Bad Call

I was running a quarterly tournament at Rusty's Billiards (see all the pics here) and I was also the ref at times. I was there over 12 hours and it was a treat to see the guys and gals play so well and I saw some really great matches and I had front row seats to the action. My friend Barbara helped me run the tournament and it was fun to hang around her and chat all day.

Chen (always on of the top picks), Barbara (co-helper) and Tara Williams (friend and great player).

Me, writing down match results.


Father and son! Thomas Gomez, Jr. and Thomas Gomez, Sr. They both played in the tournament.


Father and Son! Ralf Cortez and his son. Ralf played in the tournament.

Late in the day, one of the players called me over to call a shot. The 8ball was close to the 6ball. Player A was shooting the 8ball and was down 0-2 in a race to three. Player B is the one who called me over to watch the shot. Player A hit the 8ball/6ball cluster and made the 8ball. I called a good hit.

The tournament chart was only one table over so I could hear the two players talking before they racked for the next game. Player B said, "I know I called a ref and I will go by what the ref said, but do you think that was a good hit?" Player A stammered and said finally, "no." I felt terrible! I thought it was a good hit, but as I thought about the reaction of the 6ball and after discussing it with Player B, I did indeed call the shot incorrectly. :(

I realize now I should have been standing behind the player to see it better. I felt bad I called a wrong hit and apologized several times to Player B. Player A put his cue up and left - he was already down and probably knew it would be tough to beat this guy anyway but I still felt bad for the whole situation; Player B said again, "well, I called you over and would have stuck by your ruling but still asked him what he thought - we both knew it was a bad hit based on the reaction of the 6ball."

I wonder how many times this happens? Refs have to make quick decisions about quick shots. I learned I should take my time, maybe think about how the balls should react and also get in a better position for those type of shots. I should have probably also taken a ref class by now, too.

:(