Shy but wants to play

Keeping this pool related, I shot last night and couldn't make a shot to save my life because there was country music on the jukebox and that kind of stuff just grates on me. I was shakin like a dog shittin peach pits.

I got my iPod and threw on some Led Zeppelin. Instant improvement.

Environment has a lot to do with my ability to shoot. I have to work on shutting out the annoyances and pretending that Kenny Chesney is Pearl Jam. Once I can do that, watch out.:dance:
 
I played an sl4 last night (I'm still a 3). He needed 3 games to my 2.

He won the first game, I won the second game. He won the third game, which was a nightmare. I was left with this configuration (I'm stripes):

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There was no way to get my stripes out of there without sinking the 8. I shot the 6 into the side, hoping to knock the 8 out a little and bump out the others. No go, in it went, nothing but net. Grrr. He shot the 1, tried for the 5 and missed, which left me with the same problem, as the cue ball was up against the rail near the 4. I had to give him ball in hand again. After that, he won.

That left the score at 2-1, rubber match. I had the game but was left with a hard bank shot. The 8 was nearly frozen to the rail. ( Pardon my angles, I'm sure they are not accurate.) Needless to say, I lost by putting it in the wrong pocket. Ahr.

CueTable Help

 
One thing I try to make sure the players on my team understand is that anytime you are playing a bank on the 8 ball to make sure you shoot pocket speed. I have seen (and done) this exact same thing happen way too many times. It's better to miss the shot and have a chance to try again, than to turn the 8 ball loose with the possibility of it going anywhere other than the intended pocket.

Steve
 
normally I agree but this shot is do or die anyway if you're going to go for it. If you miss the bank, you sell out and most ppl are gonna run out with that situation. Might as well bank at a speed you feel comfortable.

Most pool hall tables I play on you cannot bank pocket speed because there is a bit of roll out.. a medium firm hit usually works best.
 
Love your stories about league night SG.... Always click on the thread when I see it.....:thumbup:
 
Metallicane, I play very rarely at Far West. I can't afford the $10/hour. I do have a Groupon for $20 worth of pool/food, and I have to use that by June, so I'll be there early some evening very soon. I manage to hit it on Mondays when I do go.

Pocket speed would have been nice, Steve, but I was afraid it would have died right on that crappy rail without a little extra oomph. ;)

I think we're trying an APL league next. May as well get them all, make an informed decision!
 
Sometimes I wish I would have been born in 1880. Those times seemed more relaxed and social. I don't have an iphone, so I can't download apps. I wouldn't even if I could. I hate the phone with a passion. I don't like being 'available' 24/7, and I find that the phone just interrupts LIVING. :embarrassed2:
 
Sometimes I wish I would have been born in 1880. Those times seemed more relaxed and social. I don't have an iphone, so I can't download apps. I wouldn't even if I could. I hate the phone with a passion. I don't like being 'available' 24/7, and I find that the phone just interrupts LIVING. :embarrassed2:

Like Steve J., I'm totally with you on that one as well. And get this -- I work in Information Technologies (I.T.)! All my colleagues are "gadget geeks" getting the latest iPads and iPhones, and gawking it up about some new technology. But at my age, I just don't give a crap about that stuff anymore, except to keep abreast of developments in my own specialty (I.T. security). They're all wow and gaga about, oh, I don't know, the latest version of SharePoint to come out from Microsoft, and I just walk away and go play in my band, or go hiking/skiing/swimming/other enjoyments of life.

They can have those "electronic leashes" and being woken up at ungodly hours, shuffling up to the computer in my bunny slippers, VPN'ing in and fixing some issue that's troubling some &^%$# company's board member that decided "now" was a good time to do some work, and doesn't have anything else in his/her life "but" work.

The more I think about it, the more the idea of becoming a Luddite appeals to me. :)

-Sean
 
I've struck a nerve.

Show of hands: How many people long for the days of rotary phones and party lines? No answering machines, you were either home or not, and had the choice of picking it up to see who is there, or just letting it ring.

