JoeyA said:
Now I could be wrong but I thought this was when you were saying, "You can't be serious. You want me to shoot the eight ball into the rail and carom off of their ball into the right corner pocket?"
JoeyA (green with envy)
P.S. Nice meeting you in Louisville.
Ok, ok, maybe Efren was not exactly asking me for advice
It was pretty funny, Efren just "sees" the game so differently that even other professional players.
For those not there, here is the story of this picture:
We were playing eight ball scotch doubles. This is the first rack, Jeanette breaks and make a ball. We took solids. Everything was going great, we were on our way to a run out, but the cue got real funny on the eight, there was just no reasonable pocket for the ball. I look at Jeanette and say "Do you see any way to play safe?" she replies something like "Against Efren? There is no safe spot on the table!" We both stand there looking at our options: a two rail bank into the side through a lot of traffic or an unnatural carom into the side. Neither seemed like a good idea. Jeanette then does the smart thing: she asks Efren what to do. He gets up, take a look, and call a shot that neither Jeanette nor I even saw. Make a tough cut way down the table through traffic, bank off the rail then carom off their ball in the far side. So the picture was taken about the time I asked Efren "you mean cut down there, off a rail and then carom off their ball into the pocket???"
Now, that I did not see the shot is no surprise, but that Efren though the obvious shot was something that Jeanette did not even consider speaks volumes about Efren. He is just amazing.
Jeanette was not sure the shot would go, she though the best that could be done would put the eight into the object ball to think to get into the pocket. Still, she said Efren said this was the shot to take, so we will take it. I made my best effort, but for me, the shot played pretty much just like Jeanette said it would. I am no Efren.
After that shot, we were pretty much done. They had an open table and ran out easily. Next rack, Jeanette broke and made a ball. I shot at a pretty easy seven and missed. Embarrassing, but what can I say? They then ran out easily. Last rack, Jeanette broke and came up dry. There were some problem balls, but needless to say Efren kept moving the cue ball around on a string clearing a path for the win.
The match was a lot of fun, even if Jeanette and I got stomped 0-3. I am just thrilled that I made my shots on the first rack and came close to make the Efren shot on the eight. I was pretty nervous, not every day I play pool teaming up with the hottest pro pool player on earth against the greatest pool play on earth in front of a couple of hundred people live and broadcast over the internet. This was by far the most exciting pool related thing I have ever done.
Jeanette and Efren were just great. Originally it was to be Jeanette and George, but he had an early match. Jeanette said she would get a sub for him, "would Efren be ok?" When she went to ask Efren to play he was getting ready to go to bed, but she talked him into to playing. As impressive as Efren and Jeanette are as players, Friday night they impressed me as good people even more. Neither of them really had anything much to gain by doing this, they did it for the pool fans. Top notch people.
Well, I am off to mark off the days until DCC next year.
