Welcome BACK, Eric!!
Luxury said:
Ya can't keep a good man down! It was getting a little boring up in here without ya man!
Welcome back home Eric!!
I think you just took a vacation and did not want anyone knowing where you were going ... I am glad to see your posts once again!
Yep, I was getting bored too. No Fatboy, no Bucktooth, no Cornfed, no Sheriff in town, no excitment! No big time gamblers, no more woofing, no Vince, no Carmen, no Minnisota Fats, no Fast Eddie, no Fatman, no red carnation in the jacket lapel, and no George C. Scott. Just think, no Ronnie Allen, no Johnny Archer, no Dan Louie, no Shane, no Alex, no Keith McCready, no Willie Mosconi, the list goes on and on. Where would be if we lost all of these characters? Wheither these characters are good or bad or somewhere in between are they not part of the pool family as we know it, and the game and the brotherhood we care about?
How would you like to go into a pool room and there are no players there, no not one that you know? Then you go to a tournament and you see all of your friends there, some great players, some legends, and some players that may never be great but they love to see you there and you enjoy their company, what a difference in the two settings. At the tournament you could stay up all night watching close tournament matches and you get to see some great players match up for money that you know, or you get a little 9-ball match or 1-pocket match going yourself, what could be better?
In the past, I have read about all the posts about Bucktooth getting a lock before he played. The question that I have to ask is, does he book all winners, I don't think so, I know of several big losses. In comparisome, just this past week, I read one post about Grady Matthews getting the last 4 balls in 9 ball from Tony Watson and Grady lost a couple thousand dollars. Did Grady have a lock, and then chose to just give his money away? I don't think so. Had Bucktooth asked for that spot and he does not play the game Grady does, this forum would have been all over the Tooth, for always chasing a lock. Guess what, we all need a lock or need to play better than our opponent to win, unless we just want to give our money away, and if there is anyone out there that wants to give their money away I will be glad to stand in line to collect some.
What I am trying to say is, try to be a little more considerate of our fellow players, for they all love the game too, some woof, some match up, some play for fun and have a good time, and some gamble for the cheese. Mix all that up with the friendship we have developed over the years with players who we have come to know, we have the sport of pool, our little world, something we have come to care about, what could be better?
OK while I am at it, the only thing that is better is our family, children, grandchildren, our mates, and the creator that has bless us with all of the above, including pool!! Out of respect of all of this, can we all not surely find a way to be more careful not to attack others. May we also find it in our heart to bow to the one who made it all possible, and to those in life that have not found hapiness and life's possibilities, that door is only a few feet away for no one has been left out, the fact is that we just tend to leave out the one who has made it all available.
One last thought, when you get a chance go into a local billiard room the first minute they open the doors in the morning or better yet be the last one to leave a billiard room late at night and you will find that it is a very lonely place, for all of the characters are gone and our friends are nowhere to be found. Believe me, if your friends never came back to that room you would most likely not return yourself. You may just loose your interested in the game you once loved for all the freindship you had would be gone.
In concluding, I value my friends in the little pool world I have come to know, and each player out there is important to me and I thank you all for being the character you are and being a small piece of the big pool puzzle of the game I care about. All of you all are part of creation itself too, and Do Not allow life to cut you short and you miss to find out who you are and why you are living in this time frame, and where will you be standing as life passes away as we know it today? I say this to you, for you are important to me and others, and yes you too can make a difference in someone's life by just encouraging them or helping them however you can. Should we all do that in life we would have fulfilled our little part in this world and the puzzle would be complete without a bunch of missing pieces in the pool world that we enjoy, and in life itself while it is still with us!
For those who know Billy Palmer out there, pray for him in the days ahead that he would fully recover, for I heard he had a small stroke. May the power of the almighty be his strength this day and that Billy may fully recover and continue to walk with the Lord and be in our presence as a great player that he is and a witness of the Almighty!
First title defence to Blackjack. You got to go back to the end of the line now bro'!
