Scotch Recap

I found myself in an awkward position last month (Feb).  I saw a flyer for a scotch doubles tourney and I actually wanted to play in it! 

I hadn't really /wanted/ to play pool in a while.  Would rather spend my time at the poker tables (and had been) so to even have a desire to play pool felt super weird.

Called my 'ole faithful partner that I've won several top scotch tourneys with (Greg) and he luckily said yes to playing with me.  :)

We had to race to one extra game because I'm listed as Advanced for BCAPL.  It's stupid funny really, because Greg plays so much better than I do, yet he's still listed as an Open player.  But, to be the reason why we go one extra game was kinda cool, too. 

The first two shots I made that almost-too-cold-for March Saturday morning, my adrenaline sure was racing!  I hadn't competed in so long that it definitely affected my adrenaline.  After some deep breathing to slow down my adrenaline, though, I surprised myself with how well I was playing!  Esp for someone who doesn't practice and no longer has league.  And, I became more and more confident as the day went on coming with shots for my partner and playing well.

We lost our first match and then tore through the one-loss side before running up against a team that pushed us hill-hill.  I went for the correct shot but one of their balls nudged a little and blocked one of our last 2 balls and we didn't get out.

We got one-out-of-the-money (5th out of 24 teams).  I told Greg after wards it was my fault we were out because we had to go one extra game, otherwise we would have beat them.  Luckily he just laughed at me.

For as much as I don't feel like playing pool, every time I get to play and see how awesome I'm still playing, makes me KINDA want to play more.  I still do not even remotely want to play league, but I'd like to get in a few good gambling sessions if I could.  Maybe venture out once a month for a weekly 8ball tourney at least to keep me "in the game" ironically lol.

Had fun Saturday, even though I was itching to get out of the smoke (that I did not miss) and head to the casino/poker room.

Different Way to Rack 9-Ball - Video Clip

Last weekend I was at my Sunday league playoffs.  Towards the end of Saturday night, two of the top players left at the pool room decided to gamble.

They were playing 9 ball, I think $10 or $20 a game.   They were racking their own racks.

One of the players finally gets his first win and so he starts to rack for himself.

But he uses ALL 15 balls to rack!

I was thinking to myself, "Omg this guy can't be THAT drunk can he, that he doesn't remember he's playing 9-ball?"

Check out how he racks 9-ball:


Whew!  He is still playing 9-ball.

Unconventional, yes.  And first time I had ever seen racking 9-ball like this.

As I look back at the video, I bet he got a really tight rack of 9-ball doing it this way!

Photo Pressure

I played the last match of my Sunday league back in early May. 

One of my teammates brought a couple of older relatives with him. 

I play two of my games and notice they are clapping for me a lot.  I don't mind support; it was cool.

But then I see my teammate point to a photo on the wall, and then point to me.  "I was like OMG are you really showing them that?"

It was the team pic from when my ladies team won the BCAPL Women's Team Open back in 2012.

Of course after that I felt so much pressure, that I of course didn't play as well.

I walk by them to play another match and they ask me, "are you the best player here? " 

"No, no," laughing with embarrassment, "THAT guy is, " pointing to THEIR relative.

It's amazing how much pressure we put ourselves under lol.  I could not play well after that.  Ugh.

You would think success would give you confidence.....but not all the time.  Sometimes we add invisible pressie to ourselves.   

 I need to figure this out.  Happened last weekend in big tourney, too.  (blog entry to come)   Yikes.

 

Name in Lights!

We finally made the big times!

Just kidding, but this is freaking awesome! 

I can't begin to express how cool it is to be able to approach a pool room and ask them to help sponsor us, and they say yes immediately.  

It's not just that they said yes, it's that we had 4 other pool rooms that wanted to sponsor us, too, and it felt wonderful to realize our team was that good and therefore could even ask for sponsorship.  

We only asked for our entry fee to be paid but it was still super cool that Carl from Diamond Jim's said yes.  Last year, he bought our shirts, this year was a step up and he paid our entry.

Last year my team won* and we presented Carl with a gift - a large framed photo of the team for Diamond Jim's.

This year, Carl presented US with a gift!  What a nice surprise! 

He added this to the Diamond Jim's marquee sign after he heard our team "Born Ready" won at the BCAPL Nationals!!

(Click photo to enlarge)

* Because we are in the Open division, we had to divide our team up after we won last year.  2 members started their own team, and Lisa Ellison and I started a new one, also (Born Ready) with Nina Stillwell, Maria Rodriguez, and Tracie Voelkering.

Team Photo in Our Home Room - Diamond Jim's

One of my teammates, Lisa, enlarged our BCAPL 2012 Women's Open Team winning photo for Carl, the owner of Diamond Jim's in Arlington, Texas.  She sent me a pic of it, but I couldn't tell how large it really was.  Then she said she was going to frame it in with barn wood, and I wasn't sure what that looked like.

There was  a Scotch Doubles tourney at Diamond Jim's on Saturday that I played in and so Lisa brought the framed photo by.  OMG!  It was beautiful!  So much more awesome than I imagined!

Here are some photos.  I hope you can tell how large it is.  Carl is standing near it, and also hanging it up in the photos.  He pretended to be shy and not excited, but I think as the day went on and he had to find a place to hang it, he became more proud.

Diamond Jim's was our home pool room and Carl even bought us our shirts.  We were SO happy someone took a little interest in our team and helped us out.  And turns out we WON!  And now Carl is the proud owner of a National Champ photo.  :)

 

My b/f and I placed a disappointing 4th in the tourney, but he gambled afterwards so we were there for about 12 hours.  And I kept looking at the photo hung up on the wall.  And I shamefully admit, I was PROUD!  I smiled a lot and was extremely moved he hung it up so quickly.  :)  Even as I type this, I'm overwhelmed with happiness.  It is SO dang cool!!

At one point in the evening, a drunk guy asked Carl, "Could they have printed it any bigger?" making fun of the enlargement.  I immediately said, "Hey, don't knock!"  And then my boyfriend asked him, "Have you won a National Championship??"

While people may make fun, it's still, to this day, and forever will be, an amazing accomplish for all us women on the team!