Playoffs or Regional's? That was the question….  This past Sunday on the 26th I ran into an issue where I had to make a decision to drive an hour and twenty minutes to play in the 2nd chance regional tournament for my 8 ball team or play in the playoffs for 1st place with my 9 ball team.  It frustrated me that I even had to make this type of decision because it made me wonder why am I bothering to play multiple nights if the league operators are going to not allow me to participate in both?!?

I tried making the decision as to what team needed me more. I looked at the skill levels of each of my teams and saw that my 8 ball team had more experienced players. So I decided to play in the playoff match instead of going to the regional tournament. Unfortunately my 8 ball team ended up loosing one of the rounds so they will not be advancing to the state tournament.

So in the 9 ball playoff match we ended up winning the first 3 matches and being up 45 to 15. In the 4th match they put me up and the other team played a 4 against me. I only needed to get 23 balls out of my normal 38 for us to take the win. First rack I was still getting into the swing of things and he was shooting pretty good and went up 8 to 2 on me. Next rack I answered back with a 9 to 1, which now meant the score was 11 to 9. Next rack I shot well and got all 10 of the points putting me up to 21. So it is now my break and I need 2 points for us to take the match. I break and I get a ball in leaving me a cut shot on the one ball to which I make the shot for the win. So we took 1st place in our division for 9 ball and are advancing to the 1st chance regional playoffs.

So I am sure my 8 ball team would of liked me there not only to shoot but also for moral. I am not going to be able to please everyone and frankly I can only try my best in any given situation. I am not always going to be where I may be wanted due to me playing where I feel I am needed. So my 9 ball team advances to the regional tournament this coming weekend. Hopefully we will be able to advance on to the state tournament which is one step closer to Vegas. May your aim be true and your leaves be what you where looking for.