What's in the Case

I had a crappy week of pool and, no, I don't want to talk about it (yet) so I figured I'll go over what's in my case.


The Case

It's a Jim Murnak leather 2x4 case (2 butts x 4 shafts) that the Monkey custom designed and ordered directly from Jim. (Jim's shop is in Brooklyn and he also happens to play in the Amsterdam league.) I ended up with the case as I got the Monkey a Jack Justis case for Christmas/her birthday. (I really did it knowing that I'd get this case as a "hand me down" from her. hehehe)

Jim Murnak liked the design so much that he's currently offers it on his website. It's the hybrid #GL2500.

The only difference is that on my case the cap has a 1up mushroom. (Mario Brothers Rulez!)

I really like this case. It's light, has huge pockets and has backpack type straps so I can keep my hands free. I really like having my hands free when I'm riding the NYC subway system.


The Cues

My current playing cue is a Tascarella. (At least for now, currently going on about 3 months, as I'm notorious for rotating and using the different cues I have in my collection.) Pete Tascarella Sr. and Jr. are both local to the New York area and can often be found competing in the various tournaments around the city. (They're both very strong players.) The Tascarella's claim to fame is that they purchased all the notes and equipment from the widow of the legendary cuemaker George Balabuska and continue to make cues in the Balabuska tradition.

I was fortunate enough to pick up a cue directly from the Tascarellas as someone had ordered this cue but, due to unforeseen circumstances, could not complete the transaction at the time of delivery. I happened to be at the "right place at the right time " for once as there's a wait of a few years for a cue directly from them. It's one of the reasons why they go for so much on the secondary market.

My break cue, nicknamed the "Orange Crush", is a Mezz Power Break 2. I think it's the best break cue in the business. It took a little while getting use to it being a bit shorter than a normal break cue but it crushes the pack with minimal effort. Since I don't have to hit it that hard to get the same results I feel like I've got a little bit more cue ball control on the break.

Misc. Junk

Here's all the junk I carry around with me.

Top Row:

Weights for my PB2. (The washer looking thingies.) The "Orange Crush" is weight adjustable and I like it a little lighter so I can generate more cue speed.

Measles cue ball. I use it when I practice. (So, basically, never.) It makes it easier to see if I accidentally put english on a shot.

Tiger Paw cue holder. It's a bit heavy but I like how adjustable it is. It's pretty secure and keeps my cues from falling over/being knocked over accidentally.

TAR patch. Represent.

Middle Row:

Q-Wiz. One of the few things I'll use on my cue's shaft to keep it clean and smooth.

Eye Drops. My eyes tend to dry out when I get tired. With a lot of weekday tourneys starting and ending late. and with me having a day job and getting up fairly early eye drops are a necessity.

Nail file. I use it every once in a while my nails need attention. I hate it when I can feel my nails against the cloth or something. (I had clippers as well but I just broke them.)

The Ultimate Tip Tool. It's 5 tools in one but I only really use it to keep my tip from mushrooming as I have other better tools for maintaining my tip.

Willard Scuffer-Champ. If I do need to shape my tip this is the tool I use.

The Perfhex. This is, by far, the best tip pick type product out there as it's a lot easier to use. Since most people don't know about this product here's the description:

"The Perfhex is a tip dressing tool 7/8" x 3/8" thick, which has 91 ground hardened pins set in an anodized aluminum housing and is used to perforate the tip creating tiny holes to hold the chalk."

Allen Wrenches. Used to adjust the Tiger Paw's arms as well as change weight bolts. (You'll be surprised at how often this is requested.)

Pocket Chalker. Not sure who made this one cause it was a gift but I find it very useful. It makes chalking after every shot easy as I always have chalk with me. The chalk in it is Blue Diamond chalk and, yes, Blue Diamond Chalk is worth every penny.

Talc. My hands don't usually get sticky but I've found some rooms to not be properly temperature controlled and a bit humid. (Like the Riviera in Vegas in August.) Talc's good to have in those situations.

3 Piece Leather Chalk Holder with extra chalk. Just in case.

Bottom Row:

Porper Shaft Polisher. You know, for when I need to polish my shaft. (Ba-da-dum! I'll be here all week. Try the chicken.)

Skyline Billiards patch. Just cause.

And, last but not least (and not shown), a small towel which I "freed" during one of my recent hotel stays. I learned this trick from Mika: you wet a part of the towel so that you can clean your hands with the wet section and then dry your hands on the dry section. It keeps your hands cleans so that the cue stays clean(er). Plus I like going to the table with clean hands. It feels better to me.

(I do realize that there's a whole bunch of people, Philipinos mostly, who don't clean their hands while playing pool cause they don't want to wash away the "heat". I don't buy into it and I usually don't shake these people's hands since, at some point, I'm sure they had to do a 1 or, even worse, a 2.)

You can also wipe your cue down if you so choose but do so sparingly as water and wood don't mix.

That's it for me. I like comments, it let's me know that people are actually reading my ramblings, so let me know what's in your case.

Bizarro World

Pool is a strange little sub-culture where ordinary things, like logic, never seem to apply. Here's a few of the things that bugs the shit out of me.

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Pool Professionals vs. PROs (Professional Pool Players)

If you happen to work in the pool industry and yes, while you do make you're living from the game of pool, it makes you a "Pool Professional", not a PRO. I think you're only allowed to call yourself a PRO when you're known for your pool playing abilities and your main source of income comes from PLAYING the game of pool. (Like gambling, winning prize money, paid sponsorships, etc.)

It's like people who have a PhD. Sure, you can go around calling yourself a doctor but you'll look like an asshole doing it.

So please stop referring to yourself as a PRO. You know who you are.

Going PRO

I don't know why but there are so many people in the NYC area who are trying to go PRO in pool. It's like they think that just because they like the game they can suddenly become a PRO in it. They seem to forget a few things that might keep them from achieving that goal. Things like, you know, TALENT and ABILITY.

I mean, seriously, if this was anything else other than pool, any other sport, wouldn't your talent and ability in it be the first indicators?

For example, I like basketball but I'm never gonna be able to go PRO. Why? I'm relatively short for the game at 6'0". I'm slow. I've got a 2 inch vertical leap. I can try as hard as I want, I can practice all day and all night but I'm never going to overcome the fact that I have no natural talent or ability for it. Sure I can get good at basketball and go as far as my abilities take me but that's never going to go beyond being a recreational hack.

Seriously, just go to your local pool room and look around. Look at some of the people who are in there, who've been around the game for years, who LOVE the game as much as you do. They practice all the time. They play all the time. Look at where they are now and what their speed is. Are they all PRO level? No? Don't you think there's a reason for that?

I don’t care how much you read about and learn the game, how many videos you’ve watched, how many lessons you’ve taken, hell, you could even have a PhD in pool knowledge, but without talent and ability you’re not going to get very far.

Please stop saying you're goal is to go PRO. If you have the talent and ability it'll just happen on it's own and saying you're gonna do it when you SUCK just makes you look like a retard.

Speed

When I was growing up there was no leagues and people determined speed by who they can beat regularly, often for money, and who they would need weight from to make a “fair” game. People often dumped or just played "good enough to win" to try and stay under the radar cause they didn't wanna start matching up with the better players and making it harder to win the $$$.

Now it’s all about leagues and “getting raised” and how, suddenly, you’re judge by whatever “speed” it is the league director decided for you. Someone even once describe the Amsterdam League in NY as the “totem pole” for pool in NYC...

Well it’s all BULLSHIT.

Please realize that the speed a league director arbitrarily gives you doesn’t mean shit anywhere else. Please realize that he doesn't really have a system for determining someone's speed. SO you can go around claiming you’re Open speed all you want but unless you’re going around playing, and beating, other Open players…YOU’RE NOT OPEN.

And, great, you’re an SL7 in APA 9-ball. No one plays APA style pool outside of APA leagues so please realize that it means absolutely shit anywhere else.

There are plenty of Open tournaments and handicapped tournaments everywhere. Go and play in them. Use the results as a benchmark for how good you are, not leagues.

Please stop living your pool life by your arbitrary grade because, really, it’s pretty meaningless and it makes you look retarded.

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Ah. I feel better.

Bleh.

I sort of had an epiphany at the Super Billiards Expo. As I was watching some of the top ranked amateurs and the pros play I noticed how focused they were while sitting in the chair waiting for their next turn. They’d just sit there like statues, displaying very little emotion, watching and waiting. It’s a very similar approach to how they shoot shots actually.

I, on the other hand, often let my mind wander. I’d watch other matches that are going on... I’d start looking around... start thinking about what’s for dinner later... If I just missed or did something stupid, which is quite often, I’d probably be berating myself or talking to myself as I waited.

(I often wonder what the pros think about while sitting there. Are they wondering if they left the stove on before they left the house? Do they remind themselves that they have to pick up the dry cleaning later? Or that they’re out of milk and need to pick some up on the way home? Do they also wondering what they are going to get for dinner after the match? Inquiring minds want to know.)

So what I think I figured out is that I don’t need to learn howto win but, instead, I need to learn how to compete better by staying focused and “in the match”.

My problem is that I lose focus too often and it starts with THE CHAIR. I can’t be thinking about something else and then “snap back” into competition mode and suddenly expect myself to perform my best. Also allowing my mind to wander so often rather than training it to remain still and focused affects me at the table as well. I’ll often start thinking of something else, maybe the next shot, and miss the current shot. I figure that focus, like a lot of things, can be trained and then maybe, just maybe, I won’t “take my eye off the ball” or do any of those other euphemisms for losing focus. My new goal is to try and remain 100% focused on the match the entire time.

