It so hard to find time to write these days. So, just a quick update to my post in February ("No pain no gain", and "No pain no gain, revisited.")
At the last minute I was able to get on a second team that could play me, even if I was over-rated. The league operator agreed to lower my skill level after a few weeks if it didn't work out. After a few losses, he kept his word, and dropped me down again. Of course, this falls under the "be-careful-what-you-wish-for" category. Now that I'm properly rated, both teams want to play me almost every week. On my original team we had another team member go up, so I'm in the opposite situation, if I don't play, we have to forfeit. Actually, my back-up team has had 3 other players raised (one of them twice), so its a similar situation there, too. After being worried that I wouldn't get to play enough, I'm playing too much.
Its been a struggle. But I have only two more weeks, and then I'll be free. I still enjoy the nights socially, but I find that I don't really look forward to the pool that much. Even if I play an interesting opponent. Even if I play well. It doesn't really matter. I used to keep a log of all my matches. With league matches, I don't even bother logging them anymore. I've really been working to maintain an attitude that in some small way EVERY match I play makes a difference, even if its not noticeable. But, on league nights I have to take it on faith.
The hassle of worrying about the APA handicapping has many of the other players looking at the BCA. My original team is having a serious conversation about taking a break from pool altogether and starting a bowling team, and then playing weekly pool tournaments together from time to time, instead of a formal team. Its a more expensive option, but you get to play a lot more pool in any one night.
My shoulder has improved immensely, after a week of rest and icing 3 times a day. Too much time on the computer can cause a flair up. I've also noticed I can get a dull ache that's distracting during tournament matches. Not sure if its from actually stroking or if its just muscle tension. The pain tends to be worse during matches where I'm not shooting as much ;-)
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Dogs that play the piano and other mysteries
A couple of weekends ago I participated in a late St. Paddy's Day pub crawl. I wasn't particularly in the mood to drink all day, but I had a friend who insisted I keep her company. So I agreed to stick around, and we would move along to the next destination a half hour or so ahead of everyone else to get some time to catch up, and warn the bartenders that they were about to be inundated by the temporarily Irish.
Fortunately, for me the last three stops of the crawl had pool tables.
For the final stop, we were a good hour ahead of everyone else, and my friend and I got in some good conversation, and some half way decent pool, on a pool table that was so bad it was probably still in the bar because it would cost more to get rid of it than to just keep it there. Once the crowd appeared, I played one game, and then was prepared to sit down, as there weren't really any serious pool players in the bunch. Earlier in the day, after I had held the table for awhile, people stopped wanting to play, so I just stepped aside to let others have a turn.
As I was about to give up the table, some guy came up and put quarters on the rail. I told him that the table was open (not because the pool was free, but the whole ball return & coin mechanism were completely broken), and that he could have the table and play whoever he wanted to. He said, "No. I want to play you."
We played several games, and then some doubles. He was actually very good, even in his inebriated state. But I was having a pretty good day, making banks caroms, kicking balls in...which was particularly surprising because the table was so bad.
At one point he said: "So, did your Dad play pool?" "No. He bowled." He contemplated this for awhile.
Ten minutes later, "Are you sure your Dad didn't play pool? How about your older brother?" "Nope." He furrowed his brow, finding this very confusing. As he was racking, he looked up and asked, "Boyfriend? Did you/do you have a boyfriend who plays pool?" I shook my head. Again, puzzlement.
At some point, you might imagine that he would ask if my mother or sister had played pool, but no such luck. Several times he returned to trying to get me to admit that my dad, brother or boyfriend had taught me to play. As I was leaving the bar, he tried one last time....it seemed to defy all expectation, like seeing a dog play the piano: a woman shooting a half-way decent game of pool. The only possible explanation was there must be a male mastermind behind such a pygmalionesque creation.
Of course, I've learned a lot from both men and women: instructors, teammates, and the few months when Coach helped me. I guess if I had to really pick the most influential, I'd have to say that a few good lessons early on when I started and then a few years of league pool gave me a foundation. But so much of what I know wasn't given to me by a mentor figure, but by hours alone at the table, or watching matches over the internet, and studying DVD's and books on my own.
I was so amused, I never gave him an explanation, but let him ponder this strange phenomenon, like what is the sound of one hand clapping or how could a creature without a Y-chromosome use a pointy stick to put balls into holes?
If all I ever accomplish with my mediocre pool game, is to have confused the hell out of this poor drunken soul, I will consider it all worth it.
Fortunately, for me the last three stops of the crawl had pool tables.
For the final stop, we were a good hour ahead of everyone else, and my friend and I got in some good conversation, and some half way decent pool, on a pool table that was so bad it was probably still in the bar because it would cost more to get rid of it than to just keep it there. Once the crowd appeared, I played one game, and then was prepared to sit down, as there weren't really any serious pool players in the bunch. Earlier in the day, after I had held the table for awhile, people stopped wanting to play, so I just stepped aside to let others have a turn.
As I was about to give up the table, some guy came up and put quarters on the rail. I told him that the table was open (not because the pool was free, but the whole ball return & coin mechanism were completely broken), and that he could have the table and play whoever he wanted to. He said, "No. I want to play you."
We played several games, and then some doubles. He was actually very good, even in his inebriated state. But I was having a pretty good day, making banks caroms, kicking balls in...which was particularly surprising because the table was so bad.
