how are ya'll doing in league ?
- Thread starter lorider
- Start date
thanks dub. :wink:
its not the 1st time facing him and i knew going in to expect this kind of play against him. like i said earlier...he is a good shooter and capable of " intentinally " pocketing 5-6 balls on a decent layout.
its when he leaves himself hard that he pulls off these desperation warp speed shots. i know we all get lucky or unlucky rolls from time to time. its not uncommon for a lower level player to miss and leave an "accidental" safe against you in league.
its just that last night was kinda the straw that broke the camels back situation with me.
i mean every time this guy pulled those type shots some thing fell and he was good on the next ball. every time he missed i was locked up. there was not one time he missed that i was not kicking at a ball...not one time. it just pissed me off that every miss resulted in an accidental safe from him.
example: he smacks the 8 ball warp speed ..it never falls...the cue ball hits all 4 rails ...twice...yep he hit so hard the cue ball flies around the table twice and ends up locked up against the rail and the 9. i kick 3 rails hitting the 8 which resulted in a legal shot but i leave him an easy 2 ball run.
every trip i made to the table was the same shit...it was enough to make the pope start cussing.
I haven't posted here in a while, but holy hell I have a free few minutes this afternoon... Haven't been playing nearly as many pool league matches this summer what with disc golf kicking up big time (won some unsanctioned events, cashed out in all my sanctioned events - good summer, big event coming up, running a league per week and a tournament per month keeps me too busy for multiple pool leagues).
This summer I've been only in a single NAPA Thursday league. So far I'm 4-1 (8 weeks into the session). My team captain was cycling me with a couple of other subs with 3 guys playing regular up until a few weeks ago when he finally realized I was playing at a higher level than the other two subs/rotation players. Although the week he told me that I was going to be playing every week I promptly shit the bed and lost a 5-2 race (2-4 blah). But I think it was just the kick in the pants I needed. It made me realize I can't take a single game for granted in those situations. The last two weeks I've had a 4-3 and a 5-2 race and went rackless on both of them, and dropped my first 8-ball break last week in league play.
I still have exactly 0 break n runs in league play. I always seem to make a tactical error with one or two plus the eight on the table. Either a little too much english, or I realize I've put myself in a corner and I need to make a shot that sets me up to hook my opponent instead of setting up a finish for the run out. Really frustrating. But I can feel some coming, just gotta keep working at it.
This summer I've been only in a single NAPA Thursday league. So far I'm 4-1 (8 weeks into the session). My team captain was cycling me with a couple of other subs with 3 guys playing regular up until a few weeks ago when he finally realized I was playing at a higher level than the other two subs/rotation players. Although the week he told me that I was going to be playing every week I promptly shit the bed and lost a 5-2 race (2-4 blah). But I think it was just the kick in the pants I needed. It made me realize I can't take a single game for granted in those situations. The last two weeks I've had a 4-3 and a 5-2 race and went rackless on both of them, and dropped my first 8-ball break last week in league play.
I still have exactly 0 break n runs in league play. I always seem to make a tactical error with one or two plus the eight on the table. Either a little too much english, or I realize I've put myself in a corner and I need to make a shot that sets me up to hook my opponent instead of setting up a finish for the run out. Really frustrating. But I can feel some coming, just gotta keep working at it.
What happens here?
In league we play 4 rounds, 16 games total.
The LD came over to me mid evening and told me that he had a report that I was almost over the 'kitchen' line last time I broke the balls.
I asked whether we were using edge or base of ball. He said base. I said I will be more careful.
Question that I didn't ask of LD at the time:
What is the penalty? Who determines that I was over the line? Is this a foul? Who calls the foul? Foul when? once the cb is struck? Without a ref, doesn't the call go to the shooter? The ball is gone, how do you tell, is there video?
You see my point...assuming the ball was over the line...what is the breaking foul penalty? Re-rack and opponent now breaks?
since I'm *****in(whining)...
Kinda bustin balls here..our score sheets have a column for 'coaching fouls'....for ...too many coaches during game(max 3)/too much time taken(max 1 minute each)/ pointing out over table gesturing where to hit rail on kick etc/talking to player once he is down on shot..stuff like that.(ideally..all the advice is to be verbal...which diamond, which speed, what english, no pointing.)
There is no penalty for coaching fouls...just a scoresheet column.
I don't ask.
In league we play 4 rounds, 16 games total.
