When I first moved to Johnstown, Hoover and I would go out and shoot pool nearly every single night. I mean, it was Johnstown, so that was pretty much all there was to do – drink and shoot pool. Once I improved to a relatively competitive level, I joined the CTC company pool league which was played over lunch. I think I made the playoffs all 3 times that I played in the league, but I never won the whole “deal”.

With all the league play and practice, I had become a pretty good 8-ball player, but like nearly everything I do, I just got tired of it. I got sick of the smell of the pool hall…you know…that musty nastiness of old men, cigarettes, and fried food. I grew tired of the cocky players who were – borrowing from the Davis book of bowling sayings – “big fish in a small pond”. The whole scene just bored me, so I explored other things.

I joined a dart league and our team almost won both times, we started a band, and we began making the devouring of sushi a new art form. My pool skills diminished quickly.

So when George asked me to join his team in their pool league, I had some reservations. I hadn’t really shot pool seriously in over two years. I had never shot in a team format league. Was it going to be the same old crap? Could I even shoot anymore? Was I willing to commit to yet another obligation? Yes, yes, and probably not.

I’ve yet to commit, but I did go last night. I ended up winning 3 out of 5 games, and should’ve won at least 4, if not all of them, but my rustiness bit me pretty good the one game, and despite running to the 8 on the other, I couldn’t bust it out of the cluster that it was stuck in off of the break to finish. My opponent ran out for the win. Oh well.

I ended with a score of 41, which was tops on our team, but the whole ordeal took basically four-and-a-half hours, and ruined my night. I had expected to be home around 10 to do freelance work, manage my finances, run my rent check down to my landlord’s house, and workout. Instead, I got home well after midnight, ate a quick little meal, and passed out. That meant that I had to take a half day today just to do all of that stuff or spend the day annoyed that I didn’t get to any of it. I hate leagues, and I really don’t know if I have it in me to waste this much time. I’ve committed to the next two weeks as Mike, who’s also on our bowling team, is going to Australia and needs a sub, but after that, I think I’m going to want my Monday nights back. I love bowling league, but bowling’s still new and challenging to me. Pool, like the stench that accompanies the places it’s typically played in, is just stale.