SpiderMan
04-08-2003, 10:35 AM
Our VNEA city (Dallas) singles championships was held this past weekend, Saturday and Sunday. I was shooting really well, and at the end of the day Saturday I hadn't lost a match. They sent us home, noting that all the money matches would be played the following day and videotaped.
On my way home, the tournament director called on my cell phone and said that one of the players had an emergency tip repair, could I please bring my tools in the morning and help him out. His tip had broken and he had to have a LePro so he could finish the tournament. I said OK, just tell him to show up an hour early and I would take care of it.
Next day, I set up behind the tournament counter, and this little guy came up with his cue. Sure enough, it was a LePro worn down about as thin as a dime, with a chunk half the size of a bb gone from the edge. He noted that he wanted his new tip cut down thin, so that it wouldn't be a big change for him. So I put on the tip and called him over, and we trimmed a little at a time until he was satisfied. The new tip was now almost as thin as the one I cut off, but at least it didn't have any missing pieces. He thanked me, paid me the going rate plus a $5 tip, and went away happy.
I blistered my first opponent, getting 3 runouts on the video. Great, when I'm in a slump I'll have something to watch and remind myself that I used to play pool! I'm in the quarterfinals.
Next draw - the little guy with the new tip. We make a few jokes about tip jinxes, he wins the toss for first break. He breaks and makes about 3 balls. Then he runs out. It's alternating break. I slam about 3 in on the break, my next shot is a thin cut in the side to break up a cluster, and .... the 8-ball sneaks into the corner pocket. We make another joke about jinxes. He breaks and runs again. I'm down 3-0. I break and make nothing. He starts running balls again, but misses a tough cut. I'm stuck up against my own ball, can't make a thing. So I sabotage and push my ball (the only ball I can hit) up against one of his balls. Not a bad play, but he has another shot which he pockets, and then he runs out again! I'm down 4-0, he's on the hill, and I've only shot in maybe 3 balls the entire match! And it's his turn to break!
He gets a great break, balls spread everywhere, I'm about to get skunked, but he rattles a ball somewhere near the end of the run, leaving me a wide open table which I run out. 4-1, at least I'm not skunked.
Next game I break and make something, can't run out but I play safe early. He runs down to two balls plus the eight then scratches going for a breakout. I safe him three times in a row, each time breaking out one of my balls and sticking him behind another of my balls or the 8. Then I run out to make it 4-2.
I don't remember the details of the last games, but he never got off the hill and I came back from a 4-0 deficit to send him to the loser's bracket. I then beat one more opponent and was alone at the top of the winner's bracket.
Meanwhile, this little guy with the LePro was coming up the other side, beating the pants off guys that scare me, 5-0, 5-1, etc, until we're facing each other again in the finals.
He has to double-dip me to win, and he does ... 5-1 in the first set and 5-2 in the second. I think he missed maybe three balls in the 13 games we played. I'm playing the best pool of my life and he went through me like sh*t through a goose. With MY OWN TIP!!!
SpiderMan
On my way home, the tournament director called on my cell phone and said that one of the players had an emergency tip repair, could I please bring my tools in the morning and help him out. His tip had broken and he had to have a LePro so he could finish the tournament. I said OK, just tell him to show up an hour early and I would take care of it.
Next day, I set up behind the tournament counter, and this little guy came up with his cue. Sure enough, it was a LePro worn down about as thin as a dime, with a chunk half the size of a bb gone from the edge. He noted that he wanted his new tip cut down thin, so that it wouldn't be a big change for him. So I put on the tip and called him over, and we trimmed a little at a time until he was satisfied. The new tip was now almost as thin as the one I cut off, but at least it didn't have any missing pieces. He thanked me, paid me the going rate plus a $5 tip, and went away happy.
I blistered my first opponent, getting 3 runouts on the video. Great, when I'm in a slump I'll have something to watch and remind myself that I used to play pool! I'm in the quarterfinals.
Next draw - the little guy with the new tip. We make a few jokes about tip jinxes, he wins the toss for first break. He breaks and makes about 3 balls. Then he runs out. It's alternating break. I slam about 3 in on the break, my next shot is a thin cut in the side to break up a cluster, and .... the 8-ball sneaks into the corner pocket. We make another joke about jinxes. He breaks and runs again. I'm down 3-0. I break and make nothing. He starts running balls again, but misses a tough cut. I'm stuck up against my own ball, can't make a thing. So I sabotage and push my ball (the only ball I can hit) up against one of his balls. Not a bad play, but he has another shot which he pockets, and then he runs out again! I'm down 4-0, he's on the hill, and I've only shot in maybe 3 balls the entire match! And it's his turn to break!
He gets a great break, balls spread everywhere, I'm about to get skunked, but he rattles a ball somewhere near the end of the run, leaving me a wide open table which I run out. 4-1, at least I'm not skunked.
Next game I break and make something, can't run out but I play safe early. He runs down to two balls plus the eight then scratches going for a breakout. I safe him three times in a row, each time breaking out one of my balls and sticking him behind another of my balls or the 8. Then I run out to make it 4-2.
I don't remember the details of the last games, but he never got off the hill and I came back from a 4-0 deficit to send him to the loser's bracket. I then beat one more opponent and was alone at the top of the winner's bracket.
Meanwhile, this little guy with the LePro was coming up the other side, beating the pants off guys that scare me, 5-0, 5-1, etc, until we're facing each other again in the finals.
He has to double-dip me to win, and he does ... 5-1 in the first set and 5-2 in the second. I think he missed maybe three balls in the 13 games we played. I'm playing the best pool of my life and he went through me like sh*t through a goose. With MY OWN TIP!!!
SpiderMan