Once upon a time....
uwate said:
honestly spending 10k on pool stuff sounds insane to me.
If I had to spend 10k on pool stuff, like it was spend it or forever lose the dough....well then
If this is just a fantasy and its all about having fun, I would....
David,
As tight as things are, I haven't even bought an Accu-Stats since May.
I have a collection of pool books and magazines going back to Andrew Ponzi's autobiography written in 1948, National Billiard News from the mid 1970's, hundreds of Billiard Digest's, Pool & Billiard Magazines and Inside Pool mags, a Brunswick 9 ft table w/ Simonis 860, 2 superbly shooting CueTec cues that would make Travis Trotter salivate, other cues, cases, etc. I even got a 9 ball key ring hanging from my rear view mirror. Plus, I have around 400 Accu-Stat matches and maybe another 175 or so ESPN pool matches on tape and DVD.
***All of that put together may be right around $10,000! To spend that kind of $ on more pool right now.....No.
BUT (and everybody knows a "but" was in the making
)...If I HAD to spend some serious money on pool, I would spend it on traveling to Taiwan and meeting Fong Pang Chao and interviewing him. Then, it's off to Germany to meet and interview Oliver Ortman. Those are my 2 favorite foreign players that I have not yet met. Then, back to America. I never met Billy Incardona, so....interview time! I've been with Grady and it was one of the funnest times I ever had. So, off to hang out with "The Professor" and get more info and stories. Next is Freddy....we talk on the phone, e-mail but I never met him in person. Then, it's a series of more interviews with my favorite players who I've already been with....Earl, Shannon Daulton....Nick Varner. LONG interviews on these guys, especially Varner, who I only met once and was real nervous for some reason. I don't know why to this day....Next, I would have to spend some time with Howard Vickery. I always liked him. Allen Hopkins and Buddy Hall would also get interviewed.
On the way home, I would stop and meet my favorite AZBers....too many to mention and I'd be afraid to accidentally leave a name off. But I would be on the road a very long time. Having $10,000 to spend would of course mean that me and Brandie (my wife) would be able to quit our jobs and just travel around getting all these interviews done.
Once I got home, I would write a book on the greatest players, personalities and people in pooldom that would tell all succeeding generations just how great these guys really are. It would not be just a book on their stats and accomplishments, but it would reveal who they are and what they are like as people. i would have a photo of the outside and inside of every players house and their families. We would really get to know these great champions.
The proceeds would of course provide the funds for trip # 2....Evgeny Stalev in Moscow, Leonardo Andam, Rudolpho Luat, Efren, Marlon Manalo and a host of other Filipino greats would be answering lots of questions. Then, back to Taiwan for lengthly chats with Po Chen Kuo, Ching Shun Yang, Pin-Yi Ko and about a dozen other great Chinese-Taipei players. Then, off to Kentucky for meetings with Truman Hogue and John Brumback. After all is written up, volumes 1 and 2 of "Great Pool Players and their Personalities" would of course sell more copies than the wildly popular "Banking With The Beard", "The GosPool" and "Bet High and Kiss Low".
With THIS money, I would host a huge gathering of all these great players and even more not mentioned. Pat Fleming and his wonderful crew from Accu-Stats, as well as all the T.A.R. fellas, every AZBer not banned
D ) and our families would be treated to a sumptuous dinner and we would celebrate our great sport together. We would eat like we were going to the electric chair in the morning! And everybody had a great time!
That's my pool fantasy.
The End.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTItkMfsY_0
