I Did It Again!!

Well, singles tournaments and I just didn't get along this season here in south TX! I blew it again today in the National Singles at San Benito. And, again it was in the last frame! It will get better cause it can't get worse. I can't complain - I've had my best season ever placing in 10 of 19 tournaments, with 5 first-place finishes, for a total of 161 pts. That's really good and I'm happy with it. I will win the TSSA Tourn. of Champions and the TX National Singles someday, or die trying! This was the last tourn. of the season here in TX and we won't be competing again till we get to NC for the summer. The tournaments there will begin the end of May. The competition there is just as tough or tougher than here and the courts are much faster, but Stan and I like that. So, I won't be posting till after the first tourn. in NC. You can keep up with NC tournament results at: theshuffler.org (Tourn. Results), where I will be posting results every week during the summer. God Bless & Happy Shuffling!

I Blew It Again!

I'm so disgusted with myself - I can't sleep, and I have a sick feeling in my stomach. I can't believe I blew another major tourn. when I had a good chance of taking 1st! Yesterday, I played 3 perfect games, went back this morning to face my partner, Lucille. We had a great game and it came down to my hammer to win and I drew an eight. Now I was in the final four and facing an Amateur. Now granted, sometimes it's difficult to play an Amateur because you never know what they're going to do next, and much of the time they have an incredible amount of luck. Ella May had played an excellent tourn., but all I had to do was beat her and I would face a lady in the finals that I was confident I could beat. But, it didn't happen! Ella May played great against me and had some of that luck I mentioned. She led me most of the game, sometimes by nearly 30 pts., I was able to catch up toward the end of the game and needed only my hammer to win. The wind was gusting 30 to 40 mph cross-court and that had my confidence shaken, especially with my 'clearing the board'. So, by trying to play the board instead of clearing in the last frame, I totally blew it. I got 14 pts., but she got 17! I was dumbfounded - I had let this Amateur beat me!! I blew it and everyone agreed!!! Just like last season when I paniced and got beat in the last frame of the National Singles - when am I going to learn?! I know, you say, it's just a game, but shuffleboard is more than that to me. I strive to do my best at everything I take on and have had a great season this winter. This was the TSSA Tourn. of Champions and I wanted it so bad. I had taken 3rd and 4th in past years and won 2 jackets, which a great number of shufflers don't, and will never have, but this year I wanted 1st so bad. Not to be, and I'll have to wait a year to try again. I ended up with 3rd, another jacket and $50. Stan also took 3rd and got his first jacket - I was really happy for him. Now, I have a week to get this out of my system and prepare for this year's National Singles, Mar. 17th. Third is good out of 70-some shufflers, but I expected more out of me and so did my fellow shufflers. It's hard to let it go and in some ways I know it will always haunt me, but it most surely won't be the last time I BLOW IT, so I may as well shake it off and move on. God Bless & Happy Shuffling.

Shuffle Update

Well, Bill and I totally flopped in the last two mixed-doubles tournaments, and Stan and I totally flopped in the Golden Age Olympics mixed-doubles! But, Lucille and I took 1st today in the Magic Valley Electric doubles tournament. It was a non-sanctioned tourn., so we didn't receive points, but we received $70 each. Not bad!! God Bless & Happy Shuffling!

A GOOD TWO WEEKS

Well, I've had a good couple weeks since my last blog - not perfect, but very good. In last week's State doubles tournament Lucille and I took 1st in the consolation bracket, earning another 10 pts. In this week's State doubles tournament we took 1st Main for another 25 pts.! I am now in the lead with pts. for the season with 153!! Today was a little disappointing - Lucille and I had gone undefeated in the McAllen Golden Age Olympics Doubles and played in the finals today. The wind was gusting at 45 to 50 mph and we lost 2 games to take the Silver. Was really hoping for Gold, but our opponents just played better and handled the wind better than we did. I am so thrilled with my accomplishments this season - I've played really well. The next two State tournaments will be Mixed Doubles. Bill and I have taken 1st Main three times so far, so I'm hoping we'll do well in these next two. God Bless & Happy Shuffling, Sandi

Gold in '07, Silver in '08 & GOLD in '09!

I won the GOLD in the McAllen Golden Age Olympics today! This is a 3-day double elimination tournament held every year for all Rio Grande Valley players, and I went undefeated to take 1st place. I must say I played really well thru the whole tournament, not having a tough time with any opponent. This was the shuffleboard 'singles' tournament, next week the 'doubles' will begin and in two weeks the 'mixed-doubles'. I will play with Lucille in the 'doubles' and Stan in the 'mixed-doubles'. Hopefully, we will do as well. God Bless & Happy Shuffling!

WE DID OK!

Well, another 1st this week, but in Consolation not Main. That's OK - it's another 10 points for the season, which gives me a total of 118 so far and I'm thrilled about that. My partner, Lucille just came off of a 2 wk. bout with the flu and was not quite up to par. We both lost our first game Tues. on a court we just couldn't handle. I finally figured out way too late that you could not shoot from the '1' position. The court was high in the center and you had to play it from the '3' or '4' position, which our opponents did. They lost their second game and were out, but we won our next five games. The Golden Age Olympics is also going on now in McAllen. It's a double elimination event, so you can loose one and work your way back up. So far, after only two games I am undefeated in that tournament and will play again today. I'll be up against a tough opponent this morning, but if my 'clearing' is on I should be OK. God Bless & Happy Shuffling!

WE DID IT AGAIN!!!

What a great end to a week that began really bad. On Monday we had to put our beloved kitty down due to complications from diabetes that she developed in September. I knew it was coming and I thought I had prepared myself, but it was so very hard to do. She had been with us for a little over ten years and like Stan has said so many times, she's the best little kitty we've ever had. Wednesday was my 55th birthday and the first day of this week's tournament. It was a beautiful day, a little cool but lots of sunshine. Our fellow shufflers were very kind with birthday wishes and hugs, and Bill and I won four games in a row. There were 102 teams entered in this tournament so we had to return the next morning and win a 5th game to be in the semis. We did that and also won the semis and the finals for the 2nd week in a row, and our 3rd First of the season! It is so much fun being Bill's partner and even more fun to win so many games. Don't know how long we can keep it up, but he says we are 'just getting started'. God Bless & Happy Shuffling!