Old Indian saying: "If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there."
That's an obscure way of stating the obvious that a Plan is mandatory to get where you want to go.
It is also mandatory to USE the Plan, and to update it with feedback from the real world. The more frequent the use and update of the Plan, the faster the Goal can be achieved.
I have used this Truth with much success in business. And it is working well with Pool. It is a natural law of the universe. It will work with anything you want to do.
It took only a few hours. My adrenaline-fueled high wore off and I crashed mightily into one of those "What's it all about?" monkey-brain sessions, then I physically crashed into several more hours sleep.
Redemption came with a wake up call (figuratively and factually) from El Maestro, who, when I asked him "What's it all about, anyway? Who cares if I'm undefeated, where does it end? (a rhetorical question since I'm looking at either interminable battles with ball-bangers, or a meaningless existence of poking balls with a stick, or.... what? If not pool, then what?)
El Maestro answered that the existence of Man is one of continual competition. Without it, we die.
That's pretty basic. So I guess I go back to the practice table at least until I get a better answer.
Last night, two alpha dogs faced off in battle. One of them was me.
Only one of us would emerge the Victor. It was him or me.
I entered this battle with a perfect record of 6 matches, 6 wins. This is what I had at stake. I was loathe to lose and soil my spotless record.
I had to win.
The match was an ugly slugfest.
My strategy was to cut off his oxygen, to give him no hope, to frustrate him, to let him see only darkness, reduce his odds of success, to burden him with doubt...
In so doing, I played tight, I did not Flow, and I missed shots, there were distractions, the tables, bar boxes, were pure garbage.
At the end, after two and a half hours of chessmatch, I ruled the day. (5-2 vs. Tony Bigbee, skill level 7)
Seven matches played, seven won. I remain undefeated. Alone, at the top.
In all of San Diego APA 8-ball, with more than 1600 players, there are only 84 (less than 5%) who are ranked Skill Level Seven which is the highest skill level possible.
I'm one of them.
As of this time, now past the middle of the session, I have won more matches than any other Seven, and I am undefeated.
It is early morning as I write this. I woke up after only 4 hours sleep. The adrenaline of last night's victory still pumping hot in my veins.
More juicy than the victory itself is that it takes me to the highest point. Victorious in every contest. No matter the opponent, no matter the venue, no matter the conditions.
In the Fullness of Time, it has come to pass that I walk among the Sevens as One of Them, and, for this moment, I am undefeated. I fear no one.
After last night's match, El Maestro shook my hand, looked at me squarely, and in all dead seriousness said: "No one can beat you."
Wow.
Invincible: The Legend of Fast Mikie On the Path of Truth and Beauty in The Art and Science of Billiards as taught by "El Maestro" Tony Sorto
story told by "Fast Mikie" Michael McCafferty
Email now to reserve your personalized, signed first edition collectors' copy. only $US 22.50, limited time introductory period includes tax and shipping (outside USA extra).
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Just wanted to shout out a big "Thank You" for all the great work done by Brian and Jill, the operators of the San Diego APA league. Especially for being so fast in getting last week's scores posted to the website. This gives me extra time to bask in the dull glow of my monitor, continuously displaying the results you see below:
(click the list to see it BIG)
I'm enjoying this 6-0 undefeated streak. However, there's a lot of pressure to keep it going.
I need to quit thinking about that, and just focus on one ball at a time.
Last match was the first competition use of the backup shaft with the fresh tip. (Moori medium) I had been practicing with it for several days before the match.
It was no different than my old tip, just fresher. I'd been playing with the other one for about 6 months. The fresh one plays with more action. It seems that there is more compression and subsequently more grip. The leather is fresher, more moist, and holds more chalk.
In other news, as of today, I resolved to abandon my X-breaker. The non-leather tip is too slick. Too many bad hits. I'll use my old Predator basic cue with a 314 shaft, and the tip shaped flat. It's the cue I bought to replace my Willie Hoppe. I got it right after I joined the APA about 3.5 years ago. I played some nice pool with that stick, using it for about 2 years. Yesterday I was shooting some racks with it, and it felt real nice. Couldn't miss!
I noticed that the balance point of the Predator is about 2" forward of the Samsara.
The Predator is 18.8 oz. with Limbsaver attached. The Samsara is 20.4 oz.
Someone once mentioned to me that the secret to winning at pool is to never let your opponent get "on the hill". Well, duh!
However, there is a certain simplicity to it. If the other guy gets to the hill, and the game has any element of luck (and of course it does) then anything can happen. And, "anything" in this case means you can lose.
This sets the stage for last night's match, my first public appearance as a Seven.
The team captains toss the coin to decide which team puts up the first player. I wasn't watching, but I guess we lost the toss because all of a sudden I get the nod. I'm being put up "blind" without knowing who the other team puts up.
This is not to our/my advantage, I'm thinking. Surely, if they respond in a typical way, they will throw a lower skill level player at me, which means they only have to win 2 games and I have to win 6. Naturally the element of luck works in favor of the player who needs the fewest games to win.
The other captain didn't miss a beat. He puts up their UNDEFEATED skill level 3 who, as El Maestro says, shoots like a 5.
I have heard El Maestro speak of the extreme danger in situations like this. For example, if the low skill level player should luck into an 8 ball on the break, or I scratch on an 8, or rattle an 8 in the jaws, or some other such awful thing, then with only one win, the other guy is "on the hill".
So there is added pressure to exercise immediate and total control, from the first shot. I win the lag, and the first two games, but my opponent, somehow, gets the third game, and now I must be flawless for the next 4 or my undefeated record is gone, and my debut as a Seven will result in the humiliation of defeat by a S/L 3.
