Day Three - End of the 2008 Texas Open

I woke up earlier than my alarm clock on Monday morning, Labor Day, and wondered what time it was for a long time before the alarm made its obnoxious noise and finally made me jump out of bed. I get ready pretty quickly and packed everything up - Amanda and I had to check out of the hotel this day. I ran to Taco Cabana for us and also tried to check out. It took so long to try and check out (it was a fiasco!), that I tripped into the pool room at 8:56am! Wow - cutting it close for my 9am match. Eeeek!

My opponent, Nancy French, asked if I wanted to hit balls. "No," was my indifferent reply. She made some mistakes in the beginning and so I went ahead 3-1 I think, but once she put her ipod on, she was on fire! I was all of a sudden a little put back and shocked about her runouts. I started missing and even from my early misses she would get out from what seemed like a tough table to run. I finally got my head out of my a$$ and started playing well again. But I still missed a few key balls and next thing you know it went hill-hill. She scratched on the break and I saw an easy safe to hide the one ball. But wait! I also saw I could not only play safe, but leave the one in front of the 9. I executed the cueball well, but even though I hit the one ball softly, it still rolled too far for a 9ball combo, but still enough to leave her hooked (the tables were slippery little boogers). She missed the kick and I debated on the run, the tough combo or the safe. I decided to try the safe b/c she was on two and b/c there was a pretty good chance at success on executing the safety, compared to the lower percentage of me running out the way the balls were positioned. Luckily, the fast tables allowed for the one ball to hit a rail and hid her behind two balls. She missed the kick and I won by three foul 7-6.

Kim, Me and Linda Sunday night.

I then play Cristina Dela Garza, who beat me the last time we played. I played MUCH better this time and had some REALLY nice outs. Up 3-0, I got a little over confident and started missing a little and she capitalized but I also capitalized on her mistakes as well. I almost let the match get away from me, but I did play some good shots to win. That felt great b/c I not only played well in front of the crowd, I was guaranteed "in the money." :)

I then played Michelle Abernathy next and she was staying down well and getting out. I missed a few key shots again (boy, do I need to make my often-missed-shots my favorite shots so I stop dogging certain shots!) and pretty much handed the match to her at 3-7. I played terrible, BUT felt good about my finish (and the previous two wins). I wish I knew why I didn't play well that match and what was going on - I can normally figure it out, but not this time. I just know I missed more than I should have but to her credit, she made a lot of tough shots.

So, 5th place at the 2008 Texas State Open out of 28 women. And, $160 richer for my pains. LOL!

How would I describe this tournament? Enduring.

I took more photos on Day Three. You can see them all here. I am honestly mentally and physically exhausted from helping run the tournament, taking photos, updating the forums, uploading and labeling all the photos, schmoozing, updating the brackets, oh and playing pool! However, I would take none of it back - I love helping out and getting my hands in the mix for the fans of the lovely sport we call: billiards!

Amanda won the tournament, Bonnie placed 2nd and Heather placed 3rd. Shane Van Boeing won the men's side, with Gabe Own coming in 2nd and Shawn Putnam in 3rd.

Here's another one of my fav photos I captured:

Gabe Owen