Legends of the Road

In the 35 years I have played pool, I have seen/heard some amazing, interesting, curious, stupid, funny, sad, impossible, cool, hopeless, and/or incredible occurences of pool lore. As a group, we pool players are colorful personalities...and there is always a new game or move. I have set-up a forum to do just this. If you see or hear about a good story that is worth recording, simply go to the legends forum and post a write-up. These stories don't have to be supernatural, although they can be. What makes a story good (to me) is when it describes someones performance under the competative pressure we all love.

I have also noticed that among the favorite pass-times of most players is the hearing and/or the telling of this lore. It is our history...passed down through the generations by word of mouth. Much of it is true, much of it is fantasy. Both are important. I am particularly interested in trying to record a portion of it. I have come up with a method to separate fact (or mostly fact) from fiction (or mostly fiction). Each story posted in the forums will be given (by me) a rating (1 to 10) for reliability. I will read and may edit each story before it is posted in an effort to improve the understandibility and flow of the story. This initial rating can be improved by attestation (vouching) as to authenticity by another person (anonymous vouching doesn' count). The story can be modified by anyone who wishes to vouch for the event and improve the reliability rating. I will be the judge as to the final rating and may contact anyone connected (author or voucher) to resolve dusputes. Stories duly authenticated will be entered into this section as a history of our game and the personalities who make/made it what it is today.

In the coming weeks I will post some great stories that I have either witnessed or validated (in my mind) as true. I will be interested to get feedback on them from you. I have considered a dedicated section for prominent individuals. I suspect that certain individuals will come up more often than others. I live in Monroe/West Monroe, LA where stories about Scotty Townsend's "bigger than life" career abound. No doubt, there is someone in your area whose exploits are famous. All and all these guys share with us an opportunity to vicariously enjoy a difficult but rewarding lifestlye. I think we owe it to them to preserve the memories they provide.

Thanks for your interest and postings.

Andy Bruce