PoolSynergy Gift Guide – Look into Hall of Famers
Robert Byrne is one of a select few in the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame under the category of Meritorious Service. The far more common reason to be enshrined is to have a stellar career as a player. Byrne’s induction is well deserved. He has as much to do with my lifelong love affair with the game as my grandfather who introduced me to the game. Byrne’s first instructional book called “Byrne’s Standard Book of Pool and Billiards” was my most used college text book. Checked out from the Augsburg College library so long ago, I ended up reporting it lost to justify the late fees as simply a used book purchase.
Byrne’s book on the game is still my number one recommendation to players looking for bite-sized instructional gems to raise their playing I.Q. and ability. Now with experience and knowledge of the game, I still find it hard to disagree with anything Byrne wrote in 1978. He seems to have gone to great lengths to craft a timeless tome that would always be a reliable reference. The book means a lot to me because it taught me hundreds of shots that I could not absorb watching more skilled players in my region. It also showed me the complex beauty of Three-Cushion Billiards and seeded a love for that game as well as pool.
“Byrne’s Standard Book of Pool and Billiards” is not my recommendation for a gift this holiday season. It should already be in any player’s library. After all, with sales of over 400,000 copies making it the bestselling book on the game of all time, it’s too much of a hanger for me to make this month’s pick.
I’m a book collector. Presently, I own over 500 books on pool, billiards, and snooker. There is one particular book that is my “Catcher in the Rye.” I have read it multiple times. Walking by any bookstore compels me to enter and browse for the title. One book gives me a thrill when I discover a used copy for sale or when I curl up on the couch and crack open its cover: Robert Byrne’s “McGoorty: The Story of a Billiard Bum.”
This book follows the career of Danny McGoorty, a pool hustler, a hobo, and pro caliber billiard player. Byrne’s interviews with McGoorty led to this 1972 biographical account of a life.  The book amazes me and other non-billiard playing friends alike. I’ve loaned copies of the book to others with satisfying results. Please consider tracking down this book as a gift to yourself first, then pass it along to someone special. Reader’s under 45 years old should find a glimpse into the early to mid 20th century entertaining and informative. Players under 45 will feel like they’ve missed out on the golden age of pool and billiards in America.
Addendum: If I were to suggest any videos for this holiday season, I’d look into a second Hall of Famer. Pat Fleming of Accu-Stats is also in the BCA HOF for Meritorious Service. No one has done as much for the preservation of pool matches through the use of videotape as Fleming. He’s amassed a gigantic catalog of matches over his videographer career. I cannot recommend one specific match, but urge students of the game to sample a variety of DVDs. Watch them repeatedly. Learn from the expert commentary, then watch them again. Mute the sound, pause them, and guess what the player will shoot next. Use these as teaching tools and you’ll begin to think like a professional.
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