Todays date is December 13, 2016.
This pool story starts back probably a dozen years ago or more. I was practicing my craft (pocket billiards) at Pickle's Sports Bar in New Orleans (Metairie) which was almost directly across the street from the then fading but still infamous Sport Palace of New Orleans. Both pool rooms were located on Jefferson Highway and just down the street from world famous Ochsner Hospital. Players would bounce back and forth across the street depending upon where the action was. Pickels Sports Bar would stay open as long as there was action. The Sport Palace was open24/7.
Pickle's Sports Bar was created by Mr. Bobby Gomez. Bobby had been given the nickname "Pickle" by James Leone, famous owner of Buffalo Billiards which eventually had 3 locations, one in Chalmette, LA, one on Airline Drive in Metairie, LA and another to be opened in just a few weeks from this date (12-13-16) just off of Clearview Avenue in Metairie, Louisiana.
Pickle had designed the poolroom floor with beautiful but gaudy Italian tile, a few sports televisions, and several high-quality Diamond pool tables. I never liked that hard tile because if you knocked a ball off of the table, it would roll and bounce clear across the room. Most of the tables were tight pocketed 9-foot tables but as I recall, he had two 7-foot Diamond tables there as well. Keith McCready and Scotty Townsend, tied it up on the 7 footers one year but that's another entirely different story. The 9-foot Diamond tables were the same tables that were used in Grady Mathews' World One Pocket Event held at the Belle of Baton Rouge Casino in 1999. I enjoyed playing on table number 5 and was practicing that evening when a tall white male walked up on me out of the blue. Normally, I would spot a new face walking into the poolroom, but I suppose this day I was too focused on my practice. The stranger had apparently already asked around if there was anyone to gamble with and came straight up to me. He concisely and carefully chose his words and asked, "Would you like to gamble at 9 ball for $200.00? Normally, I would have liked to play one pocket, but since he was very direct about wanting to play 9 ball, I thought I would be a little cautious and crafty and replied, "You must be a very good player to want to play for $200 with an absolute stranger." (This guy looked like one of the East Germany athletes from back in the day, when there was a divided Germany. Those men and women athletes of East Germany had that ripped muscle look combined with a Viking look if you know what I mean. If not, you will just have to Google photos of East German athletes.) Anyway, I continue and said, "I'll play you with the wild 6 ball", thinking that I would have a good chance against most anyone that wasn't a known champion with that spot. He countered with, "That is a BIG SPOT. I will give you the wild 7 ball." I had $200 of mad money and have always enjoyed playing unknown players who happen to pass through town so I told him that would be fine. We agreed to a race to 9 games for the set and I started off like an Olympic sprinter. The score was 6-2 my way and the tall, fit player walked up to me and said, "You play like a machine." I didn't know whether to laugh or to appreciate the compliment, not knowing whether it was intended as a genuine compliment to flatter me or to inflate my ego and throw me off of my game. I was playing well and had a couple of fortunate rolls go my way and didn't give much thought to anything as I was sure I was going to win because I felt there was no way he could stop me with this big of a lead. Those next minutes passed like a blur with me remembering very little as he chipped away at my lead. Before I knew it, the set was over and the score was 9-7 Niels. At the time, I didn't know his name was Niels and didn't know he was already a European phenom. I paid off the $200 and somehow learned that he was traveling alone. This thought stuck with me because I respect road players who travel by their lonesome. It's a tough world out there on the road and most rely on having a wingman to help with all of the obstacles that one has to face when on the road. When he asked if I wanted to play another set, I didn't have to think long and quickly replied "No" as I had deduced in that blur of time when he won 7 games to my 1, that I was no match for this guy, whoever he was. It would be another several months before I learned who he was and years later, I would learn that he went on to become one of the best pool players in the world.
