"I'll take 20 on the racker," "You've got action on the racker," "I'll take 50 on the breaker," et cetera, et cetera. Those who have been to the Super Billiards Expo and checked out the infamous "action table" will remember these standard lines. Not only do the players engage in the thrill of high-speed competition, but the railbird spectators get in on the action. It's fast and furious, and the back-and-forth colloquy gets quite loud at times.
Last year, I was sitting in the pit of the action table, with a pen and paper in hand, keeping tabs on who was next up. The list got as long as 30-plus at times, and when one player got knocked down, they immediately signed back up, sometimes with a 30-minute wait before they got another shot.
So, in my role as the list-keeper, I'd call out the name of the player who was the next "racker," and the commotion would start up all over again. Out of courtesy to the NEXT player after this racker, I'd let 'em know they were "on deck." Brandon Ashcraft was a frequent flier on the action table last year, and when it was his turn to be on deck, just like I did for the rest of them, I said, "Brandon, you're on deck."
Now, Brandon Ashcraft is a quiet kind of guy and doesn't smile much, always pretty serious when I've seen him near a pool table. He turned to me, with a very strange look on his face, and replied, "Did you just say I'm a d*ck?"
There was a long pregnant pause, and I tried to gather the right words to respond to him, not liking the way he was looking at me. Before I could speak, he immediately smiled and gave me a wink. After I realized he was only joking around, I did think it was funny!
JAM