The Folklore of Pool & Billiards

Welcome to...

2009-04-26T23:45:00.042-06:00

The Folklore of Pool & Billiards!

Concise Mission Statement:
By exploring all of pool's multi-faceted interdynamics, I intend to prove that this pastime is a deeply saturated ground for studying folklore.

~ Wayne S.

I hope you enjoy your visit here and find at least a few things that are entertaining and intellectually stimulating. Many thanks to all my pool comrades who generously gave of their time, stories, opinions, and assistance.

This Site, By Origin Is...
One student's final project for a university course entitled "American Folklore." The main requirement of the assignment was for the student to produce a thorough (if relatively experimental) exploration of a certain type of folkloric material. The student was to pick a folkloric subject matter that was relatively familiar to him/her, and/or one that was easily accessible. To understand why I chose pool as my subject matter, please visit the
"Why Explore Pool Here" page.

This Site, By Purpose Is...
meant to explore and prove how the ornate and elaborate ritual of pool can be understood as folklore. This study will not be limited to anything, including different rules, different ideas, different opinions, etc.; it is feasibly open to any expansive idea within reason.

In My Wider Hopes...
Anyone finding and exploring this site... be they greatly familiar with or contrastingly, very new to either pool or folklore... might gain a deep appreciation of both of these themes.

In other words...

I hope that visitors mostly interested in pool might:

Gain an interest in folklore, which subsequently might...
Deepen their understanding of why people play pool.
Deepen their firsthand enjoyment of playing the game.
And dare I say it? Deepen their quality of life.

I hope that visitors mostly interested in folklore might:

See how pool is a deeply saturated ground for looking at folklore.
Thereby, understand how pool is intertwined with other folkloric cultures, or matters.
Thereby, improving their understanding of the discipline of folklore, overall.
Gain a deeper understanding of the game of pool.
Thereby, influence a truer appreciation of the game of pool.

There are just a few things one should know, while visiting this site:

1. All of the videos are currently posted at YouTube.com. This means that any number of problems might occur. The traffic at YouTube is so heavy, at times, that videos might not always be accessible. Some of the videos that I had chosen and hoped to include in my playlists may not have legal permissions allowing them to appear (be embedded) on another website or server. Thus, some of the videos I hoped to place in my project may never appear here, unless I am able to someday gain permission to upload them here (or on YouTube) myself.

2. The adult rating I have chosen to give the website is due to a few instances of adult themes present in my content, but mostly just a very few instances of adult language in some of the popular media videos that my playlists reference (access and play).

3. Any number of the playlists, or "video/image player embeds," that exist on this site, at times, may have content that appears in them that doesn't belong here; I assure you that this is totally unintentional. This problem would likely be due to the "keyword" access technique that they use to search for content to play. I apologize if this ever causes any confusion.

4. Though this project has been placed on this blogspot server, it is meant to appear just as a regular website. Thus, I have manipulated all of the dates of my posts so that the project appears as such. One should therefore, ignore all the dates on the pages and posts.

5. Finally, this project, I hope, is going to continually evolve over time. Thus, I intend to update and improve this content throughout the future, and whenever I get the opportunity to put my time and energy towards that end.

What is Folklore?

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Very Simply...

Folklore is anything that people do, say, use, or express, within all of our communal societies. It seems that one could bravely say that...

"If any subjective or objective thing is relative to people in any way, then that thing is likely folkloric in some manner."

Academic study of any folkloric material is sometimes referred to as, "folkloristics." For this entire web project then, let it be known that for any "folkloric material" presented here, one should at least attempt to consider that "matter" from such a deeper intellectual, "folkloristic" perspective.

3 Traits That Makes A Thing Folkloric:

Briefly, there are 3 characteristics any thing needs to have in order to be realized as folklore, and these characteristics are as follows:

A thing needs to be creative.
It needs to be communally based.
It needs to subversive, deviant, and/or non-institutional in origin.

