Sad: Univ of Michigan Pool Hall in the Union Will be No More.

I grew up in a college town - Princeton, NJ. My earliest experiences learning to play pool during my high school years in the early 1970s were on the pool tables at the University. They didn't have a poolroom or a student union with a number of tables like Michigan, but most of the dorms had a 9-foot table located somewhere - often in the basement, and it was usually a very good quality table, like a GC1. In those days the dorm doors were always unlocked and I guess I could pass for a student, so no one ever bothered me. The college players welcomed me to play with them, or I'd practice by myself if no one else was in there.

At a school like Princeton, there weren't many students that spent too much time playing pool, but I was fortunate enough to meet a few who were pretty good and taught me a lot. Those were some of the best pool memories of my 50 years of playing pool.
 
The room at Michigan State, where I spent many an hour, is also gone. Watched an exhibition by Jimmy Caras at that place. Long gone....
 
My GCI spent it's 1st 20-25 yrs. at Akron U (has an Akron U metal tag on frame), assuming in a rec center but don't know, and then 25 yrs in a Canton, OH basement. Not sure if Akron still has pool tables in rec rooms, but my 18 yr old son has been visiting colleges the last 6 mos and says that a lot of the dorms have pool tables in the common areas. Maybe that's the trend?

My friends & I wonder & laugh about what kind of "action" my table has had during it's time in college...
 
Last edited:
The slow and steady march continues. It’s a matter of entertainment. I predict we will see many sacred cows lost to modern entertainment.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
This saddens me more than most other stories of pool rooms closing because I used to play there when I lived in Michigan and it is such a historic room. The university could have easily kept it.

There isn't as much respect for history in the US and there is in other countries. In Europe some buildings are hundreds of years old. It seems like in the US we just tear stuff down and rebuild it each generation or after a few generations.
 
Purdue got rid of their Union and moved the pool room downstairs with half the tables and scrunched them all together. I think it was as much a space issue as anything else and they already had bowling downstairs so it was easier to just combine them into one area. It likely didn't help that bowling is very big here.
 
ChicagoRJ said:
and they still do. They even have a snooker and 3-cushion table. Also have lockers to store your cue so you don't have to drag it around campus :) Plus, they have a billiards club team, they compete against Lindenwood.
Click to expand...
Which Illinois campus? SIUe has a nice room, it's newer, never seen the old one. They have about 10 GC1 or 2's, a 10ft snooker table and one valley bar box. Most of the tables are in good shape but all need new cloth and all are filthy. They are by far the fastest tables I have ever seen. I recently figured out why, the rail points are so dirty/sticky that side spin actually speeds up the ball off the rail. I'd like to petition for new cloth and I will come in once every couple weeks and clean them all for free pool time.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top