MGW Shifter Problem - did I just screw myself?

So I finally got around to putting in my shifter last night. the center console area was a bitch to get off, because it's an 86, and everything under there was rotting, melting away and stuff.

Anyway, I fixed it all, and I put the shifter in. However, when I was mounting the shift ball into the transmission, there were instructions that I needed to place the ball into the plastic cup if I had it. The whole time I'm reading this, I'm just like, "WTF?" cause I didn't see one.

So I get everything set up, sealed up with the silicone, bolted back down, and it's cleanup time. As I'm picking up my old shifter, I look at the old ball because I see... the plastic cup the directions were talking about still stuck to the ball of the old shifter. God damn it.

So here I am... wondering if I just screwed myself. I took the car out afterwards and it feels GREAT compared to the stock shifter, like 1,000,000% better, and it shifts well into all gears, with a very small amount of travel inbetween gears. Nothing that I don't mind though. Totally acceptable, and it actually feels pretty good.

So my questions are...

1. Will I damage anything if I keep driving it around with that little plastic cup off?

2. Will my shifts feel any better than they already do if I go back in and install the plastic cup?

Thanks for reading, and I hope you guys can help.

****...

Well, thanks for answering guys. Even though I'm not happy with the answer, I guess it's a ton better than being unhappy when my transmission\shifter starts to show wear after a few hundred miles.