[POOL] Results, results and more results!

[John Valdes]

Sorry, I haven't reported our results in a while.  Here are 3 weeks
worth:

2 weeks from last Tue, we started the 2nd round of matches against the
teams in the league, beginning with Retarded Monkeys.  It was a tough
night:

  Martino played first against Mitch in a 2:2.  Both players were
  closely matched, but the pockets weren't kind to Martino, refusing to
  accept the balls he left hanging in them.  Martino went down 0:2.

  Shri played second against Mike in a 4:4.  Mike's aim was dead-on.
  Shri was shooting well too, but was getting a bit more roll on his
  shots than desired.  That lead to a scratch on the 8 and a couple
  balls-in-hand which Mike took advantage of.  After trading wins a
  couple of times, Mike put the pressure on and won the remaining two
  games, handing Shri a loss, 2:4.

  I played third against Ken in a 3:2.  I was well ahead and shooting
  on the 8 in the first game, when I shot a bank for a safety, and
  instead ended up sinking the 8 in a side pocket to lose the game.  I
  won the next two games, and again found myself well ahead and
  shooting on the 8 in the hill game.  I kept leaving myself with
  tough banks on the 8 though, and rather than take another safety to
  leave the 8 better positioned for my next try, I kept trying to make
  it and kept missing, until finally Ken caught up and sank the 8
  after I left it and the cueball lined up for easy straight in shot.
  I lost 2:2.

  Az played the fourth match against Ray in a 3:3.  Az was the sole
  winner of the night, taking care of Ray without too much trouble,
  3:1. 

  We could have easily won all our matches that night, but only came
  away with 1 win and 3 loses.

1 week from last Tue, we played Get More with Les.  That night went
much better.  I don't remember all the details, but the results were:

  Paul played first against Mark Elmore in a 2:4.  After losing the
  first game, Paul came back to win the next 2 and the match, 2:1.

  Tami played next against Glenn in another 2:4.  Tami kept Glenn on
  his toes, trading wins and taking the match, 2:2.

  I played next against Bob in a 2:6.  I shot well to take the first
  game, but I was a bit off-balance and lost the next 4.  I started to
  settle down in the 6th game but was still behind when Bob attempted
  a bank on the 8, only to make an unlikely scratch, giving me the
  match, 2:4.

  Az played the final match against Steve in a 2:4.  Az got the first
  win, but then Steve put the pressure on to win the next two.  Az got
  to the 8 first in the next game but failed to sink it on his first
  attempt.  Steve then shot a defensive safety to block a direct shot
  on the 8, but Az made a nice bank and hit the 8 nonetheless for a
  legal shot.  Unfortunately, that left the 8 well placed for Steve to
  shoot on after he sank his remaining ball, but luckily, he missed,
  leaving Az with the easy shot on the 8, which he sank for the match,
  2:2.

  So we swept our opponent 4:0, giving them Les with Moe! :)

Finally, last week we played 1st place team Bass Ackward:

  Shri went first against Gary in a 6:2.  Shri was shooting well with
  good control of the cueball.  He gave up one win in the third game,
  but he played steadily to take the next 4, winning the match 6:1.

  Martino played next against Dave in a 2:4.  Dave came into the match
  on a 7 match win streak, but Martino was unfazed, making shots when
  he needed and otherwise keeping the pressure on Dave.  After losing
  the first game, Martino took the 2nd.  Dave got to the 8 first in
  the 3rd game, but then scratched (IIRC), giving the win to Martino,
  2:1.

  I played Dean in the 3rd match, a 1:8.  I shot well in the first
  game and almost won when Daen gave up a rare ball-in-hand, but I
  wasn't able to capitalize.  Dean then proceeded to pretty much run
  the table from that point on, as Dean will do, until the 5th game
  when inexplicably he jumped the cueball when trying to put draw on it,
  missing his shot.  This time, I was able to capitalize, sinking the
  remainder of my balls but missing on the 8.  Luckly, Dean missed
  another shot, leaving me with another chance on the 8, which I was
  able to cut into a corner pocket while avoid a scratch for the match
  win, 1:4.

  Az played the final match against Art in a 2:2.  Art had been
  waiting a bit and was well warmed up for the start of the match,
  while Az was shooting cold.  Unfortunately, being 2:2 match, it went
  quickly, and Az didn't have time to warm up and find his rhythm;
  despite almost winning the 2nd game, he went down, 0:2.

  So we won 3, lost 1; combined with the previous week's results, that
  was a 7:1 run for team Moe!

We entered the night last week tied for 6th, 4 games out of 1st.  Our
3 wins should have moved us up a place or two.  This week (tomorrow),
we play Nice Rack, Melanie's team.

John