Sophies

This is where I saw my first serious pool being played, back in early 2005. I had no idea there was such a thing as a pool league until I walked into Sophies one night and saw people keeping score and players marking pocket selections with their wallets. A few months later I got an assignment for The City section of the Sunday New York Times that was right up my alley. The assignment was to illustrate an essay that had been written about a bar that had closed down years ago on the Upper West Side. It was one guy's recollection of how the neighborhood had changed so drastically since. I was told to find a well-worn bar, but make it look kind of empty/sad/lonely. I immediately thought of Sophies. Below is what they published. I began going to the bar a lot more regularly and now I even play on one of their league teams.