top gun
Top Gun
Saturday's tournament was the Fall Session "Top Gun" tournament. Basically it is comprised all the players that have a win rate of 70% or more and you must have played at least 10 lifetime matches. This includes players from all of Northern Colorado APA pool leagues.
In the Fall Session I started late in the season and played for 8 weeks - on two of those weeks I got to play 2 times in the same evening so I qualified for the tournament.
I was on the fence about attending as we are having super nice weather right now. But since I went to Frisco on Thursday and skate-skied and then went on a 3 hour bike ride on Friday I decided to play.
When I drove up at 10:30 the parking lot was fuller than i had ever seen it. When it was all said and done a record number 72 players had signed up. wow!
First Match
The tournament board is drawn up with a blind draw. My first match was against a tall (6'4"), good-looking guy named Luke. He is ranked as a 7 - the highest ranking in 8 ball.
Luke is an awesome player and it's fun to watch him play (and a bit discouraging when I'm just sitting there wondering if i'll get a chance to shoot) plus he's super nice. I started off really shaky and with a guy like this that's trouble. For the first time since I started playing these tournaments - Luke dispatched me to the losers bracket my first match. Oh - I did have my chances and at one point Luke said 'you had me on the ropes' - but I just think he was being nice.
After Luke won our match several people commented that Luke was probably one of the top 5 players at the tournament and the nicest of the 7s. And would agree - he was very nice while he was whipping up on me. ;) Actually, even tho I lost I was happy - I feel like I played fairly well and that's all I can ask of myself.
Later in the tournament Luke's wife and son came by - the little boy looks just like Luke. I asked Luke for a picture so people can see the height difference - I wish I had thought to get a pic of Luke and his family.
Seems like this blog is becoming more and more about pool. i'm really gonna have to re-think this whole pool thing and figure out where I want to spend my time. I will say - I am having a lot of fun playing and I got some great advice from Dana on keeping things balanced. So for now I'll just keep on riding and shooting. :)
Saturday's tournament was the Fall Session "Top Gun" tournament. Basically it is comprised all the players that have a win rate of 70% or more and you must have played at least 10 lifetime matches. This includes players from all of Northern Colorado APA pool leagues.
In the Fall Session I started late in the season and played for 8 weeks - on two of those weeks I got to play 2 times in the same evening so I qualified for the tournament.
I was on the fence about attending as we are having super nice weather right now. But since I went to Frisco on Thursday and skate-skied and then went on a 3 hour bike ride on Friday I decided to play.
When I drove up at 10:30 the parking lot was fuller than i had ever seen it. When it was all said and done a record number 72 players had signed up. wow!
First Match
The tournament board is drawn up with a blind draw. My first match was against a tall (6'4"), good-looking guy named Luke. He is ranked as a 7 - the highest ranking in 8 ball.
Luke is an awesome player and it's fun to watch him play (and a bit discouraging when I'm just sitting there wondering if i'll get a chance to shoot) plus he's super nice. I started off really shaky and with a guy like this that's trouble. For the first time since I started playing these tournaments - Luke dispatched me to the losers bracket my first match. Oh - I did have my chances and at one point Luke said 'you had me on the ropes' - but I just think he was being nice.
After Luke won our match several people commented that Luke was probably one of the top 5 players at the tournament and the nicest of the 7s. And would agree - he was very nice while he was whipping up on me. ;) Actually, even tho I lost I was happy - I feel like I played fairly well and that's all I can ask of myself.
Later in the tournament Luke's wife and son came by - the little boy looks just like Luke. I asked Luke for a picture so people can see the height difference - I wish I had thought to get a pic of Luke and his family.
Luke and I
Long Day
With 72 players in the tournament it promised to be a long day and a long day it was. I'm pretty sure I played 5 matches total but it's fuzzy.
My 2nd match was to a guy from Estes Park, Brett. He had his whole crew of buddies from Estes cheering for him and they were a hoot - very vocal. At first I was like uh-oh...I hope I can focus. And focus I did - in one game I had a beautiful run-out which included finishing off with an 8 ball bank where the 8 ball literally jumped into the pocket. Brett had a chance to get on the hill with me but he barely missed a 2 ball and left me perfect shape on the 8 so I won that match.
I ended up hanging out with Brett and his gang and fell in love with these guys. You can tell that they are good men.
I won my next match and at that point Luke came up to me and mentioned that if I won 2 more matches I would get to play him again. Oh - I really wanted a 2nd chance to play him. i handily won my next match so that meant I only had to win one more time to get to play Luke again.
