<<<Official Ode To Pocket Billiards>>>

It was love at first sight...My wife? yes,but she's not who I'm talking about .This wonderful friend is sort of like a woman though ..She's very complex..She requires a great deal of patience to deal with;and of course she can be very expensive and high maintenance;but in the end she's worth it because you absolutely adore her .And although you'll never quite "Master" her, as time goes on you grow in wisdom and understanding of all of her subtleties and idiosyncrasies ..

Here's my story...

I fell in love with pool around '78 or '79..I was a kid back then ,into sports like basketball and football like most other youngsters..I played ping pong a lot as a youth and even now I enjoy to play ping pong ..well, as it happened,I met my first crush(pool) while at the local game room playing ping pong ..I noticed a few kids standing around a table with six pockets ...And then I heard the sound!!! Oh yes, if you are a true pocket billiard lover like I am,you know what sound I'm speaking of..The sound of the balls clicking ..but especially ..The sound of the balls pocketed It was love at first sight ! My eyes were wide open and I was immediately intrigued about my new find ....

Well let's fast forward to the early 80's. By now I'm a full fledge pool lover, but I was'nt quite old enough yet to get into the pool halls to see all of the better players .so I would continue to play at the washaterias and gamerooms..or,wherever I heard that there was a table ..

Now, one evening my family and I were watching TV and low and behold,a televised match comes on! It was Willie Mosconi v/s Irving Crane ?? ..My dad wanted to watch something else and by now he's fully aware of my pool obsession.. Naturally, I would get the occasional"beware of the pitfalls of pool gambling" speech from him(but I did'nt listen) ..So anyway ,after I begged him he let me watch it..The game was straight pool ..or 14.1 as my father would always say..Strangely,I noticed (thru watching the match with my father) that my dad use to play a little himself ..And he seemed more interested in the match than I thought he'd be...I think he had a flashback ya know..

So anyway,a few months later . I get a surprise!! Guess what it is AZ ..You got it..My dad bought a 4x8 for the home..!!! I was in heaven..This was his way of showing love to me ,but at the same time he laid down the rules ..and the rules were ..No gambling..No gambling..No gambling..and the final rule If I recall was ..er..No freakin' gambling..Damn!!..Well as my game improved, you know I gambled (but not at home) ..The kids at the game room did'nt know what hit 'em..we'd play for 50 cents ,then a dollar and so on..

Well that was long ,long ago ..If I told my story from that point up to now ,I'd be here for a month:) :) :)

Let's just say that I'm still in love with pool and I would'nt have traded this wonderful pool journey for anything:p :p
 
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One more thing...A peculiar similarity

The introduction to all the various disciplines of pocket billiards can be quite enticing..sort of like learning a woman's likes and dislikes ..I remember when I first learned how to play 9ball ..Wow!!..and then the movie "The Color Of Money" came into play ..and watching warriors like Keith and Louie Roberts play back in those days, sealed the deal with pool for me..I was hooked ..
 
Pool is like therapy for me ...As a matter of fact,it's better than therapy because an hour with a shrink would give an hour on table time the 2 ball when it comes to expense:eek: :eek:
 
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