Well its the second week of the Wednesday night APA League.  Acording to the paperwork we got from the 1st week we where to play at our home location.  But once again according to the paperwork delivered that was incorrect.  So at 7:15, 15 minutes before the match was to begin, we race to Thirsty's located in Tyngsboro, MA.

So we get there with about 5 minutes to spare.  Eventually we have all 6 of our current team there to choose from.  The coin toss happens around 7:35 and I call heads, and tails comes up.  So they tell me to throw up first.  I see two of my teammates practicing on the extra table they have.  So after some talking with my co-captain, I decide to throw myself up first.  I figured it would be best to show my team that I am willing to put forth my best game even after my performance from last week which was not up to my standards.

They match me up with their six, which I am happy with this as it is a race to five games between us.  We go back and forth for a few games.  At one point I miss a break and run by a centimeter.  If I had rolled the cue ball forward just a little more than I did I would have had enough room to cut the 8 ball into the side pocket.  In another game I had my ball tied up with his to where I could not of made it into a pocket and two other balls with a ball in hand.  Instead of shooting one of the two balls that I had open I decide to do a safe shot, a stop shot into the tied up balls which would send his ball into a rail and leave the cue ball tied up with my ball.  He attempts to do a bank shot for the hit on his ball and misses giving me ball in hand with an open table.  I run out my three balls and make the 8 ball in that game.  So eventually we are in the 9th and final game. This will decide who will be the winner of the match.  So I am down to the 8 ball and I attempt a bank shot into the corner.  I miss and leave him with his 3 balls left on the table fairly close together so I think the match is just about over and go outside for atleast a few drags of a cigarette.  I am watching in the window and see that he leaves himself tough for the 3rd ball so I put the cigarette down and go inside to see that he misses the shot and leaves me a cut show the full length of the table at about 100 degrees to the corner pocket.  I line up the shot and feel comfortable with the shot.  I take it and watch the 8 ball roll into the corner pocket that I called and then watch the cue ball settle down still on the table.  I used a little top right english to guide the ball to the left with forward motion as it was a few inches away from the bottom rail.  The end result of the match is a total of 25 innings in a total of nine games with about seven safes total between the two of us.  This made up for my match last week where I know I was not shooting as well as I could.

It is now their turn to throw someone up and they put up a pretty good five.  So I put up a five to match wits with him.  The race is a race to four games.  My guy wins the first three.  Then looses one.  In the 4th match there is one shot he takes where he calls the ball and the pocket even though it was not necessary.  He attempts a reverse cut carom shot into the side pocket and makes it beautifully.  Its a shot that I didn't even see.  He goes on to win that match.

Next match I put up one of my new players who just recently dropped to a three due to his lose last week in very high innings.  They play a three which is good because that matches skills and is a race to two games.  My player ends up winning the first game and I can see he is beginning to enjoy himself.  He then wins the second game and feels really good.  The way he shot last week to this week shows he is going to be a good addition to the team.  Having so many higher players we need to have lower players that enjoy the game and want to play.

They play a four so I play a four on our team to match wits.  She unfortunately was tough on herself and let herself get into her head instead of shooting the game she has worked so hard to achieve.  She ends up loosing to him in the end.

For the fifth and final match of the night I decide to play a four from our team.  They play their five.  I figure my guy has a good chance.  I can see he is getting aggravated with some of his shots but thankfully all the practicing we have done together he has learned how to shake off each miss and step up to the table with a fairly clear head in each shot.  In one timeout there was a communication breakdown between him and I and he ends up missing an 8 ball shot.  It was a learning experience for me to make sure someone understands what needs to be done when multiple ideas have been said.  He mixed the first idea with the final idea and it just didn't work out and rattled itself out of the side pocket.  He was able to get his game back against a pretty good five and ended out pulling out a victory for the team.

This gave us a four to one victory against a team who took four wins the first week.  This week we ended up playing the same people as last week but we buckled down and showed we know how to work as a team, and the best part is the attitude of the team is great.  I have a good feeling about the team we have even though we only have six people on the team.  We have two more weeks to add members to the team before our roster is locked and would like to find a couple more to allow for more choices in the team.