shots. Then he pulled out what is probably the luckiest shot I’ve seen in 10 years of playing. I’ll have a diagram coming, but for now…

I played a safe which left the cue ball and my last object ball at one end of the table, his last object ball at the other end of the table, and the 8 ball right in between. He attempted to hit his object ball by banking the cue ball off the side rail near the side pocket. Instead, he hit the far corner of the side pocket, which deflected the cue ball into the near corner of the same side pocket, then across the table to the near corner of the other side pocket, which deflected the cue ball straight at his object ball with just enough speed to send it to the rail, and leave me hooked behind the 8.

I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or rage. Instead, I tried a massé, which failed, giving him ball in hand and an easy out. Fortunately, he choked the out and I went on to win… after a few more safeties, of course.

The rest of my team rested momentarily on islands of joy amidst a sea of frustration. They just couldn’t pull it together, unfortunately. I can only imagine the beat-down we would have delivered had they been even just a little bit more on top of their game. As it was, they did enough, and the night was a success.

Mike sat out, letting the GF step in and get on the books for the session. He’d jumped up to a 9, so it also allowed us to give up one less point in the handicap scheme. Turns out one point wouldn’t have made a difference, but it’s a nice option to have.

Chris had 2 wins with 26/40 points.
Linda had 2 wins 27/40 points.
GF had 3 wins 37/40 points.
I had 3 wins 37/40 points.

Chris should have had at least one more win, and I should have had one less. He’s been having a hard time adjusting to the tables. They’re a lot faster, and moving to a brand new environment can affect a player a lot more than most realize. He’ll find his stroke. Until then, he just needs to keep playing. I’m not immune, either. I see it in him b/c I see it in me. I really only won two of my games. The third game was given to me. Down to the 8, my opponent rattled an easy out. No one really likes to win like that, but he choked where I didn’t, so if you look at it that way, I guess I deserved it. I sucked less, in other words.

As a team, we’re not doing too badly. The first night was rough, apparently. I wasn’t there, but we were swept 0-5. No fun, that. Since then, we’ve pulled it back together, taking 4 rounds of 5 for the last three nights running.

The first deals with mood. I’m flat. In a bit of a funk. Neither super low, nor super high. Pool league last night was… uninspired. Normally I really enjoy the game, but I could have just as easily taken a nap last night. I won 3 of 4, but only because they were given back to me, after I gave them away to begin with. The fourth opponent had the audacity to keep it. Eh. Flat.

The second deals with my ride home last night. Almost 6 miles in, and just over 3 miles from home, I start bouncing up and down in my seat in an odd and unfamiliar manner. I start to get a sinking feeling, and sure enough, my rear tire is sinking to the rim. Slowly, but surely, it’s going flat. Nothing like forced recovery, eh?

And there’s me, with no spare tubes, no pump, and no CO₂. Believe it or not, this is the first road flat I’ve had. Ever. 30 years on and off the bike, and I do not remember a single time a tire has gone flat due to road debris while still on the road. I know, I know… sounds laughably implausible, but it’s true. I’ve definitely had flats before, but never while I had miles left ahead of me.

The GF picked me up, and was cheery and upbeat in spite of my surly demeanor. Bless her heart, but she’s a keeper. I now have a spare tube and a pump with me, along with the requisite tire levers, and a little bit of baby powder to help the tube expand, plus the three spare tubes in my garage. You can’t prepare for everything, but I’m prepared for my next flat.

Moment from last night… the first hint that things weren’t quite right with my rear tire.

Moment from this morning… pulling up next to the driver that previously gunned his engine to pass me at speed for great effect only to be stopped by a light. I managed to maintain a demeanor of relaxed aplomb, in spite of laughing on the inside.

On Wednesday, I rode the new route I spoke of. It was pretty brutal. Noah suggested I take it up a notch and head to 67th before turning off Lackman. Tonight, I’m going to give it a shot. It will add a bit more distance, and a few more feet of climb. I’ll let you know how that works out for me. ;)

Yesterday, taking a recovery day was as much due to running errands as it was about recovery. I *finally* went to the optometrist to get my contacts replaced. Washing the contacts twice a day due to discomfort and haziness was just too much, and I caved. What really sent me over the edge to spend the cash (to be recovered via pre-tax Flex money) was that it was affecting my pool game. It was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on short shots, much less long shots. I hope to have the new ones by League next Tuesday.

Tonight, it’s going to be a quiet night at home with the GF, some wine, and Buffy.

The team is fantastic. I’m an alternate for this session, but will be a full timer next. Right now, there are 5 or 6 on the team, and I know two of them well, and have played with another twice. Next session it will be myself and three others, all of whom I know well, one being a good friend of mine outside of pool. I don’t know how well we’ll do, but I expect to have a great time.

