I reached the venue after unsuccessful attempt to nap in my office. It'd be a long night if we were competitive. I was nervous during the drive to smoke-filled Billiard Den.
_what felt like betrayal
Andrea canceled with little notice. Meghan Stockinger graciously agreed to join. Former intern Ashley had minimal experience with pool. I spent most of my practice time helping her with bridge. Our women's team lost 2 straight games.
_learning curve
Women's team came close to winning 1 match except for a scratch on 8-ball.
Holly and I lost our first match. Holly was inconsistent making long shots; I judged table speed poorly. Things slowly improved through out the night.
_feeling old
10 pm. I couldn't stop thinking about bed time. 1 opponent asked me if we could use his personal measles cue ball. My first reaction was "get off my lawn. I was too wired to nap in car.
_semi (game 5)
Holly lost concentration in semi final. We won confidently because half of other team was drunk. I started to feel the ball: banking, curving, and hooking became realistic. Some spectators had never seen this level of play and showed appreciation. I wouldn't need to attempt so many tough shots if I had cue ball control. Shane van Boening I was not.
_rolling through the field
John peaked for the tournament. Chris was making good shots. They won the winner's side for the double elimination. Neither would be here if Robert and Brandon didn't give up their spots despite winning the tryout.
_finals (game 6 & 7)
Everyone was tired by 11pm. Didn't expect Brandon to stick around to moral support.
Holly regained composure. I was finally able to string small runs. I never had the chance to take out the jumpy. We simply outplayed the other team for 2 straight matches.
Chris missed a simple shot and missed out on the chance to run out for the gold.
We were 1 point away from team gold. We could've used Andrea.
We left Billiard Den at midnight smelling like ash trays.
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