Two night ago I went to Vino's in Hurst, Texas where they have a little 8-ball bar table tourney on Sunday nights.
They pay Last Lady (LL), so it's a cool little tourney for me. The prize for LL is $5 per female who enter the tourney, and on this night out of 31 players there were 10 of us. Wow! That's $50. :) Also, Vino's adds $5 per player, too, so it's a tough tournament.
I played in this tourney a few weeks ago and beat a kinda cocky guy so I'll call him Mr. Cocky. I play pretty good eight ball, so to beat a cocky player is always cool, I admit. :)
Since I didn't drink this particular night, I had a good shot at getting LL, but I still had a tough road ahead of me and had to play smart. It was definitely no gimme.
I won my first 3 matches, but one of them was a bye, so I didn't get credit for that for the LL tally. LL is decided by how may games you win.
So, for my first one-loss side match, I'm tied for LL with one other girl and I feel some pressure, admittedly, to get that $50. I'm also playing for 5th place (and they only pay 3 spots).
I play a real tall fella (Mr. Tall) whom I hadn't seen before, but he knew all the people by our table, who were watching him. It's a race to 1. Yes, I said One. Lol. So, it's an important game - I either move on AND win LL, or tie LL and have a playoff with the other girl.
I am playing pretty good and smart, but he only has two balls left on the table when I try to play safe. He goes for the only shot I left him (a cut shot in the side) and he makes it and all of a sudden his friends start clapping and cheering and carrying on! Mr. Cocky is cheering loudly and they are all going crazy over this cut shot.
I was trying to figure out what was going on and why they were so excited.
I could feel the adrenaline rising through my body as I tried so hard not to let it get to me. It *felt* like they were against me, but I knew in my heart that wasn't the case. But it still didn't mean the cheering didn't pierce my heart and hurt.
He missed the next shot and I ran a few balls but had to play safe again, this time on the 8-ball. I thought I would leave him a bank, instead it was a cut in the side. I knew as soon I was walked away from the table he could make it. I hoped he would still miss it, though (lol), but instead the 8-ball went right into the side pocket.
And his friends start to cheer and clap again. Mr. Tall high-fives Mr. Cocky as Mr. Tall is celebrating and I stand there with my hand out ready to shake, and my blood starts to boil from my emotions of them going crazy over the stupid 8-ball shot. Everyone over there is cheering him and saying what a great shot it was and he finally comes to the table to shake my hand.
I go to the bathroom to wash my hands before my playoff for LL and as I stand there rinsing my hands, I tell myself, "Don't let if bother you, Melinda. You know they weren't rooting against you, they were just rooting for him." While I was told this golden nugget of information a long time ago, and while my brain is aware of that (esp since I reminded myself of it), it still doesn't mean it didn't sting. :( It hurt my little heart. :(
I was nervous I'd have to play on the same table in front of all those guys for my LL play-off, but I recovered and I won that $50. Yay Me!
As I stayed around til the end of the tourney to watch my boyfriend capture First Place, one of his teammates comes up to me at the end of the night and says, "You are the one to beat, obviously. Those guys went crazy when he played you, all that cheering and stuff."
"Yea, and it bothered me."
"But it just means they are trying to beat you badly. That you are a tough opponent."
"Do what?"
He continues to explain, "They went crazy clapping, but only when he played you. It shows they all wanted him to beat you. Because you are a good player."
I liked his perspective! I hadn't thought of it that way and that made sense why it seemed they cheered more when he played me than his other opponents. :)
I love differing perspectives that help me figure out situations, because as we all know - we can't read minds and we take others actions wrong sometimes.
Maybe I need to give myself more credit as a top female player in these tourneys.
And I hope I remember this golden piece of info also the next time people cheer and clap for my opponent.
Ahh... perspectives!
I believe that is what I would have said as well Mel.
ReplyDeleteRemember you are playing in a bar and you cant expect the same decorum you would expect in a sanctioned match or a pool league.
I remember one night a 6 in the league called me a sandbagger. I was not feeling well and my game was off. Pissed me off so much I snapped into focus. 2 8 breaks and a break and run later I told him we were finished here. He never badgered me again after that.
I believe that is what I would have said as well Mel.
ReplyDeleteRemember you are playing in a bar and you cant expect the same decorum you would expect in a sanctioned match or a pool league.
I remember one night a 6 in the league called me a sandbagger. I was not feeling well and my game was off. Pissed me off so much I snapped into focus. 2 8 breaks and a break and run later I told him we were finished here. He never badgered me again after that.