I tried leagues for the first time last night, to say the least it was interesting. The only other time I tried an organized shoot was an 8 ball tournament back in the early 80's. I think I won 2 matches and then lost (nerves got the best of me if I recall). Anyway, the league is an APA and we played 8 and 9 ball. Since I've never shot in a league, I was rated as a 4. The highest players on the team were a 6 and maybe a 7 and then a couple 4's and maybe a 5. The first matches of 8 and 9 ball took approximately 1 hour (2 tables, games at the same time), race to 3 for 8 ball (probably 6-9 innings per game) and whatever the total points for 9 ball. Then it was my turn for 8 ball. My opponent was rated a 4. I was leading 2-0 (2-3 innings per game) and ended up giving my opponent 2 games. She had 6 balls on the table, one game I tried a jump shot on the 8 and the que ball went off the table for a loss, the other game, the 8 ball was buried in the corner pocket ready to drop she had 2 of her ball touching the 8. I just shot one of my balls in and made the 8 as not to prolong the agony. The last game I won, she had approx 6 balls on the table. Then I played 9 ball against a 4. No racks were run, but the game was over in approx 15" the score was 31 to 10 or something.
I don't know if I will continue to play, because for 2 1/2 hours of time, I played 2 matches that lasted 30" total. I chose not to watch the remainder of the matches (2 more 8 ball and 2 more 9 ball) because I had to be up at 0630 for work. If there were more than 5 players on the team (could have up to 8), I potentially would only be playing 1 game per night from 7pm - 12. I joined the league so I could play against other players (tired of playing at home). Maybe I should try some tournaments.
