14.1 Rules Question, from The Twilight Zone, Friday, October 13, 1961
(just 18 days after The Hustler was released on September 25, 1961)
see the episode here:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/440810
Do the rules of 14.1 allow a player to shoot at the last ball of the last rack, without racking up the other 14 balls, when both players are tied and each need only one ball to win? This happened recently, in a fateful match in The Twilight Zone.
Back on October 13, 1961 an episode of The Twilight Zone called "A Game of Pool" aired. It starred Jack Klugman as Jesse, a pool player convinced he is currently "the best cue on Randolph Street", and Jonathan Winters as the well-known champ "Fats" Brown, whose photo on the wall proclaims him the best.
Fats (Winters) can't defend his reputation in person because, well, he's dead. Been dead. Over 15 years dead.
On the night in question Jesse (Klugman) is alone in the pool hall, a small room that looks like every tiny going-to-seed pool room of small town America in the late 50s. There are a couple of pool tables, a billiard table, powder dispenser and house sticks on the wall, some snacks, photos of some basketball play, "Fats Brown" the champ, and a horse's head.
Jesse starts the show all alone in the pool room, looking things over with a big smile, talking to himself and admiring a great shot he just made, talking up his own skill, then going to Fats picture on the wall to say "I'd give anything for just one game with you, I know I could beat you, then people would quit saying "your pretty good, Jesse, but Fats is better, Fats is the best!"
Well, this being the Twilight Zone, Jesse gets his wish - Fats is called back from his pool table in cloudy Purgatory and shows up to offer Jesse the big game he wanted, with a twist. Jesse seems pretty confused by everything that's happening, but they go back and forth and finally make a game of 14.1 to 300 points. The stakes are high: Jesse gives up his life if he loses, but if he wins, he'll live and be recognized as the best, better even than old Fats Brown ever was... that's an enticement Jesse just can't pass up.
They play. Some of the shots are corny - there's a huge miscue made simply for dramatic effect. Jesse shoots (and makes) a three-rail shot into the side, despite having easier shots in front of him. Fats acts as if he is about to school young Jesse, but instead he jacks up the butt of his cue and bounces whitey down table, missing his OB a mile and opening up the rack for Jesse.
Needless to say, the match goes back and forth but finally edges down to the wire, score 299 Jesse, 296 Fats. With 4 balls left on the table, Jesse is lining up an easy corner pocket shot for his life and all the marbles. Here's where it gets interesting, or maybe confusing I should say. Fats sharks Jesse, actually seems to jiggle Klugman's cue, which makes him miss his game-winner ball #300, then Fats razzes him saying 'a little talk, a little gamesmanship, and you go all to pieces"... It's Fats turn now - he runs the next 3 balls, then for some reason he does not re-rack when he is supposed to, before shooting at the last ball of that rack. Instead Fats shoots at the last ball alone on the table by itself, now his winning ball #300 - and he dogs it, missing a one-rail bank in the corner.
Jesse is back shooting, again at the lone last ball, his game-winner #300. I still can't figure out why there is no re-rack to bring the other 14 balls up as I think should have been...
Leaving out the question of how many fouls it would take to get a score of 299-299 and one ball left on the table, would the normal 14.1 rules say to rack 'em after making the fourteenth ball of a rack, even though each player only needs to pocket that last ball of the last rack to win the match?
I'll leave off the usual Twilight Zone ending, suffice it to say Fats finally gets to go enjoy some fishing in his afterlife, instead of sitting alone at a pool table in cloudy gray Purgatory, waiting for some arrogant young hustler to call him down to earth time after time after time...
They packed a lot of entertainment in 24 minutes and 52 seconds of black-and-white television back in the late 50s and early 60s. Check out most any episode of The Twilight Zone, early half-hour episodes of Gunsmoke, Tales of Wells Fargo, Have Gun, Will Travel, and The Real McCoys. The performances were delivered solid and tight, the staging was usually first rate, and the actors generally were already well on their way to big careers, or about to take off to stardom.
