Tuesday 14 June 2011

7/6/2011: 8 ball Pool at Hare of the Dog, Birmingham

Yes, I'm documenting a game of pool. I take myself far too seriously! And all the Gods help me if I've got the name of the pub wrong...

Well, I'm not very good at pool, nor do I claim to be. I'm familiar with the concept of putting the balls into the right pockets, while at the same time arranging matters so that the cue ball is in the right place for a follow-up, or failing that at least in a place where I can make it difficult for my opponent. Putting all that in to practice, on the other hand, is tricky to say the least; it's not a set of motions I'm familiar with and knowing the theory won't help if you haven't done it for over 3 years!

I was quite pleased I won the blue balls, given my football team. My opponent was Chris Jeffries, and he was playing with a lot more power than I was. He would whack the cue ball in the direction of one of the yellow balls, I would gently tap the blue balls with what I hoped was enough power. In my case, I was rarely wrong, however I'm not too good with my aim and missed a lot more shots than I hit. Nonetheless, it came down in the end to a struggle for control over the 8-ball, and in those situations a lot of the time all you can do is whack it and hope for the best. It was when I did this that I put Jeff in a better position to get the ball in, which he promptly did. Well done Jeff.

Now I know what you're (possibly) thinking - is Pool a game I'm going to be playing a great many times? And the answer is probably not, but it's fun when I do play it however badly it goes. The aim isn't going to get sorted out unless I do a lot more practice to improve it, something I neither have the time nor the drive for. But hey - I'm always up for a game...

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