Well, truth be told, my first pool tourney in 10 years....and my biggest one yet....but the thread might have a better title as:
"My Adventures with Captain Alcohol"
Easy E/Eric came down, he destroyed my place, ate all my food, wrecked my truck, and now my cat is pregnant
Sincerely, it was a great weekend. Friday night, I had a chance to meet Eric for the first time (in his "World Champion" shirt he made for himself), awaiting the draw for the AM event. Spent an hour behind the curtains, checking out the pros....Shane, John, Archer, Thorsten, Bustamante, and a ton of talent I'd only seen on TV previously. Until you see it in person, it's tough to truly appreiciate what these guys can do with a ball and a stick. Also, you could see the pros up at the bar, grabbing a bite to eat. Many took time to talk to fans, sign their cue cases....I was really impressed with the generosity of all the great pros. One guy asked Thorsten if he could take his picture - he said, "sure, but only if you stand beside me and we're both in the photo"....now that is class.
Moving forward, we had a chance to practice a bit just before the draw. I had a chance to meet Liz and Michael, another Michael who was a junior from New York, and a host of other good people. The draw happened, I got a bye, but Eric had to play Landon in the first round. I didn't know who Landon was, but he is the best-dressed 12 year-old I have ever seen. He dressed just like the pros, had an incredible stroke, and looked the part. Eric came out on top 6-4, and I didn't play again until Saturday afternoon, which worked out since we had APA cities at 11am across town that same Saturday.
After watching more matches, getting some practice, and avoid staring at all the attractive women......OK, allow me a quick aside. There were many attractive women at this event......I mean hotties everywhere.....Eric said this wasn't typical, but let me tell you.....nice looking chicas everywhere, pool has some damn fine women......Ok, back to topic. We jumped in the redneck mobile and headed over to Hooters for some wings, only to be joined later by JCIN, Shane, and John. John was a great sport as he flapped his arms and showed his balloon hooters while the staff sang happy birthday. As posted in his post, Shane is a great guy, good attitude, and I'm glad he won the pro event. Dinner was great, cashed in after than, and Eric crashed on the couch.
I arrived Saturday afternoon, after our APA match that morning across town. Many thanks to Eric for giving me a few quick tips to keep me from looking like an idiot .....Eric lost at 3pm, and we were warming up just before my match at 4pm. The guy I played had a good stroke and was clearly a better player. I lost 6-2, but I missed a couple of easy run-outs where I went back to the table on the 6/7-ball, a 1/2 decent shot, and simply didn't close the deal 
The guy wasn't on his game and I missed an opportunity to close out a better player. Afterwards, neither of us played until 10:30pm, so we headed out with my buddy Mike to grab some Mexican food and some margaritas. The food was good and the entertainment was better - Eric was working the middle school girls in the booth behind us
I felt like death (getting sick), so I headed home to get some rest before the match....Eric and Mike went to play some one-pocket at another place. A little nap did me some good, met up with Captain Alcohol and Mike around 9:30pm back at Bankshots. Met Eric's buddy Mark from South Carolina, as well as Dennis, whom is a local at Bankshots. Eric easily won his 10:30, dominated 4-0. My story was different....this guy's speed was a little better than mine, but he had a 2-9 combo, coupled with an immediate 9 on the break, and I couldn't recover, losing 4-1.....it was over in about 10 minutes. We headed over to UBC, played some one-pocket and scotch doubles with my buddy Rogers....stayed up until about 2pm, great night, even with my losses.
Great weekend - made a new friend in Eric, Justin, Mark, Dennis, Shane, John, and others.....realized my speed sucks and I was clearly in the bottom half of the draw in the AM event. Approximately 100 players in the AM event, the tables were 8ft olhausen's, felt was in decent shape, the tournament was ran OK, and the tourney staff was friendly. I learned a ton, was lucky to meet Shane and John at dinner, made new friends, and learned I've got a long way to go in my game. Overall, great event, worth the money, glad to have Eric as a good friend, and looking forward to the next tourney.
