The Battle

We were playing for a chance to advance to the final round to go to vegas.
It had been easy up until this point. We had breezed through our competition. It felt too easy. When it became apparent that I would be playing Kenny Baker, my old time rival from 5 years ago, I knew it wouldn't be easy and I knew it shouldn't happen any other way.

I play on a pool team and we were in the 5th match of a tournament with each side having two wins. The final match would be between Baker and I. We would each need to win 5 games to advance our teams to the vegas match.

Game 1
We bothed played defensive for the most part and when I saw an opportunity to run out, I took it and switched from playing defensive to offensive.

george 1
kenny 0

Game 2
I had run down to just having one ball left before the eight and I choked, missing an easy shot. He ran out from there.

george 1
kenny 1

Game 3
The opposite of game 2. Kenny had the game and screwed up a shot late in the match giving me a chance to win.

george 2
kenny 1

Game 4
I break and don't make anything. Kenny runs out from there.

george 2
kenny 2

Before game 5, I notice the audience starts to grow. Kenny has been a premiere player in the league for a long time and I've made a small name for myself as well. People know who we are and were wondering who would come out on top. I knew it would be alot of pressure so I told myself during the match that I was on tv. It helped me have fun and play better and not feel the pressure of the match. It made me smile at times to be a part of the match.

Game 5
I win. I don't think I made any mistakes in this game.

george 3
kenny 2

Game 6
Kenny is flawless, unbeatable.

george 3
kenny 3

Game 7
I don't remember much about this game. I remember lining up on a shot before the 8 ball and thinking, wow, if I make these two balls, I'll be one game away from beating Kenny and he still will need 2. I immediately remove the thought from my mind because the longer it lingers, the more the anxiety builds. I make the two balls.

george 4
kenny 3

At this point I felt like Rocky Balboa, late in any of his fights. They would both be tired and Rocky would get hit, and then get hit back. Rocky would get hit, and then hit back, and so on.

Game 8
I was in control. I had a chance at a 6 ball runout. In the middle of it, I call a timeout. I needed garys advice on playing position for the 8 ball. We agreed and I made the shot but the cue ball didn't go where I thought it would. This left a difficult shot on the 8. I needed to bank it all the way down table. Lucky for me though, I knew if I missed, it would leave the cueball in a tough spot for his remaining ball.
I miss the shot but like I thought, leave him tough on his shot. He plays a defensive shot(doesn't try to make his ball but leave me in a tough spot). He hits it perfect and leaves the cueball in the mouth of the corner pocket, leaving me only a bank shot on the 8 cross sides. It was a tricky angle. If I would hit it normally, the cue ball would have come across the front of the 8 as its coming off the rail and caused interference in the 8 coming to the opposite side. But, if I hit it hard enough, the cushion would absorb the 8 ball, which cuts down the angle coming off the rail, which changes the spot where I hit the 8 ball, which all means that now the cue ball will not get in the way as the 8 heads towards its home.
I knew what I had to do. I stepped back and looked at the shot. I felt a smile creep on my face, not because I thought I would win, but because I was having so much fun. I leaned down, slammed the 8 ball into the rail, cue ball gets out of the way and the 8 finds its home on the other side.

final
george 5
kenny 3

With that win, we had made it to the final round, where we would be playing for $4000 and a trip to vegas for a chance to compete out there for $25,000.

It was a good morning.

The end.

ps - we lost the next match and we don't get to go vegas. Reminds me of Das Boot.