Overwhelmed

Pool League. A fickle mistress that one. Thanks for all the kind responses to my first mention of the topic. I figure I should elaborate a bit on the developments since the initial post.

The APA (Amatuer Poolplayers Association) is a national league with city-level franchises. Each franchise has it's own bylaws and is run by an individual (or couple or whoever owns the franchise). Anyway, the whole beauty of this league is the handicap system which they call the Equalizer® (which I always hear a giant swoosh sound when I read...).

The idea is fairly common among sports and games: golf, bowling, etc. Higher skilled players have to work harder to win against lower skilled players. Makes beautiful, perfect sense. The thing is, the player's skill levels must be accurate for it to work. Ah, you see, the crux of the post.  We'll get back to that - for now a bit of a primer on the APA skill levels -- with sports analogies!

Skills levels range from 2 to 7

2 - You received a trophy for participating in T-Ball

3 - You won Most Valuable Player in fifth grade Little League

4 - You are the City Champion in Middle School Basketball

5 - You scored the most points in the Big Game in High School

6 - You are recruited to the college of your choice

7 - You are drafted to the Pros

As you can see, each of these skill levels is respectable in it's own right. The thing is though, I feel a lot like I'm standing on the field next to Chris Simms on opening day against the Patriots when I really just shoulda been dropped off at the City Championships by my mom.

The standings from last night had me ranked as a seven. Last week I was ranked a six (I lost). I started the first week as a three (which I admit was too low). I don't think I ever played as higher than a five in NYC over the course of three years and maybe seven seasons. Hopefully this error will be resolved soon (our team coach is going to look into it) 'cause the I don't like the way the Patriots are looking at me.