I can't remember if I've shared this story but it is one of my favorites and I was reminded of it after the talk of Alex P's missed 9 ball.
The pool hall owner in the parlor I grew up in was playing a young man named James. James was always loud and obnoxious. He may have had some self esteem issues, he had been sent by himself from China by his father when he was in high school and he tried to use pool to fit in. James always played to the crowd and tried to ensure everyone in the room was watching him. This was back in the 90s when non-pool players would come and play pool on dates or just among friends. James was always the center of attention, and the owner would frequently get impatient with his antics.
Anyway, these two were playing a set of 9 ball, probably a $20 set or something like that. It ends up going hill-hill and the pool hall owner has a simple three ball run for the win. But funny things happen when you're on the hill, and sure enough he dogged it and angrily raked the balls.
James, never one to win quietly or graciously, started to needle the owner immediately. He started laughing really loudly and in his accented and broken English shouted loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear "Ha ha ha, I cannot believe you choked on that shots. I could run those balls out one thousand times in a rows!"
The room owner turned bright red and snapped back "James, you idiot, you could not. I'll bet you $100 right now you can't run them out 100 times in a row!"
Now everyone was watching and the woofing continued. Finally they negotiated that James would have to run the balls out 100 times before he missed 3 times. I can't remember the bet, but it was either $100 or $200. Much more than the set they had played for.
Suddenly the pool hall went from being loud to being silent. Everyone watched as the ball positions were marked and agreed on, and as James prepared for his first attempt.
Wouldn't you know it, with all of that build up James overran his position on the first shot and ended up with a really flat angle from near the side rail. He tried to force the cueball for shape on the 9 and missed the shot. 0 for 1 on the first at bat! Now it was James who was turning red.
His second attempt was no better. He left himself too thin and overcut the second ball. The rail was buzzing and James started to tilt. He set up the balls again and this time he rushed it, it happened so quickly I don't recall what went wrong, but somehow he fumbled it and when the dust was over he had made his 3 errors- without running those three balls successfully a single time!
The room owner showed no mercy. He HUMILIATED James, calling him names, laughing loudly about how much he just lost, the whole nine. James stormed out of the pool hall and didn't come back for most of a week, which was a long grudge considering he was an all day every day type of regular.
Things settled down as that incident faded into the rear view mirror. But to this day I'll never forget how some things aren't as easy as you might think. And I will still tell my best friend (who knows this story) when he asks me how I like my chances with something that "I could do that one thousand times in a rows..."
The pool hall owner in the parlor I grew up in was playing a young man named James. James was always loud and obnoxious. He may have had some self esteem issues, he had been sent by himself from China by his father when he was in high school and he tried to use pool to fit in. James always played to the crowd and tried to ensure everyone in the room was watching him. This was back in the 90s when non-pool players would come and play pool on dates or just among friends. James was always the center of attention, and the owner would frequently get impatient with his antics.
Anyway, these two were playing a set of 9 ball, probably a $20 set or something like that. It ends up going hill-hill and the pool hall owner has a simple three ball run for the win. But funny things happen when you're on the hill, and sure enough he dogged it and angrily raked the balls.
James, never one to win quietly or graciously, started to needle the owner immediately. He started laughing really loudly and in his accented and broken English shouted loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear "Ha ha ha, I cannot believe you choked on that shots. I could run those balls out one thousand times in a rows!"
The room owner turned bright red and snapped back "James, you idiot, you could not. I'll bet you $100 right now you can't run them out 100 times in a row!"
Now everyone was watching and the woofing continued. Finally they negotiated that James would have to run the balls out 100 times before he missed 3 times. I can't remember the bet, but it was either $100 or $200. Much more than the set they had played for.
Suddenly the pool hall went from being loud to being silent. Everyone watched as the ball positions were marked and agreed on, and as James prepared for his first attempt.
Wouldn't you know it, with all of that build up James overran his position on the first shot and ended up with a really flat angle from near the side rail. He tried to force the cueball for shape on the 9 and missed the shot. 0 for 1 on the first at bat! Now it was James who was turning red.
His second attempt was no better. He left himself too thin and overcut the second ball. The rail was buzzing and James started to tilt. He set up the balls again and this time he rushed it, it happened so quickly I don't recall what went wrong, but somehow he fumbled it and when the dust was over he had made his 3 errors- without running those three balls successfully a single time!
The room owner showed no mercy. He HUMILIATED James, calling him names, laughing loudly about how much he just lost, the whole nine. James stormed out of the pool hall and didn't come back for most of a week, which was a long grudge considering he was an all day every day type of regular.
Things settled down as that incident faded into the rear view mirror. But to this day I'll never forget how some things aren't as easy as you might think. And I will still tell my best friend (who knows this story) when he asks me how I like my chances with something that "I could do that one thousand times in a rows..."
