Playoff Banter

Rundown of Things Overheard or Said to Me During the Playoffs This Session-

1. Overheard someone reading a text message to a team mate - "Mary wants to know how it's going with the blow-up doll. Is it inflated yet?" (A birthday celebration was also held during match and the team Captain received a very interesting gift from her team mates!)

2. Player said to Bartender - "I had to come out of the closet to beat her." Bartender: "I don't want to hear anymore of this story."

3. Male Player said to me - "We won our Playoff match last night and I cried." Me: "Wow, that's very sensitive of you." Man: "I'm not lying." Me: "No, really, I believe you." Man: "I mean, well, I didn't boo-hoo or anything, but I did cry. Just a little..."

I can't make this stuff up! But it makes me nod and smile and enjoy my job! If you made it through the Playoffs, good luck to you at the next End of Session Championship! If you weren't able to, good luck this Summer!

Long Time No Post...

I know, I know. Sorry! With Playoffs and setting up for next Session I've been a bit busy. Promise to have some good stuff in the next few days....

You Are Special...

FYI - Thought I'd pass this info along...

• The owner of Caveman's, Tracy, mentioned to me last night that for teams that want to play out of her host location, particularly Tuesday nights, she would create drink specials around what your team members like to drink! Talk about accommodating... They are also re-covering the pool tables in between this Session and next with a high-end felt. Check them out!
• A new host location that just opened, "Snooker's" on the Plaza (the old Plaza Billiards.) is offering a special. The owner, Donna Burnett, will pay weekly dues for teams that play out of her location. 2918 The Plz (704) 342-2837.

Rule Question...

Actual rule question asked today with correct answer:
Q. If a player gets mad and flips a pool table over on his opponent is that loss of game because the 8-ball leaves the playing surface?

Correct A. What the heck are you doing thinking about flipping over pool tables for?!?!?! (And yes, that would be loss of game.)

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried! Thank you J.H. for making my blog interesting today. :)

This Is Your Captain Speaking...

I've heard some talk recently around Team Captains and would like to remind you, win or loose this session, be sure to thank your Captain.
Don't forget, without their relentless organization, phone calls and sheer force of will there would be no team for you to play on each week. All they ask is you thank them by buying them a drink/food/round of songs on the jukebox once in a while, keep score your fair share, make sure that you show up on time, stick around until the end most nights and you'll have a happy Captain. That's all they want really. :)

League Appreciation Nights

• I was passed a flyer by "The Creek"'s manager, Trish Gunn, on Monday that she wanted me to share with current 8 Ball Express members. It's for those that already play out of "The Creek" or people that are looking to play out of a host location this summer that offers Fun, Food and Friends. I told her I would post it on my blog. Here it is:
  April 20th @ 7pm - League Appreciation Night
  All Current Creek League Players or Those Interested For Summer Play at The Creek
  Free Pizza, Food & Friends... Come and Join Us At The Creek (704-844-6004)!

• Also just heard The Green Room, Pineville, NC is having an 8 Ball Express appreciation night for their current players and potential members. Will find out the details....

“Beer-goggle Effects”

As a Captain I've found, and don't think I'm alone here, that when it comes to making decisions on which teammate to play when against who, I've got a whole checklist I go mentally go through. So many people think that your handicap indicates exactly how each player plays. I wish it were so cut and dry, but it's not. (At least not on my team).
Do I think that strong "2's" can almost always beat weaker "3's" and your "8" is a guaranteed win? Nope, because at the end of the day two numbers are not playing, two people are playing.
I've noticed the better Captains of winning teams know people, specifically their own people. One facet of knowing your people is that part you recognize involving alcohol. Some people play better after relaxing after a beer, some play better after extreme relaxing (i.e. a bucket of beers) and some can't hold a stick after a glass of wine.
But do you, the player, know yourself? If you drink during League Night, what is your perceived playing ability? Do you have pool "beer goggles" on top of the same ol' regular"beer goggles"? Check out this nifty chart I found and see where you measure up!Diagram 1 shows the effects of alcohol on both one’s actual level of play and one’s perceived level of play. Also shown is the "beer goggle" curve that illustrates the level of desire for unattractive members of the opposite sex. The horizontal scale on the graph represents the number of beers consumed. If you prefer wine, mixed drinks, or hard liquor instead, the scale will be more compressed (i.e., the effects happen faster).

Curve "A" (the red curve) shows how level of play might actually vary for a typical good player who is not new to drinking. The level of play is fairly good to begin with. As the person drinks 2-3 beers, he or she might actually start playing a little better because the beers might help relax the person (alcohol is a depressant after all), resulting in less tension and a smoother, more accurate stroke. However, as the number of beers is increased, the actual level of play decreases significantly as the level of intoxication increases. Obviously, the shape of this curve and how fast and far it drops will vary from one person to the next. Some people also might not benefit at all from the relaxing affects of the alcohol.

Curve "B" (the green curve) shows one such example. This player is not very good to begin with ... his or her sober level of play is just "medium." Alcohol only makes things worse ... the level of play decreases even with the first beer, getting worse with subsequent beers, especially when alcohol is involved. Inebriation can make some people delusional and affect their judgment.

Curves "C" (blue) and "D" (magenta) show examples of two such people. The curve "C" person is delusional even before the first beer ... his or her perceived level of play is actually higher than his or her actual level of play. This only gets worse with more alcohol ... up to a point (about 6 beers). I call the curve "C" person a "glass-half-full" player, because he or she has an optimistic view of their level of play. As the drop in the curve shows, even an optimistic person with false confidence will eventually realize when their level of play has degraded to a really low level. I call the curve "D" person a "glass-half-empty" player because he or she doesn’t perceive a high level of play to begin with, and the perception goes up only as the level of play goes up (as with curve "A"). Alcohol doesn’t seem to have much effect on the pessimistic curve "D" player’s perception of their actual play (i.e., the curve is fairly horizontal).

Curve "E" (orange) shows an entirely different effect called the "beer goggle effect." I’m sure many people have either direct experience with, or have observed, this effect in action. When you drink too much, your judgment is not as good concerning what you think is attractive or not. With intoxication, and as the night grows later, your level of desire for less-than-attractive members of the opposite sex (or same sex, depending on your orientation) will generally increase. Most people also become less inhibited with alcohol, so they are more likely to "seek" partners, sometimes with uncharacteristic bravado. This might be analogous to a drunken player’s go-for-it attitude and belief that he or she can sink any shot on the table. Before anybody accuses me of being sexists, I want to be clear that these effects apply equally well to both genders. Women can get the same false perceptions and "beer goggles" just like men do.

(Reprinted "Beer Goggles Effect" chart and explanation from Billiards Digest Magazine, June 2008 issue with permission) Link -http://billiards.colostate.edu/bd_articles/2008/june08.pdf