Mika Verus Cleary

Although you'd think I would be referring to a pool match, instead I'm referring to a friendly grudge match of push ups!!

Yep, I said Push Ups!

Everyone knows the pool champion Mika Immonen and a lot of people know Andrew Cleary (aka Big Tony). 

In May 2010 in Las Vegas, they had their second push up competition outside the Riviera Casino and little ole me got it on film!  Ahh, I was so proud of myself and my small, little video camera.  :)

I mentioned that I had the captured this on tape and my dear friend Nathan (of http://www.runoutmedia.com/) asked that I not show it yet.

What?

But I had the goods!

Ugh.

But, I knew he was working on a special project so I told him I wouldn't post any of the footage of the Big Push Up Competition between these two fine players until he said I could.

Move forward a year and I run across the footage cleaning up some files on my computer.  I swiftly emailed Nathan and asked him if I could now show the footage.

He said of course and thanked me for waiting.

He also showed me the link to his footage - to his "little piece" he put together.  Suffice it to say, he hits one out of the ball park with this!  The graphics, collection of footage, sound effects, interviews, angles, etc., etc., make my stupid raw footage look like a pebble.  LOL!

Check his out here (and be impressed!!):

Runout Media Video Magazine - Mika Immonen VS Big Tony Push Up Battle Round 2

Don't even look at mine here, lol:

EXCELLENT work, Nathan!

Literally ByStanders

The other night I was watching my boyfriend gamble at the 24-hour pool room and noticed this group of guys.  I grabbed my phone camera and tried not to be obvious taking their photos, lol.

WOW were they rudely standing around the pool table while their friends were down on shots!

Obviously, these are weekend warriors and not competitive pool players that know pool etiquette.  I can't blame them - I didn't know golf etiquette the first few times I played until someone told me.  But why does it seem obvious that this is something they should not do?  Maybe I'm just more consciousness at my current age or something.

Check out the proof!

At first I thought it was just the guy in the red shirt, literally standing at the edge of the table in this shot, standing in his opponents line of sight. 

But then this guy did it, too!

Here he is again; he's even touching the table, not just "standing" next to it.

Don't even get me started about the cigarette in his mouth....

And here is another one of the friends standing close to the table.

Me <---- shaking her head in disappointment.

Thinking Ahead Versus Believing

When I was at the OB Cues Ladies tour stop last weekend, I was about to play my second match (I had a bye, then won my first match) and before I started the match I walked up to my b/f and told him,

"Uh oh, That's not good."

"What?"

"I already think I'm going to win.  That's not good."

"Why" he asks in disbelief and with confusion.

"Because I'm not suppose to think ahead."

"Well, that's better than thinking you are going to lose!"

WOW!

What a perspective!

I know I'm suppose to play in the moment, not think ahead when I am down on the shot, don't think of my next opponent before I finish the game I'm on, etc.  I'm not suppose to think "I"m gonna win" if I'm ahead 5-2.  I know all this.  I know I'm not suppose think about an outcome before it happens - I need to stay in the moment (focus only on the shot in front of me) and not get ahead of myself, or else I (you) get complacent, lazy, and lose focus on the task at hand.

But wow was he surely correct in his statement to me! 

Even Denis Waitley in the Psychology of Winning talks a lot about positive affirmation and positive self expectancy and positive self motivation.  "These are the keys to a winner," he states.  I love his self-help audio tapes and even tho I listen to them with all my might, I still agonized with this:

I have struggled in believing I'm a winner when I walk into the pool room for a tournament, and yet not getting ahead of myself to play in the moment.  As we all know, thinking ahead can be detrimental to your game.  But believing in yourself is cleverly similar but shockingly very different.

That moment he told me that - I finally was able to separate the two!

It was an aha moment for me, for sure!