Team Slump

Well, eight weeks through the session and we're still in first, but we may not be alone anymore. Two weeks ago we played Balls-in-hand; a team that, while good, I would have thought we could have taken four of the five matches if not three. Instead we took only two. One of our S/L 5s matched up against a 3 and he threw the match - that is the only way I can call it.

I did not fair much better, but I was matched up against a fairly respectable 5. I promptly lost the first three games, playing some of the worst pool ever. Every shot I took, and there were plenty of opportunities for me in those three games, I slammed the cue ball. The only thing I can think of is that my match started around 11 PM and I was exhausted after a long day at work. I managed to play better and win the next two games to go hill-hill. While I played well the last game, it was not enough to win. Now I have two new goals: Build my stamina and get plenty of sleep on Monday nights.

Monday I flew back to Kansas City around 11 PM from a long weekend on Boston's North Shore visiting family, and the second Tuesday is 4H with my daughter, so I missed last night's match. I got all of the gory details when I got to work since four team mates work for the same company. Another 2-3 night - yuck!

Last night's opponents match up well against us on paper, but for some reason we under-perform when visiting them. Our 5 who had an off-night against a 3 last week continued his less-than-stellar performance again last night, only this time against another 5. He managed to lose four straight games to lose the match. In the third game he managed to sink the 8 out-of-turn with a very hard shot; I'm thinking at this point that a hockey fan would admire the guy's slap shot, but most hockey players and pool players need to have a wide-ranging selection of shot speeds in order to put the "puck in the net" or pocket an object ball. Again in the fourth game he slammed the cue into a cluster that contained two of his balls and four of his opponents. According to one eye-witness there was no possibility of making a ball on the shot and it left the opponent an opportunity to run the table. These were not "Slappy's" last two balls on the table so he would have had other chances to break out his balls.

Well, here's hoping next week we come prepared to win. I am thinking that "Slappy" will be benched for the match.

I managed to get in six or so practice games while in Gloucester over the weekend - most of them playing scotch doubles. The table, probably one of only a half-dozen or so spread across a town of 30,000 that once claimed 3 pool halls, had an oversized eight ball! It looked like the Goodyear blimp sticking up out of the other balls.

Adios, hope your pool playing brings you happiness this week!