[POOL] Last night's results

[John Valdes]

The Eight Ball is a Harsh Mistress...  We played Cue Strokers (Andy's
team), and in every match, something bad happened with the 8 ball in
at least one game.

First up was Rob against Andy in a 2:6.  I missed this match, but Rob
made it close, winning 1 game but eventually going down, 2:6.  I don't
remember what the 8-ball did during his match.

Brian T was next against Cheryl in a 4:2.  Brian was mostly in control
of the match, except for that one game when he sank the 8 out of turn.
And that other one when he fouled on the 8, :( thus giving the match
to Cheryl, 1:2.

Craig played Melanie in the 3rd match in a 3:2.  Craig took the first
game thanks to some good defensive leaves, but Melanie came back in
the 2nd game, shooting on the 8.  Fortunately for us, this time we
benefited from the whims of the 8-ball, as Melanie followed the 8 with
the cue ball, which in fact raced and beat the 8 to the same corner
pocket.  In the 3rd game, Melanie again got to the 8 first, which she
sank with a nice cut shot, but again the funky 8-ball karma came into
play as the cue continued to roll and fell into a side pocket, giving
the match to Craig, 3:0.

I was next in a 3:2 against Gene.  After a slow start, I got to the 8
first in the initial game, but the fickle 8-ball changed allegiance
again, taking the cue down with it when it sank.  Fortunately, I
managed to avoid any more 8-ball mishaps for the rest of the match,
and won 3:1.

Last up was Brian R against Amanda in a 2:2.  Brian was playing well
enough to trade wins with Amanda, and made a good comeback in the hill
game to get to the 8 for the match.  Brian then made a nice shot on
the 8 but just missed the pocket.  However, with the 8 being the 8, it
banked off the rail and continued to roll and roll until it dropped in
the opposite corner pocket, giving the game and match to Amanda, 1:2.

So once again, we were 2 and 3 on the night.  Oddly enough, despite
going 2:3 last week, we actually went up a place, moving up from 5th
into a 4-way tie for 4th at the start of the night.  Cue Strokers was
one of the teams tied for 4th, so we've likely moved back down into
5th.  Next week we play Used to be Good.

John