The LD came over to me mid evening and told me that he had a report that I was almost over the 'kitchen' line last time I broke the balls.
I asked whether we were using edge or base of ball. He said base. I said I will be more careful.
Question that I didn't ask of LD at the time:
What is the penalty? Who determines that I was over the line? Is this a foul? Who calls the foul? Foul when? once the cb is struck? Without a ref, doesn't the call go to the shooter? The ball is gone, how do you tell, is there video?
You see my point...assuming the ball was over the line...what is the breaking foul penalty? Re-rack and opponent now breaks?
since I'm *****in(whining)...
Kinda bustin balls here..our score sheets have a column for 'coaching fouls'....for ...too many coaches during game(max 3)/too much time taken(max 1 minute each)/ pointing out over table gesturing where to hit rail on kick etc/talking to player once he is down on shot..stuff like that.(ideally..all the advice is to be verbal...which diamond, which speed, what english, no pointing.)
There is no penalty for coaching fouls...just a scoresheet column.
I don't ask.
I love playing the guys that slam the ball around, it tells me I'm going to won the match the vast majority of the time. Yes, the luck can be frustrating but at some point, they are going to give you ball in hand and hand you control of the table. If you let them get to you and casually hand the table back to them, shame on you. My experience is most bangers aren't good at kicking and hate being safed. They also tend to have little patience and will be the first to give in when there is a safety battle.
Lost a 4-4 10-ball match 4-3.
It was a good match and looking back I need to work on a few things (not counting the standard "get better"):
-- better safety play (take more time to consider the shot)
-- better kicking (2-rail kicks especially)
-- when faced with a low percentage shot, look at the lay of the table and if my opponent could make an early combo with ball-in-hand, give up ball-in-hand in order to break up the combo. (I lost a game because of that.)
It was a good match and looking back I need to work on a few things (not counting the standard "get better"):
-- better safety play (take more time to consider the shot)
-- better kicking (2-rail kicks especially)
-- when faced with a low percentage shot, look at the lay of the table and if my opponent could make an early combo with ball-in-hand, give up ball-in-hand in order to break up the combo. (I lost a game because of that.)
Humble. Yes, that's the word I'd use.
Won my 8-ball match this week, vs a good 5 that used to play on my team.
I'm still annoyed that I let him get to the hill and get that point (we are chasing his team in the standings) and its a result of that topic we discussed a few days ago...hit'em hard!
Two of the three games that he won were a result of it. He was down to his last two balls in each game, balls frozen with no clean shot. Hits them hard, $hits one in after two or thee rails, and gets shape on the other. Two games.
Funny thing is, I played almost three years with him and don't recall seeing him do that before.... Oh well, I still won. If I hadn't, I really would've been torqued.
I'm still annoyed that I let him get to the hill and get that point (we are chasing his team in the standings) and its a result of that topic we discussed a few days ago...hit'em hard!
Two of the three games that he won were a result of it. He was down to his last two balls in each game, balls frozen with no clean shot. Hits them hard, $hits one in after two or thee rails, and gets shape on the other. Two games.
Funny thing is, I played almost three years with him and don't recall seeing him do that before.... Oh well, I still won. If I hadn't, I really would've been torqued.
Banks
Banned
The session is over! Wheeeee!
Last week, I think I lost my Tuesday night 8b match.. my head is probably trying to block that out. One of my teammates said I lost 3 matches in a row. This past Tuesday I was shooting decent and won. Won my masters match last week and played twice last night and won both.
No more masters team after this session, so we're not doing the playoffs. My Tuesday night team probably won't be in the playoffs without a wildcard. That means about a month off, except for going to Vegas for masters. Next session, though, I'll be part-timing it on a Sunday 8/9 team, will most likely be part-timing it on the 8b side for Tuesday and will be starting up an in-house BCA at the bar on Thursdays.
Just to top it off, I plan on starting up some tournaments.. possibly on Sundays. It will most likely be a mix of:
1. Day of Mini tournaments(4-person or 8-person brackets)
2. Single rack 8b tournament, dbl-elim
3. 9b tournament(handicapped?)
4. Bank pool tournament
There are enough of the standard tournaments.. I'd rather do something a little different.
Last week, I think I lost my Tuesday night 8b match.. my head is probably trying to block that out. One of my teammates said I lost 3 matches in a row. This past Tuesday I was shooting decent and won. Won my masters match last week and played twice last night and won both.
