Misspent youth
I grew up in a small town in southern Missouri. I was the best pool player I had ever known
The typical big fish in a small pond. My Granny used to take me to all the bars along the Missouri Arkansas line and I spent many a late night relieving inebriated patrons of their hard earned money. My lovely girlfriend was always right there beside me (now my wife of many years
Sometime about my senior year (89) we got the idea to road trip to Chicago. I had always heard about Chris's billiards, had seen the Color of Money about a thousand times and I just new I would make it rich. As luck would have it the weekend I showed up they were having a big tournament...I don't remember what it was called, Joss tour? McDermott tour? something like that...anyway my girlfriend and I are walking into this place and I'm taking it all in, looking for the easy money! The thing that caught my eye was this guy on a table without pockets! It only had 3 balls, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what was going on. I started talking to the guy, his name was Dave. He explained the game to me and showed me some shots, he was very polite to both me and my girlfriend, kind of quiet. He asked me if I was going to play the 9-ball tournament or the one-pocket...I said I had never heard of one pocket. So he showed me some shots, and explained the rules of the game. The thing I remember most was the tables were HUGE! (remember I was just a small town bar player, I didn't even know they made table that big! lol) We had dinner together and we traded stories.
I decided to play in the one pocket tournament, with obvious results, but my LOVE of one pocket was born. Over the next 30+ years my wife and I have run into Dave at some different events. We even ran into each other once in Joplin, MO when he was crashing on a buddy of mine's couch. I went over to my buddies to hang out and play some pool and he "introduced" me to Dave. We had a good laugh over that, and how small the world can be.
The last time I saw him was in Kansas City. I was there for work and stopped in at Side Pockets and they had a tournament going on. I thought I would eat something and watch a little pool. I started talking to this kid at the next table. He looked about 17 (course they all look like that to me now)...anyhow, his girlfriend was there. In talking to them both I found out they were from a small town. His girlfriend always went with him, etc. etc. Needless to say it was a very nostalgic moment for me.
A few minutes later, they called the kids name, and his opponents name for the next match. I hear him tell his girlfriend that this should be easy cause he has never heard of this guy.
It's a race to 5, 9-ball on bar box diamonds. They lag for break and the kid loses..his opponent racks the first rack (its rack your own, winner break). 5 games and about 20 minutes later (the kid never got to the table)...he is obviously flustered, comes back to his seat, telling me and his girlfriend "I can't believe it! Who the heck is that old guy!" "I didn't even get a chance to shoot, there was nothing I could do!" I leaned over and told him "You could have lagged better."
He kind of gave me a funny look, his girlfriend looked from me to him like she wasn't sure how he would react. Truth be told I wasn't sure either. Was he gonna be a young hot head? Or was he a student of the game, seeking every opportunity to improve? Well he kind of grinned sheepishly at me, and said "I know right?" Then we all laughed about it.
I told him my story. We were very much alike, I mean he was me 30+ years ago. Then I told him not to let it get him down. "Dave Matlock was the greatest bar table player in the World! and back when it was the mud ball? "frrget abt it!" There was nobody that could touch him.
I bought the young couples lunch and told them that if he did the same for Dave he would be sure to share some great experiences with them. I left as they were walking over to Dave's table to introduce themselves.
I love pool. The word's don't do justice to my feelings for the game, or the people I have met along the way.
Thank you.