Pool and Me

Pool is something I am incredibly passionate about. I've always been extremely competitive, and pool was a great outlet for that aspect of my personality.

Freshman year, coming into school, it was a little tough to start to meet people. I've never been a partier or a drinker, so trying to run in that crowd just didn't make sense to me. In the first week or so, I just tried to get to know some of the people on my floor and classmates, but this caused two problems. One, many people on the floor were partiers, and two, many of my classmates were complete toolbags/assclowns.

What a dilemma. But wait, there's good news! My dorm was set up perfectly for attracting a billiards crowd. The table was maybe 20 ft. from the front door, in plain sight of anyone coming in or going. On top of that, our building happened to have a large group of guys who had either played in the past or were interested in playing. Pot heads, rockers, metros, RA's... it didn't matter, they all just wanted to play. Every night, there would easily be 6-10 people at the table at any given time, hanging out and shooting a game.

I met most of my friends at the table, most notably Jay and Eric. Never playing before, the high level of competition and skill made it a very competitive but easy going environment. I quickly became obsessed with the game, spending more time there than probably anyone else in the building, to the point that I even ran a very successful and intense tournament near the end of the year.

So far I've bought a total of 3 cues, my recent one the fruit of a tournament victory last year. Ok, so maybe $300 of my own money is a little much, but come on! Really a good investment. Between the friends I've made through the game and the total escape it is for me from daily hassles, I don't think I'll ever be able to give the game up.

To be honest, playing for cash has crossed my mind. I can say without ego that I would be able to make a profit against most players at school if I wanted. But, as gay as it sounds, I desperately don't want to lose the "purity" of the game and what it means to me. I think if I played for money, suddenly my passion becomes my job, and it loses value to me.

I primarily play 8-ball since 9-ball is a real step up in skill level. I could bang around with it, but if I can't play it well yet then I don't want to play at all. Kent has gotten really good, to the point that he is pretty much even competition with me and Jay. Right now I try to play on the weekends, but hope that at some point I can get a table of my own for wherever I find myself at the start of classes this year.