Thus, keeping an eye on all those cumulative concepts seems to be the most important thing one needs to do (to accept, understand, and hold onto) in order to begin to approach anything from a folkloric perspective. If a thing does meet these three criteria, then it is most likely folkloric, to some degree. That is probably even true, even if there is no audience present to witness that thing as folklore, at the time. For instance, any primitive dance ritual certainly meets all the necessary criteria so that it is definitely folkloric; and yet, that folkloric aspect remains a constant even if there may be no outsiders present to view the dance, as such. Moreover, it is just this sort of "self-sustainability," if you will, that is really what allows a folkloric matter to be transferred across time and space, perhaps.

Here is a playlist of folkloric narratives for your enjoyment and for beginning to contemplate just what folklore might be (individual videos can be accessed at YouTube.com by clicking the "linked" title).
Folklore - Narratives (not all pool related):

From a bit more of a moral perspective...
Of course, a piece of folkloric matter does not just start to become folklore once some academic person says that it is so... and we, as a philosophical audience, just have to try remember that fact.

What is more, those folks whom are practicing the folklore need not ever come to understand their rituals from any deeper perspective than what they already do (accept it as). In fact, pressing such a complex, intellectual perspective (of a folklore) upon some base practitioner (one whom is not already seeking out such personal expansion and complication), is not only morally wrong, but doing so might corrupt the integrity of the folklore (and the folkloric life), even to a destructive degree. Still, that idea might imply that the mere existence of this project (especially, its wider accessibility on the web), along with all of its intellectual implications, might somehow infiltrate and infect a relatively unwilling "pool community" with the "outrageous" concepts and claims of the of the folkloric discipline.

Nonetheless, I might argue that the mere presence of any Internet traveller here, be he/she a pool player or not, is willing, even wanting, to expand his/her horizons by exploring the web in the first place. Furthermore, any person whom is not ready or willing to expand his/her outlook on life (at least in this particular direction of "pool as folklore") will soon enough be turned away from this site after reading just a nominal amount of textual content.

The fact remains, that looking at anything from any new and strange perspective is almost always challenging, at first, or even for a while, for any human being.

And so, we must eventually accept...

Life is greatly about change and adaptation,

or you may as well accept all that painful stagnation, of age;

and eternal limitations on your range,

as your outward movement is slowly lost to you.

To be expansive and accepting is to own a timeless youth.

So, be strong in everything you do,

and kind in everything you think,

and challenges will dissipate before you, most perfectly.

More Historically... And According to Wikipedia.com:

The academic and usually ethnographic study of folklore is sometimes called folkloristics. The word 'folklore' was first used by the English antiquarian William Thoms in a letter published by the London Journal Athenaeum in 1846. In usage, there is a continuum between folklore and mythology. Stith Thompson made a major attempt to index the motifs of both folklore and mythology, providing at outline into which new motifs can be placed, and scholars can keep track of all older motifs. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore)

Also, please visit the above site for a more detailed history of folklore.

Nowadays, Folklore is...
an academic discipline which has by far transcended any of the working boundaries and definitions of its past. Due to its current and ever more wide-reaching scope, folklore can certainly be an intensely interesting and stimulating philosophy to follow. For one, folklore is just so deeply intertwined with so many other academic disciplines, including Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology, Linguistics, English, Literature, Fine Arts, Dance, Music (perhaps all of the Social Sciences and Humanities) that one would be hard pressed not to be impressed by it. In fact, the class that this web project was completed for, "American Folklore," was actually an English class. However, being in this class and studying folklore was more like dipping one's toes into "a pool of all disciplines." Honestly, it seems that just about any person, holding an interest in just about anything, could greatly expand their world view just by looking at things from a folkloric perspective. Due to folklore's rich and complex perspective, I would even say that taking a folklore class would be a very nice way for an "undecided" college student, one whom has not solidified his/her goals yet, to start to get a better idea about what he/she would like to major in. What is more, though I am not yet sure about what is entailed in receiving a Bachelor's Degree in folklore, I do find myself intrigued by investigations that possibility now.

What is Pool?

