Back from Vegas

It was that time of the year again. 10 days of pool in Las Vegas. It was a lot of fun as usual, but I actually got to do fun stuff there this year...meaning I didn't do well in the tournament :( I actually enjoyed it so much that it was weird coming back. It was somewhat sad to leave and I couldn't get back into the swing of things back home. I'm still recovering from the withdrawal.

I played doubles, singles, and teams.

Our doubles match was against a team that won the whole tournament. Any team in the master division is tough, but it really hurts when we had a chance to win. I guess this small difference is what separates me from better players.

In the Singles event, I had a bye, won the first match, then lost the 2nd to a girl that played pretty well. She didn't look like a great shooter, but she took advantage of my mistakes and never screwed up. I must really enjoy the losers side because I'm there early every year! Losers side is an all-day marathon. I probably had 5-6 matches before I was knocked out.

Last year, my opponents got mad at me because they overheard my friend's comments. First incident was when the girl played a safe (accidentally?) but it was actually a bad hit. I didn't call a ref so I just kept playing without confronting her. Her husband praised her for a great safety and my friend told him it was a foul. He got mad and he threatened to beat him up! My other opponent overheard my friend make a comment about a not-so-good shot she made and she flipped!

So this year he decided to stay away from my tables, but that didn't stop the madness.

During my last match, my opponent called a foul on my kick shot and before I really had any chance to say much (I said, "really?"), my (other)friends said it was a good hit and she flipped out! She yelled and said she wasn't talking to them, and walked off to get the ref. Strangers that were watching the match were shocked and rooted for me. This incident didn't really bug me but sad to say that I lost.

Notice that in all 3 of these incidents, I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING? So much drama!!

I was hoping that there will be no worries in the mixed teams. Playing with the men is usually less complicated. But!!! Things got extremely complicated when 3 of the 6 players didn't show up. One guy had legitimate excuse and I don't blame him. I'm not going to elaborate on what happened with the other two...partly because I don't really know. That's how flaky they are. Ugh.

So we picked up another player and played with only 4 players (supposed to be 5...couldn't get any more because he/she has to be from the same league). Played an awesome team and got beat pretty bad. Oh well. We should have won the next match but it was hard giving up 5 games.

Looking back, I didn't play so bad for so little practice I got to put in because of the exam. I say this every year, but maybe next year?

I'll write about the fun stuff some other day.