Some of you already know the story of my brief escape from the world of the mortal player and into the realm of the pool gods, but for those who don't here's a synopsis.

On Valentine's Day, 2001, I lost my job. About ten minutes later my sister came over to tell me she'd found a lump in her breast. For the next two days, in an attempt to keep my mind off those things, I played pool. To be more specific, I didn't miss for two days. I was just awesome. Then I lost it, and I spent the better part of the next three years trying to get it back. My game fell back to that of a raw beginner, so strong was my focus on this singular goal.

Most of my (failed) attempts to get back that prolonged dead-stroke focused on the physical. I'd detected, but failed to really notice, a slight adjustment to my right arm, and I spent an awful lot of time trying to find that magic placement again.

It never worked.

One other thing about those magical two days, though, was my mental state. I was experiencing a combination of depression and anxiety, with a lack of sleep thrown into the mix. This was something I was certainly aware of, all those times I sought to regain my lost magic, but I couldn't really generate a mood on demand, could I?

Now those of you who venture over to read my regular 'blog know that I've had some turmoil in my life over the past few months that, on the surface at least, seems a lot like what I experienced back in 2001. I've had depression. I've certainly had anxiety. I may have set new records for lack of sleep.

On most occasions these factors were just too strong to be any kind of a catalyst for my game, but every now and then, like flipping a switch, everything would just fall into place. On those occasions when I was able to force my mind to forget about my troubles, and focus on the table and the shot in front of me, I simply could not miss.

Actually, similar things have happened to me in the past, though to a much lesser degree. My divorce was not only one of the best things that ever happened to me, it was also one of the best things the ever happened to my game. When my father died I didn't pick up a cue for weeks, but once I did, I shot pretty damn well.

I'm sure I could think of more examples. I've certainly had enough turmoil.

What I'm thinking - and this may be obvious, is that by forcing my mind away from unpleasant thoughts, I'm essentially forcing it towards the game.

It's when my mind's internal ramblings become unbearable enough for me to shut them down, but not so powerful that I can't shut them down, that's when my game goes up a notch.

It would certainly be nice to be able to focus exclusively on the shot-at-hand whenever I wanted to, but unfortunately I seem to need a little help in that department.

I'll have to work on it some more.

Went and paid my entry for the Derby City Banks yesterday.

Guess it's time to pick a damn cue and start practicing instead of fucking around.

I haven't decided whether to play in the 9-Ball or not. That decision will probably wait until the absolute last minute. I may actually be pooled out by then.

I generally rank myself in the top third of the banks players at the tournament. Actual results show me at the bad end of the top quarter, so that's good. Enough to get into the money or very close to it.

In 9-Ball I honestly don't know where I'd stand. If I had to guess I'd say that two-thirds of the players there are better than I am. And even that may be giving myself too much credit. If I'd been playing 9-Ball as often as I used to several years ago then I might even make the top third but now, I don't know.

Of course, I don't play in the thing to win, or even to get my money back. I play for the chance to play the Varners, the Halls, the Daultons. What I don't want to do is pay my $125 dollars to enter the 9-Ball and then get beat out by two people I never heard of.

My cousin Mike came over last night and we played for several hours.

All I really wanted to say was that my 9-ball game was pretty good. I was using the Schon, and for the most part I ran out when I felt like I should.

Of the 70 or so games we played, I broke about 50 of them, and made a ball on the break a whopping three or four times.

It was fun though.

Man it's boring here. Can you get cabin fever in a single day?

Okay, so I guess I'm switching cues.

I'm banking so much better with my Predator than I am with my Schon - I just can't ignore it any longer.

I don't know if it's the weight, or the balance, or the thinner shaft, or what the hell it is.

All I know is that banks with the Predator, whether they go or not, feel completely effortless. With the Schon, I feel like I'm having to really work at each and every shot.

Now, if I could only transfer some of the Predator ease to my 9-ball game.

I suppose an update is in order.