2009-04-26T22:28:00.004-06:00

A Brief History On Pool:

In its Earliest Manifestation...
It is said that "Billiards" is actually an activity and pastime that originated as a type of lawn game, something like "croquet," circa the 1600's (according to http://pool-cue.wowshopper.com/htm-pages/service-pool-history.htm). It is believed that pool originated, either in, or around Northern Europe. It is likely that it was developed mostly in France though, since the word "billiards" is said to be of French origin. Soon after its most primitive inception, it started to evolve into a form that more closely resembles what we are familiar with today.

Supposedly, pool moved from the out of doors, into interiors, and was played on a wooden table. This early table even had some sort of green, cloth-like covering which was purportedly meant to simulate grass. It did have balls, of some sort, but the devices that were used to strike the balls were called "maces." We could assume that these older tools might have resembled a "mallet" (again, like a "croquet club"), much more than they did a modern "cue stick." According to some, the earliest manifestations of the game did utilize six pockets, but the number of balls used, and the rest of the physical make-up of the game can get rather archaic. What is next important to realize is that the game became popular with not only aristocrats, but also certain royal families. That would have certainly added to its growing and wider popularity, even amongst the "lower classes." Over time, the game migrated around the continent and into the wider world.

What is further remarkable about the ritual artifacts is that, soon enough after its inception, approximately 60 years or so, the "cue stick" started to come into being. This started to happen, perhaps because taller rail systems emerged, and then it became harder for the players to hit the balls, especially if the balls wound up against a rail. So, it is relatively common knowledge that players started using the narrower, handle end of the "maces," in order to hit the balls stuck in any of those most difficult of situations. In fact, the modern word "cue" is actually derived from the name of the mace's handle, which was spelled "queue," and meant "tail."

What is further interesting, especially for folkloric and other social science purposes, is that women were not allowed to use the cues at first, and had to keep using the older maces. This is due to the fact that the men felt that the women might rip the table's cloth with the sharper end of these newly developed "pool cues." Hopefully, such a social limitation did not last too long, but I could not find any more information on that story of earlier repression.

In More Contemporary Times...
Like so many other things, pool began to evolve in leaps and bounds after the 1800's, as the Industrial Evolution vastly improved materials and material production. "Chalk" was just one new invention that improved the physical dynamics of the play of the game. More specifically, chalk allowed players to begin to impart "spin" (or what is now called "english" in America) to the cue ball, which drastically effected how the game was played. So, over the years chalk certainly complicated the entire game of billiards, but so did many other material devices and subjective techniques. Nowadays, pool has evolved into a richly complex sport that is played in most countries around the world by richly varying rules.

Someday, In the Future...
It is the hope of many a pool player that pool will eventually be recognized as an Olympic level sport.

Again, much of the above history was taken from the following site:
http://pool-cue.wowshopper.com/htm-pages/service-pool-history.htm

For a more detailed history of pool, please check out the following links:
http://www.bca-pool.com/aboutus/history/start.shtml
http://www.info-on-pooltables.com/pool-table-history.html
http://www.thebilliardshop.ca/poolhistory.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billiards

In the near future, please visit this web project's "Outer Links" page to investigate these, and maybe even more websites containing other information on the history of pool.

Why Explore Pool Here?

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Or...
Why Explore Pool as a Folkloric Ground of Study?

Sometimes, it is not easy for an academic researcher to be productive in gathering information on any smaller community (the focus of interest).

So, first of all, the ritual folklore of pool and billiards is highly accessible to the author of this project. That is because I have over 15 years of experience as an organized pool player (see the "About the Author" page for more details). Furthermore, that means I did not have to work hard to gain the trust of these various pool societies as I went out to gather data on them. There was just no worry about rejection, in other words. Moreover, being a practitioner of the folklore myself, I have a certain benefit (if not some additional challenges) of already being very familiar with all of the ritual materials (including the vocabulary, rules, ceremonies, artifacts, etc.).