So, with this in mind, let me recap my recent matches in leagues.

Yesterday, Sunday, I had both APA and BCA leagues. I had to play immediately since I needed to leave right after to make the BCA league match. (Yeah, this is our THURSDAY BCA league, you know, the one with SUNDAY matches. Ugh.)

I was matched up against an APA 4 so it’ll be a 38 (me) to 31 (him) race. I’ve played this person before and the last time it was fairly close. I didn’t play that well and I think I only won by a few balls which is why his captain probably matched us up again. Unfortunately for them I was a little more focused this time around.

I won the lag, broke, but didn’t make a ball. He makes the 1 ball but misses the 2 ball. I then proceed to run the rest of the balls out. Score is 9-1 me.

I break and I make a ball. I run to the 7-ball, which I make, but I hit it a little too hard leaving myself a bit longer on the 8 ball than I wanted. It’s still a very makeable 8 ball but I miss it, hanging it up, as I was still thinking “Why’d you hit the 7 so hard for idiot?” (I’m working on my focus, I didn’t say I was there yet.) He makes the 8 ball but misses the 9 ball. I make the 9. Score is now 18-2 me. And it’s only been like 3 innings.

It pretty much stayed this way for the entire match. He had one good rack which was the bulk of his points as I played a bad safety on the 1 ball. (SAFETIES! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU STRAIGHT TO HELL!) He got the 1, 2 and 3. I made the 4 but hit it just a little too hard and just barely safed myself. I kicked at the 5 ball and made the hit but sold out and he made a few more balls after that. In the end the score was 38-18 me and I beat him in 12 innings which isn’t too shabby.

So I was feeling like I was playing pretty well going into my BCA match and thought I might have a chance for another win. I felt like I was focusing better, in the chair and at the table, and it seemed to be working. Only I fan into the Indian version of “El Bandido del Tiempo” – the Time Bandit.

Ugh.

The Time Bandit is my friend Mikey who, while a great guy, is known throughout the world for how slow he plays. How slow does he play you ask? The best description I’ve every heard is from Jude who said “Playing Mikey is like waiting for the train when you’re already 5 minutes late.” It’s pretty torturous to say the least.

And I got the Indian Version of him.

Ugh.

To avoid confusion I’m gonna call my opponent TDTESS, “The Day The Earth Stood Still”, instead cause playing him was as it the earth, and all time, stopped.

TDESS and I are both the same level, C, so it’s an even race to 7. I’m watching TDTESS warm up and he’s pretty sporty. TDTESS is making balls and moving the cue ball around pretty well and shooting at a decent pace. It's going to be a tight match and should be a lot of fun.

So we start. And suddenly TDTESS’s measuring EVERY SHOT. TDTESS puts the tip of the cue where he wants to hit the object ball on every shot – even on straight in shots! - then TDTSS has to back up and line up the cue ball against his point of aim.

And, sometimes, TDTESS’ll have to stop and start over because he lost his point of aim.

And then, after that, TDTSS might go and get the chalk because he might have forgotten to chalk his cue.

So TDTESS will walk, slowly, to the other side of the table, get the chalk, chalk up and start the routine ALL OVER AGAIN.

This, of course, doesn't include his walking around the table planning his run out.

Which he does.

After every made shot.

Ohmigod I was freakin' out. I mean, I’m trying to stay focused in the chair here, stay “in the match”, but watching this routine is driving me mad! MAD I SAY! It’s basically taking him 10 minutes, if not longer, to run 2 to 3 balls. NO JOKE.

Then there’s TDTESS’s break.

TDTESS SOFT BREAKS.

TDTSS hits the 1-ball with just enough force to get the minimum 4 balls and the cue ball to a rail. No balls ever go beyond the side pocket.

It’s TDETSS’s ‘strategy’ where he’ll leave a lot of clusters forces you to engage him in a safety battle which, of course, slows down the game. WAY DOWN.

Yeah, it’s within the rules, I asked which is why I know about the 4 balls to a rail minimum, but it’s a DICKHEADED way to play.

And, yeah, TDTESS “got me”.

I feel into the trap.

I started to get pissed off and I started to rush and I started to slam ball to break up clusters.

And, yes, I entirely lost my focus and missed a few easy balls when I finally did have my opportunity.

Two hours later - final score 7-4.

I'd have more details of the match but, honestly, I can't remember anything else as I was comatosed the entire time.

I just really can’t believe someone would deliberately slow play and soft break for a LEAGUE match.

IT'S JUST LEAGUES DUDE. Will you freakin' play some pool? It suppose to be fun no?

But I’m an idiot as well. I could’ve put him on a shot clock, I didn’t ask until after the match was over, but who would ever think you’d need a freakin’ shot clock for LEAGUES?

So, yeah, TDTESS, you “got me”. You won. Congrats. You’re still a DICKHEAD.

(Guess I have to work on losing more graciously and my temper as well.)