Mary Kenniston
Verified Member
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2011
- Messages
- 84
As always, I had a blast this past weekend at Bogie's in Houston. And, as usual, Houston's own, Jeff Sparks, Bogie's Manager, John Rizzo, & Tournament Director Bill Fuller made sure each & every one of us were well taken care of & had a great time. The staff at Bogie's went above & beyond the call of duty making us all feel at home - even providing lunch & free practice time for the players! John Henderson worked behind the scenes & put together a terrific poster! I didn't get one...
Any extras, John?!!!
It was great seeing so many of my old friends, making new ones & putting faces to screen names or voices on the phone. And, even though you had to be 65 to play in it, the pool was stellar. Don't think those old curmudgeons can't play! LOL And, even though everyone was there to play their asses off & win, the thing that makes this event my absolute favorite of the year is the camaraderie - it's exceptional.
It's hard to explain why I think that is, but I'm going to try...
By the time we get to be our age, we are who we are & are generally pretty comfortable in our own skins. We can appreciate the uniqueness of our differences in personality, geography, accents & regional idioms, cultures & our games without the animosity, jealousies or arrogance of youth. What brings us together - our common bond - is the time we came up in & our love of the game itself - even if we didn't know each other in the old days. We all were genuinely happy to see each other & were there to enjoy the time we were sharing. We sweated, side bet, played our matches & matched up with each other. No arguments, no shouting, no problems. We talked about or missed those who weren't there because of death or other reasons. And we told or listened to each other's stories & laughed & laughed & laughed - even if we'd heard them before or WERE THERE!!!
Anyone that knows me knows that I've sweated a zillion high caliber & high dollar matches over the past 40 years or so & this tournament was no exception. As in the past, we definitely had some monsters there this year & everyone played hard but the player who impressed me the most this trip was Ike Runnels. I knew he was one of the top Chicago players but I hadn't really watched him play for any length of time until this weekend. All I can tell you is he is one tough, hard playing SOB!!! And, man...did he play great! Yup, Ike - you've got a new fan!
Thank you, Ming, for your hospitality & even though we didn't hang as much this year as we had in past years, it was great to see you again! Love you, sis...
Thanks to my road dawg, Colonel Bille - I think we survived our first road trip!
Thanks, Leonard Bludworth for everything! It's always great to see you!
Thanks to Kentucky Bill Meyers & Zach Goldsmith for the great stream for those who couldn't be there!
And thanks to everyone who was there - it was so good to see all of you...Billy Incardona, Jerry Matchin, Samaar & James C , Dee, Ahmed, John Smith, Sammy J, Steve B, Tommy D, Bill M, Maurice L, Scott K, Casey Killian, Robert N, Larry L, Don S, Phil Martin, Gulfport Doc, Bob Herchik, Dave G, Tony Catanese, John DiToro, Disco Dave, Manny Chau, LS John, Jim Tomassino, Keith Thompson, Richard Black, Red Walling, Ed Tarbutton - so many people. If I left anyone out, I'm so sorry!
Anyway...to wrap it up - it was great seeing everyone & I can't wait for the next one cuz I plan to dip my toe in the water next year! Watch out, boys!
Any extras, John?!!! It was great seeing so many of my old friends, making new ones & putting faces to screen names or voices on the phone. And, even though you had to be 65 to play in it, the pool was stellar. Don't think those old curmudgeons can't play! LOL And, even though everyone was there to play their asses off & win, the thing that makes this event my absolute favorite of the year is the camaraderie - it's exceptional.
It's hard to explain why I think that is, but I'm going to try...
By the time we get to be our age, we are who we are & are generally pretty comfortable in our own skins. We can appreciate the uniqueness of our differences in personality, geography, accents & regional idioms, cultures & our games without the animosity, jealousies or arrogance of youth. What brings us together - our common bond - is the time we came up in & our love of the game itself - even if we didn't know each other in the old days. We all were genuinely happy to see each other & were there to enjoy the time we were sharing. We sweated, side bet, played our matches & matched up with each other. No arguments, no shouting, no problems. We talked about or missed those who weren't there because of death or other reasons. And we told or listened to each other's stories & laughed & laughed & laughed - even if we'd heard them before or WERE THERE!!!
Anyone that knows me knows that I've sweated a zillion high caliber & high dollar matches over the past 40 years or so & this tournament was no exception. As in the past, we definitely had some monsters there this year & everyone played hard but the player who impressed me the most this trip was Ike Runnels. I knew he was one of the top Chicago players but I hadn't really watched him play for any length of time until this weekend. All I can tell you is he is one tough, hard playing SOB!!! And, man...did he play great! Yup, Ike - you've got a new fan!
Thank you, Ming, for your hospitality & even though we didn't hang as much this year as we had in past years, it was great to see you again! Love you, sis...
Thanks to my road dawg, Colonel Bille - I think we survived our first road trip!
Thanks, Leonard Bludworth for everything! It's always great to see you!
Thanks to Kentucky Bill Meyers & Zach Goldsmith for the great stream for those who couldn't be there!
And thanks to everyone who was there - it was so good to see all of you...Billy Incardona, Jerry Matchin, Samaar & James C , Dee, Ahmed, John Smith, Sammy J, Steve B, Tommy D, Bill M, Maurice L, Scott K, Casey Killian, Robert N, Larry L, Don S, Phil Martin, Gulfport Doc, Bob Herchik, Dave G, Tony Catanese, John DiToro, Disco Dave, Manny Chau, LS John, Jim Tomassino, Keith Thompson, Richard Black, Red Walling, Ed Tarbutton - so many people. If I left anyone out, I'm so sorry!
Anyway...to wrap it up - it was great seeing everyone & I can't wait for the next one cuz I plan to dip my toe in the water next year! Watch out, boys!
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