Still, even more importantly, the dynamic world of billiards is just a densely saturated ground for studying folklore, for numerous reasons. For one, the pool ritual just easily meets all the main criteria necessary in order for it to be considered as folklore (see the "What is Folklore" page, for additional details). In other words, pool is communal, creative, and relatively subversive (also, it is often deviant and non-institutional in origin). What is more, these universal folkloric characteristics (that one must find to study a folkloric material) are so vividly obvious in pool that they are just very easy to withdraw from this lore. Furthermore, there is such a diverse type of folk that take part in the ritual of pool that a researcher need not be afraid of getting stuck with any over-simplistic data. Personally, I just like to see the world as a very complex place and so, a more complex environment is just infinitely more desirable for me to analyze.

What is more, according to those three universal traits of folklore...
All of these three things manifest in multiple ways across the entire geography of pool. For instance (and this list may not be accurately complete)...

The creative aspects manifest in pool's:

ritual play
ceremonies and rules
language and dialogues
personal narratives
wider and popular history
myths and superstitions
hierarchical wrestling
artifacts

The communal aspects manifests in pool's

ritual play
ceremonies and rules
language and dialogues
personal narratives
wider and popular history
myths and superstitions
hierarchical wrestling
artifacts

The subversive/deviant/non-institutional aspects manifest in pool's:

ritual play (as cheating, etc.)
ceremonies and rules (as cheating, drinking alcohol, etc.)
language and dialogues (cussing, put-downs)
personal narratives (stories of personal defeat, stories of violence, putting down another person's skill, etc.)
wider and popular history (proximity to bar culture, stories of violence, "sharking," etc.)
myths and superstitions (just by definition these are non-institutional, perhaps)
hierarchical wrestling (extreme competitiveness intrinsic in the sport, unsportsmanlike conduct)
artifacts (applications of controversial images, etc.)

Please note: I've offered examples here, in the last category only, because this category is sometimes the hardest to dissect from a folkloric perspective. Furthermore, all of these 3 universals will be explored in detail, in later pages on this site. Hopefully, sufficient examples will be given on those pages for each universal aspect of folklore.

Recognizing Folklore

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Or,
Things to Look For:

This page contains what is essentially, a quick list of all the objective and subjective material types of folklore that I could brainstorm, in one sitting. A more comprehensive list is likely possible. What is more, some of my examples could easily fit into more than one category on the list. For example... to which of the below categories do you think that the ritual practices of "the shaking of hands" and/or "the wishing to the opponent, good luck," fit best? Both of these examples could be considered rules, beliefs, practices, communications, after all... or they might even be considered superstitions (more so, in the absence of them, perhaps). Superstition is just such an interesting aspect of folklore that one should take notice of it whenever possible. For instance, it happens quite often that one player will believe that an opposing player is cheating (or something similar), and then the alleged cheater suffers some instance of bad luck... then, so many players have the tendency to say something akin to, "That's karma for ya, sucker!"

Folkloric Matter & Material
(w/ Just A Few Pool & Billiards Examples):

Narrative Stories (of course, these are highly personal, in pool)
Ritual Communication practices (inner and outer)
Transcendent and Divine communications (a belief that one is playing in the level of "the Zone," but also sharing that story)
Ritual Meeting Grounds (bars, lounges, lodges, personal homes)
Ritual Rules (formally sanctioned rules, or informal rules, such as "bar rules")
Ritual Practices (such as practicing, or playing tournaments)
Ritual Rights of Passage (when one wins a tournament, defeats a player of some renown, or moves up a division)
Ritual Clothes (shirts, jackets, and hats with various printed logos/insignia or embroidered patches, representing the leagues, tournaments, teams, bars, etc. that one plays in, or even milestones reached)
Ritual Objects (stick, chalk, table, balls, the rack, alcoholic beverages, on and on...)
Talismans and Power Objects (lucky chalk, lucky towels, favorite stick, favorite table or play site)
Ritual Beliefs and Superstitions (never break your own rack, the existence of "the Zone" as an achievable plateau of play)
Ritual Habits (moving the chalk, placing a reminder to patch the eight)
Songs (George Thorogood's songs, Jim Croce's "Don't Mess Around with Jim")

Another interesting thing to discuss in a bit more detail here is alcohol. Remember, to be folkloric, a thing needs to be somewhat subversive or deviant. Undoubtedly, with so much of pool playing being so intertwined with "Bar Culture," there is going to be some deviance involved in pool. But, without getting too complicated on this, let us just try to decide in which of the above categories does the use of alcohol fit best? For so many players, whether this is admitted to or recognized within the pool society, or not, alcoholic beverages can run a wide range on the importance scale (i.e., as far as helping a player with his/her pool playing). Surely, for some players, enjoying an alcoholic beverage seems to have very little to do with the ritual of pool. Yet, for some others, an alcoholic beverage might even be considered as a "power object," something that can push one's mediocre (and/or soberer ability) to the level of super-stardom. Honestly, alcohol could fit easily into at least 9 of the 13 categories listed above, in some manner.

Pool is Definitely Communal

2009-04-26T20:40:00.004-06:00

Pool is a highly communal activity and pastime...
And so, the ritual of pool definitely fits that requirement for something to be recognized as folkloric. In fact, as long as pool is competitive and played between two or more people, then it is always communal in origin. Moreover, even a player that only plays against his/her self (most of the time) is likely doing so with the thought in mind that he/she will someday impress another participant with his/her growing skills.

Here we see how local business owners graciously welcome pool player's that will be playing in a pool tournament at their establishment that weekend.

The following playlist has just a few videos representing how pool is such a communal activity and pastime. One can also access the videos on the playlist at YouTube.com by clicking on the "linked" title.

Pool is Communal - Etiquette, Rules, etc.

Pool Strengthens Kinship Ties

2009-04-26T20:35:00.008-06:00

It seems the strongest evidence for understanding pool as folklore is in its powerful ability to strengthen kinship ties. But first, what is kinship, exactly? Well, there are many ideas on this, but perhaps the best definition I could find (at Dictionary.com) was from Princeton University's online dictionary project, "WordNet," and is as follows:

kinship - noun
1. a close connection marked by community of interests or similarity in nature or character; "found a natural affinity with the immigrants"; "felt a deep kinship with the other students"; "anthropology's kinship with the humanities" [syn: affinity]
2. (anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption

"kinship." WordNet® 3.0. Princeton University. 07 Apr. 2009.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kinship

According to the second part of the above definition, a strict anthropological appraisal might be so rigid as to leave out, or discriminate against, any pool playing folk who are not related by blood, marriage, or adoption. Arguably, the discipline of Folklore need not recognize such a strict definition as what Anthropology or Sociology might want. What is important to understand is that when people take part in any activity over a very prolonged period of time together, their interdependence and caring for one another can definitely evolve to a point where it resembles a familial tie. Certainly, in pool, there are so many people whom have developed such extremely strong bonds through this activity that one would be remiss not to recognize the familial, or kinship-like, aspects that develop here. The strongest of these bonds seem to develop through a long and shared practice of this activity, for instance, when two (or more) friends play on the same team together, for many years.

Below is a picture of a pool tournament that took place at Cheyenne's Senior Center. Many of the gentlemen that played in this tournament are regular pool players at this establishment. What is more, there are games almost everyday there that last for hours on end. What is especially nice about this venue is that there are people of many different nationalities who play very amenably together there, and consider each other to be good friends. I am much younger than most of the participant players at this center but they often, graciously invite me to play with them. Thus, pool easily helps to bridge boundaries between race and age.

The next image shows the "marker board" at the Senior Center that is used to let people know when their turn is up. The funny thing about this is that these boards are often present in bars, but they rarely work in those environments, even if they are used. I have actually seen fights over how the board is used in bars, so they are an imperfect artifact, to say the least.

Another thing to help keep the peace at the Senior Center is a Rules Sign. Across the top of the image is a scoring string that helps the players keep accurate track of points while playing some "Snooker" (which is a certain type of billiards game rules).

