Trick Shots Gerni vs. Riiber
Roger Orsulak
Lars Riiber of Norway and Paul Gerni. I assume that we will see the
other semi-final match Stefano (?) Pelinga vs. Mike Massey at some
future date. Gerni advanced to the finals. They showed the chart from
the quarterfinals on and Rossman's name wasn't on there.
As to all the detractors out there, I think it's a shame that you don't
have an appreciation of the hard work and showmanship involved. Trick
shot performers are skilled cue artists as well as entertainers. Since
this was a competition, you don't hear much of the banter or see the
interaction that audiences enjoy. What you did see was very good cue
ball control. Sure, some of the shots are just setup shots, but that's
a talent in itself.
Now, a little story about what I call class. Twenty some years ago,
Nick Varner came to our student union and gave an afternoon and evening
exhibition. I got to play him a game of straight to 100 and then he did
some trickshots. During the afternoon session, he told everyone there
to come back for the evening session to see him pocket 15 balls in one
shot. My friend Rich and I hung around all afternoon talking to Nick
and watching him practice. He set up the 15 ball shot and after a few
adjustments, made it. He had tapped the balls into position well enough
that they each made an inconspicuous divot.
It came time for the evening exhibition. We played our game of
straight, and all the while he told people to stick around to see the 15
ball shot. A lot of people were murmuring that there was no such shot
and that it couldn't be done. Rich and I tried convincing people that
we had seen Nick make it, but to no avail. For his finale, Nick set up
"the shot" totally differently from what we had seen, and in a manner
where it was impossible to make 3, let alone all 15 balls. Fourteen of
the were touching each other in a quarter circle between the foot and
side rail, with the cueball and 15th ball lined up to shoot in the left
head pocket like
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Nick shot the one into the corner and raked the rest of the balls into
the left foot pocket. There was a lot of "See, I told you he couldn't
do it!" mixed in with laughter and applause for the exhibition.
Nick was very congenial to everybody and extremely kind to Rich and me.
But it was time for him to leave, so he collected his cue and balls. He
had been kidding with us all afternoon and into the evening session, and
Rich and I figured that the reason he didn't shoot the shot was as a
goof on us, since we were talking it up as much, or more than he to all
the doubting Thomases. We thought that was pretty neat, that he would
give up such a crowd pleaser and suffer the wrath of all who had been
"duped" into believing that he could make such a shot, just as a goof on
us.
Tried as we might, Rich and I couldn't get people to believe that we had
really seen Nick make 15 balls in one shot. One fellow, Mike, was
particularly adamant that such a shot couldn't be made. I offered to
make 10 balls for $5. He argued for 15 and I went up to 13. I set the
balls up and they settled rather nicely in their divots. Whack - 13
balls went down and Mike paid the $5 while scratching his head.
A number of years later, someone (can't remember who) told me that the
probable reason that Nick didn't shoot the shot was that some of the
pre-set divots had gotten fluffed out during our match and that he
wasn't sure that all of the balls would go (guess he was right). This is
probably true, but I like my version better. Regardless, the point was,
that he was the consummate professional, bent on entertaining and
pleasing the crowd, but wanting it to be perfect. Hey, the guy can PLAY
too.
In case you were wondering...
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1,5,9, left side
7,11,13 left foot
3, 15, left head the rest is a mirror image
Deno J. Andrews
Roger Orsulak wrote:
> and watching him practice. He set up the 15 ball shot and after a few
> adjustments, made it. He had tapped the balls into position well enough
> that they each made an inconspicuous divot.
A friend of mine here in Chicago has a shot and has made 28 balls in one
stroke! I have seen it live and I have seen it on a video, which he
took, some years later. It is by far a record...and after several years
of not playing much, he decided to go back to the shot and work on a
higher number. He called me a few weeks ago and thinks he will be able
to do 30 balls on one stroke! I have SEEN the 28 ball shot and it is on
the square...there are balls everywhere...and when he swings the cue, it
sounds like a gun when the cue ball is hit. Imagine how impossible
everyone thought the 15 ball shot was...then double the number.
Deno J. Andrews
Roger Orsulak
"Deno J. Andrews" wrote:
>
>
> A friend of mine here in Chicago has a shot and has made 28 balls in one
> stroke!
Yeah, but can he do it on a 3-C table? Heck, I'll even cut him some
slack. Can he do it on a straight rail table?
> Imagine how impossible
> everyone thought the 15 ball shot was...then double the number.
>
> Deno J. Andrews
I'll be able to finish calculating the square root of pi before I can
figure out how much more "impossible" those folks would think it.
Roger - sounds like Deno has some neat friends
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