My next match was annother tall, handsome young man. This guy was 6'5". Luke came by and watched the match. I started off slow and my opponent won the first 2 games. Luckily I was able to step up my playing and when I was on the hill - Luke said "i'm going to take a bio break so I can be ready to play you" (making the assumption I would be winning the next game.)
I did win that match so now I had a chance at redemption.
Full Circle
Another good thing about playing Luke - is he likes to play on the 9' tables. A lot of the players will only play on the 7' tables so it's nice playing on a 'big girl' table. ;)
Well...i can't say much for myself this time around. I did have some good runs but couldn't even pull off 1 win even tho I had my chances. This time Luke skunked (skunked means I didn't win a game) me - 5/zip. ouch.
So I think there is a certain irony the only person I lost to all day long was Luke.
Aftermath
I finished 20th out of 72 players - not too shabby,eh? Plus I qualified for the "All Stars" tournament. I guess this is made up of all the top players from all the CO regional Top Gun tournaments. But it's on Feb. 7th and Ricky will be in town so no way am I playing in a tournament when my little baby is visiting!
Once again i left the pool hall with a smile in my face. In most cases I held my own, i made some new friends, and had a lot of fun. :)
I left the pool hall at 9pm - I booked it to Akiyama Sushi Restaurant where Tracy was throwing Jason a surprise birthday party. Last Saturday I wasn't able to make Jeny's birthday dinner because pool...at least this time I caught the tail end of the celebration.
With 72 players in the tournament it promised to be a long day and a long day it was. I'm pretty sure I played 5 matches total but it's fuzzy.
My 2nd match was to a guy from Estes Park, Brett. He had his whole crew of buddies from Estes cheering for him and they were a hoot - very vocal. At first I was like uh-oh...I hope I can focus. And focus I did - in one game I had a beautiful run-out which included finishing off with an 8 ball bank where the 8 ball literally jumped into the pocket. Brett had a chance to get on the hill with me but he barely missed a 2 ball and left me perfect shape on the 8 so I won that match.
I ended up hanging out with Brett and his gang and fell in love with these guys. You can tell that they are good men.
brett, me, Greg, Stuart (aka Steve) ;)
I won my next match and at that point Luke came up to me and mentioned that if I won 2 more matches I would get to play him again. Oh - I really wanted a 2nd chance to play him. i handily won my next match so that meant I only had to win one more time to get to play Luke again.
My next match was annother tall, handsome young man. This guy was 6'5". Luke came by and watched the match. I started off slow and my opponent won the first 2 games. Luckily I was able to step up my playing and when I was on the hill - Luke said "i'm going to take a bio break so I can be ready to play you" (making the assumption I would be winning the next game.)
I did win that match so now I had a chance at redemption.
Full Circle
Another good thing about playing Luke - is he likes to play on the 9' tables. A lot of the players will only play on the 7' tables so it's nice playing on a 'big girl' table. ;)
Well...i can't say much for myself this time around. I did have some good runs but couldn't even pull off 1 win even tho I had my chances. This time Luke skunked (skunked means I didn't win a game) me - 5/zip. ouch.
So I think there is a certain irony the only person I lost to all day long was Luke.
Aftermath
I finished 20th out of 72 players - not too shabby,eh? Plus I qualified for the "All Stars" tournament. I guess this is made up of all the top players from all the CO regional Top Gun tournaments. But it's on Feb. 7th and Ricky will be in town so no way am I playing in a tournament when my little baby is visiting!
Once again i left the pool hall with a smile in my face. In most cases I held my own, i made some new friends, and had a lot of fun. :)
I left the pool hall at 9pm - I booked it to Akiyama Sushi Restaurant where Tracy was throwing Jason a surprise birthday party. Last Saturday I wasn't able to make Jeny's birthday dinner because pool...at least this time I caught the tail end of the celebration.
Jason's Birthday - the gang
Jeny's Birthday group - badazz gurlz
Michelle, Jeny, Cat, Megan, Tracy, Jessica, Dana, Xanthe
Michelle, Jeny, Cat, Megan, Tracy, Jessica, Dana, Xanthe
Seems like this blog is becoming more and more about pool. i'm really gonna have to re-think this whole pool thing and figure out where I want to spend my time. I will say - I am having a lot of fun playing and I got some great advice from Dana on keeping things balanced. So for now I'll just keep on riding and shooting. :)
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