Pool Contains Unification Rituals

2009-04-26T20:33:00.001-06:00

The activity and pastime of pool contains numerous ritual actions that can be understood as unifying folkloric material.

Besides those, this is a good page to place videos and/or images of "the high five" and other "cheering-type" rituals, once I get the chance.

Pool Contains Symbolic Artifacts of Unification

2009-04-26T20:31:00.007-06:00

It is a fact that pool is a rich environment for strengthening kinship, friendship, and family ties.
What is more, much of the folklore found in pool and billiards seems to exist to enhance the unity felt between players, even if the other side of pool lore is manifest by more competitive individuals interested more in self-promotion. These latter types of folk just have a stronger desire to advance within their own, personally recognized, hierarchical environments. This does not necessarily mean that these types of individuals are more self-absorbed, they may just be more competitive with themselves, rather than being overly competitive against other players.

Below is a picture of "Scooters Scoreboard's" trophy display.

It is pretty obvious how a trophy is a ritual artifact, but one should also attempt to recognize the community aspect that such artifacts represent. For one, most of the larger trophies seen (similar to these) are awarded for exceptional team play (trophies for individuals are often of the small'ish sort, unless that individual has really accomplished something extraordinary). If a team does well enough, they will be honored with a very large trophy that states the names of players, the name of the bar that the team played out of, and what place the team finished in. Subsequently, the bars often house team trophies and thus, the honor of greater achievement is further transferred to the bar establishment in that manner.

Stickholder Symbolism
A good, specific example of both sides of the aforementioned coin...
the wider-unifying sort of folklore, but also the more individually competitive type... can be seen in the "ritual-object stickholders" that some teams and players use.

Primarily, the team stickholder that has numerous slots or holes (when it is used by and for a team) symbolizes a degree of team unity that otherwise, is not necessarily present. So many teams that don't have a collective holder do not represent this subtle unity, in any other manner. Perhaps, a team that wears identical team-uniforms, represents a more obvious form of unification. Yet oftentimes, in the absence of a stickholder, players may place their sticks wherever there seems to be a safe and open place. There is little creativity or community in doing just that. The only folkloric aspect that might exist in the absence of a stickholder, in fact, would be if the pool players actively monitored each others sticks, to prevent theft, etc.

Then, there is the highly individualized, smaller stickholder, which basically represents that this single player is very serious about his/her approach towards the game. This can be a very creative statement, but it may not be understood to be communal in any manner; especially if the player refuses to share the stickholder, or any information about it, either.

I would like to thank again, all the Cheyenne pool players who let me take pictures of their stickholders.

Certainly, stickholders, as seen above, can also provide a rich canvas for looking at the creativity aspect of pool. Still, the customization of specialized stickholders is more relative to an individuals want and need to express his/her creativity - and that may not be too folkloric, within this society. Still, the narratives that might ensue after other players see these specialized stickholders is definitely a type of folkloric material. I suppose it mostly depends on what the creator of such a customized ritual device is hoping to accomplish by making such a thing - how willing they are to share information about the object.

Pool is Always Creative

2009-04-26T16:10:00.001-06:00

It is undeniable that pool is always a highly creative pastime and activity. That truth is manifest in the fact that the ritual of competitively playing the game requires resilient adaptation and creativity skills.

Pool Appears in Popular Media

2009-04-26T16:08:00.001-06:00

You mean to say that pool manifests outside of pool halls, bars, and basements?

Pool in popular culture and popular media:
Pool culture has appeared often in most all popular media. There are a few movies that are well known for being pool themed. There is at least one song that is perfectly connected to pool. There is (at least) one other song, along with its corresponding artist, that owns a strong connection to pool (though that connection may be mostly known to just billiards groups). If there are any fiction books with story lines about pool, I have yet to find them. Certainly though, there are many books of non-fiction about pool, pool players, and pool instruction. Pool has been appearing in art, probably soon after the inception of the sport. Pool definitely appears on television, in the news, and the web. On television, pool is mostly seen in its professionally competitive form, as sportscasts, though it has appeared in some sitcoms. On the web, it seems that pool appears in numerous websites (and blogs), primarily as a form of personal expression (basically, as people explore and explain their personalities). One can assume that pool subject matter has appeared in most news media. In fact, was once pictured on the front page of our local newspaper as a tournament was being covered. Please go this site's
"About the Author" page for more on that).

