Rack ‘em up!

What is happening with Pool League members these days? Well, some, like Seattle Slim, went out headhunting in his Honda Element.

You would be correct in wondering how he employed his Honda in this endeavor, and whose head was he after — and why? Well, Hawk saw, when Slim pulled into the driveway, that the Honda was missing a headlight and was dragging parts of itself along as it was parked. When Hawk ran out and heard the story, he said, “Quick, get in my truck,” and they raced back to the spot where the Honda had met with its misfortune.

It was near the Cleone Store, and they saw a small woman at the side of the road. She was struggling and wrangling with something near her pickup truck. Hawk looked Slim in the eye and said the obvious: They were too late to clean things up. Nevertheless, Hawk immediately helped the woman with the loading of her truck.

Well, you probably have figured it out already, but Slim apparently had no idea, despite living here, that deer will run right into your car given the right circumstances, even when they see you clearly, and most especially if you are dazzling them with bright lights. Hawk muttered about Slim not staying put with the dead deer, and then phoning for help, “We would have had some fresh venison if you hadn’t become hysterical and driven off.”

Harsh I know, when they were rushing back to Cleone, Slim kept repeating his incredulity that, “That deer ran into me! That deer ran into me!” I guess it was pretty much over and over, like maybe being surprised by the news that life has been found on Mars and he was headed here.

To make matters even worse now, a week later, is that Slim, having learned this information the hard way, now gives mini-lectures about sneaky deer when we are supposed to be playing pool. He acts as if he is the new resident “expert” on deer attacks. Well, gee, since most of us have either seen, or heard, of deer that have even been hit on the Noyo and Pudding Creek bridges, and in downtown Fort Bragg, those pesky deer might be anywhere at all.

Local drivers know, without being told, that there is a deer “freeway” anywhere near the Cleone Store, and it is likely you will see a deer most every time you travel Highway 1 near Cleone. But Slim feels that this is new and vital information for us.

“There really are a lot of deer around Cleone,” is one of his most profound utterances. Slim is an expert about pool play. About deer? Well, no, not much, but is on a learning curve now.

Hawk finally decided he would leave for Arizona, not just to get away from Slim’s newest bit, about the many other sneaky mammals, of course. But also, Hawk wanted to play some pool at open pool halls and bars. It’s true, he was sending pictures of rooms with many tables looking grand and people playing while wearing a mask.

The other players were a bit rude to Hawk, apparently. All I can figure is, they could smell a little Californian on him, but who knows.

Normally pool players want to play anybody they can find, especially someone new. Hawk sent a picture while sipping a beer and playing pool in a bar. We hope he has a safe and pleasant journey home, and plays well in his pool games while there.

When Tin Hat had some friends over for a few racks of pool, it turned into about 40 racks of play. Well, if it takes 15 or 20 minutes to play a game, you can see why it was so late when I got home, the paper had already been delivered and it was nearly daybreak. They were still playing when I left. It was a little like binge eating I guess, I mean how else do you explain playing 12 hours of pool?

CUE TIP » When you are playing pool in a race to five or ten winning racks, don’t be dismayed if the other player jumps out ahead of you in won games. Stay completely in the game, don’t say that, “You are playing poorly.” Instead, focus on your table layout, and your own pool shooting fundamentals. Many times I have seen players with a 4 to 0 game advantage, lose when the other player wins 5 in a row to win the match. Contact me at mcbohanon@gmail.com, Have a good game, and I’ll see you at the table.