It’s a Valley league, which is a first for me. I’ve been in many house leagues, BCA, APA and ACS, but never Valley. The rules are generally all the same, though, so I’m not worried. As long as slop doesn’t count and the handicap system isn’t built for sandbagging, I’m good (hence, me no longer playing APA).

Last night I went 4 and 0. 3 pretty easy wins and one that (by all rights) I should have lost. Two balls-in-hand and my opponent still gave the game up. I did play a few good safes on him, but he had ample opportunity to capitalize.

My only concern is that by adding another night of pool, I’m taking away time from my training schedule. I can’t ignore the pull of the table, though, and will find a way to make it work.

The GF and I went up there just before 2 to meet another friend of ours. Our plan was to get some Straight Pool in, and generally start to whip our games back into shape. I’d spent the morning elbow deep in geekery building a spreadsheet that takes in the score for the inning, and what caused the inning to end, be it a foul, safety, or a miss, and automagickally calculate all sorts of nifty, but ultimately useless stats. I couldn’t wait to try it out. You know how I love my stats!

Not long after we sat down, the captain of another team I’ve been wanting to play on asked me what my afternoon looked like. They were getting ready to start a make-up match, and were short some players. Of course, at that point, my afternoon cleared right up! I ended up winning three and losing 1. I should have won, but I played the player instead of the table, and relaxed too much. He blundered past me by virtue of too many mistakes on my part. It could have been worse, though. The captain told me to show up Tuesday night ready to play. :)

The rest of the afternoon went pretty well. We shot some terrible 14:1 and put the spreadsheet through it’s paces. It could use some tweaking to make it easier to use while we’re shooting, but other than that, it’s not too bad. I may post it here once I’ve worked out some of the issues.

Last night showed the best and the worst that league play has to offer. Let’s start with the worst, so as to leave on a good note.

The team we were playing came in first by a large margin last session. Halfway through the session it would have been tough to catch up. As the final night approached it quickly became mathematically impossible to do so. They are all, obviously, good players, at least for what is basically an in-house league. However, that’s not really why they’re in first. There are in first because they cheat. They are in first because they actively “manage” their handicaps. Call it what you will… managing, sandbagging, holding back, planning ahead, playing it close to the vest, whatever… it’s cheating. It’s dishonest, dishonorable and pathetic. It is. Simply. Cheating.

I have some experience with this myself. Through that experience I developed a certain intolerance for those that continue to sandbag. Last night I was pretty vocal about it. I made no secret of the fact that I thought what they were doing was disrespectful and dishonorable. Unfortunately, those words mean little to cheaters. The next time we play them, however, I have resolved to give them the games they so desperately want to lose at the first sign of “managing their handicaps.” I won’t shoot off, or delay the game through unnecessary innings, I’ll just put away my cue and say “Good game.” I will not contribute to their dishonesty.

On the other hand, last night was a great night where my own team is concerned. Sure, we lost horribly to those good-for-naught cheaters, but we had a great time with each other in spite of it. I really do enjoy my team this time around. We all get along, have easy relationships with each other, and could very easily hang outside of pool. That sort of camaraderie makes even a poor performance night of pool feel good.

First, there was my own performance. While I got a 46 out of 50, winning four out of five games, I don’t feel that great about it. Two of my four wins were good wins. That is to say I played well enough that winning felt like the proper outcome. The other two wins were mine for no better reason that I made fewer mistakes than my opponent. Due to the lackluster playing on my part, however, I wasn’t happy about them. By all objective measurements, I did play better than they, but to say I played well would be an untruth. I simply screwed up fewer times and with consequences less decisive.

On the other hand, the loss was definitely deserved.

Second, there was the most vocal member of the opposing team. He started in on that "I didn’t deserve that" self-pity crap like he was reading from the Color of Money script. Barring the very rare events where faulty equipment gets in the way, what happens on the cloth happens b/c the players make it happen. At the table, the concept of merit simply does not exist. If I lose, it’s because you played better or I not at all. If I win, it’s because I played better or you not at all. It’s that simple. With very few exceptions, none of which were in play last night, my default response to "I didn’t deserve that" is to say "Yes, you did."

That goes both ways. You will never hear me say "I didn’t deserve that" following a loss. Pool isn’t a bank where past performance buys a line of credit for future wins. There’s no entitlement here. What happens does so b/c the players make it happen on a game by game basis. If you lose, you deserved it. If you win, you deserved it. I don’t care how many games in a row you’ve won, or how upstanding a member of the league you are, if you lose a game, you deserved it at that moment for that game.

Let me put it another way. If I had a chance at the table, and I still lose, the responsibility is with me. Period. The buck, as they say, stops here. Responsibility. That’s what it really comes down to. I take responsibility for my performance. Win or lose, I may not be happy about it, but I’m damn sure not going to hold anyone else responsible for it. That’s what people do when they lament the merits of the outcome: they seek to lay the responsibility on something outside of themselves. The only thing that can come of that attitude is a solid lock on mediocrity. That might be fine for some, but it’s not fine for me.

