Well, Friday night was the big night. I got out to Side Pockets at 6pm and found Tattoo John hitting balls, so I joined him. We played for about an hour before a few other team members showed up. The tables were pretty nice, considering their bar tables. They were pretty fast though – the cloth was nice, and the rails were consistent. I picked up a few tips from John and even got out on him a few times.
So, at 7:30, they started calling matches and we moved to our match table across the room. Mike and I hit a few balls, then the other team hit a few balls. Finally, it was time to draw. As is typical, I didn’t play the first round. However, as it NOT typical, our guys couldn’t finish. After the first round, and with the 4 games we spotted them, we were down 7-2. I expected to play the second round, but again, wasn’t chosen. I can understand that, mostly – I mean, I’m a 4, he wants his “heavy hitters” to get us back in the game. Unfortunately, the table was too fast for most of us, and again, we lost more than we should have. After the 2nd round, we were down 10-4. It’s a race to 11. The third round draw came up and I fully expected to play… although once again, much to my dismay, I again, was not chosen. We win the first 2 games, but on the 3rd, our captain makes the 8, but the table speed let the cue ball head towards the side pocket… it jawed… paused… then fell in. Lost. That’s game, match, and set. We were knocked out.
Everyone was feeling pretty down about their performance, and rightfully so. Our 7 went 3-0, which is good, but our captain (7) went 1-2 (I think, I know he lost 2, but maybe 3?). Our “power 5” went 0-2, our “new 6” went 1-1 and our “has been a 6 since the dawn of time” went 1-2 We packed up our stuff and all went our separate ways.
I’m still kinda peeved about the whole thing actually. I mean, I feel like I put the most practice and preparation. Hell, I did 15 hours on bar tables the two days before the tournament – half of which was with the captain, so he knows I was practicing. He also knows that I was there before anyone else, but I don’t know if Tattoo commented on my play or not. Regardless, I felt like I should’ve been given a chance. I mean, obviously if the regulars aren’t doing it – putting me in certainly can’t be any worse. lol I guess the thing that kinda got to me was for the last round he chose to play another guy who didn’t play last week’s match, and has admitted to not really being “into” this session. He’s got a lot of stuff going on, and that’s understandable – but he’s not playing well at all lately, whereas I on the other hand, won 5 out of my last 6 matches.
I dunno – maybe I’m feeling ‘over-entitled’ or something, but I was really excited about this tournament, and anxious (see my twitter feed); but overall I felt good about it. I just wanted to have a chance to test my preparedness and/or prove my readiness. I can’t decide if I should mention any/all of this to my captain though. I mean, I understand why he wanted to play the better players, but I also can’t understand continuing to play them when they aren’t able to come through. A few guys were winning, keep those 3 in, keep another hit-or-miss and put me in. In the least, I’m a hit-or-miss, at best, I should be out – just like everyone else.
The only good thing about the night was that we got our division champions trophy. I haven’t had my name on a trophy in nearly 20 years. The one I saw was for the bar, but I was told we could order one for ourselves if we wanted, so I asked to order one. 🙂