Kobachi
Scarred but Smarter
I'm packing up, going through stuff, moving in w/ the fiance, selling my place.
Unpacked an old school paper from my frosh year in college, 1990. My "US Open Experience". I had totally forgotten about this paper, never forgot the experience, thought I would share it with some of you. (This was my freshman year, my studies weren't up to snuff due to baseball, so I will include all of the misspells and poor grammar to keep it original).
THE U.S. OPEN
This past November, I had the wonderful privilege of being an official at the United States Open Straight Pool Tournament. The Tournament was sponsored by I.W. Harper Bourbon Whiskey. Although there were others my age who also shared this privilege with me, I don't think any of them got more out of the experience than I did.
I consider myself a very knowledgeable billiard player, learning from the best players in Chicago, yet, many say I am very modest. However, I learned that having these wonderful acquaintances would lead me to brushing shoulders with the best pool players in the world, as I did last November. A retired mechanical engineer, now full-time teacher/player, Don Feeney, "The Preacher" from Naperville, asked me to help out with the tournament, and I gladly accepted. Don is better known as appearing in the movie, "The Color of Money" which aired in 1987, and he was asked to be the head official at the tournament.
After Mr. Feeney asked me to help, there was nothing else I could think about except the tournament. Just being in the same building with some of the players that I had admired so much gave me butterflies. Such names as Steve Mizerak, better known for appearing in the Lite Beer Commercial, Mike Sigel, Nick Varner, Jimmy Mataya, and "The King" James Rempe. Before now, I had never seen these "Names" other than on TV or in magazines.
Well, little did I know that my duty at the Tournament was to keep score and keep track of fouls on both players. Sounds easy, sure, until you're sitting three feet from the table, with the lights shining on you like a thousand suns, and the camera looking at you like an angry parent after you had just been caught red-handed. I would look into the audience watching the event and ask myself, why I couldn't just enjoy watching it like the rest of those people? (But I didn't have to pay to get in!) I seriously thought I was more nervous than either of the players, who had thousands of dollars at risk, while I had nothing. The whole aura of the thing was just too intense, being down-town Chicago, The Congress Hotel. But after the first match, the butterflies flew away, and I began to enjoy myself.
At the end of the Tournament came the highlight of the whole event, which lasted a week. I was asked to be the official scorekeeper of the Women's Final match, to be televised by ESPN and the sports Channel on Cable. It was something I will never forget.
After the tournament was over, I bought a T-shirt and had all of my favorite players sign the back. I'll never wear it. Or at least not until I'm good enough so some kid will ask me to sign his!
Hope you enjoyed my little flashback. Oh, the teacher gave me an A-.
Cheers, Kevin.
Unpacked an old school paper from my frosh year in college, 1990. My "US Open Experience". I had totally forgotten about this paper, never forgot the experience, thought I would share it with some of you. (This was my freshman year, my studies weren't up to snuff due to baseball, so I will include all of the misspells and poor grammar to keep it original).
THE U.S. OPEN
This past November, I had the wonderful privilege of being an official at the United States Open Straight Pool Tournament. The Tournament was sponsored by I.W. Harper Bourbon Whiskey. Although there were others my age who also shared this privilege with me, I don't think any of them got more out of the experience than I did.
I consider myself a very knowledgeable billiard player, learning from the best players in Chicago, yet, many say I am very modest. However, I learned that having these wonderful acquaintances would lead me to brushing shoulders with the best pool players in the world, as I did last November. A retired mechanical engineer, now full-time teacher/player, Don Feeney, "The Preacher" from Naperville, asked me to help out with the tournament, and I gladly accepted. Don is better known as appearing in the movie, "The Color of Money" which aired in 1987, and he was asked to be the head official at the tournament.
After Mr. Feeney asked me to help, there was nothing else I could think about except the tournament. Just being in the same building with some of the players that I had admired so much gave me butterflies. Such names as Steve Mizerak, better known for appearing in the Lite Beer Commercial, Mike Sigel, Nick Varner, Jimmy Mataya, and "The King" James Rempe. Before now, I had never seen these "Names" other than on TV or in magazines.
Well, little did I know that my duty at the Tournament was to keep score and keep track of fouls on both players. Sounds easy, sure, until you're sitting three feet from the table, with the lights shining on you like a thousand suns, and the camera looking at you like an angry parent after you had just been caught red-handed. I would look into the audience watching the event and ask myself, why I couldn't just enjoy watching it like the rest of those people? (But I didn't have to pay to get in!) I seriously thought I was more nervous than either of the players, who had thousands of dollars at risk, while I had nothing. The whole aura of the thing was just too intense, being down-town Chicago, The Congress Hotel. But after the first match, the butterflies flew away, and I began to enjoy myself.
At the end of the Tournament came the highlight of the whole event, which lasted a week. I was asked to be the official scorekeeper of the Women's Final match, to be televised by ESPN and the sports Channel on Cable. It was something I will never forget.
After the tournament was over, I bought a T-shirt and had all of my favorite players sign the back. I'll never wear it. Or at least not until I'm good enough so some kid will ask me to sign his!
Hope you enjoyed my little flashback. Oh, the teacher gave me an A-.
Cheers, Kevin.
So, I shall assume that you will be shooting a lot less pool now