This same fellow, in the game following ours, said to his next opponent, a good friend of mine, "I shouldn’t have lost that last game, now I’m on a rampage." Yes, sir, you should have lost, and no, you’re not on a rampage. You should have lost it b/c you made a mistake that I capitalized on. You’re not on a rampage b/c you’re focused on the rampage and not the table in front of you. He lost his game against my friend, and then proceeded to lose two of the next three games. He’d lost his center. He let us into his head and he couldn’t focus on what mattered. His passions, self-defeating and distracting, got in the way. He was focused on how good a player he is, thinking that past games would somehow carry him through the games of the present. I’ve been there myself. On countless occasions I’ve fallen into the same self-defeating mental traps. It’s an easy place to fall into, and too often you’re past the point of no return before you even recognize you’ve started down the path. Having been there myself, I came to the realization that I’ve never lost a game I shouldn’t have lost, or won a game I shouldn’t have won.

I mentioned earlier that two of my four wins were unsatisfying. I won only b/c I played less-badly than my opponent. Neither of us played well, I just played better. Last night, my nickname could have been "Lucky." I was of too many minds. I had a mind for the other team. I had a mind for my opponent. I had a mind for my own team. I had a mind for how I looked and how I came across to the others around me. My attention was focused primarily on the table but it was divided nonetheless. Too many minds. I lost, or nearly lost, b/c I didn’t have the focus I should have. Sure, my game is still rusty, but that’s no excuse for lack of focus. That’s my weakness and my responsibility. Not my opponents. I deserved my wins and I deserved my losses.

You learn from your mistakes and you build on your successes. If you constantly blame others for your defeats, you’ll never recognize your weaknesses, and you’ll never know them to overcome them.

Last night reminded me of that.

Last night, my second night back in league was … interesting.

First, there was my own performance. While I got a 46 out of 50, winning four out of five games, I don’t feel that great about it. Two of my four wins were good wins. That is to say I played well enough that winning felt like the proper outcome. The other two wins were mine for no better reason that I made fewer mistakes than my opponent. Due to the lackluster playing on my part, however, I wasn’t happy about them. By all objective measurements, I did play better than they, but to say I played well would be an untruth. I simply screwed up fewer times and with consequences less decisive.

On the other hand, the loss was definitely deserved.

Second, there was the most vocal member of the opposing team. He started in on that "I didn’t deserve that" self-pity crap like he was reading from the Color of Money script. Barring the very rare events where faulty equipment gets in the way, what happens on the cloth happens b/c the players make it happen. At the table, the concept of merit simply does not exist. If I lose, it’s because you played better or I not at all. If I win, it’s because I played better or you not at all. It’s that simple. With very few exceptions, none of which were in play last night, my default response to "I didn’t deserve that" is to say "Yes, you did."

That goes both ways. You will never hear me say "I didn’t deserve that" following a loss. Pool isn’t a bank where past performance buys a line of credit for future wins. There’s no entitlement here. What happens does so b/c the players make it happen on a game by game basis. If you lose, you deserved it. If you win, you deserved it. I don’t care how many games in a row you’ve won, or how upstanding a member of the league you are, if you lose a game, you deserved it at that moment for that game.

Let me put it another way. If I had a chance at the table, and I still lose, the responsibility is with me. Period. The buck, as they say, stops here. Responsibility. That’s what it really comes down to. I take responsibility for my performance. Win or lose, I may not be happy about it, but I’m damn sure not going to hold anyone else responsible for it. That’s what people do when they lament the merits of the outcome: they seek to lay the responsibility on something outside of themselves. The only thing that can come of that attitude is a solid lock on mediocrity. That might be fine for some, but it’s not fine for me.

This same fellow, in the game following ours, said to his next opponent, a good friend of mine, "I shouldn’t have lost that last game, now I’m on a rampage." Yes, sir, you should have lost, and no, you’re not on a rampage. You should have lost it b/c you made a mistake that I capitalized on. You’re not on a rampage b/c you’re focused on the rampage and not the table in front of you. He lost his game against my friend, and then proceeded to lose two of the next three games. He’d lost his center. He let us into his head and he couldn’t focus on what mattered. His passions, self-defeating and distracting, got in the way. He was focused on how good a player he is, thinking that past games would somehow carry him through the games of the present. I’ve been there myself. On countless occasions I’ve fallen into the same self-defeating mental traps. It’s an easy place to fall into, and too often you’re past the point of no return before you even recognize you’ve started down the path. Having been there myself, I came to the realization that I’ve never lost a game I shouldn’t have lost, or won a game I shouldn’t have won.