At one point he said: "So, did your Dad play pool?" "No. He bowled." He contemplated this for awhile.
Ten minutes later, "Are you sure your Dad didn't play pool? How about your older brother?" "Nope." He furrowed his brow, finding this very confusing. As he was racking, he looked up and asked, "Boyfriend? Did you/do you have a boyfriend who plays pool?" I shook my head. Again, puzzlement.
At some point, you might imagine that he would ask if my mother or sister had played pool, but no such luck. Several times he returned to trying to get me to admit that my dad, brother or boyfriend had taught me to play. As I was leaving the bar, he tried one last time....it seemed to defy all expectation, like seeing a dog play the piano: a woman shooting a half-way decent game of pool. The only possible explanation was there must be a male mastermind behind such a pygmalionesque creation.
Of course, I've learned a lot from both men and women: instructors, teammates, and the few months when Coach helped me. I guess if I had to really pick the most influential, I'd have to say that a few good lessons early on when I started and then a few years of league pool gave me a foundation. But so much of what I know wasn't given to me by a mentor figure, but by hours alone at the table, or watching matches over the internet, and studying DVD's and books on my own.
I was so amused, I never gave him an explanation, but let him ponder this strange phenomenon, like what is the sound of one hand clapping or how could a creature without a Y-chromosome use a pointy stick to put balls into holes?
If all I ever accomplish with my mediocre pool game, is to have confused the hell out of this poor drunken soul, I will consider it all worth it.
Monday, February 15, 2010
No pain, no gain.....revisited
After finishing my last post, I felt much better. The whole phenomenon of blogging is a little baffling to me. I'm not sure why sending out this message a bottle, so anyone (or no one) could read it is somehow more satisfying than writing in a private journal, but it is. (In case you don't want to read the long rambling post, recap is League Operator raises my skill level for arbitrary reasons and without warning, and as a result, I'll likely be benched for most of the season).
Well, with catharsis complete, I started processing the situation in a more constructive way ....as I thought more about the whole no pain, no gain process I remembered a quote from Trigger's blog post (see Pool is a Journey) about managing pain as a key component of success.
I looked up the whole article by Zig Ziglar, and this is the piece that caught my attention:
"Winners realize pain for the proper purpose is productive. You see, all of us will go through a lot of pain in life. Winners spend more of their time going through pain that aligns with their goals, their vision, or their purpose."
This has given me a lot to think about....How much of this pain is really aligned with my goals?
As I thought about that I realized, that none of the things that were upsetting me, were truly important to me. I enjoy the APA for social reasons, but even a year ago I was questioning if it was the right place to improve my pool. I do like the opportunities to compete nationally. But I've been to Nationals in 8-ball Team and 8-ball doubles twice. I've never been to Singles Nationals, but for whatever reason, my last performance in the Regionals has satisfied me for now, and I don't have a strong desire to try again. So, while these may have been goals at one time, right now, none of these are reasons for me to be concerned about being benched.
But what does excite me is improving my performance on the local women's regional 9-ball tour. And when I think about that, all of this seems easy. Less time in the APA means more time and money to play in 9-ball tournaments. There's also an alternative 8-ball league played on 9-footers that would actually be a better choice than APA. Things happen for a reason. Maybe this will be just enough to give me a push into some new and more challenging arenas.
So, when my League Operator said it was good for me to go up a skill level, he was right. Just not in the way he was thinking.
-----------------------------------------
And on a less serious note, if you haven't already seen it, you have to check out Joe Rogan channeling Earl Strickland. Hilarious. And if you have seen it, you may just want to watch it again. I just did.
Well, with catharsis complete, I started processing the situation in a more constructive way ....as I thought more about the whole no pain, no gain process I remembered a quote from Trigger's blog post (see Pool is a Journey) about managing pain as a key component of success.
I looked up the whole article by Zig Ziglar, and this is the piece that caught my attention:
"Winners realize pain for the proper purpose is productive. You see, all of us will go through a lot of pain in life. Winners spend more of their time going through pain that aligns with their goals, their vision, or their purpose."
This has given me a lot to think about....How much of this pain is really aligned with my goals?
As I thought about that I realized, that none of the things that were upsetting me, were truly important to me. I enjoy the APA for social reasons, but even a year ago I was questioning if it was the right place to improve my pool. I do like the opportunities to compete nationally. But I've been to Nationals in 8-ball Team and 8-ball doubles twice. I've never been to Singles Nationals, but for whatever reason, my last performance in the Regionals has satisfied me for now, and I don't have a strong desire to try again. So, while these may have been goals at one time, right now, none of these are reasons for me to be concerned about being benched.
But what does excite me is improving my performance on the local women's regional 9-ball tour. And when I think about that, all of this seems easy. Less time in the APA means more time and money to play in 9-ball tournaments. There's also an alternative 8-ball league played on 9-footers that would actually be a better choice than APA. Things happen for a reason. Maybe this will be just enough to give me a push into some new and more challenging arenas.
So, when my League Operator said it was good for me to go up a skill level, he was right. Just not in the way he was thinking.
-----------------------------------------
And on a less serious note, if you haven't already seen it, you have to check out Joe Rogan channeling Earl Strickland. Hilarious. And if you have seen it, you may just want to watch it again. I just did.
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