Arrived Thursday before class to 110 F Heat. (But it is a dry heat) (Yeah) 110 is still 110 F, just a bit more bearable with the low humidity. Did a little walking around waiting for OneMoonCircles and his son to arrive from Colorado. The three of us went to a featured restaurant on Drive-ins, Diners and Dives and had a so so dinner. Would we go back? Maybe for the pizza that we saw being eaten by other people. Looked good! OMC and son wanted to hit the tables. so off we did.

First place found one table crowded as a young lady had just made 5 of 6 firebet and was working on 6. Another table was empty so I took the end to block and off they went. Doing so so, but the new CF’s at the end were throwing mid 20’s. Go figure!

OMC’s son finally settles down and has a nice roll. The dice work there way back to OMC and all during this time the BIG DUDE from Idaho is shouting, gimme a C/E, hardways all around and one for the Homie’s all late. Try to tell him that once the dice are in front of the shooter, that bet stop and hands up from the table.Had to keep reminding him that his winnings had to be picked up before the next roll!

Then he throws in another late C/E while OMC is setting and the dice hit his hand and fall to the table. I thought OMC was going to take his head off. The table was a bit tense and everyone was rolling their eyes. He did get a bit better as time went by as he kept asking questions about the various bets and what to do.

Oh well, off to find Goldfinger and JBW! No Luck!

Friday AM finds us near class with a nice table and crew. I threw twice with a 24 and a 29. OMC and son were doing okay but struggling. OMC’s son was coming down with something and he was heading downstream physically.
But we had OMC’s Aunt to see as it was her 92nd birthday. NICE lady. Fun time. Brought back many good but tearful memories of my Mom who just recently passed away.

Meet and Greet has a whole different meaning this year than last. I get to see teammates (Go Team Under The Radar Alumni) from last year, board friends and instructors from last year, who now know me a little bit better from my posts on GTC.

Saturday before class sees me near class and able to buy in with another GTCer. He does okay, I pass so he can try again, and he does a short roll. He leaves for a break and I slide over to SL1.5 with a young lady at Stick still. I throw and realize I forgot to wash my hands. Seven out quickly and go wash up. When I come back the boxman calls me aside and askes me to step back a bit to protect the privacy of the stick lady (HR concerns). She is relieved to dealer and a stick from yesterday comes in. I throw again and a voice says from across the table if you throw like that again I will ask you to leave. I color up and say good day to the crew. Interesting it was the the same boxman as yesterday, with most of the same crew. Go figure. The rest of the times I am in the area he points me out to the other box people and has a few words with them with some arm motions. Later in the week with other shifts, they roll their eyes when they hear of my story. The other 2 shifts have no problems and just step back a half step. just like at home! A couple of these stickman were setting the dice for me after just one throw. Tipping does help.

Time for class with many small changes made to my throw. The refresher class as Frank says is about throwing and us trying to improve what you are doing. By the end of the day I am bushed. OMC and son want me to go out, but I stay back, exercise a bit, do some more practice and get some rest.

Sunday morning sees me trying again, but the same boxman is there, so I turn and go and do some reading and writing.

Class proceeds with all four of us making improvements from where we were. Dom goes around the room over the two days and personally looks at each person. He finally gets to me and says that looks okay. He looks again and again and says something just isn’t right. Finally he changes my grip to a pronounced C Grip and the dice look better and react better. (See a related post on this). I continue to throw but all of the little changes and one big one are playing havoc with my muscles and mind and their performance. This will takes a few weeks to groove in to muscle memory and routine.

An interesting comment during the betting table exercise (thanks PitBoss and Dom for your betting suggestions for the future!), I am throwing and Dom comments i can’t believe the size of his hands and how he can hold the dice so lightly. Almost 50 years of playing the Trumpet helps.

Many thanks to Rafter as none of us just want to stand around so he keeps us practicing and showing us some other tips for different situations we might run into. Thanks Raf.

Box number contest was a back and forth contest. A lot of cheering going on. Daryl was having lots of fun

During this Darren show up to watch his father throw, and then all four of the previous Team Under The radar are present. Nice reunion!

Class ends with fist bumps, high fives and many conversations of the present and the future.

Many thanks go out to Dice Pilot (Toothpicks and dice rotation), Skinny (Loose arm, longer back swing and balance), Stickman (Extension and grip), Pitboss (Cadence and different throwing procedure and betting), MissouriRick (shorter backswing), Nick (timing, lower arch), Rafter ( all the above and the ability to watch his throw – smooth), Dom (new grip and betting)

That was the Good and Some Bad, now for the Ugly (Another Post)

Replies: