Friday, August 26, 2022, 10:14 pm – I used to be in more billiards groups online, and lots of people would comment on my posts. Polls would get lots of votes, etcetera…however, someone, perhaps a pool player, would complain, and sure, you can't please everyone, but if I myself see a
post I don't like, then I just scroll past it. Why read it or comment on something you're not interested in?
Garret Troop, CEO of Sneaky Pete Mafia magazine, SPM, SPM TV – he had put in his group back in 2014 that he wanted writers, and to write up an article, send it in, and then maybe they would publish it. So, I wrote an article titled "The Greatest To Ever Wield A Cue" on Reyes. https://www.sneakypetemafia.com/amp/efren-bata-reyes-the-greatest-to-ever-wield-a-cue-~-patrick-the-tallahassee-s My most recent article was on Albin Ouschan, and he is a great Austrian player; check it here: https://www.sneakypetemafia.com/post/inaugural-european-open-champion-albin-ouschan-~-by-patrick-sampey The above article was more of a short, match-by-match breakdown of Ouschan's run in the European Open and not one of my most popular articles. And I've written to promote the game I love, covering the players that are so thrilling to watch. I had so many of those Accu Stats videos ( https://www.accu-stats.com/ )and watched them, thanks to an old pool pro that owned a pool hall in Tallahassee around 1998 when I got out of the US Army (1992-1997). {On a side note: I served with the 101st Airborne (Ft Campbell, KY), 2nd Infantry Division (Korea), 1st Cavalry Division (Ft Hood, Texas)}
All that is to highlight my service to this country and the pool world. Pool is not something that I've really profited that much from. I write pool articles because I love the game, love to watch the game, play the game, read about the game, all about and for the game – I bleed green, that old-school, green-colored pool table cloth that used to be the norm in poolrooms.
Now, so many pool halls have blue, red, or whatever color-themed cloth they choose. I guess I'm more traditional. I always thought the green represented the original grass because pool began originally as a lawn game I read somewhere once. Check me on that if you like. This article is more of a stream of consciousness about so many of the articles I've written. Oh yeah, also about why I like green, green has always been my favorite color, then you have the Army Green, and like I said, green flows through my veins.
I'm not a Pool-hall Junkie; I'm a Pool-hall Zombie! Seriously, I love the game, and I think in some billiards groups, they actually called me a troll, and that's not it at all. I like to explore controversial billiards topics and push the envelope. I'd like to think that I have a kind of passion for writing like Earl Strickland, mixed with the cool, chess-master, intellectual breakdown of the pool game, Reyes. That's what I try to bring with my coverage of the game I love these last eight years or so. I hope you, the reader, enjoy my articles, links I provide for reference, and other great billiards stories of old.
And I'm no pro, but I've entered four or five open events with players like Scotty Townsend, Tommy Kennedy, John Schmidt, Rick Howard, Johnny Archer, and the like in them. Those were Saturday and Sunday tournaments, and if you made it to Sunday, then you were "in the money," and won some back for your efforts. That's pretty cool. Me personally? I missed day two by one match twice, once losing 9-7 to Mike Zingale of Zingale's pool hall in Tallahassee, FL. Tallahassee is where I got my pool nickname, the "Tallahassee Squirrel." Personally, I believe I'd play at an APA 7 in eight ball and 9 in 9 ball, because my game has progressed through the years, and I was a strong 7 in both eight and nine ball, dating back to 2000. That's really my personal best, and I'm thankful for my success in the game of pocket billiards.
I love snooker on the 12ft snooker table as well. I have played many games on my buddy's table – he lives 'round these here parts, round the Okaloosa county. Perhaps now they can also call me the Okaloosa Squirrel, being that we appear to have taken up roots here, settled in, and maybe become one with the natives. We'll see. You never know, but I will always be the "Tallahassee Squirrel," really. When you know, you know. That Seminole blood flows through my veins, or sometimes it feels like it, at least. In the Indian scouts, from when I was a kid, my father was Eagle Eye, and I was Hawkeye as our Indian names. Is it taboo to say "Indian" now? I want to be politically correct because people freak out these days. I digress.
Pool, snooker, pocket billiards, that's what I'm talking about, and I haven't followed snooker really closely, but I do recognize greatness when I see it. I believe Ronnie O'Sullivan may well be the greatest snooker player of all time, especially considering his longevity in the game.
Check this quote about O'Sullivan from Wikipedia:
"Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, he has won the World Snooker Championship seven times, a modern-era record he holds jointly with Stephen Hendry. He has won a record seven Masters and a record seven UK Championship titles for a total of 21 Triple Crown titles, the most achieved by any player. He holds the record for the most ranking titles, with 39, and has been world number one on multiple occasions." –
So, it would appear that it could be argued that O'Sullivan is the greatest snooker player ever to live. That's debatable, I would imagine, but certainly worth noting. I think a 147 is the highest break in snooker, and O'Sullivan has the Guinness world record for the fastest competitive maximum break in snooker. He is a pleasure to watch play, making the game appear routine when it is nothing of the sort. That's what you call a billiards savant there, Ronnie O'Sullivan. Incredible player.
I feel it all ties in, snooker, pool, pocket billiards.
But back to the articles: I've written articles on John Schmidt, Charlie Williams, Nick Varner, Earl Strickland, Kelly Fisher, Kristina Tkach, Mark Wilson, and many others through the years. Articles on products, shafts, tips, chalk, cloth, brands, gear, cases, anything, and everything about pool and pocket billiards.
Check out one of my personal favorites on Dennis Hatch:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sneakypetemafia.com/amp/the-hatchet-man-~-patrick-sampey
Suffice it to say, I've written some articles I'm proud of, and many that I believe add to the diversity and color of a game of spheres, namely pocket billiards. Keep hitting them balls. Tallahassee Squirrel 🐿️ out.
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