Walter contacted me a few days ago and said he’d be passing through this area on his way from his residence in the Washington DC suburbs to Brevard, NC. The detour here only amounted to maybe an hour out of his way. He showed up yesterday (Friday July 2) right on time at 4:30.
I assumed he’d want to play again on our 10 foot tight pocket pool table (it hardly slowed him down last time, at his skill level) but he surprised me when said he’d really rather play on a 9-footer with more normal size pockets.
Just to clarify, we do not play for anything other than our pride. He might very well oblige if I ask, but I’m smart enough not to. We commenced to playing a race to 7, 9-ball. It was quickly clear to me that Walter had not been playing much pool lately, hence the reason he wanted to play on an easier table. Perhaps he’s been putting in too many miles on his bike.
Taking advantage of a number of Walter’s uncharacteristic mistakes, I jumped out to a 6-3 lead. Apparently I lacked the killer instinct as I had a number of chances to finish him off, but managed to find a way to screw up easy runouts for 3 consecutive racks. In the hill-hill game, Walter had a nice 6 or 7 ball runout, electing not to be nice and give his host another trip to the table.
Next thing I knew Walter was unscrewing his cue. I had assumed we’d be playing multiple sets but apparently this was it! No forewarning at all that he only had time to play one set and he’d be on his way to Brevard. Would that have been the case if I’d won the set?
This was a valuable lesson for me - first, clarify up front how long / how many sets you’ll be playing, and second, be ready to bring it right out of the gate, as you never know when your opponent is going to pull up and call it quits. Even when no $ is on the line, I still like to have some idea idea as to the parameters of the session.
Walter, just kidding, but in all seriousness I enjoyed your brief visit and appreciate your efforts to drive out of your way to make it here again. I’ll be ready for you next time!
I assumed he’d want to play again on our 10 foot tight pocket pool table (it hardly slowed him down last time, at his skill level) but he surprised me when said he’d really rather play on a 9-footer with more normal size pockets.
Just to clarify, we do not play for anything other than our pride. He might very well oblige if I ask, but I’m smart enough not to. We commenced to playing a race to 7, 9-ball. It was quickly clear to me that Walter had not been playing much pool lately, hence the reason he wanted to play on an easier table. Perhaps he’s been putting in too many miles on his bike.
Taking advantage of a number of Walter’s uncharacteristic mistakes, I jumped out to a 6-3 lead. Apparently I lacked the killer instinct as I had a number of chances to finish him off, but managed to find a way to screw up easy runouts for 3 consecutive racks. In the hill-hill game, Walter had a nice 6 or 7 ball runout, electing not to be nice and give his host another trip to the table.
Next thing I knew Walter was unscrewing his cue. I had assumed we’d be playing multiple sets but apparently this was it! No forewarning at all that he only had time to play one set and he’d be on his way to Brevard. Would that have been the case if I’d won the set?
This was a valuable lesson for me - first, clarify up front how long / how many sets you’ll be playing, and second, be ready to bring it right out of the gate, as you never know when your opponent is going to pull up and call it quits. Even when no $ is on the line, I still like to have some idea idea as to the parameters of the session.
Walter, just kidding, but in all seriousness I enjoyed your brief visit and appreciate your efforts to drive out of your way to make it here again. I’ll be ready for you next time!
Last edited:
