R.I.P

I was saddened to learn this weekend about the passing of one of Sophie's regulars, Ernesto Mendez. He was a Monday night league player, and a mighty fine one at that. I had been getting to know him a little better this summer as a member of his team, and I'd become fond of his pep talks to me during my matches. I'll remember his thick Honduran accent and the way he pronounced my name "Keddy." The last conversation I had with him was him advising me, "Just play your game, don't play his" (referring to my opponent). He will be missed.

Kansas in July

I am sitting in a cafe right now in Wichita, Kansas, across the street from a place where last summer I wrote about my pool adventures in my home state. I've been up in Manhattan, Kansas all week doing the Flint Hills Publications Workshop. It's been a bit of a stressful week for me-it always is–but also very rewarding in the end. I haven't played a ton of pool, nowhere near as much as last year (click here, here, here, and here to read those posts). And I haven't been carrying my digital camera around at all (instead I've been relying on my new Blackberry to take some snaps of the places I've played). But it's been nice to find a couple new places to add to my Kansas pool repertoire.

Needless to say, my visit started out with some great pool with dad last weekend before the workshop began. The first night we played a few games of 8 ball, banking out, and some 9 ball. One of the best things about playing my dad is that whenever we change from one format to another he'll set us up for a lag to determine who gets the opening break. And of course his berating of himself whenever he misses a makeable shot is hilarious. The second day I was here I went to practice three-cushion at Sang Billiards. I was impressed that they remembered me (last summer I had given them my blog address and they had gone on to check it out and saw my pics from their place). Since then they've taken out three of their six tables to expand for their restaurant. But it still has the same calm and quiet, the same anti-poolhall vibe, and is very much a place I plan to visit again next time I'm back. That night my dad and I ended with a race-to-50 game of straight pool. I caught on fire with a several-ball run and was straight-in on my winning point (he was at 44 or so) when I showed some mercy and suggested we bank out. But doing so nearly cost me the game as I missed my bank and he went on to make a run that included an awesome break shot off the 15th ball. I had made a nice break shot earlier and was proud of him for his, almost as if it was his way of saying to me, "Back at ya." But he scratched a shot or two later, and we play ball-in-hand on a scratch, so I had an easy ball-in-hand cross-side on, appropriately, the 9 ball. The next day it was up to Manhattan, where I knew of at least one bar with a pool table, Mel's Tavern, near the hotel where I was staying. And I found a different bar nearby that has three tables, Finn's Pub, but I didn't take any digital pics of that. I will post the black and whites as soon as I have them scanned. I didn't play there, either, but I did see two people walk in with pool cues. My goal this year was to try to put in some time in the basement poolroom of the Kansas State University Student Union and I'm super glad I that I did because I discovered one of the best deals in Kansas. I just so happened to walk in on a Monday night after eating dinner, ten minutes before 6PM (no doubt the result of my internal pool clock synching in oneness with those of my teammates at Sophie's at the exact same moment) and was floored when the counter man said they had a Monday night special: DOLLAR HALF HOURS. And it just so happened that was exactly how long I wanted to play. So I went to a table in the back and just knocked some balls around. But about fifteen minutes later, my mind starting drifting away from pool and back to the realities of the workshop and so I gathered everything up and went to check out. Shaking his head in a you're-killing-me kind of way, he rang me up and said, "That'll be fifty four cents." Definitely something to remember next year.

Last night, however, was my first night back in Wichita. With the relief of having the workshop behind me and the incredibly comforting knowledge that I was going to be able to sleep in this morning, I went out for some pool against some Wichitans. I went downtown to Blue Lounge, which I think I've decided to designate as my new "Hometown Sophie's." I played two guys who had their own cues. I won my first game fairly easily against one guy whose name was Matt. Then I went up against Chris and lost when I scratched on the 8. Matt and Chris played and Chris won. I went up against Chris and lost with four balls left on the table. Matt didn't want to play so I played Chris again and nailed a cross-side to win it. Then I played Matt, messed up an easy runout and let him win it. That's when I left and was just sort of driving around when I decided to check out Walt's for a nightcapper. Walt's is not a pool table place. It's more of a cigar bar. But it's been a few years since I've been there, and so when I pulled up I saw what I thought to be a new bar next door to Walt's. It turns out that Walt's has expanded and converted an old private board room next door into a game area with two pool tables. This annex is called The Oak Room. I played a few games of straight pool by myself because nobody in the room wanted to play. While the ambience there comes nowhere close to that of the Blue Lounge and other cavernous downtown venues in buildings with 20-foot ceilings, Walt's has these killer smoke-removal fans that are simply brilliant. In fact, I wonder if Mayor Bloomberg was even aware of them when he pushed his smoking ban through NYC in 2003. Oddly, I can't find these fans anywhere online. At any rate, my dad is out of town this weekend so I'm thinking tonight another visit to Walt's is definitely in order.

Jeanette Lee bought me a beer

It was a total treat to meet Jeanette Lee last night during our match at Edge Bar. At the beginning of the match, the other team's captain, William Fuentes, came over and asked me if I had my camera with me. I said I did and he went on to tell me that Lee would be stopping by a little later in the evening. Sure enough, about a half hour later, Lee arrived and casually began introducing herself to everybody. Eventually she walked over toward me. I extended my hand and said "What's up, Jeanette Lee?" We chatted briefly. I told her I had read through her book at Barnes and Noble a few times. The most memorable line from the few chapters I read was one where she talked about the importance of developing a smooth, consistent stroke. She wrote that she wished she had spent more time developing a slow backswing and perfect timing, "instead of practicing goofy bank shots." So funny (and true). She was very nice, very down to earth, and it made my evening when she asked if she could buy me a beer. Practically a household name, Lee is an icon. She's instantly recognizable to anybody who's ever watched professional pool on TV over the last 15 years. She's a consummate professional and one of the sport's most cherished celebrities. And she's a native New Yorker. Now living in Indianapolis, she was in town yesterday to do something for ESPN. Which is why she had some leftover headshots and was giving them away. Below is a copy of my souvenir shot. She is friend of many players in the NYC area, including Fuentes. Special thanks to Fuentes (in triptych at right and pictured above with his team, "Get In The Hole"), a very keen lensman in his own right, for being so generous and allowing me to piggy back on his group shot. Click here to check out his blog.