Our pool team played last weekend, and we were awesome!

 

Actually, we hardly played. Our first match was against a team that had only four members show up. Since there are five matches in each round, a team needs three wins to win the round. With only four players, that gives a team very little room for error. In the first match, I was pitted against another 4, and I beat him 3-1. Unfortunately, I beat him so soundly, my skill level was raised to 5. In the second match, John was pitted against a 3, and John won 3-1. He, too, won soundly enough to be bumped to skill level 5. With a predetermined forfeit for our opponents, that was enough to win the round.

 

Our opponent in the second round had the good fortune of getting a bye. It was important to them because when the round started, they had only two players. Three forfeits would have forced a loss without even playing. When they faced us, they had improved their lineup to three players, but with only three players, they could not afford any losses. Joe won that match 4-2 to end it in only one match.

 

For the third round, we finally had an opponent with a full roster. For the first match, John, now a SL5, faced a SL4 in a 4-3 race. John won 4-2. Next came Dad playing against a SL6. Dad won the first two games, gave up the next two, then finished off his opponent for a 3-2 win. Next, I faced a SL5, and for the first time, I was playing as a SL5. My opponent won the first two games to go up 2-0. In the next two, he missed shots that left me easy shots on the 8-Ball allowing me to tie the score at 2-2. In the third game, I finally played to my potential and won to take a 3-2 lead. But my opponent bounced back to tie the score again at 3-3. In the 7th, and deciding, game, I played my best game of the match to win 4-3. With our three wins, we had won the round and advanced to the final eight. The top 8 go to the Citywide tournament on Saturday (the 16th).

So here we are heading into Week 2 of the NFL season, and I can't be more psyched!

 

The summer session of my pool league ended last night with a win (such as it is). We placed third in a league with four teams in 9-Ball. In 8-Ball, well, at the end of the session, we finished in a tie for 6th place in a league of 10. The fall session needs to be better.

 

The Diamondbacks faltered at the end of the season, so they won't play into October (except for the season ender on 10/1). The Suns don't play for another month and a half, and the Coyotes are only starting preseason.

 

That leaves football, and for the first time in a long time, the Cardinals look good. I know I shouldn't stake my happiness on the local football team, but I just get giddy when I think about them winning their next game. Go Cards!

Tonight is pool night. If you read any of the blogs I've had elsewhere, you know that our team lost some players this session when their team from another night joined our league. They are friendly people, and I like them a lot, but I sure want to beat them. Tonight we meet in 8-Ball. As usual, both of our teams will field three 4s against each other with their remaining two facing a 4 and a 6 from our team. Go Road Runners!