The Derby Classic is four days away and I have a decision to make.

Whether to play offensively or defensively is a decision I made at about this time last year as well. Back then I thought I'd play more offense, and only get conservative against the strongest players. During my pre-tournament practice sessions I was banking balls very well, and I reasoned that I'd have a better chance of advancing if I tried to outshoot my opponents instead of trying to outmaneuver them.

At least that was my reasoning going in. What ended up happening is that I played very conservatively throughout the tournament. I didn't really make a decision to switch strategy, it just happened.

As it turned out, I advanced quite a bit further in the tournament than I'd thought I would. That's the good news. The bad news is that I lost to two players that, had I been playing a more "normal" game, I would have killed.

The problem was that I didn't know that going in. I was concerned about getting blown away so I played a lot of safeties. Then by the time I figured out that these people couldn't bank as well as I could it was too late - I'd lost my alignment and so was FORCED to play a conservative game.

This year I'm not quite sure what my plan should be. My banking ability, except for the past few weeks, has slipped about 20% from last year. My strategic thinking has probably slipped about 20% as well. I blame lack of focused banking practice for the most part, though there have been a couple of injuries that certainly didn't help.

In a perfect world, I'd just bank 15 & out on all of my opponents and win the whole damn tournament. Here on Earth that probably won't happen. Here on Earth I'll probably win a couple then lose a couple just like last year. At some point some opponent will bank that fifteenth ball against me and eliminate me. I just have to decide how I want to go out - in a blaze of offensive stupidity, or a wimper of ineffective conservatism.

I have four days to decide. Maybe I'll just flip a coin.