Pool School During a Match

Tuesday night at league, my team and I were playing in a very tough match. 

This league makes it simple and goes by WINS during the season - there are no weekend playoffs like other leagues.

We had beat this top-ranked team last week and because so, that meant we were both tied for first place, so there needed to be a tie breaker!  So, we had to play this tiebreaker match just this past Tuesday for all the marbles.

Now, as you can imagine - each team wants to win the top dog, the first place, the bragging rights.  Me, I just hope I play decent enough, lol.

During my very first game, my opponent, who is a nice guy who shoots JAM up (I'm pretty nervous to play him), plays a safety.  He shoots it PERFECTLY.... until... he accidentally doesn't move his cue away fast enough and hits an object ball that he was playing safe with.  We all kinda stand there.  Oh shit, it's ball in hand for me!

However, I have a ball tied up and I don't get out. 

He comes back to the table and says out loud (but to himself) because he's pretty embarrassed and upset with himself, "Let's go back to pool school now."  He's a funny guy and he makes jokes like this.

He shoots a couple of shots then misses.  I get up to the table, but I don't have a shot.  I play safe.  He gets back to the table and one of my teammates jokes on the sidelines, something like "okay, let's go to pool school," something relating to what this guy had just said to himself earlier.  So, my teammate is trying to be funny, too.

But as we all know, during competition things like this just aren't taken as 'funny.'

My opponent misses again and I walk up to the table and I can't believe it:  again, I don't have a shot.  LOL.  It was almost comical I again had no shot, lol.  As I'm standing there trying to figure out what to do, HERE THEY COME....

The two guys are talking to their OWN teammates, but loud enough for each other to hear (and on opposite sides of our pool table).  One is upset, the other trying to defend himself.  Me?  I'm trying to figure out what shot to shoot to win, lol.

My opponent is upset that my teammate said something to him.  Or about him.  He assumes my teammate was being rude, so now my opponent is upset. 

So, my opponent is saying things like, "but you don't have to talk like that during a match."

He's absolutely right. 

But, he's behind me.

While I'm at the table.

While I'm trying to shoot.

I listen to them banter for only about a minute and say out loud to point out, "well, I'm in a match, too" as I'm standing at the table in the middle of this, lol.

I think they were surprised I said something?  I don't know.  But, luckily, they had no other words and stopped "joking" for the rest of the night and we all were able to focus on pool.

And, yes, I lost that game.  Because I had no shot again!  lol.