I know I have to shut my opponent down totally, leaving no possibility for them to run out, or even get lucky. I must play safe until I can run out, absolutely. It turned into a marathon of 105 minutes. I won, 6-1. (vs. M. Morgan, s/l 3)
The last game was most interesting. I broke, made a solid, and as the balls came to rest I saw that solids were sitting pretty for a runout.
It was at this time that the Devil Himself appeared on my left shoulder and whispered: "Go for it." And on my right shoulder, an angel whispered: "Mikie, Mikie... it's hill-hill, be careful. Remember what we learned about the folly of effortless spectacular runouts?"
The Devil laughs mightily and sneers: (I could swear the voice was George Bush) "Are you kidding? A child, a moron could run this table!" "It's a break and run for the win! How juicy!" "Go for it Mikie... show your Seven stuff."
The angel probably said something wise, but I didn't hear it, as I was salivating at the thought of my first Break and Run patch in my first appearance as a Seven. I could feel my already oversized ego expanding to new, untested dimensions. Explosion was imminent, and probable, but such bloated egos are deaf to wisdom, blind to all but ever more self-aggrandizement.
So I go for it... And it goes nicely until, with two solids and the 8 left, El Maestro calls timeout.
He counsels one way of dealing with the out, and I share with him my plan, which he approves as being more cautious (saving for last the solid blocking a stripe) but it involves tricky position play to carom the 8 off a stripe, into the side, and shooting from the rail on that final shot.
Such was my plan, and I pocketed the remaining solids, both down-the-rail shots from across the table, and fell into position for the 8-ball carom for the win.
This morning the latest list of players was published, and above is a small (humble) version of the list. To see the list in all its glory, click it.
The first thing you will notice is that yours truly remains at the top of the list. Closer inspection will reveal that my skill level is now a 7 (Seven), the highest skill level possible for 8 ball.
It was only 8 months ago that I was getting beat regularly in this game of 8 ball. On reflection, the primary reasons were that I was not recognizing natural patterns (patterns that give natural position on the next ball) and I was therefore trying impossible runouts. Two simple ingredients for disaster.
I should take this moment to say "Thank You" to my instructor, Tony Sorto ("El Maestro"), for, without his genius it would have been impossible for this pig to learn to sing. Gracias, amigo.
OK, now back to the practice table, and to achieving the other goals...
Remembering one more highlight of last week's win:
It was the last shot of the match, I left myself long and awkward on the 8-ball, but it plays ok as a left handed shot. I hesitated, went for the bridge, and El Maestro yells out "Shoot it left handed".
I have this nice shutout going, and I do not want to look stupid by missing a shot left handed. But I must be Fearless. I shot it lefty. And it went in.
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, Begin it. For Boldness has Genius, Power and Magic in it. Begin it Now!
I got interested in learning more about the game and the player, after watching this video on youTube in which he achieves a maximum break 147 faster than anyone, ever:
The words from Bob Dylan's hit "Just Like a Woman" keep running through my head: "... but she breaks just like a little girl."
And that's kinda how I've been feeling about my own break lately. In my last match I scratched 4 times on the break! That makes it a whole lot tougher to win matches, and makes "Seven" unnecessarily more difficult.
El Maestro has been pushing me to break using my playing stick, not the X-breaker, and to shoot into the second ball in the rack instead of head on. I was doing ok with that break on my 9' table, but the match last week was on an 8' table, and it seemed more difficult to hit the 2nd ball clean. Maybe the angle of incidence is narrower because the table is narrower. So maybe I gotta hit it with more low left...
What I do know is that when I finally stop hitting the break like a little girl, I'll definitely be playing better pool.
My break challenges probably come from my upbringing in the game of straight pool where there is no heavy breaking.
The glove doesn't keep your hand clean. Seems like it should.
Especially considering the awful organisms that must exist in the cloth of a typical table.
Think of some of the life-forms who play pool, and it doesn't take much to imagine the kind of parasites, viruses and other disgusting debris on the average bridge hand, and therefore on the average pool table in the average pool hall.
It seems quite amazing that pool players as a species have not been wiped out by some highly evolved flesh-eating ebola virus that festered and mutated in the dark, deep in the slow cloth of the back tables at Amsterdam Billiards, after being deposited from the fingernails of local degenerates and illegal alien shooters from all over the third world.
Aye, a devil's brew of filth and disease, awaiting your slightest touch.
Good God, give me a surgeon's gloves!
I'd like to design something better than what's available. First of all, I'd want the glove to cover the whole hand. Maybe add rubberized fingertips for better grip on the balls when racking. Holes and cutouts in the back and palm for cooling.
Gotta wash the glove frequently. Certainly after every away-match, before using it at the Fun House.
Although now I've got more laundry to do, I still like the glove for shooting pool.
Just a few thoughts about The Game, on the evening of winning my match, and also the evening of the New Moon. The times around a New Moon and Full Moon seem to find me writing...
A pool match is a zero-sum game. There will be one Winner, and one other guy.
Winning feels good, of course, but Playing Well is more satisfying.
Playing Well is To stroke well and true, and with creativity, and designed to win.
Playing well is to be Strong, and Fearless.
Playing Well is Love of the Game, made visible.*
Playing Well creates the Win.
Tonight I won again, 5-0. (vs. Jamie Day, skill level 5, then in 4th place) I am undefeated so far this session, 5-0. Four out of my 5 last opponents didn't earn a single game against me. I'm thinking that means I am getting better at controlling the game.
I felt I played better tonight. I did miss a couple of shots, but I played a couple of real nice ones, so on balance I did pretty good.
After my match, El Maestro was coaching another team mate on a safety play. I suggested a different approach and El Maestro adopted it to the situation. This tells me that I'm starting to see the game more clearly.