I've decided that I won't be playing in the one-pocket at the DCC next month. Oh, I'm shooting well enough, but I haven't been practicing any one-pocket at all. Also, I will be playing in the banks and probably in the 9-ball so a break of a couple days between those sessions would be helpful.

My 9-ball game is fairly decent. I don't think I'm playing as well as I can, but I'm playing well enough to make it into the money I think. We'll see.

My banks game is downright scary. I'm playing the best banks of my life (and I know, I say that each year at about this time). If I can stay in a offensive mode, and make it work for me, I may even be able to (dare I say it?) take the whole thing. Jason Miller did it last year by shooting at every shot, and I'm shooting better right now than he was then.

Of course that won't happen. I'll miss a couple of banks that I'll figure I should have made, then I'll revert to playing a more rounded game. Or maybe I'll start out cautiously, afraid to make a fool of myself in front of my adoring fans.

Yes, I have fans.

They watch these movies I put on the Internet, and they decide that I'm some kind of banking machine or something.

I wish.

To veer off-topic for a second...

While I was in Las Vegas last week I, every now and then, would pick up a house cue at The Tilted Kilt and bank a few racks in on their 7' tables with their 6" pockets. This never failed to get me a free beer or two, and once it got me a phone number that I didn't bother calling.

Anyway...

This friend of mine from Seattle has said that he might come to Louisville for the DCC this year. That would be pretty cool as I don't really have any pool-playing friends here at all. Just acquaintances. Also interesting would be to see if all of the stories (mostly in first-person) that I've heard about YouKnowWhoYouAre's abilities have any basis in fact. I still think of him as a bar-table 8-ball player.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

(crossposted to the main 'blog)

To properly experience election night, I've decided to watch the returns in the basement while I play pool.

I will pretend that it's Bush vs. Kerry.

While playing as Kerry, I will alternate between left and right handed play, and I will always choose the most complicated route to the pocket.

While playing as Bush, I will keep my eyes closed and blast everything as hard as I can.

Friday I went to The Bank Shot after work.

There's really not much to report except that I ended up playing a guy three games of one-pocket and won two of them.

I missed a lot of shots that I shouldn't have missed, but the guy was just trying to warm up so he didn't play much defense.

I did make one pretty fantastic shot that I need to put on the Eye-Openers page once I get it diagrammed.

All in all it was a decent outing but I'd probably have been better off going home and trying to take a nap.

Saturday I went to The Bank Shot for a while.

I've been playing very well at home and just wanted to see if I'd crumble against a real opponent.

I didn't.

I played this guy that I'd never seen before. We played 9-Ball and very early in the session I could tell two things:

1. I was nearly in dead stroke.
2. The guy was just out-matched.

I recall about three mental mistakes I made during the forty or so games we played. Those mental mistakes, along with the approximately four shots I missed, contributed to our final score being about 38-2. It really should have been 40-0.

Did I feel bad about beating the guy so badly? Not at all. Builds character.

I do wish the guy would have asked for some advice though as he had a few glaring problems.

He was relying entirely on his practice strokes to convince himself that he was aligned correctly. There was no attempt to step into the shot at all.

He was fighting the cueball on almost every shot. Using the path that the cueball wants to take may be tough to learn, but it's a vital skill to have.

After a while his attitude just disintegrated. He convinced himself that he was going to miss every halfway-tough shot and he very nearly did.

I have this really annoying habit. I think I've mentioned it here before.

I usually play my best at the very beginning of any given session, and it's all downhill - or at least steady, never better - from there.

Today I had this idea to try and capture this phenomenon.

I set up my camcorder, broke the balls, and banked eight in a row.

I then proceeded to spend the next hour before I could even bank five off the break.

This annoying habit of mine is thankfully something that is unique to Banks.

Today, that damn last ball was in my thoughts througout the entire rack. I knew it would be my last ball and I just couldn't get it or my cueball into position. I ended up missing a three-railer (not the way you want to try to finish a runout) by less than a diamond.

At least I got it captured for all to see.

Okay, the new eye openers page is up and running.

The more I think about some of the most amazing and informative shots I've seen over the years, the more I think that this page may end up being the longest on on the site.