No more masters team after this session, so we're not doing the playoffs. My Tuesday night team probably won't be in the playoffs without a wildcard. That means about a month off, except for going to Vegas for masters. Next session, though, I'll be part-timing it on a Sunday 8/9 team, will most likely be part-timing it on the 8b side for Tuesday and will be starting up an in-house BCA at the bar on Thursdays.
Just to top it off, I plan on starting up some tournaments.. possibly on Sundays. It will most likely be a mix of:
1. Day of Mini tournaments(4-person or 8-person brackets)
2. Single rack 8b tournament, dbl-elim
3. 9b tournament(handicapped?)
4. Bank pool tournament
There are enough of the standard tournaments.. I'd rather do something a little different.
APA 8-ball Mon night, played as a new 4 for the first time, against another 4 who plays on my 9-ball team. Lost the first game, won the next two, lost the last two. The last game was bad, 5 balls left on the table. I'm still happy with the loss. Because I went toe to toe with a good four, so I feel confident that I'll be able to hang next session. Still pissed about being knocked out of the top gun race last week of the session.
Tues APA 9-ball. Played a 2, and just could not get going. Oh, this girl won lag, breaks and makes 3, with easy shot on the next ball. Seriously?!? I lost 21-19, for 13-7 match score. Took 31 innings, too, so I was definitely off compared to last week.
Wed, in house bar league. Finally got on board in singles. Also won my doubles match. Team won 6 points to 2.
Playoffs time in APA. Gotta get back to winning.
Tues APA 9-ball. Played a 2, and just could not get going. Oh, this girl won lag, breaks and makes 3, with easy shot on the next ball. Seriously?!? I lost 21-19, for 13-7 match score. Took 31 innings, too, so I was definitely off compared to last week.
Wed, in house bar league. Finally got on board in singles. Also won my doubles match. Team won 6 points to 2.
Playoffs time in APA. Gotta get back to winning.
This Summer sesh has been a lost cause for us mainly due to the fact that there have been several weeks where we couldn't get 5 players to show up due to vacations etc. I've been playing well though as I have gone up to a 7 in 9 ball. The downside of that is our team already has 2 other 6s and an 8 on the 9 ball roster. This will likely be my last session playing regular APA even though I like my team. It's simply too difficult now to make handicap since I've gone up and another 5 on our team has gone up. I'm not complaining because I've been trying to get better, but as I do I need to challenge myself more. I'll probably see if I can form a Masters team or play Valley. I'll miss hanging out with my APA team though.
New Focus
We got bounced last session from playoffs in the first round by the wildcard team after winning the division wire to wire so this session has been all about practice and focus. Won last night 5-0 for my 4th rackless this session with one break and run. 11 innings with 4 safes and a dry break. Played pretty sporty 9 ball winning 17-3 against a 5. Two break and runs and one snap. The team is hanging around after and actually getting some useful practice in and even though we are hanging around in 3rd or so in both, everyone is getting better.
We got bounced last session from playoffs in the first round by the wildcard team after winning the division wire to wire so this session has been all about practice and focus. Won last night 5-0 for my 4th rackless this session with one break and run. 11 innings with 4 safes and a dry break. Played pretty sporty 9 ball winning 17-3 against a 5. Two break and runs and one snap. The team is hanging around after and actually getting some useful practice in and even though we are hanging around in 3rd or so in both, everyone is getting better.
My BCA 8 ball team finished in multi-way tie for 17th out of 469 teams in Vegas. We could/would have gone farther but we were pretty trashed from playing a full day of matches (6 complete) against another good team from Fargo that was much fresher (only 2 matches prior to ours). We barely had time to use the bathroom or take a couple of puffs between matches... all day long.
I drank a 5-Hour energy drink before that final match... it lasted about 45 minutes. :grin:
I drank a 5-Hour energy drink before that final match... it lasted about 45 minutes. :grin:
We are doing good with our 10-ball BCA team. We are currently in first place with our point standings. Im liking it a lot and almost all if the players there are serious players.
My son started in the TAP league we are playing in our area. USAPL is great but the 45 minute drive was getting to me, the TAP league is 10-15 minutes away and their tournaments are held in NJ instead of Vegas which is also a much closer trip (3.5-4 hr drive instead of a plane trip cross country).
