First there was my shoulder rotator cuff repair, and then there was Susan's pregnancy and birth of her first, our third grandchild and first grandson, Matthew. But back to what now can be considered a family tradition: playing pool and wishing eternally that we were both better at it. Both my daughter and Matthew are doing fine. It's the pool game that is suffering.
I think I've written about this encounter before, but it's always stayed with me. When I was a young and callow fellow, and the Piermont brothers were as well, we took our legal eligibility to order a drink at a NYC to a place on Eighth Avenue, somewhere in the 50s called the Horse's Tail.
The corner establishment had a blinking neon sign that went on and off simulating a swishing horse's tail. Get it? Inside was a horseshoe shaped bar attended by a single, burly bartender wearing a white apron. When Dennis, the more talkative of us, pointed to the bowling trophies behind the bartender if he bowled, he scowled. He was going to have to talk to us. He sucked his teeth, and replied, "I bowl like old people fuck. Not well, and not often." We got the message.
Little would I know that over 50 years later I could say the same thing about my pool game. I don't care. I persist. In my mind I'm the greatest, even if my longest run yesterday was three balls in a game of straight pool going for 25 points.
My daughter Susan is a willing partner, and she will admit to being terrible at the game, but enjoys the company, as do I. But I'm here to say it's not cheap to play the game at today's rates. I don't remember what dent the rates put in our pockets when we descended on Broadway Billiards around 52nd Street in Manhattan, but that's over 50 years ago now. Prices certainly change, like neighborhoods. Now, a 1½ hour session for two costs $32.50. Ouch. Well, we don't get to do this often, which of course does nothing to help improve our game.
I don't think I ever had a bad time playing pool, despite not being very good at it measured against even a moderately good player. When I play now it's always with Dennis and Dave in my mind, and the various places we found to play: Broadway Billiards at 52nd Street and Broadway below the penny arcade; Our home turf. Julien's on 14th Street next to the Academy of Music; McGirr's on Eighth Avenue, where they filmed part of 1961 movie the Hustler with Paul, Newman, Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott, Piper Laurie, and Willie Mosconi, all people that have now passed away, with Piper Laurie just passing away recently.
It is interesting that Walter Tevis wrote the story The Hustler, and also wrote The Queen's Gambit, two books made into a very popular movie and a 2020 Netflix miniseries decades apart about games played at the highest level. Walter Tevis passed away in 1984, so he never got to see the adaption of the Queen's Gambit. The books were written decades apart, 1959 and 1983. The miniseries The Queen's Gambit provided a breakout role for the leading actress, Anya Taylor Joy.
We played at Jaycee's and King and Queen in Flushing. We played at the Friar's Club on Sunday mornings courtesy of Dennis and Dave's Uncle Benny, who was a member. We didn't go to Ames because once you can play in Manhattan, there is no need to travel to Brooklyn.
But Ames is probably where Jackie Gleason learned to "shoot a good stick" growing up in Brooklyn. Paul Newman wasn't a natural player, and someone I once met told me they saw him playing pool after making The Hustler and they were surprised at how bad he was. Hollywood.
Willie Masconi, the champion professional pool player had a small part in The Hustler, and was of course a technical consultant. If the director wanted a massé shot to be part of the action, you can be sure Mosconi was the hidden pair of hands holding the stick.
The OED defines massé as: a stroke made with the cue stick more or less vertical, so as to impact extra swerve to the cue ball.
The operative word is "swerve," not "spin." Because you need a lot of pressure on the cue stick to impart this swerve there is a great chance you'll miscue (miss) and make the cue tip hit the table cloth and cause a tear. Not looked upon favorably by pool hall management.
And why would you want the cue ball to swerve? Well, the Christmas card is a great illustration of Santa making a successful massé shot and sinking the 8-ball, therefore winning the game with what could be equated to a walk-off grand slam homer. What witnesses there might be, they go wild.
The vapor trail depicted in on the card shows the path of the cue ball making contact with the 8-ball and sinking it in the corner pocket.
My daughter knew it was a great card to get, but didn't know what a massé was. She had to look it up. After explaining it to her I refrained from demonstrating it. I was miscuing enough yesterday. No need to add a potentially destructive massé shot to the mix. I told my daughter to look at one on YouTube.
In variably when we go to RAXX one of the solo playing guys will spot a female and say something light-hearted. This time, a fellow we hadn't seen before, but one who was clearly trying to sharpen his game, almost immediately passed by and told me to be careful, "she's a hustler."
The guy looked like Danny DeVito, and coincidently a Danny DeVito subway sandwich commercial appeared on one of the many TVs (no sound) hanging from the ceiling. We both laughed that Susan was being seen as a "hustler." I told him I was trying to win back the money my wife and I paid on her college education.
So, how did I do? I miscued often, and had a high run of three balls in the straight game we played. We're both so lousy that even a game of 8-ball can take a while to finish. Generally, because of the cost, we usually play for 1½ hours. I always pay. Susan had bought lunch.
No matter what, I will always wish I was better at pool.
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