You didn't know if your unborn baby was a boy or a girl: there was 9 months of guessing and it was Exciting to dream. Now you know in the first tri-mester. Doesn't that diminish the anticipation and mystery a bit?

You had to save up for vacation, a special appliance, birthday gifts. There was a Christmas Club at the bank and you put in $XX.XX a month and drew it out in December. Layaway had no interest.

I still camp out in the woods and poop over a log into a hole in the ground. I don't have a stove, a mini-fridge or a camper on a truck (or one hauled by a truck). I use a cooler, I have a tent and sleeping bag, but opted for the comfort of a Queen air bed that I air up with a foot pump. I wash up in a stream that's mountain fed and icy cold. I cook over a fire with wood gathered up from dead falls, and the ashes fly into the oatmeal. Mmmmgood.

I miss the simplicity. Granted, some things are better because of technology, but I really don't need all this Junk.:cool:
 
Keeping this pool related, I shot last night and couldn't make a shot to save my life because there was country music on the jukebox and that kind of stuff just grates on me. I was shakin like a dog shittin peach pits.

I got my iPod and threw on some Led Zeppelin. Instant improvement.

Environment has a lot to do with my ability to shoot. I have to work on shutting out the annoyances and pretending that Kenny Chesney is Pearl Jam. Once I can do that, watch out.:dance:

Responding to two things at once ... one being your last post, the other being the quote.

Personally, I can't stand the I-phones, as they don't always work as they should, etc ... yet I couldn't even begin to operate without my cell phone, as it has a schedule app built in, and EVERYTHING I do regarding my business is put into my phone schedule. Screw being constantly in touch, you don't have to answer it if it rings ... but the schedule app for me is invaluable!

Regarding the quote... you gotta learn to not let outside aspects influence you. I like to read "Pleasures of Small Motions" and then play against my Gf's son. I let him put whatever crap music on the radio and tell him if I don't get out in 2 rounds at the table, I give you $20. Then I constantly remind myself of the pleasures of small motions. He brings more and more obnoxious music to my "man cave" and does things like grabbing chalk off the rail just as I'm about to shoot, standing in front of the pocket I'm aiming at, talking just as I'm about to shoot, etc...

He thinks it's great cause he gets about $20 every 3 months ... for me it's basically free training.
 
That's a good way to train, PaulieB. I have enough annoyances in my head to fill a stadium....I don't need outside influences.

Last night, it had to be 90 degrees in there, the air was stale and stinky; I was hotter than a June bride on a cookstove. I was sweating and almost faint. It was the last night of regular play and we were in a tie for third place.

They threw me, and the opposing team threw an s/l6 at me. He had to win 5 games to my 2. He won the first game, I won the second, making this classic bank like this:

CueTable Help



I practice those a lot, and make a good majority of them.

After that, I couldn't buy a shot. I missed the 8, or he'd run out on me. I lost the match.

We made it to 3rd place thanks to my teammates, who rock it. We're in the playoffs that start next week. I hope it cools down a tad, but summer's coming, so I don't hold much hope of that. Ice, ice baby!
 
Bonnie, speaking of pooping, did I ever tell you about my cousin Harold?
Harold lived on a farm and every now and then I would go out and spend a couple of days with him.
Well, Harold didn't have indoor plumbing where he lived, but instead used an outhouse that sat in the backyard. I always assumed it was the deluxe model 'cause it had two holes.
One cool summer morning when I went out to do my daily business, I opened the door and found Harold standing over one of the holes with a fishing rod in his hands.
I asked him what he was doing with a fishing rod in an outhouse and he said he had accidentally dropped his jacket down the hole and was trying to fish it out.
Your jacket is ruined, I told him, why worry about it now. He said he wasn't concerned with the jacket. It was a ham sandwich in one of the pockets that he was after.
Keep posting, keep playing, and keep pooping. Your friend, Tramp. :)
 
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