Pool Cue News and Review

I thought it was a joke from The Onion until I realized that it was real. Apparently Jeffrey Piccola thinks its a good idea to have kids hanging out at pool halls in Pennsylvania. Honestly, this may be the worst idea since Greedo shooting first. Don’t get me wrong, I love pool. I’m just smart enough to know that pool halls aren’t a place for kids.

I still remember my first experience at a pool hall… I went with my girlfriend, my sister and her scumbag boyfriend. Within an hour my sister was being accosted and I was in a fight while her boyfriend was scoring some weed. Yeah, this is a great idea Jeff.

The best part about his statement though was this quote: “Times have changed. Pool halls and billiard parlors are now looked at as family enterprises”. Hmm… Disneyland or Bruno’s Pool Hall? Busch Gardens or Break Shot Billiards? Boy, that is a tough one…

Someday maybe there will be family friendly pool halls, but that day isn’t today. Maybe once the industry gets a bit of a hosedown, they’ll figure out how to do pool halls the same way the bowling industry has changed bowling alleys. Take a look at 300 Dallas and you’ll see what I mean. Pool halls don’t have to be sleazy… they just are.

There seem to be quite a few haters out there that feel like Shanelle Loraine gets treated differently because she’s good looking. Let me just say that she didn’t become the #1 player in Guam just because she’s hot. I’m sure there was some serious competition for that coveted title. For those who simply refuse to believe she can play, I present to you video proof from the XTM Cup. I’m not sure what the hell she’s doing, but that one dude in the leather jacket seems quite impressed.

Look, of course she’s gonna get flack because she’s hot. There are a lot of female pool players that are better than her. She hasn’t done a thing to prove herself as a player except beat Jeanette Lee in an exhibition match. Even so, I’ll tell you why she deserves a sponsorship over someone like Karen Corr. Shanelle is willing to work for it. Karen doesn’t get sponsorships because she isn’t willing to go to a place like the Super Billiards Expo to meet and greet for hours on end. Don’t get me wrong, Karen’s very nice and pretty damn funny, but she just wants to wear a patch and that’s not enough to get sponsors interested.

You want a sponsorship? You expect a company to pay you to promote their brand? If so, then put yourself out there. Do interviews, sign autographs, play challenge matches with fans. Don’t think for a second that playing well “earns” you a sponsorship.