Earlier in the week Ray was at my house and he unpacked his cue, won the toss and layed down a 3 pack of 8ball to start things out. That night he played just jamup and the confidence he had, the intensity at the table....i could just tell that he was going to do really well this weekend. Ive known Ray for years and have watched him play from a C player to his current level. Hes blessed with a powerful will to succeed and an OCD personality to get through intensive training to improve. He has surrounded himself with good mentors in the game and just recently his game has jumped a big level because of the intensive training he has been taking with a great coach down here in Miami who I wont name until that guy wants to be recognized. That coach has really helped Ray alot and deserves an Outback jellyroll from Ray for sure. Like anything though, having a good coach only helps if your ready and willing to commit and for the last few years that has been Ray.
This weekend I saw him play his first match and it was just brutal. He beat the guy 7-0 and really gave the guy nothing. B&R/lockup safeties/runout city. Really at that level, nobody had to like it. I told a bunch of nice folks I met this weekend in Tampa that he was going to be hard to beat. It was going to take some great play because he wasnt going to give it to them without a big fight.
In one year now he has won the ACUI National Collegiate Championship and now the National Amateur Championships. He's playing amazing pool and deserves all the success he is having. There is no one i know that works harder at improving their game than Ray.
Big congrats to my buddy Ray...that was just kickass. The only bad part was having to stay up til 1am last night waiting for the result lol.
