The other day I was driving back from a two day trip. I turned off of the highway in a small town in California with my legs getting stiff. I decided to pull off the highway and stretch my legs in either the first book store or pool hall I found. Thank god I found a pool hall first.
I got a table and started banging balls when an older gentleman comes up and asks if I'd like to play some. I pause for a second and he says "if you don't have time, that's okay." and I said, "No, I have time, I just don't have any money in my pocket, we'd need to play for fun."
"that's good with me" he says, I play for the love of the game more than money anyway.
He is about 70, wearing a straw hat and time has not been kind to his teeth. He was wearing a striped farm shirt with snaps for buttons and a grin from ear to ear.
We start out and he tells me about how he teaches folks sometimes. First shot at the table, he doesn't rest his bridge hand on the table, but plays a 3-rail safety perfectly. We keep playing and it's obvious he's not trying, but he's pulling off some amazing shots.
I tell my students to hold their hand like this he tells me. That's how I hold my hand, I think to myself, looking at my hand. No, he tells me, you hold it like this, demonstrating a position that if you weren't looking for the difference, you wouldn't see it.
This goes on and he gently corrects my fundamentals, I decide to override my defensiveness and listen for a change.
We have a delightful couple of hours, talking about the old times and playing pool, just playing. We're cheering each other on and allowing each other to set up shots to demonstrate some shot that we made to win a tournament or a gambling match. As I warmed up, he warmed up and before long, innings routinely included multiple games. There weren't many people in the joint, but over half of them were watching us play.
He told me about world records that he holds, Tournaments that he won at Hard Times. The time he beat the best snooker player in the world. The time he followed up a sixpack with a strong safety and then a 7-pack. The time he made 32 balls in 6 9-ball breaks. I told him about people I beat and tournaments that I won. None as impressive, but he listens just the same.
He told me that the universe is a great place and great people always come into his life. Words to live by I told him.
"You can tell people you played one of the all time greats" he told me. I didn't catch his name, but if he wasn't talking about pool, he was talking about pool companions.
Cheers,
Regas
I got a table and started banging balls when an older gentleman comes up and asks if I'd like to play some. I pause for a second and he says "if you don't have time, that's okay." and I said, "No, I have time, I just don't have any money in my pocket, we'd need to play for fun."
"that's good with me" he says, I play for the love of the game more than money anyway.
He is about 70, wearing a straw hat and time has not been kind to his teeth. He was wearing a striped farm shirt with snaps for buttons and a grin from ear to ear.
We start out and he tells me about how he teaches folks sometimes. First shot at the table, he doesn't rest his bridge hand on the table, but plays a 3-rail safety perfectly. We keep playing and it's obvious he's not trying, but he's pulling off some amazing shots.
I tell my students to hold their hand like this he tells me. That's how I hold my hand, I think to myself, looking at my hand. No, he tells me, you hold it like this, demonstrating a position that if you weren't looking for the difference, you wouldn't see it.
This goes on and he gently corrects my fundamentals, I decide to override my defensiveness and listen for a change.
We have a delightful couple of hours, talking about the old times and playing pool, just playing. We're cheering each other on and allowing each other to set up shots to demonstrate some shot that we made to win a tournament or a gambling match. As I warmed up, he warmed up and before long, innings routinely included multiple games. There weren't many people in the joint, but over half of them were watching us play.
He told me about world records that he holds, Tournaments that he won at Hard Times. The time he beat the best snooker player in the world. The time he followed up a sixpack with a strong safety and then a 7-pack. The time he made 32 balls in 6 9-ball breaks. I told him about people I beat and tournaments that I won. None as impressive, but he listens just the same.
He told me that the universe is a great place and great people always come into his life. Words to live by I told him.
"You can tell people you played one of the all time greats" he told me. I didn't catch his name, but if he wasn't talking about pool, he was talking about pool companions.
Cheers,
Regas
