Thursday night, another APA team 8 ball match...
I'm up first, against Dale,
who is ranked 6th in the MVP standings,
only 3 points out of second place.
I've never played on this table before
and get only two practice shots before we start.
I win the lag, break, and I'm hooked.
He shoots good and gets out. 1-0.
He breaks and gets a few balls.
I'm hooked again, so I try a safety
and mess it up.
He's out, to make it 2-0.
This is no way to start a match!
If he wins the next game,
he's on the hill,
and I'll need 5 games in a row!
That's just crazy thinking.
Ignore the score.
Focus on the table, the shot.
I gotta bear down, hard.
It was a marathon chess match
that lasted 100 minutes.
It took all the brainpower I could muster.
It was a pleasant surprise
when I hear the team's applause,
and my opponent comes over to shake my hand.
I didn't know until then that I won the match, 5-3.
The conditions were awful.
Heavy cigarette smoke.
(I hate cigarette smoke!)
Mini bar tables.
Extremely lively cushions, but slow cloth.
(Now there's a challenging combination!)
And, I swear, the table tilts uphill
at the entry to the pockets!
As the match wore on,
my focus faded out a couple of times,
probably due to the smoke,
but I caught myself
and got back into the game
by sheer will power.
I'm still learning...
3 comments:
I much would much prefer slow cloth with live rails than fast cloth with dead rails. In the latter case it is nearly impossible to get cueball position using the rails. Also, dirty balls on a fast cloth can make cueball follow a little tougher.
Some people might think that having to win 5 games in a row should be 32 to 1 odds, but somehow those comebacks happen a bit more often than that. I am not sure why. Maybe the leader gets lazy and drinks extra beer.
I have had a few occassions where I needed to win 5 in a row, against all skill levels (SL2,3,4,5,6,7), and I somehow made it happen. I did it a couple times against SL7, down 0-4, needing 5 in a row.
Good job!
good job... i agree with bob, it happens alot in the apa with s/l 7s. im one myself although i do not think im a really good 7 when i could get in some tournaments here (MA) as a D player... lol.. one session i went a perfect 7-0 and won 14 games in a row when my opponents (sl5s and sl6s) was on the hill with various times having to win 4 and 5 times in a row.
I should be clear: I didn't win 5 in a row, but 5 out of the next 6. He only needed 4 games to win, I needed 5. So it went to hill-hill at 4-3, then I won the last one for the match.
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