My Early Interleague Days

It seems like now a days its all about cam comps. There are new competitions popping up out of nowhere with just as many people joining them, it seems like everyone is in a rush for their first cam comp victory. I wonder when the change from inter league to cam comps happened but I suppose it started with wpc even though it wasn't the first competition out.

Anyway, here's a little bit about me

When pool was fun for me it seemed like we couldn't get enough inter leagues. I would get home and have ipc and pit along with some match play like mlp plc and whatever 5v5 for the time from npa to pro. There was always something to play for, a need to prove yourself when everyone didn't know everybody. I remember the exact moment I realised that I wanted to be a great player. I was playing with bbm and Brian (fsm_brian) was one of my best online friends at the time. He told me I wasn't good enough to play for bbm in mlp because it was the inter league that was about to be the best (this was when plc was still the top inter league..yeah it happened once). He told me I should find another league until I got better. I took it as an insult, which it was, because he told me he believed Ryan(kula) was better then me and I instantly had a goal. I knew where I stood in the eyes of everyone and it wasn't where I thought I should be.

What seemed like days turned to weeks and then months. That mlp season with hp seemed like it would never end because yet again I saw my worth as a ypool player. I couldn't believe it, I was a mediocre player even after all the time I spent playing. I didn't know why I just could not get it. Why couldn't everything just work out like I thought it should. I couldn't stand being just another player to throw in. Until suddenly I made a switch in my game that completely changed everything seemingly over night. I made adjustments during games that I completely hated and was terribly against. This very moment was when my safety play began and at one point in ypool it may or may not have been known as the toughest to go up against. I learned strategy and developed my table vision because I could actually read the opponent based on his first shots. I knew what they wanted and how to stop it. I felt unstoppable and within a year I felt like there wasn't anybody worth playing outside of inter leagues because that's where I would showcase my style. It was what I considered to be my area of expertise if I had one. I was cockier then ever and had people following me telling me how great I was. The only people who were my friends were my team mates. If I played against you I was going to win at any cost. I became admin in bbm and I took over inter leagues, I was ready to steamroll the competition and show my worth, finally I was the only one in my mind that would cause anything to go wrong. I was the man, and everything in bbm with inter leagues ran through me. Halfway through my first season playing with absolute confidence in my ability as a player I was banned. I got caught playing for another player and just like that. I was the reason that I came short of my goal. I wanted to win everything and I couldn't compete.

Within a couple weeks I was then also banned from plc for cursing Panda who was close friends with Troopinson(r.i.p.) Just like that...I had nothing to play for that meant anything to me. I could win everyday in bbm and I would still be nothing more then a average player. I was angry and felt like I had to do something so I got back into mlp and plc on two different ids(try banning me now I thought..here's something for you admins, the ids may or may not still be in mlp, gl on that one). I played for people you wouldn't expect me to and I was a reason for alot of teams not getting timed out or losing, I had even played multiple games during one match several times if it was my league or not. It seemed like I was playing about 3-5 matches a week when I was banned.

I was playing pool any time I could. It was what I wanted to win in more then anything, I was completely obsessed with ypool. The only people worth anything to me were the ones I felt could help me get to what I wanted. Which was to be the best plain and simple. If I hated you and you were a good player there are good chances I was nice to you just so I could remind myself how to beat you if we ever played in an inter league. By the end of the season I was tired of making other people look good and I stopped doing it as frequently. I was unbanned in mlp and made admin in plc (on the id I joined after I was banned so technically I might still be banned?)I left bbm where I felt like they were holding me back because of how arrogant everyone was, it was a competition every night to prove who was the better player. I had to get away from it and feel like I belonged with a class of elite players. Here is when the 2nd best pressure player in mlp approached me to play with him. Dan (revolutionizingthegame) asked me to come with him to play in po and I felt like it was perfect.

PO had split and half the inter league team went to qz. It was my time to show that I could make a team better, I was someone worth having because I wasn't going to lose against anyone. PO turned into one of the best teams to ever play in mlp before week 1 of mlp. We were tea bagging the competition as someone so proudly said in mlp sc during the season. it was one of my best seasons but towards the end yet again I felt like I could do more. I was the anchor and made sure we started 1-0 and Austin has insured me it was important. I thought it was important for someone lesser then me(dick move yeah I know). I wasn't going to be playing game 1 anymore and after we lost to qz in the playoffs I knew my mvp season was about to happen. I left po without explanation and went to dp where I had the best time in ypool. I went with rob and Andy to dp. I was told to wait until I got my chance to prove myself and I waited, Adnan and Brandon didn't show up to a match and we had no game 7 player. being down 2-3 and I knew that someone had to play I could not be somebodies shadow anymore and I let rob know that I had to be game 7 without sounding like an asshole if that was possible. Rob played himself and had a pretty good outing...meanwhile I was on a training table practicing my power (I set up a routine I would have to clear prior to playing anything important) This was probably the fastest I had ever completed my training table to date and I would have bet my house on that game.

I don't even remember who I played but from the start of that game I can calmly say he never had a chance, I completely controlled the table from my break and I had a 5 to 2 ball advantage 10-15 minutes into the game capable of getting bih almost at will. When I won the game it was like the weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders as silly as it sounds. It was an incredible rush of something I cant describe to hold your composure in front of what seemed like hundreds of people even though it was probably 50 tops. I had one chance and that was it. The amount of pressure I put on myself to win was incredible it was the moment I had worked for since Brian told me I wasn't good enough to play for his team. I had arrived in ypool and it felt good. Rob assured me I would be game 7 from then on. From the start of 2005 to the end of 2005 I was matching myself up against the best player any team could offer and I cant say I lost any of the meaningful games (clinches or saves) with Andy as my witness. I was celebrated in dp as the best player in ypool and known as arguably the best between Luis and myself in overall play. It was a toss up to some between mick and myself in interleague play. When I realised I was being mentioned with Luis and Mick I just knew it was it, there was one more thing I had to do and that was win a cam comp....