OMG, so many things wrong to report here. My Scotch Doubles APA league:
Before tonight, I had won 91% of available points, undefeated in singles, and undefeated in Scotch Doubles.
My arrogance: I've been having trouble making any balls on the break. So I gave my opponent the break to start the match. I'm a new SL6, he's a SL5. 5-4 race. This is my first mistake, being so confident I could steamroll anyone based on how I've been playing.
First rack, opponent runs all the way to the 8, but misses. I run 5 balls, set up a perfect 30-degree angle, I'm set up perfectly to make my last two balls and the 8. I rattle the 6th ball. Lose the rack. Ugh. My second mistake.
Second rack, I shoot after opponent makes a handful of balls after his break. Make a couple of balls, then try a 2-way offensive/defensive shot. Kiss-kiss, ruh-roh, there goes the 8!!!!! Down 2-0. My third mistake.
Third rack, I'm now in my head. My final mistake. Couldn't make two balls in a row if they were both hangers. It went downhill from there.
So, for the first time this session, I lost. I deserve it. Brings me back down to earth. And I'll NEVER give up the break again. Rather, I'll try to figure out why I suck breaking.
OK, so my partner wins 2-1. Got my $h!+ together, made some great shots in Scotch match, including the final shots of the match, a very long down-the-rail-past-the-side-pocket rail hugger to set my partner up for a dead-straight money 8-ball side-pocket shot, so I redeemed myself. We won the doubles match 4 rack to 0, so 6-0 team points, won the night 8-4 before bonus points (don't get me started on APA "bonus" points. I don't understand why I get points for filling out the sheet correctly, and staying current with match dues. Shouldn't points to taken away rather than given?)
After the match was over, I played the SL5 who beat me, informal, no $$. Beat him 3-1, including a break-and-run. I didn't even realize it was a BNR until he mentioned that he didn't shoot. If I had known my last two balls I was on a BNR, I probably would have screwed it up. I had little recollection of the rack. I've only had one 8-ball BNR in league play, and I've rarely done it in practice. But I did one tonight. Even though it didn't count for anything, I'll use it to build upon.
And I'll try to recall why I let the first rack of league play, then the second early 8, get into my head where I played the rest of the match as a SL3. At least I recovered and played like a SL6 in Scotch match, thankfully. I'll chalk this up (pun intended) as a learning experience.