Reverse Sharking

I wrote about a straight pool match last season where I joked with my opponent that I would have to get him drunk in order to beat him and I wondered out loud in my blog if I sharked him.

Well, Monday night I played a straight pool match and lost, I think, because my opponent bought me two shots that I didn't turn down.

WTH was I thinking???

I realize it's my fault - I should have had only one on my empty stomach, or neither, but I was playing good and thought I could handle it, I guess. But, I started to miss a lot and he played better than I did and he beat me 100-72. I normally beat him, but I missed too many shots after the shots and then scratched a lot toward the end.

I admit I'm embarrassed and upset, but it's my own fault. Chalk it up to a learning experience.

Here are some questions in my mind:

• Would I have taken the shots if it was the start of the season? I hope I wouldn't have risked it then.
• What was I thinking?
• Would I have taken the shots if I was in the lead for my division? Gosh I hope not!! I'm in 3rd place with one match to go, which means no trophy b/c only 1st place gets the trophy.

I told my opponent when I missed a shot around my 50 to his 65, that I was never going to take a shot from him again.

He looked at me confused and he obviously felt bad. He said, "I thought you drank." I said, "I do, but not during matches."

He replies with, "sorry, I thought it would relax you."

I reply, kinda snappy, reiterating again, "No, I don't normally drink when I play pool."

"I didn't know," he shyly said.

He apologized several times after the match but I told him it was my own fault for taking the shots AND also told him he played well.

I was very impressed, actually, with his shot selection this match. He would go for dead balls to break out the stack instead of cut shots. It really worked for him, and he had a lot of dead caroms that came up that he saw and took advantage of.

So, it really was a combination of things, but the score would definitely had been closer. Learning Experience...