A little explanation is warranted so here goes: I was seventeen and in a pool hall with a school group. A couple of my friends—let’s call them Adrian and Denise since their names were Adrian and Denise—seemed to be having an argument.
“I’m telling you I can hit two balls with one shot,” said Adrian.
“There’s no way,” replied Denise. “There’s no way you can hit two balls with a single shot.”
The details are a little fuzzy because this was, well, let’s say it was a few decades ago because it was a few decades ago, but I was intrigued. Even now I think it’s plausible that someone could hit two balls positioned at opposing corner pockets with a single shot, if that someone happens to be, say, Mike Massey or Charles “Spitball” Darling or anyone else skilled at trick shots. I’d seen Adrian play pool, though, and I doubted he could do it. I’m pretty sure Adrian and Denise asked for my help solving the argument, though, and I agreed to help.
“Okay,” said Adrian, “I need you to stand at the end of the table with a finger on each of those balls.”
This is the point where, in retrospect, I feel really stupid. This is the point where I wish I could go back in time, grab myself, and say, “Don’t be a schmuck!” And in the moment I did briefly wonder why, if Adrian was going to hit two balls with a single shot, he needed me to stand at the far end of the table. And why he’d arranged a few coins into a small ramp right in front of the cue ball. The details are a little fuzzy but I think I was about to ask when Adrian drew back on the cue, propelled it forward and hit two balls. And Denise, quick with the camera, captured the moment for posterity.
It was an experience I’d mostly forgotten until I found the picture in a box of old items. Anyway here’s a mural on the side of the La Rosa Café in Nashville.
I’m now a little older and a little fuzzier and let’s say a little wiser, or at least I hope I am. Let’s say we put that to the test. Who’s up for a game of pool?
Ouch!
Fortunately the worst injury was to my pride.
HaHaHa! It took me a second to figure that one out.
Arionis recently posted…Where Have All The Chat Rooms Gone?
Lucky you. I didn’t figure it out nearly so quickly. I might have avoided the injury if I’d been a second ahead.
Wow, how long did it take for the stings to go away?
Aw, poor you! The other day, I was watching a sports blooper show with my nephew and every clip was an athlete getting slammed in the balls–he thought it was hilarious, but I reminded him that this is why we make him wear a cup to hockey:-)
mydangblog recently posted…Ever The Optimist
Billiards is one game where I thought the only balls that would get knocked around would be the ones on the table, but maybe I should wear a cup too. Of course in hockey you need all kinds of protective gear.
Very ballsy, Chris.
I appreciate your baller move in coming here.
Balls aside….
I seriously love that rooster mural!
rivergirl recently posted…Yorktown National Cemetery
I love that mural too. The same artist has done some pretty funny stuff in other places and I’ll try to show some of it later on. My big regret, though, is that there used to be another, smaller mural on the front of the cafe with the same rooster standing over a boiling pot of water looking very scared that he was going to fall in. I’m not sure why it got painted over. It really was funny.