I'm a good pool player. Potentially great (and as always some days better than others), but as it stands pretty good.

Tonight I played in one of the local tournaments. I never expect to win these things, though sometimes I do all right. I play for fun because it's nice to be challenged. I can walk into a bar with seventy-five cents and hold the table for most of the night. This isn't to say I'm amazing, it's to say that most people are drunken idiots. A tournament provides a little more competition.

So I'm in the second round of this tourney and I'm getting my ass handed to me by a guy with maybe fifteen years on me. It's a race to five wins and other than taking the first game I'm not poised to win another. After one of my shots he pulls me aside-- the first time speaking to me other than a handshake and introduction when we began.

"I saw you playing earlier. You've got a real eye for this game."

"Thanks," I say and begin to move toward the table. But he stops me.

"I mean it. You can teach mechanics to anyone, but you've got an eye you can't teach. You've got more natural talent than anyone in here."

"I appreciate you saying that. Thanks." And I took my shot. Ended up losing as expected.

I've heard this before. And I'm smart enough to have figured it out before. I've got a shit ton of yet-to-be-mined potential in my pool game, but that doesn't matter. I guess it would be nice to be a little better, but really I'm as good as I want to be and I'm all right with that.

So, my fight game is about the same level as my pool game. I can win against the average guy all night long, and I can hold my own in regional competition. Any better and other than landing a decent shot or two I'd get smoked. The difference is that I've got a surplus of talent in pool. I've got more than I know what to do with. I'm wasting it but until I decide to go pro (I'm not) I'm totally fine with the level of play I've attained.

But in fighting I've worked very hard to get as good as I am. And getting better does not come easy. Some guys have natural talent oozing out of them. I don't, and that sucks.

If my pool game and my fight game were Lego castles one would have hundreds of pieces left over. I could throw up an extra tower or wall if I only felt like putting in a little time.

The other castle, if I wanted to add cattle pen, I'd have to beg scrape and borrow for the resources and it still wouldn't be the deluxe cattle pen I was striving for.

Like I said, it sucks.

Anyway, I'll finish up the Mexico? entry this week. Promise. Until then all four of you that read this blog can just go do something else.

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Posted by Jeff at 7:46 PM

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