SPetty
05-18-2003, 07:55 PM
Howdy,
Been thinking about my past 10 days in Vegas...
Every time I leave home for more than a few days, I lose a pet, so I refuse to ask about them any more when I'm gone. However, I'm pleased to report that when I got home this evening, all the pets are still alive and missing me!
I didn't lose a friend in the scotch doubles event as can happen; I had a great tiem placing in the money in the singles event. I'm learning a little more how just one shot changes everything. Miss once and that's it. Really tough.
I missed the semi-final pro matches due to still being in the running in the amateur women's open tournament. We ended up finishing 13-16 out of 130-something teams. Not bad. Scott Lee made it into town and had stopped by to check it out, so I gave him my VIP ticket for the semi-finals. Sure glad the ticket didn't have to go to waste.
Rip didn't show up for the finals, so I didn't even have the chance to say "bye". So, Rip, if you read this... "Bye!" I'll be back in Vegas for a weekend in September for the Hunter tour event.
Eric., however, did a great job of holding Rip's seat for him, even if he didn't have VIP tickets. Eric. was silly enough to suggest that Allison would be Karen by no less than 7-4, so I took that bet. Well, he changed it up before actually accepting the bet - he bet that Allison would beat Karen by at least two games.
I took the bet. As you know by now, Karen dominated the match 7-1, so because I won the bet, I had a double shot of Cuervo Gold to keep me company for the men's finals. Eric. was also nice enough to run down and get us some food - you know, the $0.99 shrimp cocktail special!
During the finals, it was extremely evident that the crowd favored Allison for the women and Busta for the men. They were both the ones in the winner's bracket waiting to play the finals, and they each lost. I heard someone say that 65% of the time, the people that come through the loser's bracket win the match. Do you think so? I get a little uncomfortable with the crowd so evidently favoring one player, so I often root for the less favorite player.
I got to see some of the Bobby Pickle show. If you ever get the chance, check it out.
Here's my favorite story of one of our local DFW teams in the trophy event. Their match went hill-hill. The last match was against the jerkiest jerk of a pool player. The kind of guy you hear about - delay of game, screwing around, sharking, being a jerk, etc. He was icky. Anyway, it came down to an easy eight ball shot for the good guys. Our guy couldn't take the pressure of the extreme quiet with hundreds of eyes watching and missed! The other guy sauntered up to the table and... missed! So, our guy gets back to the table, takes his time..., feels the pressure and missed! The other guy gets another shot and... pockets the eight ball in the corner... they cheer!... then the cue ball slow rolls all the way over to the side pocket and scratches! If I wasn't a believer in karma before, I am now! That was a great ending to that match.
I got to play a little "Who's on first" episode with Spiderman when he asked about Eric until interrupted by Big Jeff from Talisman. I saw Big Jeff from Talisman several times, and each time he said something like "I owe you some tips - they're in my room". So now I believe he exists, but I'm still not sure that there's free Talisman tips in it for people who find him... /ccboard/images/graemlins/frown.gif
All in all, I had a great time. More pool than you could handle - both professional and amateur. Sometimes, the amateurs are better than the pros... You get to watch pool and play pool and talk pool and buy pool. I sure hope that you guys don't end up being right about me regretting not buying the Schon cue.
I still think it's great fun to walk around the Riv and catch snippets of conversations. Everyone is talking about their last game or their teammate's last game or whatever. "The cue ball was here and..." "They got lucky with a good roll and..." "And then the eight ball rolled..."
Wish you all could have been there. Eric. was a great "Julie, your cruise director". Let's all make plans to attend next year, O.K.?
Been thinking about my past 10 days in Vegas...
Every time I leave home for more than a few days, I lose a pet, so I refuse to ask about them any more when I'm gone. However, I'm pleased to report that when I got home this evening, all the pets are still alive and missing me!
I didn't lose a friend in the scotch doubles event as can happen; I had a great tiem placing in the money in the singles event. I'm learning a little more how just one shot changes everything. Miss once and that's it. Really tough.
I missed the semi-final pro matches due to still being in the running in the amateur women's open tournament. We ended up finishing 13-16 out of 130-something teams. Not bad. Scott Lee made it into town and had stopped by to check it out, so I gave him my VIP ticket for the semi-finals. Sure glad the ticket didn't have to go to waste.
Rip didn't show up for the finals, so I didn't even have the chance to say "bye". So, Rip, if you read this... "Bye!" I'll be back in Vegas for a weekend in September for the Hunter tour event.
Eric., however, did a great job of holding Rip's seat for him, even if he didn't have VIP tickets. Eric. was silly enough to suggest that Allison would be Karen by no less than 7-4, so I took that bet. Well, he changed it up before actually accepting the bet - he bet that Allison would beat Karen by at least two games.
I took the bet. As you know by now, Karen dominated the match 7-1, so because I won the bet, I had a double shot of Cuervo Gold to keep me company for the men's finals. Eric. was also nice enough to run down and get us some food - you know, the $0.99 shrimp cocktail special!
During the finals, it was extremely evident that the crowd favored Allison for the women and Busta for the men. They were both the ones in the winner's bracket waiting to play the finals, and they each lost. I heard someone say that 65% of the time, the people that come through the loser's bracket win the match. Do you think so? I get a little uncomfortable with the crowd so evidently favoring one player, so I often root for the less favorite player.
I got to see some of the Bobby Pickle show. If you ever get the chance, check it out.
Here's my favorite story of one of our local DFW teams in the trophy event. Their match went hill-hill. The last match was against the jerkiest jerk of a pool player. The kind of guy you hear about - delay of game, screwing around, sharking, being a jerk, etc. He was icky. Anyway, it came down to an easy eight ball shot for the good guys. Our guy couldn't take the pressure of the extreme quiet with hundreds of eyes watching and missed! The other guy sauntered up to the table and... missed! So, our guy gets back to the table, takes his time..., feels the pressure and missed! The other guy gets another shot and... pockets the eight ball in the corner... they cheer!... then the cue ball slow rolls all the way over to the side pocket and scratches! If I wasn't a believer in karma before, I am now! That was a great ending to that match.
I got to play a little "Who's on first" episode with Spiderman when he asked about Eric until interrupted by Big Jeff from Talisman. I saw Big Jeff from Talisman several times, and each time he said something like "I owe you some tips - they're in my room". So now I believe he exists, but I'm still not sure that there's free Talisman tips in it for people who find him... /ccboard/images/graemlins/frown.gif
All in all, I had a great time. More pool than you could handle - both professional and amateur. Sometimes, the amateurs are better than the pros... You get to watch pool and play pool and talk pool and buy pool. I sure hope that you guys don't end up being right about me regretting not buying the Schon cue.
I still think it's great fun to walk around the Riv and catch snippets of conversations. Everyone is talking about their last game or their teammate's last game or whatever. "The cue ball was here and..." "They got lucky with a good roll and..." "And then the eight ball rolled..."
Wish you all could have been there. Eric. was a great "Julie, your cruise director". Let's all make plans to attend next year, O.K.?