spectators
JB is the man.
Funny story you guys might like. Last time I saw JB was at the US Open last year. I was out of the tournament so wanted to rail Justin. I think he was playing Radoslaw Babica. Loser's bracket match, probably somewhere around 17th place. Far enough in that you want to win, but far enough from the finals to where it's hard to see making a deep run from here, especially with that level of competition. There were tables surrounding the player's area and I pulled up a chair right up front, just behind Justin. I didn't want to bother him, just said hi and wished him a good match.
It was about 10 minutes to kick off and an older gentleman sat next to me. I tried to be polite and asked him if he played in the event or just watched, and then asked where he was from. Turns out he had driven like 8 hours to watch the event. I thought that was pretty cool.
Then it got strange. As we're talking he starts barraging me with these goofy short stories. They were all about 30 seconds long, and they all sounded like stories I'd heard a million times before. Old timer sound bites.
"I saw Mosconi play once. He played better straight pool than any of today's players. I saw him run 100 balls and his cue ball never got out of line. Just a bunch of 12" shots. Uh-huh."
"Have you ever heard of Jimmy Marino? I watched him play one time. He played a top player from out of town and ran 13 racks in a row. Best 9 ball I've seen. Uh-huh."
"I've been to Chicago once, Red Shoe Billiards. I asked the house man if he knew anyone that would play some one pocket. He said he'd play me a little and grabbed his cue. As I racked the balls everyone in the room came over and pulled up chairs. I knew right then I was in trouble. Uh-huh."
I wish I could remember the rest of them. It was non-stop. At this point the match was starting up so we needed to be quiet, shoot, we were 5 feet from the table, I could touch JB from where we were sitting. But the guy wouldn't stop talking. Just every few seconds it was like a jukebox that someone put a coin into, he's just spit out another story. "Have you ever heard of Frankie the Sailor? He came into town once and just hung out, didn't play anyone. He was just watching, see, learning who played what speed. Then a few days later he cleaned out the whole town. Uh-huh." (Just remembered that one).
It was infuriating. Didn't he see that there was a match going on? I didn't say anything to prompt a continued conversation, but it made no difference. Somehow he kept this up through most of the match.
Meanwhile Justin had his hands full. He was playing well, but the balls kept laying out funny, and he had a few fumbles that kept him from getting much of a lead. Maybe 5-4, 7-5, that kind of thing. Then it got tied up and you could tell it was anyone's game. Justin was doing a good job not getting frustrated but he wasn't getting the best rolls and it was a real grind session.
Inevitably it comes down to a hill-hill. Justin is faced with a tough kick to a ball out in space. I think he hit it but left a shot, maybe he missed the kick. Either way his opponent was running out. Until the 6 ball. Watching him line up the 6 ball with draw my spider senses started tingling and I had a feeling something bad might be about to happen. Sure enough, miscue! He hit the 6 but missed it. Unfortunately the 6 ball landed on the second diamond on the side rail and the cue ball was on the other side of the table opposite the 6, leaving the thinnest of cuts.
Justin came with something there. He cut the paint off the 6 ball and the cue ball came straight back and forth about a dozen times. When it stopped he had a tough shot on the seven as well. He made that but got quirky on the 8 ball, which lay really funny.
The 8 was in the dead middle of the table, and the 9 was right next to it, such that if you shot the 8 in the corner with topspin you could make the 9 in the side. The cueball was near the side rail with a thin cut on the 8 for that corner.
After thinking it through Justin decided to play both balls. Unfortunately they both just missed. The 8 ball hung in the corner, the 9 ball hit both tips of the side and sat in front of that pocket. But the cueball had followed through the 9 ball just enough to lay by the third diamond on the other side of the 9, hooking his opponent. What made it worse, the 8 ball was fairly deep, so a one rail kick would be scary due to the scratch potential.
His opponent decided to go with a half masse. I didn't agree with this shot by the way. I liked the jump or the kick, and I normally hate jumps and love curve shots, so that says something. But anyway, here we go, for the match. His opponent gets up, elevates, takes a few practice strokes, draws back and - a bloody cell phone from a guy right behind me goes off! Dun da-da-dun da-da-dun da-da-dun!
Did it shark the guy? I don't know. All I can say for sure is what happened. The damn cue ball successfully shot past the 9 ball, but what it failed to do was curve in any way, shape, or form. Just straight into the end rail! Foul! Needless to say he conceded the match and JB advanced another round.
I couldn't believe the behavior of the spectators. Brutal action out there.
Justin, do you remember this match? If so, did you hear any of this crap? Or do you remember it differently than I do? Will you be at Flemming's tourney this October?
Or the main Joss event in August? Let me know, we'd love to hear from you and hope you're well!
