Old guys and pool.

Blue Hog ridr

Blue Hog ridr

World Famous Fisherman.
Silver Member
Last night, my pool partner and I went to our favorite watering hole. 2 plug tables.
An old native fella came in and sat with us. Henry goes back to the snooker days when Cliff Thorburn spent a bit of time in our city.

Henry is in his 80's and still works 7 days a weeks. He buy potatoes from a tater farm and sells 75 lb sacks. And yes, he carries them. Pretty amazing.
Whats even more amazing is that altho he has slowed down a bit in his shooting, he was still able to teach us young (50's) guys a few lessons on the table.

The 8 was sitting right over the corner pocket and instead of shooting it in, he chose a 5 rail bank to kick it in. He did that with a lot of his shots last night. He wasn't showing off much, he was just giving us half a chance to win.

We don't have many old school players left around in our city, but we still have Henry.
When he is at the pool hall, he likes to watch and doesn't play much.
I think I will tag him for a few lessons if I can in the future.
 
I always like seeing older folks playing. That's one of the great things about pool. Most of us will live to be pretty old. It's comforting knowing that with a little luck I will still be able to enjoy the game.
 
I can appreciate what you're saying. My ph has Louie Royball, who is still giving lessons in his 80's. He was once the number one ranked one-pocket player in the world, once took down Fats who was looking for an "easy local", and still shoots a real mean game. It's a real privilege to talk to him and watch him play.
:p
 
There's nothing more funny than some young gun talking smack loud enough for everybody in the hall to hear getting called on it by an old timer who proceeds to school the little bast@rd.

:embarrassed2: Still remember when I was 19 or 20 and got my schooling
 
I had the pleasure of watching the great Norman Hitchcock (RIP) play in his later years, and I learned a lot from him about defensive play.

He still managed to embarrass all the straight shooting young guys by having better moving skills and a ridiculous amount of patience.

I once saw him play a race to three that took well over three hours, and only ended when the TD started yelling at them to hurry up. Norman won. :)
 
Bill Hendricks, outstanding 14.1 player, former intercollegiate champion in the 60's and author of the History of Billiards, used to come to Riverbend Billiards in Alton sometimes when I lived in St Louis. Bill was in his upper 80's and would sit quietly in a chair sometimes falling asleep. For those of you who have seen the Louie Roberts video filmed at cue & cushion in St Louis, Louie introduces Bill at the beginning of the video.

Most of the youngsters in the place had no idea that old guy sitting there was a champion, easily the best player in the room.
 
Licking my chops

Kinda like hitting a new bar now and again and scoring against some young gun who thinks he can play. I'm no world-beater, but I've been around the block a couple times. My grey whiskers tend to confirm this.

So the question is:
Hey there young sport, wanna play some?
 
rayjay...I used to watch Louie Roybal play in the VNEA nationals, in Vegas, 25 years ago. He played VERY strong on those Valley BB's. I always expected that he also played really well on 9' tables too! Nice to know he is still around, and still knockin' 'em around! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

rayjay said:
I can appreciate what you're saying. My ph has Louie Royball, who is still giving lessons in his 80's. He was once the number one ranked one-pocket player in the world, once took down Fats who was looking for an "easy local", and still shoots a real mean game. It's a real privilege to talk to him and watch him play.
:p
Click to expand...
 
9BallPaul said:
Kinda like hitting a new bar now and again and scoring against some young gun who thinks he can play. I'm no world-beater, but I've been around the block a couple times. My grey whiskers tend to confirm this.

So the question is:
Hey there young sport, wanna play some?
Click to expand...

Have you and Drew played yet?
 
I was lucky

I was extremely lucky. I, who now is looked as an older one (late 40's) was, when in my late teens and early 20's able to spend every Sunday morning drinking coffee and playing 1 on 1 pool with an older wise man. Oh I forgot to add, his name was Cornbread Red. Gosh I was lucky, I think why he drew to me was because I wasn't big headed and cocky.... I respected and cherished every moment. Gosh I was lucky
 
as long as they're not wearing hustilin usa shirts i'm ok with them hanging around!!!!!!!

lol that's a joke for you sensitive types that might take offense to it
 
Exactly guys! We should be taking advantage if you are lucky enuff to still have a few old timers hanging around your local pool hall. They won't be around forever and after that, the knowledge is essentially lost.

I found, that in instances with Henry, they don't go out looking for guys to
impart their knowledge of the game on. You have to show them that you are interested and ask questions first.

Some of the things that Henry mentioned to me the other night made me realize that they do watch other players games and know how to correct their mistakes but they won't walk up to you and volunteer help.

As far as the cockiness goes, you can learn much more by being quiet and listening than flapping your jaws.
 
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