Pretty Vegas!

WE ARE GOING TO VEGAS BABY!!!

The tournament was great! Exhausting, but great!

Our team remained on the A side the whole tournament.

CAUTION...possible confusion ahead.

We played this team in the Tri Annuals and beat them 3 matches straight, however we had all made the top 8 teams to qualify for the Regionals.

We played them again on Saturday night in the Regionals, beat them again forcing them to fight their way back to the A side. I had played this guy who's skill level is a 5 and mine is a 3 (meaning he has to win 4 games to my 2). Well, he was a little cocky to start with thinking he had it all in the bag. Reason: 1. I'm a girl & 2. I'm a 3. There was a girl on their side (I'm guessing a girlfriend or wife, but not a team mate) who was making comments like, "Come on Terry...kick her ass!" and he was making a few himself. Whatever...be rude, good for you. Some people do this to rattle their opponent or get them off their game. Well, when people do that to me it makes me want to beat them even more. Needless to say, I ended up beating him and he was pissed about it, causing his team to have to fight back from the B side again.

Well, here's the kicker.....

Final game and we are tied at 2 matches a piece. It now comes down to me and my games. It was their put up and they put up the same guy, Terry. All we had left to put up was me. Let's just say that Terry didn't like that much. ROFL. Normally you shake the hand of the person you are playing out of good sportsmanship and to wish them good luck. He wouldn't touch me.

Fine...no biggie, I knew he was pissed and worried because he now knows how I play and he had already lost to me the night before. By the way he was acting and his body language, I knew it was ON!

Great...I love pressure like that. I don't get rattled easily and I was up for the challenge again. I was trying real hard NOT to think that this was it...do or die. If I lost to this idiot, we weren't going to Vegas. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't mind losing to a good opponent, but this guy was a cocky arse and I didn't want to give up without a fight.

Before we start playing we have to lag to see who breaks. Lagging is when you start at one end of the table (behind the white line) and hit a ball to the far rag and see whose ball comes closest to the starting rag. He ended up winning the lag and being the gentleman he is, he made a smartass comment with a sarcastic tone..."Awww, tuff break".

Whatever buddy...loser.

I had him sweating in the first game. I had cleared most of my balls off the table and missed a shot. Everytime it was his turn his team mates would say to him, "It's alright, you're in control buddy...it's all you!" He ended up beating me the first & second games. I beat him in the 3rd and he then beat me in the fourth, taking us to the final do or die game. He was playing dirty hooking games though. It's pretty sad that a 5 has to play a dirty game with a 3. He was up 3 games to my one and we were on the last match. He had easy shots that he refused to take and these shots could have won him the games, but he insisted on hooking me every chance he got (stupid on his part) and I got out of 99% of them which in the end cost him and his team the trip to Vegas.

The last match I had 3 balls on the table and he was on the 8. I managed to semi hook him leaving him with a fairly tough shot. He came real close to sinking the 8, but missed giving me ball in hand. I had one ball on one end of the table next to the 8 and 2 on the other end. These were fairly easy shots, but it was beyond intense when Vegas was on the line. These were also the 3 LONGEST shots I have ever taken in my life. Everything was in slow motion...everything. Between each shot I made sure I took a deep breath and took my time. As easy as these shots were, there was MEGA room for screw ups.

I managed to make all my shots and was left with the 8 ball. Everything outside the pool table was a blur and all the people around our table were quiet, in fact the team playing next to us stopped their game to watch my last shot. I could hear my heart beating in my ears so loudly that it was almost deafening. So I do like the snipers do...I take my shot in between beats.

I was getting teary eyed before I even took the shot on the 8 because I knew there was no way I could scratch on this shot. The 8 was sitting right next to the pocket waiting for that little tap. A little tap is what I gave it. I thought I was going to throw up when I saw the 8 fall.

All of the sudden everyone was screaming and I was surrounded with hugs & kisses from my team mates, then from friends on another team that were watching (who also made it to Vegas as well...YAY!).

It was such an overwhelming feeling to know that our team fought damn hard all season to get where we were, worked as a team supporting each other through wins and losses, by picking up the slack and never blaming one another for losing a match. I am glad that I was able to contribute by hammering the final nail in the coffin to send us to VEGAS BABY!!!

YAY TEAM!!! WE DID IT!