I often wonder what in the heck is it about pool that keeps me hooked. I actually did take a hiatus from it for about 15 years to pursue a career, but pool never left my heart. "The Color of Money" poster would hang right alongside me in my cubicle. In fact, some of the fondest memories of my life came from pool.
When I was actively playing, I used to enjoy on a daily basis being at my neighborhood pool hangout. It was always like walking into the home of an old friend. I could tell you who was in the joint by the cars in the parking lot. :grin-square:
Whether a social player, a shortstop, an author, an industry member, promoter, teacher, railbird, or pro, we all make up the very fabric of pool. Some things about pool have changed, but the comaraderie, the social interaction of the game itself, seems to keep us coming back for more.
One such pool room where the pool tradition lives on is Tacony Billiards, near Philly. On a dreary weekday afternoon, coffee in styrofoam cups scents the air, along with the day's special of meatball sandwiches, as legends long retired from the working class sit along the sideline like crows on a fence, lying in wait, watching a tight game of one-pocket.
Crack! Off goes the 1 ball. Crack! In goes the 5.
Open almost 20 years, Tacony Billiards has become a place to belong. Every face is familiar, and the band of regulars reflects the growing diversity of the neighborhood.
"At any time you can find world champions," said Charlie Newsom, 73, known as Camden Charlie, a pool player for 60 years. He spent his professional career in South Jersey making auto parts for Ford. Now he's dedicated to the game of one-pocket. Between games, he says, "We tell each other a lot of lies about what we used to do. It's just a great, great bunch of guys."
There are Spanish Mike, Russian Kenny, Spanish Lou, Gary the Bear, and the sergeant - one of Philadelphia's Finest. There's Shaky, who pops in from his roofing job for a couple of games before he picks up his wife from work, and Benny.
"When I was a younger man," says Benny, "my wife would grumble about me being at the pool hall. Now that I'm retired, she says: 'Go to the pool hall, and come back for dinner.' "
I used to really enjoy going to my neighborhood pool hangout, much like Tacony Billiards. It was always like walking into the home of an old friend. I could tell you who was in the joint by the cars in the parking lot. :grin-square:
One legend, Spanish Mike, 77, a round man with bifocals and slicked hair under his cap, comes just about every day from his Northern Liberties home, where he lives with his wife of 54 years. Retired from pool, the grandfather plays rummy in a smoke-filled room in the back. "It's peaceful," he explains.
Mike LeBron started playing pool at 13 in his native Puerto Rico. He then worked in Philadelphia for 20 years as a cutter in a vinyl-processing plant. "They closed the place," he says softly, "and I went back to pool."
In his heyday, he beat the best. He shot nine-ball in Germany, the Philippines, Austria, and Norway. In Taiwan, he said, he was crowned world champion. In Puerto Rico, he added, an annual tournament is held in his honor. In his home, LeBron has more than a dozen trophies displayed, and a shiny pool stick engraved with the title "Champion of Champions." He won it in 1991 at the ESPN-broadcast International Challenge of Champions tournament, along with 50 grand.
"You have to have a lot of heart" to be a good player, LeBron says.
Read more about a traditional pool room (Tacony Billiards), Spanish Mike, and the regular case of players: Tradition Lives on at Tacony Billiards [Retrieved 15 May 2011]
Check out Spanish Mike's ring. I've actually seen it up close.
When I was actively playing, I used to enjoy on a daily basis being at my neighborhood pool hangout. It was always like walking into the home of an old friend. I could tell you who was in the joint by the cars in the parking lot. :grin-square:
Whether a social player, a shortstop, an author, an industry member, promoter, teacher, railbird, or pro, we all make up the very fabric of pool. Some things about pool have changed, but the comaraderie, the social interaction of the game itself, seems to keep us coming back for more.
One such pool room where the pool tradition lives on is Tacony Billiards, near Philly. On a dreary weekday afternoon, coffee in styrofoam cups scents the air, along with the day's special of meatball sandwiches, as legends long retired from the working class sit along the sideline like crows on a fence, lying in wait, watching a tight game of one-pocket.
Crack! Off goes the 1 ball. Crack! In goes the 5.
Open almost 20 years, Tacony Billiards has become a place to belong. Every face is familiar, and the band of regulars reflects the growing diversity of the neighborhood.
"At any time you can find world champions," said Charlie Newsom, 73, known as Camden Charlie, a pool player for 60 years. He spent his professional career in South Jersey making auto parts for Ford. Now he's dedicated to the game of one-pocket. Between games, he says, "We tell each other a lot of lies about what we used to do. It's just a great, great bunch of guys."
There are Spanish Mike, Russian Kenny, Spanish Lou, Gary the Bear, and the sergeant - one of Philadelphia's Finest. There's Shaky, who pops in from his roofing job for a couple of games before he picks up his wife from work, and Benny.
"When I was a younger man," says Benny, "my wife would grumble about me being at the pool hall. Now that I'm retired, she says: 'Go to the pool hall, and come back for dinner.' "
I used to really enjoy going to my neighborhood pool hangout, much like Tacony Billiards. It was always like walking into the home of an old friend. I could tell you who was in the joint by the cars in the parking lot. :grin-square:
One legend, Spanish Mike, 77, a round man with bifocals and slicked hair under his cap, comes just about every day from his Northern Liberties home, where he lives with his wife of 54 years. Retired from pool, the grandfather plays rummy in a smoke-filled room in the back. "It's peaceful," he explains.
Mike LeBron started playing pool at 13 in his native Puerto Rico. He then worked in Philadelphia for 20 years as a cutter in a vinyl-processing plant. "They closed the place," he says softly, "and I went back to pool."
In his heyday, he beat the best. He shot nine-ball in Germany, the Philippines, Austria, and Norway. In Taiwan, he said, he was crowned world champion. In Puerto Rico, he added, an annual tournament is held in his honor. In his home, LeBron has more than a dozen trophies displayed, and a shiny pool stick engraved with the title "Champion of Champions." He won it in 1991 at the ESPN-broadcast International Challenge of Champions tournament, along with 50 grand.
"You have to have a lot of heart" to be a good player, LeBron says.
Read more about a traditional pool room (Tacony Billiards), Spanish Mike, and the regular case of players: Tradition Lives on at Tacony Billiards [Retrieved 15 May 2011]
Check out Spanish Mike's ring. I've actually seen it up close.
![20110512_inq_pbilliard10z-f[1].jpg](/data/attachments/134/134455-4786190ff0ccfbc42be673c490393f35.jpg?hash=R4YZD_DM-8)
![20110512_inq_pbilliard10z-g[1].jpg](/data/attachments/134/134456-44a4761c88766d11a2cee7bea4f573ae.jpg?hash=RKR2HIh2bR)
![800px-Mike_Lebron[1].jpg](/data/attachments/134/134468-c72fc6c2ab0393c5a0d0ce7c3ccef66f.jpg?hash=xy_GwqsDk8)
![Gold-Star-Glitter[1].gif](/data/attachments/134/134478-590f2099f7537ce52e3fa7215b3823a3.jpg?hash=WQ8gmfdTfO)
![fabFour1007_B[1].jpg](/data/attachments/134/134479-2366924d814db941a405ba557da79d30.jpg?hash=I2aSTYFNuU)