Please note that once one views any of the videos on this page, there is a possibility that one might be able to access other videos (in the same player) with similar subject matter. Please take advantage of that opportunity if you like.

Pool Themes in Popular Movies and Film:

First of all... most everyone over the age of 30, or so, is probably familiar with the following manifestation of pool as media...

Movie Title: "The Hustler"
Plot Synopsis: Jackie Gleason stars as Minnesota Fats opposite a young actor named Paul Newman. These two competitive players, who can be called "pool-sharks," compete against one another in dramatic fashion.
Folkloric Perspective: This movie is very much about a small communal activity, that has developed into its own society. The ritual players, the stars of the movie in this case, are competing over money, certainly, but there are also levels of status, on the line.

The following is apparently a video of a trailer for the film:

Then of course, that movie was followed by a sequel called "The Color of Money." This movie starred, again, Paul Newman, but also starred an up-and-coming Tom Cruise.

Movie Title: "The Color of Money"
Plot Synopsis: This time Newman is the seasoned veteran, and Cruise is the young buck trying to beat the aforementioned, now legendary player. Again, the film depicts a players attempt to rise in status.

The following is a video of a trailer for the film:

Pool Themes in Popular Music and Song

Pool themes have appeared in very few films, really. However, there are some songs that seem to be synonymous with pool playing, or pool culture; actually, the connection may be due mostly to the songs' connection to bar culture (alcohol, drinking, drugs, etc.).

Song Title: Don't Mess Around with Jim
Song Artist: Jim Croce
Brief on pool relativity: The main character in the song is Jim, whom we are told, is a "pool shootin' son of a gun" and that he owns "a two-piece, custom-made pool cue." Moreover, the song relates a tale of conflict about Jim has "hustling" another player out of money, and eventually, the other player gets his revenge.

The following link will take one to a live performance recording of
the Jim Croce song, "You Don't Mess Around With Jim"
on YouTube.com (opens in a seperate window).

This is an audio player from Project Playlist...
which contains songs I could find that are related to pool:

Pool in Live Performance Comedy

The following YouTube video shows how pool has appeared in a live performance comedy show:

The following YouTube video is a very creative, independent short (video production) about pool (this is not footage from the original and famous film).

Diagram Experiment

2009-04-26T15:00:00.000-06:00

Pool diagrams! This really does work!
Thanks to Cuetable.com for this amazing software!
WOW this is gonna be an awesome tool for this blog and site!

The diagrams below currently represent a truly creative option to a difficult situation on the table. I actually have a video showing a particular player shooting the obvious and uncreative shot. With the cuetable software, I can now effectively show how one could make a better choice. More to come on this, I hope to complete this presentation within 5 days or so. Should I also connect this blog site to the cuetable.com site for networking purposes? Only time will tell.

Pool Can Be Subversive, Etc.

2009-04-26T14:05:00.003-06:00

Pool Can Be Subversive.
Pool Can Certainly Be Deviant.
Pool is Not Institutional in Any Instance.

Let's Get Those Hands Dirty!
Below we see a mark of the trade - if your hands don't have chalk all over 'em, then you haven't been playin' enough, Buddy!

Thanks R.J., for giving a me a hand or two.

Pool is Saturated with Competitive Narratives

2009-04-26T14:04:00.000-06:00

Competitive Narratives
A great way to understand how the ritual of pool is subversive is to look at all the competitive narratives inherent in the sport. Not only are players competitive with one another, they are also highly competitive with themselves.

