Ob Tour - Richardson Stop

So.. this weekend I headed up to Dallas for the third OB stop... first.. what a LONG and BORING DRIVE! I stayed in Richardson with the mom one of my best est friends growing up... Mom Wise... It was definitely a plus to not have to pay for a hotel room, plus it was just good catching up. I listened to some of my Inner Game of Tennis audio book on the way in.. when I wasn't too drowsy of course, and then listened to one of mom's meditation Cd's as I fell asleep. I got up Saturday morning feeling good. I got up to the pool hall shortly after 9:20 and was surprised that all the tables were already taken. I made my rounds saying hi to all of my OB friends and then sat and talked to Bobby for a while, while I waited for a table to open up. Finally I saw a lady that I had never seen before and I went up and asked her if she minded if I "practiced" with her for a little bit... Generally I don't see playing other people as practice, I like to get in and get adjusted to the speed, hit some follow shots, draw shots, stop shots and then get off the table. I don't like to practice anything too hard before a tournament. Lucky for me she let me hit balls around for a while and then we played a couple racks. I felt I was shooting OK. Bobby told me I looked like I was getting a lot better. That was kind of ironic to me since I hadn't really started putting in the practice time yet. First round of matches were called and I had to wait. There were 56 girls and only 12 tables. One table was streaming live and while I kind of wanted to play on it so Dalton and Mom could watch I was a little nervous about knowing people were watching and opted to not say anything.

First match I played a lady named Rosa Rios. Nice lady, I had never seen her before though, so I didn't know what to expect. She seemed very serious, I heard her later talking to Spetty about needing to have fun but just not being able to not take it serious. I can totally relate to that. I win the flip and she racks up the first rack. She sat at a table away from me and I was kind of thankful for that. I sometimes have a hard time playing when the person I am playing is talking a lot, or talking about all the shots they are missing, or how bad they are playing. I break and scratch. She proceeds to run out and then makes a mistake somewhere in the rack... I can't remember what happened really, but I quickly make a mistake and she gets on the board 1-0. The following game I win tying it 1-1. I think I end up winning the next two and then she wins another making it 3-2 me. I was a little perturbed at myself for not making it 4-1 but I quickly let that go... I played OK.. we were both making mistakes.. she just made more and I capitalized on it, making the score 6-2 with me on the hill. It's my break and as she is racking I think to myself " Man I hate it when someone snaps the 9 in on me on the hill". Those thoughts must have gone from my head straight to the ears of God as my mom would say because I break and make the 9. I felt bad winning that way.. but I was still happy to finish that match.

I go sit down with Terry, Kyu and Snowy and we have along conversation about dieting and exercise. I am so hungry since I hadn't eaten breakfast and I am looking at the menu trying to find something somewhat healthy to eat. I end up ordering a ham and avocado sandwich. While I am waiting I go to talk to Amy and Christy. It was Amy's b-day and they had brought a cake shaped like a pool table for everyone to eat.. It was yummy! Meanwhile Terry comes over and we start discussing the 3 foul rule. She mentions that when your opponent scratches on the break you should look at the rack and see if you can 3 foul them. While I know the way the 3 foul rule works I have never thought of the scratch off the break being included in that 3 foul even though I am well aware that it's a foul. This ends up coming into play in my next match. They finally bring my sandwich out and no sooner have I taken my first bite Amanda comes around the corner to tell me I am up... she sees that I am eating and tells me that they can call the match after me, which ends up being both a blessing and a curse. I finish my sandwich and they call my match.