A few years later, I would meet Niels again, at the Derby City Classic, one of America's premiere events. Again, the discipline would be 9 ball. I had the good fortune to exact my revenge on him. I had improved my 9-ball game by then, and was confident that I was playing better than the previous time we had met. Niels won the lag and broke first. He ran rack after rack. The score was 6-1 before I knew it and Niels broke the next rack and my legs by then were feeling cramped from sitting in the chair for so long, so when Niels was not facing me, I stood up to stretch my legs but otherwise I remained motionless. When Niels turned around and saw me standing, he immediately came over to me and said, "Excuse me, would you mind sitting down? You are distracting me." That statement kind of stunned me. Now keep in mind I NEVER shark my opponent by movement when I am not at the table and did not move when I was standing. But I acquiesced and sat down, after all, Niels was a world champion by then and I hold great respect for those who have given their all in pursuit of the pinnacle of this sport.
Niels went back to the table to complete a run out since he as usual, had made a ball on the break. The one ball was still on the table, but he had a difficult shot and finally missed it, leaving me a tough shot on the one ball. I was lining up the difficult one ball shot that Niels had left me and was getting ready to address the cue ball, when I noticed Niels was cleaning his cue with a long, white towel, rubbing it vigorously up and down its vertical length. To me, it was like waving a white flag at a bull. He was sitting in his chair but was directly in my line of vision for the one-ball shot. I politely walked over to him as he had done to me and asked, "Niels, would you mind not waving that towel all around when I am at the table?" His reply came forth as a protest and he forcefully replied, "WHAT,WHAT? IS THAT PAYBACK?". Now while I respect the professional players, this response didn't sit well with me and anyone who knows me, I won't let you cheat me or undermine my game while we are competing and if you try to talk a little smack to me, you are likely to get more than your share back. If you do try either with me, you are guaranteed to get an earful no matter who you are. It's just the way I am built. Since I considered this situation a lack of "quid pro quo", I didn't hesitate to give Niels what I thought he deserved. After all, I had given Niels the courtesy of sitting down without protesting when he asked me to because it was "distracting" him? Now that the shoe was on the other foot, he chose to protest rather loudly I might add. So at this point, I quickly decided to demonstrate as I was talking to him at the same level of volume as he had responded to me. As I replied with additional fervor, "NO NIELS, YOU ARE DISTRACTING ME! (With intentional flare, I demonstrated his vigorous movement with the towel so the rest of the audience could know what we were talking about) You can't be moving that towel around like that while I am shooting!." To his credit, Niels voice dropped in volume, and he said "Okay" and that was the end of our discussion. I went back to the table and made the difficult shot on the one ball and ran out the rack without missing a ball. The next game I broke dry and Niels continued his professional form and terminated me 9-2. I don't remember having any chances after that dry break but at least I held up well enough to run out on that rack after the distraction from Niels.
Pool is a difficult game to master and some games seem more difficult than others. 9 ball, you would think that it is an easy game since the rules tell you which ball you must shoot each time. Sometimes, it is not so easy when you are playing a world champion. Now many of us on this side of the pond think that One Pocket is the greatest game of all billiard games since it utilizes all of the skills that are found in all of the other pocket billiard games and more. This past Derby City Classic (2016) Niels proved he is not just a great rotational player but has improved his skills at one pocket to world-class level as well, coming in second place in the enormous field of great players in the one pocket event. Word on the street, is that Niels has been receiving coaching advice from Alex Lely, former top professional European player, European Mosconi cup player & captain, Master Coach Dutch Olympic committee and National Coach of Niels Feijen. I think American players like myself and others need more pocket billiard coaches. So if you see Alex Lely around your neck of the woods, you might see about getting some coaching lessons. I know I will jump at the opportunity if he passes my way.
Niels' numerous titles go back quite a way, and I'm sure him being around coach Johan Ruijsink didn't hurt either. Besides being on so many winning Mosconi Cup Teams and being voted MVP more often than not a few of his FIRST PLACE TITLES are:
Mosconi Cup XXIII American 14.1 Championship 2016 Mosconi Cup 2015 Euro Tour Austria Open 2015 Euro Tour Italian Open 2015 World 9 Ball Championship 2014 Mosconi Cup 2014 Deurne CC 9Ball 2014 Longoni Benelux Open 2014 Longoni Capelle Open2014 Mosconi Cup 2013 World Pool Masters 2013 Euro tour Austria Open 2013 Hanger Open 2013 Mosconi Cup 2012 Mosconi Cup 2011 Eurotour French Open 2010
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