Katniss - Pool Shark?

From Katniss:

Someone told me, "I heard you are a pool shark."

I looked around and asked, "Are you talking to me?" 

He said, "Yes," 

I said, "No I’m not." 

He replied, "Well everyone is telling me you are."

I was persistent with my 'no,' even though I ran out and beat him.

My thought process was this:

A pool shark is someone who engage in sharking in billiards, that a player who distracts an opponent by means of vocalizing (talking crap) or with movement on purpose. Or a person who hustles people for money. 

His thought process was:

A pool shark refers to a player who is very well skilled. 

He explained to me that I played very well...not only against him, but in all of my games. I told him thank you 

So MAYBE I am a pool shark after all! 

A Perspective: Singles Finals in Vegas

A friend of mine finished an impressive 2nd place in the BCAPL National singles event last year. It was the highest national singles title he's ever come close to!  He has had several big wins here and there throughout the last 10 years or so, but none on the national singles stage.

He has put in the time and he was due for sure - we were all very proud of him!

He shared with me his tournament experience because we used to share these type of things many, many years ago. Plus, he knows I LOVE hearing these type of stories :)

He told me, "So I was reading your blog, and it made me reflect on pool in general and I think you'd be the person that could relate to it the most." And he was right! Trust me when I say I could blog about five topics just from these few paragraphs, lol. A lot of great insight he shares.

He's a very funny guy and I actually call him my "Favorite Mexican," but then that makes my other friends jealous, lol. I have written about his Mom before in my blog: here.

I would never even begin to adequately be able to describe what he did, so I'm going to simply copy/paste his words so you can experience for yourself this amazing, unforgettable time in his life. You will enjoy this, I promise!

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I've never been able to put myself in a position to play in the finals of the nationals in singles, and I got super nervous when I was playing in the semi-finals match. I walked around the table trying to calm down, took deep breaths, did my PSR [pre shot routine], and just made sure to stay down on every, single, shot until the 8ball dropped.

So now, I'm super excited I'm in the finals, I damn near wanted to cry. LOL. I called my wife, then walked to the bar. I knew I had to calm down from the excitement, and figured a drink would help (mental right?). So I get to the tv arena, and I hit a few balls. Those tables were super fast and rails really bouncy. I was overrunning everything during warm up. Up until that point, I made it a point to not look up. Just wanted to focus on my table, and that's it. Well, there was a slight delay in the start of the match, and then I looked up. Ugh! Just about everybody that was there in the building from Dallas, was in the stands! Then I looked over to the table next to ours, and see two top players playing, Jesus Atencio vs Omar Alshaheen. 

At that exact moment, I got a text from my friend Alex. In '09 when I got 3rd at the state tourney, Alex was texting me and calling me, telling me to have fun in every match towards the end of the event. It really helped! Well, the text that I got from him was something similar. 

Since we hadn't started yet, I stood up, took a deep breath, then turned to look at the crowd. I took it all in, and decided to enjoy the moment. I mean, who knows if I'll ever be in that spot again. 

The nerves instantly went away. It was weird. I felt a sense of calmness just before my opponent walked back up to the table. It was just a matter of tapping into the mental calmness for a bit. Of course, we all know how the finals went, LOL [he lost :( ]. But afterwards, I didn't feel any kind of regret or sadness. I just felt great to be able to play in the finals of that event, which had been my goal since stepping foot in the BCA league.

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What is your favorite part of the story?  Mine is pretty easy:  "I stood up, took a deep breath, then turned to look at the crowd. I took it all in, and decided to enjoy the moment."

I just loved that whole sentence - it truly captured everything we all wish and hope for to feel some day in our own pool journey!

Congrat's to my Favorite Mexican! err, I mean, Juan!  SO FREAKING PROUD OF YOU!

Watching And the Effects

I eluded that I was helping a friend by sparring with her a few times before a big state tournament.

She mentioned a couple of weeks later that she was going to play league playoffs and I surprised her and showed up to support her and her team last Saturday.

I didn't think much of it, really.  I show up, I watch her play, I go home.

Well, let me be honest, there is A LOT to this situation that I hadn't considered.

As I walk in, I sit over by her team and everyone else I know there is poking fun of me to sit in the middle between teams, as it looks like I'm playing favorites.  lol.

I'm not there even 15 minutes and my friend is up next in the line-up and has to play a game for her team.  Little did I know it was the hill-hill game.  That can be pressure, I don't care who you are.

As I'm watching her play this game, it hits me pretty strongly.  OH SHIT, am I a distraction?  Will she be able to play in front of me?  Or will she be wondering, "What would Melinda want me to do?"  Or, would my presence remind her to walk around more (one thing we talk a lot about).  Or would she be thinking about not making a mistake in front of me?

I am happy to report she BROKE AND RAN!  For the team win, too!  Pretty awesome to always witness that :)

After her well-deserved accolades from her team (and the other team), I waited a bit and then we chatted about this very thing.

"Uh, did I bother you?"

She shared that she was aware I was there, but it didn't bother her.

Whew!

She then said if she did something wrong, she knows I would say something.  I expressed that when it comes to shots, I wouldn't say anything because I wouldn't want to put any negative thoughts in her head about what I might be thinking.  I would, however, offer any type of pre-shot help though - you rushed that shot or didn't stay down (for example).

But more so, she already knows what shots she should and shouldn't do, even if she doesn't choose the shot.  Which I love about her awareness of the table already.  So because of that, there's not really a way for me interfere negatively with her mental game if I'm watching from the sidelines.  Whew!

I should have told her right up front that I wont talk about any shot unless she is curious about something that happened during a game and she asks me about it.  Otherwise, I'm not there to second guess, I'm there just to support and watch and be near my friend.