Jose Parica vs. Keith McCready and Ryan McCreesh
Jose Parica vs. Keith McCready and Ryan McCreesh
Late one night at the Capital City Classic in Philly, Keith and Ryan McCreesh played a partners one-pocket game against Jose Parica for a few jellybeans. There weren't a lot of spectators because of the lateness of the hour, and quite frankly, I was really surprised Jose was up this late. During tournament play, he usually stays in his hotel room in the evening hours and rests up, pampering himself with good food, lots of rest, and an occasional movie on the TV.
Back and forth the games went. It was Keith's turn to shoot, and he makes a good shot in the pocket, but it happened to be directly in Jose's hole. In his fast-paced rhythmic style, he's already down on his next shot getting ready to fire the trigger (aiming directly for Jose's pocket, I might add).
Jose, usually very slow-paced, sprinted and leaped over to the table like a gazelle to stop Keith from shooting, "Hey, you shot de bawl in MY pockeet."
Keith gets this deer-in-headlights look, Ryan has steam coming out of his ears, and Jose proceeds to take over, covering his mouth with his hand trying to contain his chuckles and resume his Filippino warrior-like game face.
Jose pauses and eyeballs the layout of the table. He then shoots a nice easy shot directly in Keith and Ryan's pocket. Ryan jumps up like a rocket out of his chair, brings it to Jose's attention, and then Jose was standing there with that same deer-in-headlights look.
The railbirds cracked up, and at the conclusion of this game, both teams were even. Ryan unscrewed his stick and said to his partner and opponent, "I've had enough of this action. You old-timers need to get some sleep," and he exited the tournament room!
This is the first time I have ever seen players mistakenly make a ball in their opponent's pocket back to back. The tournament experience in Philly was great. The memory of the side action was priceless! (LOL)
JAM