Rack ‘em up!

The idea was hatched, bribes offered, locations scouted, and actions taken. They needed a location a group of semi- civilized people could use for a pool tournament. It was found near a park not far from Fort Bragg, off Obit on Road.

It would be impossible to find this road without directions because the road doesn’t exist, but that name of road appears on a hand-painted board hidden-away in a backyard. Don’t ask, because there is no reason you would want to know about, or that would help you understand.

Well, OK, here it is: The person we were visiting is from Lincoln, and probably, that is the only relevant information. But, to further explain, cows are everywhere in Lincoln.

He is from Lincoln and has a relative that lives in Texas. Is it clear now?

The tree-men were there, and Cool-ups, who was looking cool. Rackman, Hawk, and a small group known as the elders-in-the-way gathered. If rosy cheeks, and robust bs counted in pool play, the tree-men and/or Coolups would have run away with it. As it was, they didn’t, they got hungry.

It was a load of fun, they even made efforts to win. Poor boys. Oakland Sam arrived from his home in the woods but had a tough time with getting his game going. There really was an inordinate amount of grinning, which, seeing all those bared teeth, may have thrown him off. Disappointed he vowed to return, and because he is such a good player, the sharks will be waiting.

Donnie made great food, it was (not enough) but he was having a good time throughout the matches and was playing very well. Well, until he remembered he was a hungry man, then he lost focus and gave it up. Heh heh heh, another one down.

JT is the shy guy so he kept the games running smoothly. Cool-ups was musing about JT, “He’s kinda like a role model for me or town hero ya-know?” Well, maybe so, but just seeing JT walk around a pool table, can cause a horse to whinny.

Hawk and Smith kept throwing horseshoes to one place in particular, and then would throw them right back to where they had started from.

Darndest thing, trying to decide where they wanted ‘em, I guess. Rack in-Randy was kinda watching and relaxing with his best, and one and only friend George. Oh yeah, definitely, it was a best of times, seeing friends, kidding around. Especially so having a couple of four-legged friends tearing around the yard and having fun too, it really doesn’t get much better than that.

During this tournament, it was lucky for the elders-in-the-way, that there was a lack of food. The young guys were thinking of food — not game. One by one they were headed home for food. Hey, we told ‘em, “It is a strategy game,” and the elders had very carefully continued taking in regular doses of calories. Why? Because, as elders they knew they had to keep their energy up, and they did, a sip at a time.

Then the 9-ball games began, but with a reduced group, and what a different game from tournament 8-ball it is. We played with both the 5 and 9 balls as reward balls. Then the cow guy, after a dozen racks or so, and doing some quick counting decided, “this isn’t quite as much fun as it had been when we started,” and said so.

Well, as soon as we took the rewards off, he started making the 5 and 9. I mean repeatedly, but he was still able to maintain his record of zero for any rewards. It was quite funny, he would make one after another and shake his head. We would applaud and make a fuss, then remember about the no reward part, and snicker and snort.

It is always great fun to pick on friends, it really is, and many thanks to the He-Man for hosting us. And another big thank you goes to the youngsters for their donations.

Crutch invited Jack over for a little pool playing. Bryan is a top league player so it caught some attention when he reported JR had beaten him7 out of 9 racks. Stay tuned.

CUE TIP » When you eat a meal, your mental activity drops as you digest it, you may even relax and nod off for a minute or two. That is not conducive to playing in a tournament requiring energy and mental acuity. Eat in time to recover before you play tournaments. Timing is important, and being hungry or uncomfortable makes concentrating that much harder. Contact me at mcbohanon@gmail.com. Have a good game.