I played alright tonight in league, but not where I feel I should be. The team we played had one of the top points leaders on their team (each player has a skill level and if you beat them then that's how many points you receive and if you lose then you get 0 points) and they put him up first. Now I usually don't care who I play but I wanted the challenge so I decided to put myself up. This guy was tied for first with 53 points and I'm tied for second with 49 points. His skill level only says a 5 (a 7 is the highest) but I think it's his first time playing this league and 5 is the default skill level, because he's actually better than a skill level 5. I beat him 7-6, another hill-hill match like last week and again I came from behind trailing 5-6. My play was rather inconsistent in that I messed up too many easy outs and gave a couple games away. I was fortunate to make the 9 ball early in two games or I probably would have lost the match. My pre-shot routine was solid and getting to be second nature, which I believe helped my shot making. I only missed a couple shots but my problem tonight was I fucked up way to many leaves. My speed was way off. I felt myself not staying down on every shot which is frustrating. The guy I was playing was a nice enough guy but he annoyed the shit out of me because when I was shooting he was always standing up. This isn't against the rules and he wasn't trying to shark me, it's just the way he waits for his turn but it bothers the fuck out of me for some reason.
I've done some practice drills recently and have noticed a couple little problems that I'm aware of and am now working to fix. I'm hoping I can keep up the practicing and get a jump start on preparing for Vegas. It's a long ways away but last year I don't feel like I gave myself the opportunity to do as well as I can by slacking off. Summers are always going to take away from my game because I have other things I like to do and I'm fine with losing some ground but I need to hit it hard when Summer is over.
Last week I was playing at Antiques and there was this old guy (who I'll call "weird old guy") there who was clearly a regular and "weird old guy" was talking to this guy I was playing and asked him if he could get him a beer because they wouldn't give him one. It was not spoken of as to why they wouldn't serve him. Anyways, "weird old guy" was there tonight wearing a plaid pajama top & bottom with the pants rolled up to his calfs. He uses a cane and I've not seen him EVER shoot pool or even carry a pool stick. He's what I would call a strange cat.
But what does a self-employed pocket-billiard player know?
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