In your pool playing time since you have been playing pool! How good did it feel to win this match? Thanks.
When I first started playing pool I joined the VNEA. We played in some really ugly dives and I have some stories... like getting my cue butt caught in the pocket of a drunk staggering by... or the time I missed a shot because the waitress dropped a french fry on the table and it deflected the object ball before it got to the pocket. My best game ever was in one of those dives.
This particular greasy spoon had two coin-op Valley tables. Near identical as far as I could tell. So when my match was called, I walked over to the far table and laid my cue on the cloth while I deposited my Loonie to drop the balls.
"Hey, Putz...", this huge fat guy said, bumping my shoulder and looming over me, "That's MY table. Get the eff off it or I'll shove this cue up your ass..."
Now, if you know me, you'll know that nothing pisses me off more than physical threats (must be the Irish blood in me).
I quietly said, "Why don't you go ahead and try..."
When he saw the look on my face he did a double-take and said, "Hey, don't get all excited... I was only joking. You can have the effing table..."
The twist is that he turned out to be my opponent for that match.
I won the lag by a fraction. Now, keep in mind that I'd only ever ran out an 8-ball rack once or twice before, but I broke, made 3 solids on the break, and then ran out the rest breaking out the only tricky cluster with my second shot. I have no idea how - I was still shaking with adrenalin and suppressed anger - but my concentration was absolute.
An old guy who was sipping a beer at the counter watched me shoot and then came over and said, "Son, that's the single most perfect game of 8-ball I ever saw..."
Felt pretty good.