Rest for the Weary

I flew to Maryland for work in mid October (just last week as I type this). Trips that involve a flight for me usually means quality AND quantity time to get things accomplished on the laptop for websites and the Ladies Tour and also to work on my lovely to-do list. By the time the battery runs out on the laptop, I have a begun writing on EACH line of the lined paper - it's filled up with things I need to get accomplished for the Tour. Not just things that need to be done before the next stop, but what needs to be updated on the tour website, and what we need to do for the championship stop, and for next year. I also write down wishes - what I would like to be added to the website if I ever got extra time. I also would write down ideas for the tour and the members. By the time the flight ended, I could easily have up to 2-3 pages filled out and I would have many emails to write to the board about a plethora of things ranging from new ideas to things I needed to tell the board that I had been meaning to tell them, but had run out of time to do so.

Well, this time, there was no list. I didn't write one thing down. I didn't even pull out my laptop. I just rested my eyes, listened to my ipod, and toward the end of the flight, pulled out their in-flight magazine to work on the "diabolical" version of Sudoku on page 35.

It honestly felt very weird to not have all those to-do items to write down for the Tour. Ideas for the website were no more, no action items, no emails to write after the flight, no to-do list. I just rested. It was weird; it was nice but yet it was a very uneasy feeling for me.

Do I miss helping run the Ladies Tour - absolutely! I love the tour, the board, the sponsors, the players. But...admittedly... although slightly uncomfortable, it was nice to just rest.

FE Tour Waco, Oct 2009

Charlie Bryant and Chen in the finals

I was very excited to play at the Fast Eddie's Tourney in Waco, Texas in October because the pool room is only an hour and 15 mins from my house. It's such a treat! However, the treat almost turned into a trick as only 30-something men were in the Open division and on Sunday only 6 ladies entered the ladies event. That is not a typo - SIX. Lewis almost didn't have the tournament for us, but because the ENTIRE field traveled 1 to 2 hours to get there, he graciously let us play after giving it some major thought. If I didn't tell you that part already, then you'd be very excited for me when I tell you I placed 4th in a tournament! Yay 4th place! Yay! Ha-ha - sure, 4th outta 6. lol. Don't worry, I am embarrassed for myself, too.

Lewis being funny taking my pic from "behind" lol

I got a bye first (lmao! - who didn't?? lol) and then I played Julia Rapp. I told myself I could win the match if I didn't beat myself, but I ironically, that's exactly what I did! I was ahead 4-2 and lost 7-5. I wrote about it earlier - how I lost focus, didn't really concentrate anymore when I was ahead and she started to capitalize on my mistakes beautifully. I love it when she plays well, but I was no longer playing well or thinking about finishing the match. :(

I then played Kim Pierce and we raced to 7 on the one-loss side and then I found out Lewis wanted us to race to 5, but that was after we were done, lol. I won 7-5 but Kim really started to play well at the end of the match and I admit I almost lost. I then played Alicia Teskey next and even tho I think I "should" win, I lost 3-5. She made two really nice 9-ball combos the first 2 games and then one tricky, failed shot by me when it was 3-4 sold out the game. I knew, too, that a miss would lead to her getting out (there were only 3 balls left), but I thought the safe was 50/50 for the shot and so I wrongly went for the shot, even though I had missed that shot a couple of times during the tourney already. :( Quarterbacking!

Amanda playing Alicia.

Amanda and Julia split the tourney and I was happy for them. I drove all the way back home for that whole hour and fifteen minutes (hehe) in the daylight. I was very happy Lewis let us play - this blog article would have had a whole different flavor if we didn't play, lol.

Me, semi-posing.

One Word Tourney Description: Confused

Someone New, Please

So, there is another great interview inside the awesome slickie pages of Billiards Digest! Johnny Archer is the star of this great article - from how he started playing to being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

I have read the author's articles in Billiards Digest for the last ten years - he is a great interviewer that turns articles into fascinating story's about the life of the player he is showcasing; he always does a jam-up job with interviews/articles and he is a true blessing to the pool community.

However, I am really very tired of seeing Charlie Williams' comments in the pieces. One reason the articles are so interesting is because the author adds quotes from other players about the "subject matter" player. These quotes showcase the players and provide an insight and opinions from their peers, so they really add to the articles well. Nick Varner was also quoted in this Johnny Archer article and Varner's comments are very well-received and add substantially to it. However, please stop using Charlie in the articles; we need comments from a different player - great players, other players, more interesting players.