Earl Strickland's mentor was a force to be reckoned with. When Earl used to gamble, he'd bypass Burgaw, North Carolina. Earl wanted no parts of Bruce Bullard. 
Bullard, who had the skills and capabilities to have been a world-class pool champion, decided he no longer wanted to associate with the "drunkards and druggies and thieves that populated the seedy world of pool," and he walked away for 14 years. He began attending church, quit gambling, got married, became a father. :smile:
And according the article from the Wilmington, NC newspaper, Bruce Bullard's story goes like this:
Bruce Bullard often wonders how far his skill shooting pool might have carried him.
By age 20, Bullard was the best around, a natural, willing to play all comers for any stakes. He had grown up in pool halls in Wilmington and Burgaw owned by his father and uncle, was blessed with a smooth stroke and steady nerve. The game came easy to him.
Then he walked away for 14 years.
He decided he no longer wanted to associate with the drunkards and druggies and thieves that populated the seedy world of pool. He began attending church, quit gambling, got married, became a father.
It wasn't that he thought he was better than anybody else. He simply aspired for a better life.
Besides, a man could hardly make much money shooting pool, with the exception of hustling the occasional out-of-town hot shot. A man who could control a golf or tennis ball could aspire to earn thousands, maybe even millions. A pool shark, on the other hand, had nowhere similar to ply his trade.
Still, sometimes he feels the tinge of regret. He mentored local legend Earl Strickland, six years his junior, and watched from afar as the Roseboro native won national titles and earned acclaim as one of the game's greatest nine-ball players.
"I never really pursued it like I probably could have, I know Earl well. When his dad opened up a pool hall in Roseboro, I ran it for him," Bullard said while sitting on a bar stool at Bullard's Billiards, the pool hall his nephew, Jamie, runs in downtown Burgaw.
"Earl loves to tell people that when he was hustling and going from town to town he used to make a wide loop around Burgaw 'cause I was here ... I have no exciting stories. It was always a hobby"...
...These days, Bullard, might go a month between games. Over the years, he's competed in the U.S. Open, finishing in the top 45 among a field of the world's top 200 players. Kid Delicious, the larger-than-life last American pool hustler made famous in a bestselling book, rolled into Wilmington four or five years ago. He rolled out a few hundred dollars lighter, courtesy of Bullard.
But big-money games, affairs that often last into the wee hours of the morning, hold little interest to him. He has a job, the last 22 years as location manager for a local marine cargo inspection company. He'll put a few dollars on the line when he shoots, only because it adds an element to the game that he likes...
..."It's probably the toughest game. Golf, you're playing against the course, you don't have anybody firing back at you. Tennis is a game of reaction you don't have time to think, I take pride in being called the best. When I saw the article in the paper on Earl and saw the caption, I figured I was going to get the call."
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080712/ARTICLE/807120320/1005&title=Best_of___Billiards
I remember reading a quote from an old pool journal: In the pool world, we've all known a few of them. They're the "Road Players." These are the traveling gunfighters, who know no other way of life than betting it all and hanging on the edge. Most of the greats of today started out this way, but for every one who made it, there are at least a hundred who did not survive.
Shake and Bake, when asked about the good old days before he passed, said: I've got a lot of good friends and good memories of a lifestyle that only a few people are fortunate enough to ever experience.
Everybody chooses their own destiny in life. Sometimes playing good pool ain't what life is all about for some folks, and for others, pool is a way of life.
Bruce Bullard of Burgaw was chosen as the area's best pool player. He grew up in Burgaw and has been playing since he was a child. (Photo by Kate Lord/Wilmington Star-News)
JAM
Bullard, who had the skills and capabilities to have been a world-class pool champion, decided he no longer wanted to associate with the "drunkards and druggies and thieves that populated the seedy world of pool," and he walked away for 14 years. He began attending church, quit gambling, got married, became a father. :smile:
And according the article from the Wilmington, NC newspaper, Bruce Bullard's story goes like this:
Bruce Bullard often wonders how far his skill shooting pool might have carried him.
By age 20, Bullard was the best around, a natural, willing to play all comers for any stakes. He had grown up in pool halls in Wilmington and Burgaw owned by his father and uncle, was blessed with a smooth stroke and steady nerve. The game came easy to him.
Then he walked away for 14 years.
He decided he no longer wanted to associate with the drunkards and druggies and thieves that populated the seedy world of pool. He began attending church, quit gambling, got married, became a father.
It wasn't that he thought he was better than anybody else. He simply aspired for a better life.
Besides, a man could hardly make much money shooting pool, with the exception of hustling the occasional out-of-town hot shot. A man who could control a golf or tennis ball could aspire to earn thousands, maybe even millions. A pool shark, on the other hand, had nowhere similar to ply his trade.
Still, sometimes he feels the tinge of regret. He mentored local legend Earl Strickland, six years his junior, and watched from afar as the Roseboro native won national titles and earned acclaim as one of the game's greatest nine-ball players.
"I never really pursued it like I probably could have, I know Earl well. When his dad opened up a pool hall in Roseboro, I ran it for him," Bullard said while sitting on a bar stool at Bullard's Billiards, the pool hall his nephew, Jamie, runs in downtown Burgaw.
"Earl loves to tell people that when he was hustling and going from town to town he used to make a wide loop around Burgaw 'cause I was here ... I have no exciting stories. It was always a hobby"...
...These days, Bullard, might go a month between games. Over the years, he's competed in the U.S. Open, finishing in the top 45 among a field of the world's top 200 players. Kid Delicious, the larger-than-life last American pool hustler made famous in a bestselling book, rolled into Wilmington four or five years ago. He rolled out a few hundred dollars lighter, courtesy of Bullard.
But big-money games, affairs that often last into the wee hours of the morning, hold little interest to him. He has a job, the last 22 years as location manager for a local marine cargo inspection company. He'll put a few dollars on the line when he shoots, only because it adds an element to the game that he likes...
..."It's probably the toughest game. Golf, you're playing against the course, you don't have anybody firing back at you. Tennis is a game of reaction you don't have time to think, I take pride in being called the best. When I saw the article in the paper on Earl and saw the caption, I figured I was going to get the call."
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080712/ARTICLE/807120320/1005&title=Best_of___Billiards
I remember reading a quote from an old pool journal: In the pool world, we've all known a few of them. They're the "Road Players." These are the traveling gunfighters, who know no other way of life than betting it all and hanging on the edge. Most of the greats of today started out this way, but for every one who made it, there are at least a hundred who did not survive.
Shake and Bake, when asked about the good old days before he passed, said: I've got a lot of good friends and good memories of a lifestyle that only a few people are fortunate enough to ever experience.
Everybody chooses their own destiny in life. Sometimes playing good pool ain't what life is all about for some folks, and for others, pool is a way of life.
Bruce Bullard of Burgaw was chosen as the area's best pool player. He grew up in Burgaw and has been playing since he was a child. (Photo by Kate Lord/Wilmington Star-News)
JAM
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