slacking...

Ok, lots of news since the last post! I pulled out 3 matches at the US Open which landed me with a 17-24 place finish! Along with my best finish yet, the points bumped me up to 38th place!
Fortunately for me, Florida started a new regional tour called the Flamingo Billiards Tour, and their first stop was for the Colorado Classic.
I was nervous as the pressure was on, and I needed this qualifier.
I relaxed on my birthday which was the day before the event on August 14.
On Saturday, I woke up at 7, got ready, and headed out.
Reaching the pool hall a little after 10, I registered and began practicing. It was held at Ultimate Billiards in Ft Pierce. A beautiful place with plenty of tables. We were playing on Diamonds. The rails were extremely lively, but after a little play, I adjusted pretty well.
The players meeting went well, and the draw was right after, with 22 players.
The matches were called, and I didn't receive a bye in my first round :(
I played well, and my opponent got some bad rolls, and I scooted by with a 7-3 score. My next match was against the tour coordinator, and agains I played well, and finished with a 7-1 score.
the third match of the day didn't start so well. I was skidding crucial balls out of the pockets, and soon found myself 6-4 down. I took my break, collected myself and battled back to 6-6. It was her break, shame on me for the losing the lag. She didn't pocket a ball, so i proceeded to run out. I got a little bad on the 4 ball and attempted a safe...it didn't work. She made the 4 and got reasonable position on the 5, to get on the 6-9. I figured it was game over, but a bad decision on my opponents behalf (shooting the ball in the side and not the corner) left me with ball in hand on the 6-9. I have to admit, I wasn't comfortable with the shot, but I took my time and fired it in!
The Flamingo Tour has the same format at the WPBA, in that the final 4 on the winner's and the final 4 on the one-loss go into a draw, and it becomes single elimination.
A bracket had fallen behind, so I ate something and went to my car and took a nap. :)
About another hour after I got up it was time for the draw. I played great in my first match back, winning 7-0. My next match in the final 4 was not so great.
My opponent missed some 9 balls against me which found myself up 6-4, yet in the blink of an eye it was double hill and her break.
She broke, made a ball....rather than pushing out she opted to kick at the 1 which left me a shot. One at a time I plucked the table apart and found myself on the 50-yard line for the 9-ball, lined it up, and fired it in.
I was now in the finals.
Long story short, it was late and had been a long day. But that feeling that the end was so close, I sucked it up and played pretty strong with few minor mistakes. I pulled the match to a close with a 3-9 combo and final score of 7-3.
YAY!