This last weekend I just was able to pull off one of the best little tidbits of self
preservation I have in quit a while, I just had to share it. Saturday I was getting in a few hours of practice for the upcoming BCA tourneys in Vegas. A long time acquaintance of mine wanders over and asks if would like to play some. I usually am a bit hesitant to play him mainly because of the ego involved ( I’m sure he thinks he could give himself the 6 ball). Everyone knows someone like this character not a bad guy just a bit full of himself. He usually gets the best of me when we play and that coupled with hearing how poorly he is playing and the lectures on how he just out moved me gets a bit annoying …and did I mention the losing part. That aside I need some table time before the tourney so I said sure and ask if he wanted to play some one pocket, he responds that he had not played one pocket in a long time ( even though he was playing a one pocket match the night before on the front table for everyone to see! …Whatever!). We start playing …and yes he did out play and out move me through out the match, so much so that I was starting to dread the impending lecture after the match is over. This lecture should really be something special after a beating like this. I’m getting pretty desperate so I consider swallowing the bitter pill of complementing him on his play to see how that works. I have not considered this an option in the past for the reason it is a very delicate situation. If the complements are overdone one risks the “if I decide to make a comeback” lecture which puts me at risk of getting my eyeballs stuck rolled back in my head. But at this point I’m ready to do just about anything to at least mitigate in someway the full brunt on the post match analysis. I began to complement him here and there always keeping an eye in how puffed up he is getting, never letting it get too far. Well we played for a couple of hours and when we were finished we just parted company saying thanks for the practice. The entire after match lecture had just evaporated. It was a very enjoyable practice session. I felt a bit guilty knowing there was some other innocent victim that will hear the full recap but at least it won’t be me. After many years of knowing this fellow I think I found a way to make playing him enjoyable. I just won’t let him get to the point where he demands recognition because at that point he will then give it to himself. I’ll hit him with a pre-emptive strike and leave him speechless.
preservation I have in quit a while, I just had to share it. Saturday I was getting in a few hours of practice for the upcoming BCA tourneys in Vegas. A long time acquaintance of mine wanders over and asks if would like to play some. I usually am a bit hesitant to play him mainly because of the ego involved ( I’m sure he thinks he could give himself the 6 ball). Everyone knows someone like this character not a bad guy just a bit full of himself. He usually gets the best of me when we play and that coupled with hearing how poorly he is playing and the lectures on how he just out moved me gets a bit annoying …and did I mention the losing part. That aside I need some table time before the tourney so I said sure and ask if he wanted to play some one pocket, he responds that he had not played one pocket in a long time ( even though he was playing a one pocket match the night before on the front table for everyone to see! …Whatever!). We start playing …and yes he did out play and out move me through out the match, so much so that I was starting to dread the impending lecture after the match is over. This lecture should really be something special after a beating like this. I’m getting pretty desperate so I consider swallowing the bitter pill of complementing him on his play to see how that works. I have not considered this an option in the past for the reason it is a very delicate situation. If the complements are overdone one risks the “if I decide to make a comeback” lecture which puts me at risk of getting my eyeballs stuck rolled back in my head. But at this point I’m ready to do just about anything to at least mitigate in someway the full brunt on the post match analysis. I began to complement him here and there always keeping an eye in how puffed up he is getting, never letting it get too far. Well we played for a couple of hours and when we were finished we just parted company saying thanks for the practice. The entire after match lecture had just evaporated. It was a very enjoyable practice session. I felt a bit guilty knowing there was some other innocent victim that will hear the full recap but at least it won’t be me. After many years of knowing this fellow I think I found a way to make playing him enjoyable. I just won’t let him get to the point where he demands recognition because at that point he will then give it to himself. I’ll hit him with a pre-emptive strike and leave him speechless.