So far his record in 4 weeks is
3-0 2-0 4-0 5-0
He lost 2 games in 4 league nights.
He broke and ran the last two racks of his set tonight to win and he also got a breakanator patch which is for winning the lag and winning all the games.
The 2-0 loss was to a 2 who should have been a 4 (out of 7). He was a 2 because he lost his first match in the league and my son was his second.
So far his record in 4 weeks is
3-0 2-0 4-0 5-0
He lost 2 games in 4 league nights.
He broke and ran the last two racks of his set tonight to win and he also got a breakanator patch which is for winning the lag and winning all the games.
The 2-0 loss was to a 2 who should have been a 4 (out of 7). He was a 2 because he lost his first match in the league and my son was his second.
Well, after back to back rackless weeks - I got the pressure of putting up a third in a row off my back right off the bat. Lost the lag pretty convincingly (I'm pretty sure you need to get the ball to come back more than half the table length to win a lag usually, right? Heh). I had a 4-3 race tonight against a guy that was definitely and by his own straight up admission a banger. He wasn't too bad, and actually was a nice bank player - but he always hit it hard. No real speed control.
After winning the lag he proceeded to take down a tight first game on me. Clustered up table, and I couldn't break things out. Gave him ball in hand with a single ball plus the eight to go when I went for a side-draw safety in an effort to bring the cueball off the rail and behind the eight. Instead I hit a little too much draw and it caught felt and snuck into the pocket. The second game was another cluster. His breaks were straight on the nose and just simple firm hits. He was blaming my racks, but they were tight as hell. He just didn't seem to get how to put his body into his breaks, all arm. I would have pulled out the second one but I followed the eight in - too much speed on the hit, I should have hit it with a low pop and instead I followed through it and gave it enough speed that it carried through the hit.
After that, though - I just rolled. The first two games were tight because he was nailing his bank shots, and some pretty nice ones at that, but that didn't keep up. Once he stopped hitting his banks he wasn't tough pickings and I swept out the next four games in a row to take down the set. And once I got the break I opened the table up wide with solid breaks, and he couldn't hang on with those tight clusters at one end of the table. Lot of pretty easy rolls from that point.
Overall disappointing night though. The team followed up last week's 85-4 win by squeaking this one out 39-38. We won, but first place won their match with 47 points and moved to 32 ahead for the session. We still have the next two weeks against bottom-feeder teams and the final week against a middle-pack team, so we've got a shot... but the window is closing on us. Our strongest player lost, and our second strongest player got swept. Though with me moving out to the highest rating and our number three guy (also our captain) now picking up his third rackless in the first nine weeks of the session those designations are becoming questionable. We need those guys to start picking it up so that we can pull this out.
All the personal victories in the world are hollow if the team isn't getting it done. I've got a monster disc golf tournament next weekend too, so I'm really going to need to buckle down and avoid getting distracted. Luckily I quit my summer job with the school year starting in a mere three-plus weeks so I've got some personal time before I need to start lesson planning for my ninth graders. Time for a week of games!
After winning the lag he proceeded to take down a tight first game on me. Clustered up table, and I couldn't break things out. Gave him ball in hand with a single ball plus the eight to go when I went for a side-draw safety in an effort to bring the cueball off the rail and behind the eight. Instead I hit a little too much draw and it caught felt and snuck into the pocket. The second game was another cluster. His breaks were straight on the nose and just simple firm hits. He was blaming my racks, but they were tight as hell. He just didn't seem to get how to put his body into his breaks, all arm. I would have pulled out the second one but I followed the eight in - too much speed on the hit, I should have hit it with a low pop and instead I followed through it and gave it enough speed that it carried through the hit.
After that, though - I just rolled. The first two games were tight because he was nailing his bank shots, and some pretty nice ones at that, but that didn't keep up. Once he stopped hitting his banks he wasn't tough pickings and I swept out the next four games in a row to take down the set. And once I got the break I opened the table up wide with solid breaks, and he couldn't hang on with those tight clusters at one end of the table. Lot of pretty easy rolls from that point.
Overall disappointing night though. The team followed up last week's 85-4 win by squeaking this one out 39-38. We won, but first place won their match with 47 points and moved to 32 ahead for the session. We still have the next two weeks against bottom-feeder teams and the final week against a middle-pack team, so we've got a shot... but the window is closing on us. Our strongest player lost, and our second strongest player got swept. Though with me moving out to the highest rating and our number three guy (also our captain) now picking up his third rackless in the first nine weeks of the session those designations are becoming questionable. We need those guys to start picking it up so that we can pull this out.
