De-Railed Finishes T-17th out of 707

Monday, August 25, 2008

Just wanted to let everybody know how the trip to Vegas went! To begin with the end, De-Railed made into the round of the Top 32 teams before losing a nail biter to finish in a tie for 17th place out of 707 teams from across the country. We were 6-1 after being eliminated, with a 5-1 individual record. We played against teams from Illinois, Missouri, Washington, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana and Massachusetts; outlasted every other team from the state of NY; and went farther than any other Brooklyn-Queens 8-ball team has ever gone. Do we know that we could've gone further with just a little bit of luck? Yes. Are we proud of what we did? Yes. We can't complain!

After our run came to its close and two of us - Danielle and myself - saw our skill levels rise from 4 to 5 mid-tournament, it was pretty clear that the experience had made an imprint on all of us that won't fade anytime soon. First and foremost, I think it taught us all that we can play. We did pretty well under some intense pressure and worked as a team to do it. When one person would stumble, another would make up for it. And when that person stumbled, the favor was returned. Personally, the trip taught me that strategy is as much a part of the game as shooting ability; and that patience wins matches while aggression and haste lose them.

While it would've been nice to earn a share of the $25000 for first place, we can't complain about the $2500 we got for 17th. It meant the food for the week was taken care of, and we walked away with something intangible that you can't put a price on anyway. =) Now it's time to focus on getting my Wednesday team, "Gritz on Your Face" into the division lead, local championship and Vegas 2009. 4 of the 8 Gritzers were part of De-Railed, and the other 4 are Vegas-caliber players who would rock it given the opportunity. So here's counting down to next time.