CTCPOOL Billiard Blog

Our trip to the SuperBilliards Expo took us nearly 1,000 miles away from home, only to be set up within 20 feet from some Wisconsin neighbors. We set up our booth and see J. Pechauer custom cues setting up shop across the aisle from us. Pechauer is less than 30 minutes away from CTC world headquarters. There is also a long-standing acquaintance with them as both Scotty and I worked for Pechauer dealer, Shark’s Club Billiards Bar & Grill in Appleton, WI. So we both have played with, and sold JP cues. Small world. We had a great time talking with, and joking with Scott and John, and marveling at the 140 pound human tape-worm one booth over. This is in reference to the young man who seemed to eat 5 times his weight in food, daily yet was stick thin.

The booth to our left was for an online magazine called NYC Grind. Much to our surprise, we saw a Wisconsinite operating that booth as well. A transplant from the northwoods of Wisconsin, Alison Fischer recently made the move to the east coast to work with NYC Grind and her boyfriend and “Grind” founder, Jerry T. I knew of Alison from the casino tours in Wisconsin, but this was my first chance to really get to know her. She is a lovely young lady and Jerry is a very cool, ambitious guy. Be sure to check out the “Grind’s” great articles, videos and photos. www.nycgrind.com 

Some people may remember the huge surge in popularity that pool enjoyed in the late 80’s as a result of the blockbuster, The Color of Money. Writer Tony Palma hopes to create that same kind of buzz and impact with his upcoming movie, 9-Ball. The movie is slated to star Jennifer Barretta and will feature many more top pool stars.

                 See the official 9-Ball site here:

CTC has been working closely, via long distance phone calls and emails, with Tony to help promote and create awareness of the project. As a result, Tony Palma and MainStreet Productions, has granted CTC exclusive merchandising rights for the movie’s apparel. With the help and talents of graphic artist Terry Beer, there are some great new T-shirts and polos available to show your support for the movie! See the store here:

  Tony Palma- Writer/Director “9-Ball”

 Model Borana Andoni has been a long-time acquaintance and friend of CTC. We finally met face to face at the Expo. She has been very gracious in helping promote CTC by posing in some of our great CTC designs. She always makes us look great! By the way, look for her on the second page of the March edition of Inside Pool Magazine.

I also had the pleasure of meeting a little firecracker, appropriately nicknamed “Cherry Bomb”, for her explosively pleasant personality. She is a writer, instructor and rising star in the ladies pool scene. She recently signed an endorsement deal with Tiger Products. She also has a great blog that chronicles her tournament adventures and more. Expect big things from this little lady with the infectious smile and warm personality!       

One last note from the expo. Jeanette Lee made the rounds, checking out the vendors though-out the expo. She was very approachable and a class-act all the way. She also said we had some pretty cool stuff. That makes me giddy to even say it.

As I mentioned in the previous post, we met many great people at the SuperBilliards Expo. I will talk about many of them soon. Today, I’d like to talk about good friendships that were made, and to give a testimonial to one such vendor. CueShark was our neighbors at the show, and we immediately hit it off with all of them. It was Kevin and Deb Contestabile and Jason and Michelle Patterson and their lovely kids. First and foremost, these are great people, with whom we shared plenty of laughs. But they also were there debuting a most innovative product; the CueShark. The CueShark must have been the most buzzed-about product of the show. I was amazed at how many distributors and event goers clamored to see this new product.

Now for my testimonial. The CueShark is one of those “Oh Yeah” ideas. One that makes perfect sense after seeing it. I have pockets full of tools in my cue case, that can now be eliminated by the CueShark. It is a multi-purpose tool that is made with high quality, precision. Here’s the most important part! I put it on my belt for pool league on Thursday, and proceeded to run the first two racks! I ended up winning 5 out of 6 games that night. Did the CueShark make me shoot better? I don’t know, but I am not willing to play without it from here on out. I always tell customers that wearing CTC apparel will make their pool game better, but haven’t found many that believe me. I for one, believe that they will, at minimum, look better playing with the  CTC gear on. The CueShark may or may not make your game better, but will make your equipment better with its shaping tool, burnisher, scuffer or trimmer. To find out more, check them out at www.cueshark.com and tell them that CTC sent ya.

When you walk in to a pool hall or billiard parlor, you never know whom you’ll meet. That is one of the great things about pool; the diversity of people who play the game. There are always characters in sports, but none that rival those belonging to the pool community. Having grown up through the 70’s & early 80’s as an avid baseball fan, I lived to see an era of great characters. Mark “The Bird” Fidrych, Goose Gossage, Rollie Fingers, Reggie Jackson, Luis Tiant, and so many others. Nicknames were more common and exotic then. “Oil Can”, “Catfish”, and the “Mad Hungarian”, to name a few.   The nicknames seem to be fewer and the characters seem to be a thing of the past. Maybe it is the big contracts and the higher emphasis of business and investment that has made the game less for boys and more for businessmen in uniform. The game is still great and still played at an amazing level of skill and athleticism.

To me, the game that boasts the greatest level of characters is pool. All I need to do is look at the friends I have made over the years. In the pool world, I have befriended people from many walks of life and backgrounds that wouldn’t be likely acquaintances under normal circumstances. I have friends that are many years my senior and many years my junior. Most of these people would likely have nothing in common with me, except for a love for pool.  Of course you tend to find other things in common as you talk, but those conversations would likely never take place without the foundation of pool.

Pool players seem to be a different breed of person. Many are addicted to action and competition. They love to be apart of it or around it. They are poolroom rats, they linger to watch or talk pool when they are not playing. These players all have stories, and always an audience to hear them. They talk about conquests, tournaments, money games & brushes with the legends of the game. And many of them sport nicknames. “Cornbread Red”,  “The Magician”, “Bugs”, “Nubs”, is a few as colorful as the characters themselves. The game is great because it is played by men, women and children, by wealthy and poor and by the strong and the frail. What really makes it great is that you can find the unlikeliest friends from any of them.