I mentioned earlier that two of my four wins were unsatisfying. I won only b/c I played less-badly than my opponent. Neither of us played well, I just played better. Last night, my nickname could have been "Lucky." I was of too many minds. I had a mind for the other team. I had a mind for my opponent. I had a mind for my own team. I had a mind for how I looked and how I came across to the others around me. My attention was focused primarily on the table but it was divided nonetheless. Too many minds. I lost, or nearly lost, b/c I didn’t have the focus I should have. Sure, my game is still rusty, but that’s no excuse for lack of focus. That’s my weakness and my responsibility. Not my opponents. I deserved my wins and I deserved my losses.

You learn from your mistakes and you build on your successes. If you constantly blame others for your defeats, you’ll never recognize your weaknesses, and you’ll never know them to overcome them.

Last night reminded me of that.

Riding has slowed down on account of winter.

Home improvement has slowed down on account of having gotten a lot done and no longer having the deadlines.

A new place to play has been found that may not have a hopeless level of competition.

Thus, pool is back in.

It’s an unaffiliated ACS style league on Wednesday nights at Ace’s and Eights on Shawnee Mission Parkway. I’ll be spending a lot more time up there, getting to know the people and getting my game back on.

Given that, talking with Chris and Jon tonight, we decided to dissolve the team and use Tuesday nights for cycling. Not everyone on the team knows this yet, but I think everyone will be OK with it, with the possible exception of one. I’ll talk with him tomorrow if he’s at work. This is quite a melancholy evening for me. It’ll be the first time in years that I’ve not been part of a pool team. Going from 5th place at Nationals in Vegas to last place at Side Pockets hasn’t been easy. I’m sure, if I asked, that another team would take me on. But frankly, right now, I’d rather spend that time cycling. Summer is coming up, there are several rides I want to get in on. I can play pool at lunch every day at the Fox and the Hound for free with a meal, and spend my evenings riding instead.

That’s what I think I’d rather do.

It’s still weird, though.

As for the match itself, it was pretty rough at first. It took me a while to wake up. I’m pretty sure my teammates were worried about me. It was a 46-38 race, and he was a few balls ahead of me at 23-24 a few racks in. That’s when I woke up. Actually, I got pissed. I’d been missing easy shots, playing horrid shape, and generally sleeping through the match. I came back, and when they called "Match!" I had him 46-24. At that point, I was completely into the zone, and had no idea how much time had passed, and had it firmly in my mind that I was still catching up from behind. Not so much. I put away almost two and a half unanswered racks. I felt a little bad for him after the fact, when I found out that it was his last APA match also.

Coincidentally, my last APA match was played against the very same guy against whom I have my very first 8-ball break-n-run. Charles is really a nice guy, one of my favorites at the Pool Room. I’ll miss seeing him as often as I used to.

If we make it through tomorrow night, the team will be going to Las Vegas. I won’t be going b/c I need to be available for work when the tournament is scheduled. Honestly, that’s fine with me. I’ll explain that later… probably sometime in August after the tournament is over.

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."

Tonights win has an extra special flavor to it also. Two weeks ago, we lost to the next to last place team. When I say "lost", what I really mean is "were hit in the face 18 times with our own cue sticks and left to drown in our own blood and tears." It was horrible. It was shameful, and it was disheartening. To a man, they weren’t as good as we are, but as has been said "the balls roll funny for everyone." They got the rolls, we didn’t. I could wax on forever about who and what is or isn’t to blame, but I’m just going to leave it at that. We had a bad (horrible) night, and we learned from it. The next week wasn’t so bad. We got beat by a similar margin, but it was by the second place team.

Tonight, however, karma and the Gods of Pool gave us a little bit of a handout. It was a bad night for the guys on the first place team. We got the rolls, they didn’t. Hell, my first time at the table was a run out. He broke, I ran. 10 – 0. Just like that. It wasn’t the most difficult of run outs, but after the ast couple weeks, it was a joy to behold. All told, it really was only an average night for us. I only got 40 out of 60 possible points. I won 3 for 30, and got 3, 6 and 1 for my others. Not that great, really. I don’t feel bad about the 1, though. He broke and ran, so there really wasn’t anything I could do, save bodily tackle him and break his stick. They frown on that sort of thing there for some reason, so I held back. As for the others, I made the shots and safeties I wanted, they just got out better than I did. Simple as that. What really helped was the fact that when I did win, I won big. 10-0, 10-3 and 10-3. While I didn’t win everything, when I did I kept their points down. Much to the opposing team’s chagrin, my teammates had similar experiences.

It wasn’t a rout by any stretch of the imagination. If it weren’t for the points given to us each round, we would have only one 3 out of 7 rounds. As it was, we won 4. Take away the handicaps though, and we would have only lost by one point. That’s saying something when they’re the top ranked team, and we’re a team made up primarily of newbs.