You ever have a match where it was a pleasure to lose? Not many, but in my career, I've had a few. Last night was one.
It's a winner-of-the-lag chooses the game, and the match is a chess-based handicap system, like FARGO and Argonne. As I lamented last week, I had the misfortune to play a 5-1 race in 8-ball, and I lost the first game, losing 1-0. This week, ....
I played an A player (not some local A that's a C everywhere else). We play an even race in all games 8-, 9-, and 10-ball). I got by him last time we played (9-6), so I know he was out for revenge. Me, I wasn't out for anything. He's a better player, and I was fortunate to get through him last time.
This time, he just came off the weekend winning the APA 9-ball Southwest Challenge (or really high placing - I think he won), and long and short, he absolutely dusted me. 9-0 in 9-ball on a bar table. His high gear is supposed to crush me, and he didn't disappoint. Add to that, he had a couple of fortunate rolls his way ( first two misses left me nothing, first two dry breaks left me pushouts ) and before I had my first illegitimate shot (it wasn't a runout rack, but I might have been able to negotiate something), it was 7-0 for him, with me just watching runouts and stepping up to the table with nothing but white flags to fire.
It happens once in a great while, and with me shooting as well as I have been this year, I wouldn't have expected it, but he was breaking and running out pretty much at will. And I had the pleasure of watching some really good bar pool.
On to next week,
Freddie <~~~ another loss at l'oeuf