"My Adventures with Captain Alcohol"
Easy E/Eric came down, he destroyed my place, ate all my food, wrecked my truck, and now my cat is pregnant
Sincerely, it was a great weekend. Friday night, I had a chance to meet Eric for the first time (in his "World Champion" shirt he made for himself), awaiting the draw for the AM event. Spent an hour behind the curtains, checking out the pros....Shane, John, Archer, Thorsten, Bustamante, and a ton of talent I'd only seen on TV previously. Until you see it in person, it's tough to truly appreiciate what these guys can do with a ball and a stick. Also, you could see the pros up at the bar, grabbing a bite to eat. Many took time to talk to fans, sign their cue cases....I was really impressed with the generosity of all the great pros. One guy asked Thorsten if he could take his picture - he said, "sure, but only if you stand beside me and we're both in the photo"....now that is class.
Moving forward, we had a chance to practice a bit just before the draw. I had a chance to meet Liz and Michael, another Michael who was a junior from New York, and a host of other good people. The draw happened, I got a bye, but Eric had to play Landon in the first round. I didn't know who Landon was, but he is the best-dressed 12 year-old I have ever seen. He dressed just like the pros, had an incredible stroke, and looked the part. Eric came out on top 6-4, and I didn't play again until Saturday afternoon, which worked out since we had APA cities at 11am across town that same Saturday.
After watching more matches, getting some practice, and avoid staring at all the attractive women......OK, allow me a quick aside. There were many attractive women at this event......I mean hotties everywhere.....Eric said this wasn't typical, but let me tell you.....nice looking chicas everywhere, pool has some damn fine women......Ok, back to topic. We jumped in the redneck mobile and headed over to Hooters for some wings, only to be joined later by JCIN, Shane, and John. John was a great sport as he flapped his arms and showed his balloon hooters while the staff sang happy birthday. As posted in his post, Shane is a great guy, good attitude, and I'm glad he won the pro event. Dinner was great, cashed in after than, and Eric crashed on the couch.
I arrived Saturday afternoon, after our APA match that morning across town. Many thanks to Eric for giving me a few quick tips to keep me from looking like an idiot
.....Eric lost at 3pm, and we were warming up just before my match at 4pm. The guy I played had a good stroke and was clearly a better player. I lost 6-2, but I missed a couple of easy run-outs where I went back to the table on the 6/7-ball, a 1/2 decent shot, and simply didn't close the deal The guy wasn't on his game and I missed an opportunity to close out a better player. Afterwards, neither of us played until 10:30pm, so we headed out with my buddy Mike to grab some Mexican food and some margaritas. The food was good and the entertainment was better - Eric was working the middle school girls in the booth behind us I felt like death (getting sick), so I headed home to get some rest before the match....Eric and Mike went to play some one-pocket at another place. A little nap did me some good, met up with Captain Alcohol and Mike around 9:30pm back at Bankshots. Met Eric's buddy Mark from South Carolina, as well as Dennis, whom is a local at Bankshots. Eric easily won his 10:30, dominated 4-0. My story was different....this guy's speed was a little better than mine, but he had a 2-9 combo, coupled with an immediate 9 on the break, and I couldn't recover, losing 4-1.....it was over in about 10 minutes. We headed over to UBC, played some one-pocket and scotch doubles with my buddy Rogers....stayed up until about 2pm, great night, even with my losses.
Great weekend - made a new friend in Eric, Justin, Mark, Dennis, Shane, John, and others.....realized my speed sucks and I was clearly in the bottom half of the draw in the AM event. Approximately 100 players in the AM event, the tables were 8ft olhausen's, felt was in decent shape, the tournament was ran OK, and the tourney staff was friendly. I learned a ton, was lucky to meet Shane and John at dinner, made new friends, and learned I've got a long way to go in my game. Overall, great event, worth the money, glad to have Eric as a good friend, and looking forward to the next tourney.
