Sixth grade way back in 1960 was an extremely difficult year for me. Don't get me wrong because I loved school. The problem was that my parents had recently split up and I was struggling mightily at age 12 to keep my feet on the ground. Few parents ever divorced back when I was growing up in the early 60's. It was a big deal for me and I was confused and hurting. I was very fortunate that year to have a kind, gentle and compassionate man for my teacher named Larry Prato. Always ready with a gentle manner or a kind word for a young broken boy.
One day something happened in class that helped to completely turn my life around. Mr. Prato was leading a discussion when he asked the following question: “What are you good at?” He asked us to take a minute and come up with the one thing we really did well. I was dumbfounded! I actually felt panicky because I couldn’t think of a single thing I was good at. Did riding my bike count? How about watching tv? Flipping baseball cards with my friends? Good Lord!
The simple truth was that I wasn’t good at anything and it made me feel even more like a loser. I mulled it over in bed that night and decided it was time to turn things around. I secretly pledged that I would become the best at something over the next few months. The question was what?
I loved playing table tennis at my local boys’ club, but you needed a partner to play, and I wanted something that I could work on by myself. I loved playing baseball and was a really good hitter, but I lacked speed and was weak in the field so that was out. Besides, it is a team sport.
What I finally chose to excel at is laughable now, but my decision at age 12 was to become a terrific pool player. It made sense to me at age 12. My local boys’ club was a great venue for me to perfect my skills. I could go every day after school, grab a table, and practice for hours. If somebody wanted to play against me, that was fine. If there was no one around, I could play all by myself.
William “Birdie” Kinnear was the game room supervisor at that time and was a mentor to me in my budding pool career. I began to think of nothing else. I was consumed by the game. That was a good thing for a kid previously preoccupied with divorce. Every afternoon I rushed to the club and played my heart out. Birdie taught me to play "pool solitaire", which allowed me to compete against myself and work on a variety of shots.
Below is the setup for pool solitaire with the cue showing the first shot. The object is to run the table. Ball positioning is crucial!
Over the next few months, I buried my personal problems and devoted my life to the game. Soon my game and my self confidence grew. Birdie noticed and I was eventually selected to represent my club on a team sent to compete in the New York City Championship Tournament. That year we won the whole competition!!! I was extremely proud to be a part of that and to this day I treasure the little plaque I was given for being on our winning team.
All of the dedication and hard work I put into getting good at pool helped me gain much needed confidence and helped to get me through a very difficult period in my life. An important life lesson was learned!
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