Playoffs, a rematch with last week's opponent. I hope I get to play the same guy again, because this time I'm properly warmed up, and had a good practice the night before....but more importantly, I need to shoot the first match, as I'm going out of town for a few days as soon as I finish here.
CAPTAIN: We put up YTF.
THEM: OK, he can play (a different guy).
We're both a SL 5, so it's a race to four, no spot. I'm disappointed that I don't get my personal rematch, but they're strategy makes sense: they only have four players on their team who played enough games this season to be playoff-eligible, so they've already forfeited one of the five match-ups tonight, and it goes in the books as a shutout...so they're saving their best guys to play our worst, to try to get some shutouts in return.
I shoot poorly the first rack and lose. Feeling the jitters a little. Playoffs, I guess. Also, my girlfriend is here tonight to watch, first time in forever.
He breaks the second rack. When it's my turn to shoot, I notice the jitters are gone. It's like being scared in a fight, until you take that first punch, then all the fear drains away. I win the second rack, it's 1-1.
I beat him again to make it 2-1.
We play a few safeties in the next rack. When he has one ball left, and I have two, I play the shot of the night, a safety that hooks him in a corner behind both of my balls. He tanks for over five minutes. A couple of times, he jacked up for the jump shot, wound up furiously--then stepped back to think some more. It was pretty funny. He finally tries the jump, and like every jump attempt at this level, it does not come close to clearing the ball he's trying to jump over.
I've got BIH, but now there's a 3-ball cluster on the short rail: mine, his, and the 8. I have no shot on my ball that can get me to the opposite end for my other ball. I tank for a minute, then take my time-out, even though no one on my team figures to be much help with this.
My captain arrives, and we discuss a few safety possibilities, but none of them are easy.
Suddenly, my opponent gripes that were taking too long.
I wasn't sure if he was kidding. "You just spent thirty-seven minutes on that ridiculous jump shot, and I never said a word! You're going to give me a hard time on the very next shot???"
"That wasn't a time-out!", he pointed out. What a nit. I *still* don't know if he was kidding. He's a nice guy, but sometimes, he can be too much. At one point this match, I played a ball that was right next to the 8, and told him he should watch the hit to make sure I don't foul.
He pulls out his phone and starts filming! And I don't mean from the sidelines, he's standing at the table with the phone directly above the object ball at shoulder height. I coulda told him to back off, but I took the shot any way, and made it (it clearly hit my ball first, didn't need replay review, lol). As he sat, one of HIS teammates told him, "If you did that to me, I'd tell you to stick that phone up your ass!"
I play my BIH, rail-first, kick safety, but it does not go as planned. We trade a few safes, then he makes his last ball, can't get shape on the 8, so he plays safe.
His balls are gone, I got one left, it's on the second diamond. He leaves me in the middle of the nearest short rail. Do I safe? Or do I cut this and send it down 3/4ths of the table? That shot doesn't seem as hard as it used to be, at least on these small tables. If I use pocket speed, I don't need any English to get an easy shot on the 8 for the runout....
....I hit it like God....
...we watch the 7 rolling along slowly towards the pocket, doubtless going in. I'm going to have a straight-in, 2-foot shot on the 8....
....my eyes go back to watch the 7 drop, when suddenly, it makes a right turn a few inches before the pocket, and misses.
"Did that roll off?", I blurted, unable to believe my eyes.
Everyone agreed it did. My opponent got the easy shot on the 8 instead of me, and he didn't miss it. I grab a ball, spot it where my 7 started, shoot it at the pocket, and it goes in--but I shot it too hard. I shot another ball, softer, and watched it take the same path the 7 did.
What a bad beat! Instead of a commanding 3-1 lead, I'm tied 2-2.
Next rack, we play a few safes, he even knocks in one of my balls at one point...but then he leaves me an opening. My last ball is on the short rail, an inch or two from the pocket, and i'm shooting from the center of the table. The 8 is on the same short rail, so I need to go up-and-down-and-up-again, through traffic. I make the cut shot, but traffic+speed=scratch, of course, giving him BIH and an easy out. He's up 3-2. OMFG. Two horrific beats.
Now I start playing terrible. My first shot, the ball is a foot from the pocket, I'm straight-in, a foot away. I want to draw back 1-2 feet. I hit it horrible--the shot goes, but the cueball stops dead.
Before I can hang my head, my gf shouts, "Nice shot, honey!" To her, it looked like I just rifled one in with authority, lol.
My botched draw leads to a short inning. Next shot, I miss the pocket by a foot. I must be getting tired, I was up super-early today, and running around getting ready for my trip. Oh well, GG....
...but suddenly, my opponent starts dogging shots. The more I miss, the more he misses! He hits one so bad he scratches, giving me BIH with two solid balls left---but it's not so easy. They're not clustered, but the 8 is blocking most of the approaches to my key ball; and I can't shoot the key ball first, because a stripe would get in the way of getting shape for the other ball. I got BIH, but I need to play a very precise leave here, will need perfect speed...
...I get the perfect speed...but I was so focused on getting the leave, I forgot to make the shot! I *missed* the BIH shot with a chance to tie the match. Oh man, what opportunities I had--
Opponent, with easy out, somehow scratches again.
This BIH out is not nearly as difficult, and I knock it home to make it hill-hill.
He knows he had his chance, and blew it. I dominate the last rack to win yet another hill-hill game.
Our team won the match, we advance to next week.