All the personal victories in the world are hollow if the team isn't getting it done. I've got a monster disc golf tournament next weekend too, so I'm really going to need to buckle down and avoid getting distracted. Luckily I quit my summer job with the school year starting in a mere three-plus weeks so I've got some personal time before I need to start lesson planning for my ninth graders.
Time for a week of games!
(must be summer, folks must be getting away from their leagues more, this got all the way back to page 8 )
Won my 8-ball match last night, beat another SL5. I played fairly well, tho I donkeyed a few shots that I really shouldn't have. Played smart enough to keep him shooting from angles that weren't to his strengths, and he got frustrated. I may not be able to run out, but I can usually outlast players my speed. (The better players obviously don't get as frustrated, and they obviously don't miss as much ) I think I'm at 6-2 this session, something like that.
Frustrating session, tho. Same team, same players as last session, but this time we aren't winning enough to stay in contention. Going into last night we still had a chance to sneak into the playoffs, all we had to do was win the majority of our matches. Not meaning we had to have big huge victories each week, we just needed to win more than we lost. That didn't happen, and hasn't happened enough this session. My lower level players as a group have fared far more poorly than last session. Not a helluva lot we can do about that, other than more coaching during their matches, I suppose....
Oh well, we still have 3 or 4 more weeks left. we might catch fire and get back into it.
)Won my 8-ball match last night, beat another SL5. I played fairly well, tho I donkeyed a few shots that I really shouldn't have. Played smart enough to keep him shooting from angles that weren't to his strengths, and he got frustrated. I may not be able to run out, but I can usually outlast players my speed. (The better players obviously don't get as frustrated, and they obviously don't miss as much
) I think I'm at 6-2 this session, something like that.Frustrating session, tho. Same team, same players as last session, but this time we aren't winning enough to stay in contention. Going into last night we still had a chance to sneak into the playoffs, all we had to do was win the majority of our matches. Not meaning we had to have big huge victories each week, we just needed to win more than we lost. That didn't happen, and hasn't happened enough this session. My lower level players as a group have fared far more poorly than last session. Not a helluva lot we can do about that, other than more coaching during their matches, I suppose....
Oh well, we still have 3 or 4 more weeks left. we might catch fire and get back into it.
Finished the summer session of the APA league on a high note. I was bumped to a 5 in 8 ball for the first time yesterday. Went against a very good 5, lost the first 3 games and then somehow won the last 4 games. All in all an awesome night.
One of my goals was to become a 5/6 (8 ball) by the end of this year. I got to 5 and hope to stay there a while and get better.
Oh, and won my 9 ball match as well.
One of my goals was to become a 5/6 (8 ball) by the end of this year. I got to 5 and hope to stay there a while and get better.
Oh, and won my 9 ball match as well.
To keep it thread related I lost in 8 ball and then beat the same guy in 9 ball. The 8 ball average is going to really start declining I have a feeling unless I start playing serious again.
To keep it me related this is hands down one of my favorite new avatars since I am also a big Vikings fan
To keep it me related this is hands down one of my favorite new avatars since I am also a big Vikings fan
To keep it me related this is hands down one of my favorite new avatars since I am also a big Vikings fan
Bring back Eliza, dammit! :grin-loving:
So, last night was our last night of regular session play. The 1st place team was ahead of us by 100+ points, so there was no possible way to overthrow them. They are going to Tri-Cups regardless, so their entire team sandbagged and dumped every match. I was shooting pretty sporty when we were warming up, but I ended up sitting around for three hours before I was told I wasn't going to play :angry:
I'm just going to throw this out there, because it's true; New Orleans has the worst run APA league in the country. I witnessed the worst sandbagging, in the history of pool, last night. I usually don't care, but the LO does nothing about it and I seriously believe that he doesn't care.
The first match, the kid (SL4) runs the score up 23 points, out the gate against our SL5. Then he miraculously forgets how to play and scratches the next three or so shots, followed by every other shot consisting of bumping a ball into the rail. Our SL5 ending up winning 38-28, because the kid gave it to him. The second match was worse. The guy kept "tapping" the cue ball, giving our SL3 ball in hand nearly every time she came to the table. Then by the time the third match was going to start, they told me I was playing... :angry: