youngstown
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- Jan 15, 2015
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My dad was laid off for about a year and a half at one point in 1978, the year before I was born. He had either just bought a pool table before he got laid off, or he bought it soon after, to help pass the time. It was nothing special and he bought the cheapest cues he could fine at a discount store or sports store. He and my two uncles, who both lived next door (they all built houses on family land) played a lot of pool while he was laid off.
The following are the earliest memories that I can remember when I started playing.
It just wasn't possible to draw the cue ball. In fact it was very difficult to not miscue. Never mind the fact that I didn't know that drawing the cue ball was even a thing, or the fact that I didn't have any fundamentals or teaching, by anyone who was remotely qualified. But the tips on the cues were just so bad. My dad had a tip kit with a strange looking contraption to hold the tip in place, he kept it in an old cigar box, with the oldest and cheapest tips that someone probably gave to him for free. If a cue slipped out of our hand and fell it was nearly a sure thing the tip would come off when it hits the cement floor of the basement. I remember they were always nearly perfectly square, that is, we never bothered to round them at all. I tried to do my own tip several times, but never got the knack for it.
There was a large yellow stain in the green felt from when I was in diapers (cloth diapers, of course) and let go of a full bladder. So in other words, the table still had the original cloth from 1978.
There was a sum pump in the corner of the room that we would sometimes have to kick to activate. We would often have to reach down the water hole to retrieve balls that flew off the table. The cement block was discolored from mold buildup. The cushions on the table had rubber type buildup that had accumulated (grown?) on the outside of the felt in a beady line at the apex of the cushion.
After we started playing again he decided to get a new cue, with screw on tips. These were the bomb compared to what we had prior. The new cue was a three piece cue. I would often only piece together two of the pieces so that it was a shorter length. There was an obstruction at one corner of the table, a Bench Press rack that was the most used piece of equipment in our house until I started getting into playing pool. (My dad could absolutely crush a softball. If I had a dollar for every time I met someone who heard my last name and asked me if my dad was..."Yep, that's him.")
My dad had a metal cue that was black, two piece, that we called Midnight. Whenever my sister and I played against each other we would argue over who got to use Midnight. It would be cold, but much smoother than the others. During the summer, or whenever the humidity was high, Midnight was useless, as there would be the slightest amount of condensation that would prevent it from sliding through your fingers. Midnight was still my favorite though. It can still be found in my parents basement.
The following are the earliest memories that I can remember when I started playing.
It just wasn't possible to draw the cue ball. In fact it was very difficult to not miscue. Never mind the fact that I didn't know that drawing the cue ball was even a thing, or the fact that I didn't have any fundamentals or teaching, by anyone who was remotely qualified. But the tips on the cues were just so bad. My dad had a tip kit with a strange looking contraption to hold the tip in place, he kept it in an old cigar box, with the oldest and cheapest tips that someone probably gave to him for free. If a cue slipped out of our hand and fell it was nearly a sure thing the tip would come off when it hits the cement floor of the basement. I remember they were always nearly perfectly square, that is, we never bothered to round them at all. I tried to do my own tip several times, but never got the knack for it.
There was a large yellow stain in the green felt from when I was in diapers (cloth diapers, of course) and let go of a full bladder. So in other words, the table still had the original cloth from 1978.
There was a sum pump in the corner of the room that we would sometimes have to kick to activate. We would often have to reach down the water hole to retrieve balls that flew off the table. The cement block was discolored from mold buildup. The cushions on the table had rubber type buildup that had accumulated (grown?) on the outside of the felt in a beady line at the apex of the cushion.
After we started playing again he decided to get a new cue, with screw on tips. These were the bomb compared to what we had prior. The new cue was a three piece cue. I would often only piece together two of the pieces so that it was a shorter length. There was an obstruction at one corner of the table, a Bench Press rack that was the most used piece of equipment in our house until I started getting into playing pool. (My dad could absolutely crush a softball. If I had a dollar for every time I met someone who heard my last name and asked me if my dad was..."Yep, that's him.")
My dad had a metal cue that was black, two piece, that we called Midnight. Whenever my sister and I played against each other we would argue over who got to use Midnight. It would be cold, but much smoother than the others. During the summer, or whenever the humidity was high, Midnight was useless, as there would be the slightest amount of condensation that would prevent it from sliding through your fingers. Midnight was still my favorite though. It can still be found in my parents basement.
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