Day 15: Seattle, WA

Vancover was dead, so I split.
Only one direction to go: South.
That means Seattle.
But where in Seattle?

That question was answered by Steve Lingelbach,
the publisher of On The Wire, a pool magazine
that covers the Northwest USA.
One call to him and he clued me in to the
pool halls where all the "players" hang.

First on the list is Dr. Cue Billiards in Shorline, WA
just a bit north of Seattle.
What a great pool hall!
Probably the nicest pool hall I have ever visited.
Squeaky clean, Gold Crown III tables that play perfect:
fast and level.

And I got lucky.
Tuesday is tournament night.
Race to three, double elimination,
NO HANDICAP, which means I'm going up against
some tough competition.

A good friend, Bruce M., lives in Seattle,
and I called him earlier in the day,
and he returned my call while I was getting some practice,
and when he heard I was going to be in a tournament,
he just had to stop by to catch the action.
I tried to discourage him, but he didn't get it.
I would much rather play without a fan club
hanging around asking questions and taking me
out of my game.

The first match went my way, 3-1.
I guess it didn't show that I was shakin' in my boots!
Bruce stayed quiet, and that helped.
There was about an hour before the next match,
and Bruce and I started reminiscing about
the good old days,
and of course that didn't help my focus any.

I was getting my butt kicked in the next match,
and Bruce figured it would be time for him to leave,
but it didn't change my luck any and I lost the set.

The third set I played a lot better, and won 3-0
and I was thinking I might finish up in the money,
but the 4th set was a killer.

I only picked up my cue two times in the last set.
The first time was to push, and then he made a
great shot on the one ball, and caromed to sink the 9.
His next rack he made an easy carom off the 2 into the 9.
The third rack he ran 2 balls, then left me safe.
That was the last time I got to the table
because he just ran out after I missed the kick.

Wow! What a trip!
Two strokes of my cue, and no clear shot.
Talk about controlling the table!
He was good.

So that was it for me,
but I felt as if I was playing pretty good.
And I took out a couple of good players.
With a bit more practice, and the proper
pre-match preparation,
I think I can do a lot better.

And there's another tournament tomorrow!

---

Closer inspection of the car reveals
extensive windshield damage from the
debris torrent spewed forth from the trucks
when I was coming down from Whistler.
Did not find any severe body damage.
I guess it could have been worse.