Brilliant Shark Move - The Compliment

Kickin' Chicken

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My dear friend, New York Larry, and I, were talking pool (of course) the other day when he told me what I feel is one of the best shark moves ever. And, it may not have even been intended.

Larry says he was playing in a tourney long ago at West End where there were some very notable players including Ginky, Neptune Joe, Sigel, and Earl to name a few.

A guy comes over and says he has been watching him and really likes how he plays. Larry responded; "you better take another look around this room" referring to the great players in attendance.

The man clarifies, it's how you move your feet, you move like Fred Astaire when you're settling in to shoot. :cool:

Larry told me that was it for him in that tourney; all's he could think of during each shot thereafter was what were his feet doing. :eek: :eek:

Shot focus, ALL GONE!!!

I asked him if the guy seemed to know his opponent and he said, geez, I never thought about that possibility...

I can't wait til the next time I'm in a close match so I can tell my opponent how beautiful his footwork is. :grin-square:


Stay tuned for an upcoming NY Larry story where he hits a guy in the back of the head with a giant salami causing an eye to come flying out because he lost and wouldn't pay. :shocked: I'm not kidding. :yes:

best,
brian kc
 
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Thanks, I have a feeling that fame is on the way. I'll have to remember my pool stories over many years of play and and write them for you. It was nice playing pool with you yesterday, until I got so light headed I couldn't see straight. See you on Tuesday. Larry,
P.S- When I moved to CT. 12 years ago, some pool players would ask me ( where are you from) and I would reply New York. Before I knew it I was called N.Y.Larry
 
I like walking up to the first tee and asking my fellow golfers if they think the arms push the shoulders around in the backswing or if the shoulders pull the arms.
 
I like walking up to the first tee and asking my fellow golfers if they think the arms push the shoulders around in the backswing or if the shoulders pull the arms.

this is so funny because in Larry and my conversation about the Fred Astaire comment, he added that during a golf game with a guy who kept 'one-putting', he asked 'while putting do you breathe in or breathe out' and voila, the 'one-putting' show was over. :grin-square:

best,
brian kc
 
Wow you guys are cruel!
Come to think of it, I've been thrown off by compliments, too.
I had an opponent tell me I have great wrist action and I ended up thinking about it and overhitting shots and twisting my wrist all over the place. I don't know if it was on purpose, but I got sharked bad and my opponent came off as being a super nice guy.
 
This along with the guy who sits and complains they whole time how much they suck.
Had that happen in a race to 5 years ago.
I was up 3 - 0 and let my guard down and let him come back and beat me.
Learning lesson for me.
 
When your feet start to move like Fred Astaire's, you start treating your cue and table like Ginger Rogers.

Never the less, just leaving for a League Scotch Tourney. Thanks for the tip Brian. We is gonna need all the help we can get today.
 
The "compliment" has been a low level shark move for as long as I can remember. I don't know how many times I've heard somebody say "Oh wow, what a great shot!" and watch the next shot get dogged. It's a good one.
:grin:
 
All it takes is something to get in your head and you dwell on it. This is a true story. DiLiberto was playing in a tournament and during one match a kid in like the second row was eating potato chips. He was crumpling the bag and crunching the chips it was horrable.

Finally Danny could not take it any more. He went over to the kid and asked him to not eat the chips till he was done playing. Then he went to the counter and didn't want any more potato chips sold when he was playing. We all thought it was funny but he was serious. He comes over and says, "What can I do the kid eats like an animal". We can't stop laughing that this world champion player is getting sharked by a little kid. Danny is a good story teller, if he remembers this, I am sure he does, ask him about it. It will be a very funny story.
 
Somehow my brain usually interprets a compliment as, "Let me see you hit the next ball into a rail." :frown:
 
I was kinda shark proof.
To me, pool is a war game, my opponent's comments, good or bad, didn't
matter too much.

I had a friend who was vulnerable to conversations from the guy he was
playing or the side action.
He was one of those people who claimed "He just played the table."
I told him "This is a war you're in, and what you're paying attention to
is the enemy camp."

You can always socialize later.
 
One of the better sharks I heard about came from Johnny Ross, he was playing some $50/game snooker against a guy who was running the numbers out and would win if he potted the last ball. Johnny was leading by a huge margin in the beginning and watched helplessly as his lead dwindled with each ball the guy made, so he "whispers" to an onlooker just loud enough for his opponent to hear:

"If he makes this it will be the greatest comeback I have ever seen."

Of course the guy hears this, pauses, then proceeds to shoot the next ball right into the rail.
 
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