See it for yourself on Hulu at:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/440810
(just 18 days after The Hustler was released on September 25, 1961)
see the episode here:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/440810
Do the rules of 14.1 allow a player to shoot at the last ball of the last rack, without racking up the other 14 balls, when both players are tied and each need only one ball to win? This happened recently, in a fateful match in The Twilight Zone.
Back on October 13, 1961 an episode of The Twilight Zone called "A Game of Pool" aired. It starred Jack Klugman as Jesse, a pool player convinced he is currently "the best cue on Randolph Street", and Jonathan Winters as the well-known champ "Fats" Brown, whose photo on the wall proclaims him the best.
Fats (Winters) can't defend his reputation in person because, well, he's dead. Been dead. Over 15 years dead.
On the night in question Jesse (Klugman) is alone in the pool hall, a small room that looks like every tiny going-to-seed pool room of small town America in the late 50s. There are a couple of pool tables, a billiard table, powder dispenser and house sticks on the wall, some snacks, photos of some basketball play, "Fats Brown" the champ, and a horse's head.
Jesse starts the show all alone in the pool room, looking things over with a big smile, talking to himself and admiring a great shot he just made, talking up his own skill, then going to Fats picture on the wall to say "I'd give anything for just one game with you, I know I could beat you, then people would quit saying "your pretty good, Jesse, but Fats is better, Fats is the best!"
Well, this being the Twilight Zone, Jesse gets his wish - Fats is called back from his pool table in cloudy Purgatory and shows up to offer Jesse the big game he wanted, with a twist. Jesse seems pretty confused by everything that's happening, but they go back and forth and finally make a game of 14.1 to 300 points. The stakes are high: Jesse gives up his life if he loses, but if he wins, he'll live and be recognized as the best, better even than old Fats Brown ever was... that's an enticement Jesse just can't pass up.
They play. Some of the shots are corny - there's a huge miscue made simply for dramatic effect. Jesse shoots (and makes) a three-rail shot into the side, despite having easier shots in front of him. Fats acts as if he is about to school young Jesse, but instead he jacks up the butt of his cue and bounces whitey down table, missing his OB a mile and opening up the rack for Jesse.
Needless to say, the match goes back and forth but finally edges down to the wire, score 299 Jesse, 296 Fats. With 4 balls left on the table, Jesse is lining up an easy corner pocket shot for his life and all the marbles. Here's where it gets interesting, or maybe confusing I should say. Fats sharks Jesse, actually seems to jiggle Klugman's cue, which makes him miss his game-winner ball #300, then Fats razzes him saying 'a little talk, a little gamesmanship, and you go all to pieces"... It's Fats turn now - he runs the next 3 balls, then for some reason he does not re-rack when he is supposed to, before shooting at the last ball of that rack. Instead Fats shoots at the last ball alone on the table by itself, now his winning ball #300 - and he dogs it, missing a one-rail bank in the corner.
Jesse is back shooting, again at the lone last ball, his game-winner #300. I still can't figure out why there is no re-rack to bring the other 14 balls up as I think should have been...
Leaving out the question of how many fouls it would take to get a score of 299-299 and one ball left on the table, would the normal 14.1 rules say to rack 'em after making the fourteenth ball of a rack, even though each player only needs to pocket that last ball of the last rack to win the match?
I'll leave off the usual Twilight Zone ending, suffice it to say Fats finally gets to go enjoy some fishing in his afterlife, instead of sitting alone at a pool table in cloudy gray Purgatory, waiting for some arrogant young hustler to call him down to earth time after time after time...
They packed a lot of entertainment in 24 minutes and 52 seconds of black-and-white television back in the late 50s and early 60s. Check out most any episode of The Twilight Zone, early half-hour episodes of Gunsmoke, Tales of Wells Fargo, Have Gun, Will Travel, and The Real McCoys. The performances were delivered solid and tight, the staging was usually first rate, and the actors generally were already well on their way to big careers, or about to take off to stardom.
See it for yourself on Hulu at:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/440810