(on this page I intend to incorporate audio files of interviewees explaining how competitive they can be)

About the Author

2009-04-26T13:02:00.000-06:00

Why I am Here at Blogspot.com
My name is Wayne. This blog site is actually an online container for housing my final project research for the University of Wyoming's, spring of 2009, "American Folklore" course. I am currently enrolled in spring courses at U.W. and L.C.C.C. as I pursue a Bachelor's Degree. I have already attained an Associate Degree in Fine Arts through L.C.C.C., though I am not too sure anymore what my next discipline of study is going to be.

One of the main reasons why I chose pool as the subject matter for this project is because I have almost 19 years of cumulative experience as an organized pool player. Thus, my local pool environments and societies are very easily accessible to me, helping to make the "ritual of pool" my best choice here. Moreover, and as I hope this site's content proves.... the ritual activity of pool is just a highly saturated ground for conducting folklore research. As I continue to develop this project I am inspired more and more each day by what I believe might be accomplished by maintaining and expanding this site.

My Personal, Folkloric Narrative of Being a Pool Player:
Like many players, I started playing pool more seriously, and in pool leagues (by VNEA Rules - see the "Outer Links" page on this site), soon after I turned of drinking age. Basically, my older brother told me that I was going to start playing on his "bar team" when I turned twenty-one, whether I wanted to or not. So, I have to greatly thank my brother for getting me started in the pastime and keeping me enthused about it, throughout the years (amongst other friends and family members).

Honestly, I became relatively obsessed with playing the game of pool very soon after starting. After my second or third year I was usually playing on two or three teams (and nights) a week. Now, I am not nearly as competitive as I was in my 20's, though I do still love to play the game whenever I get the chance. I should confess that I never felt I was too good of a player until after I played in organized leagues for almost 10 years. Around that point is when I chose to move myself up in rank, into our charter holder's upper "A" division, even though I had not yet won any significant tournaments. My first two years in our town's "gold league" were beyond challenging and I won almost no games at all. By my third year in that division though, I felt I was one of the best players in town, and I proved it by finishing around 20th place in the "A" division. Well, that's where my personal claim to glory ends though, since I have drastically cut down on the amount of pool I play since starting college.

The image above is from a clipping from the front page of our local newspaper, around the year 2000, or so. The picture was taken as the Rocky Mountain Singles Tournament was taking place at the Holiday Inn, that year.

I was playing very well in that tournament at the time the picture was taken. Even though I just missed making it into the finals of that tournament by one win, I did win around 9 games. Certainly, this is one of the most successful tournaments that I had ever played to that point, and so, the experience also became a part of my personal narrative as a pool player. I really was dominating everyone that I played that weekend, besides the two games I lost. Yet, I don't remember any details from that tournament now, game play wise, and having my picture placed on the front page like this remains as memorable and connective as anything else.

Nonetheless, what my failing memory about that tournament (and others) might point to is the fact that our memory retention is often enhanced by extraordinary details just like the minor fame I experienced by getting my picture (of my pool persona) into the paper. Really, if you play a lot of tournaments, those memories just have a way of melding into one another. Still, I would venture a guess that if I had done just a little bit better in that tournament, such as making it into the finals by winning just one more game, then I would still now have a better recollection of that playing experience.

In relation though, I was very surprised at how many of the pool players I interviewed in my fieldwork this semester related a similar story. At least four interviewees remarked that one of their strongest memories as a pool player had to do with just missing the finals, just as I had in that tournament (and others).

Outer Links Page

2009-04-26T13:00:00.006-06:00

This page contains links that are relative to folklore, billiards, or any of the author's other interests.

Folklore links:

The American Folklore Society

The University of Wyoming's E-Campus

Billiards Links:

Cheyenne Valley Pool League Website

VNEA - Valley National Eight Ball Association

CueTable.com - this is an incredible, dynamic, online software tool for diagramming "problem tables," etc. Check it out!

The Author's Other Interests:

ArtLex: The Art Dictionary - Excellent resource (more like an encyclopedia, really).

The Folklore of Pool & Billiards: What is Folklore?

2009-04-26T11:17:00.000-06:00

The Folklore of Pool & Billiards: What is Folklore?

This is an example of an auto created backlink.