Table 7 against a girl named Jess. Table 7 is in the most awkward table to play on, simply because there is NO seating close by. We were actually having to sit at a table with the people playing on the table next to us. Right away I am a little bit distracted by this. I make some early mistakes in the match and she is up 3-1. Christy is playing on the table next to me and we are staying neck in neck in our scores. I was also a little bit frustrated because Jess attempted to make small talk a couple times and seeing as I was making lots of mistakes I felt I really needed to put my game face on so I went and stood a couple times on the other side of the room to clear my head. This ends up working somewhat and I win another game making it 3-2. I don't remember much except for the fact that I was making mistakes late in my runs and giving away the match. Finally I tie it up 4-4. She wins the following match making it 5-4. I tell myself do NOT let her win this match... I win the next two in a row and make it 6-4. It's her turn to break. She breaks and scratches. Right away my thoughts go back to Terry's advice. The balls happened to be laying perfectly to play a safe. The one was down towards the head of the table right next to the four ball... all the other balls had stayed at the foot of the table. I play safe banking the one ball to the other end of the table and snugging the cue ball up against the four eliminating most of her options for kicking. Realizing the kick was unlikely, she opts to foul intentionally trying to push the four ball into the other balls at the other end of the table and cause problems. I tell her she is on two. There really aren't a lot of options for another lock up safe so I decide to skim the one ball and leave her the option to jump or kick. At this point all I can do is hope she can't do either. As she is looking at it I realize she must not know how to jump because she doesn't even go get a jump stick. I can see the frustration on her face and although it was a two rail kick I thought it seemed fairly easy. I am praying to the pool Gods with all my might. She kicks, hard and sails right past the one ball giving me the match. This brings me to one of my biggest pet peeves. The handshake. I go to shake her hand and she gives me a handshake half walking away from me. There are two things that I hate about the handshake.

1. The person that tries to break your fingers and cripple you with their handshake.


2. The person that shakes your hand like a dead fish.

I have read in body language books that the handshake tells you a lot about a person. I always try to give a firm handshake even when I am not happy about losing. I felt pretty proud of myself for three fouling her to win. I think IMO that it's pretty hard to three foul someone and I for one, have never done it before. Final score 7-5.

I had been doing good so far not trying to see who I played next and just rolling with it. I make the mistake of going to look at the bracket and realize I am playing my good friend Melinda Bailey. I knew right off the bat that this was going to be a different type of match since we are friends. Sometimes playing your friends is the hardest because you really have to leave your friendship somewhere else and not bring it to the table. Melinda and I start playing and right away I am making careless mistakes. I played two fail safeties and she runs out on me. I don't remember what rack it was but she made a mistake and left me the 5,6,9 I think. I shoot the 5 good.. get on the 6, fairly easy cut shot in the corner with built in position on the 9. I must have put some stun on it at the last minute and I stun the cue ball straight into the other corner. Melinda gets ball in hand on the 9. As I am walking up to shag the balls I say " I don't know what I did on that ball." I thought Melinda would say something but she didn't. I could tell she was trying to not talk to me. I understood and stayed quiet the rest of the match. She scratches and leaves me a 2-9 combo.. not the easiest but easy enough if you bare down. I poke at it half heartedly and miss. I did however have two amazing jump shots and I was pleased with those. Melinda ends up beating me 7-3. I really was a little disappointed that my game never showed up for that match. I really wanted to play well against her. I thought that I made great shots.. but she definitely was the one running out.

My next match of the night was against a girl named Trinh Le. Also someone I had never seen before, but I had watched her shoot some and knew she had a stroke. I was playing fairly well that match and had two rack and runs. Then my stomach started hurting really bad. Must have been the sandwich from earlier in the day. I went to the bar and got 10 TUMS! I ate every single one of them trying to fight off the indigestion and heart burn. She ends up coming back 6-4 and she is on the hill... I am pretty determined at this point to win this match. I win the next two making it a hill hill match. The last game I make a good shot to get on the 9, long fairly easy shot.. just roll it in.. I rattle it in the pocket and lose. She shook my hand and said good match and I could tell she really meant it. I was happy about that. I am still kicking myself a little bit for it but overall I was happy. I ended up finishing 17-24th. I have now added a new goal to my previous list.

1. Make time for at least one hour of practice a day.


2. Lose 15lbs by Vegas.


3. Stay on the top women's list at league.


4. Make time for yoga at least twice a month.


5. Finish in the top 5 of an OB event once this year.

I have a feeling this list is going to get pretty long. :)