Humility is a Good Thing

I haven't had any serious matches for almost 3 weeks,
(haven't even picked up a cue for the last 12 days)
and with only 26 days until the US Amateur preliminaries,
it is time to get back into competition mode,
so I headed out to the weekly On Cue tournament.

My goal was to simply stay relaxed,
as there is little hope of winning this gig
against the best professionals in San Diego.

I got to play Ray Lorenzo for the first time.
He's got an excellent stroke.
He snapped the 9 in on the break in the first game.
I had a nice run in the second, but missed the 8,
which put him on the hill right away.
But I came back with another run for a win,
but that's all I got from him.

In a race to three,
anything can happen,
but against these pros,
it's unlikely that it will go my way.
I need more practice before I'll win this tournament.

I did win my next match 3-0
but it was against a C player ("Tu-Tu"),
and even with giving up the 7 ball,
I was a heavy favorite.

Then I was sent home by Victor,
who was the pro/manager at College Billiards,
and who gave me a lesson a couple of years ago,
at which time he told me that I was doing everything wrong
(stroke, bridge, grip, stance...).
Before our set, I reminded him of that lesson,
but he didn't remember it.

I took the first game with a tricky combo,
but lost the rest.
He's a very strong player.
After the set,
he said he did remember me,
and that my shooting had improved a lot,
but my now my patterns were wrong!
(To find out more would require another $40 lesson.)

So I got to go home early,
taking a bit of Humility with me,
something that has been in short supply for me lately.
;o)

I did achieve my goal of staying relaxed,
and played some good pool,
so all in all it was time well spent.

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