{"id":3144,"date":"2010-12-15T08:55:27","date_gmt":"2010-12-15T14:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.billiardcoach.com\/home\/?p=3144"},"modified":"2010-12-15T09:18:04","modified_gmt":"2010-12-15T15:18:04","slug":"ho-ho-hall-of-famers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.billiardcoach.com\/home\/2010\/12\/15\/ho-ho-hall-of-famers","title":{"rendered":"Ho-Ho-Hall of Famers"},"content":{"rendered":"

PoolSynergy Gift Guide – Look into Hall of Famers<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Robert Byrne<\/a> is one of a select few in the Billiard Congress of America<\/a> Hall of Fame<\/a> under the category of Meritorious Service.\u00c2\u00a0 The far more common reason to be enshrined is to have a stellar career as a player.\u00c2\u00a0 Byrne’s induction is well deserved.\u00c2\u00a0 He has as much to do with my lifelong love affair with the game as my grandfather who introduced me to the game.\u00c2\u00a0 Byrne’s first instructional book<\/a> called “Byrne’s Standard Book of Pool and Billiards” was my most used college text book.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

\"Byrne's<\/a>
This is a must own book for any player.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Byrne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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.\u00c2\u00a0 Now with experience and knowledge of the game, I still find it hard to disagree with anything Byrne wrote in 1978.\u00c2\u00a0 He seems to have gone to great lengths to craft a timeless tome that would always be a reliable reference.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 It also showed me the complex beauty of Three-Cushion Billiards and seeded a love for that game as well as pool.<\/p>\n

“Byrne’s Standard Book of Pool and Billiards” is not my recommendation for a gift this holiday season.\u00c2\u00a0 It should already be in any player’s library.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

I’m a book collector.\u00c2\u00a0 Presently, I own over 500 books on pool, billiards, and snooker. There is one particular book that is my “Catcher in the Rye.”\u00c2\u00a0 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.”<\/p>\n

\"McGoorty<\/a>
Various editions in my collection. Most of them signed by Byrne.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This book follows the career of Danny McGoorty, a pool hustler, a hobo, and pro caliber billiard player.\u00c2\u00a0 Byrne’s interviews with McGoorty led to this 1972 biographical account of a life. \u00c2\u00a0The book amazes me and other non-billiard playing friends alike.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve loaned copies of the book to others with satisfying results.\u00c2\u00a0 Please consider tracking down this book as a gift to yourself first, then pass it along to someone special.\u00c2\u00a0 Reader’s under 45 years old should find a glimpse into the early to mid 20th century entertaining and informative.\u00c2\u00a0 Players under 45 will feel like they’ve missed out on the golden age of pool and billiards in America.<\/p>\n

\"Byrne<\/a>
Byrne Quote from his Standard Book of Pool and Billiards<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Byrne<\/a>
Various editions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"McGoorty<\/a>
McGoorty meant a lot to Byrne<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Addendum:\u00c2\u00a0 If I were to suggest any videos for this holiday season, I’d look into a second Hall of Famer.\u00c2\u00a0 Pat Fleming of Accu-Stats<\/a> is also in the BCA HOF for Meritorious Service<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 No one has done as much for the preservation of pool matches through the use of videotape as Fleming.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s amassed a gigantic catalog of matches over his videographer career.\u00c2\u00a0 I cannot recommend one specific match, but urge students of the game to sample a variety of DVDs.\u00c2\u00a0 Watch them repeatedly.\u00c2\u00a0 Learn from the expert commentary, then watch them again.\u00c2\u00a0 Mute the sound, pause them, and guess what the player will shoot next.\u00c2\u00a0 Use these as teaching tools and you’ll begin to think like a professional.<\/p>\n

To see the whole PoolSynergy Family of holiday recommendations, please visit Melinda’s Blog<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve been waiting for this day to start my shopping!\"\"<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.\u00c2\u00a0 The far more common reason to be enshrined is to have a stellar career as a player.\u00c2\u00a0 Byrne’s induction is well deserved.\u00c2\u00a0 He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,54,69],"tags":[71,84,85,83],"class_list":["post-3144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mental-theory","category-poolsynergy","category-save-billiards","tag-billiard-congress-of-america-bca","tag-hall-of-fame","tag-mcgoorty","tag-robert-byrne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billiardcoach.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billiardcoach.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billiardcoach.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billiardcoach.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billiardcoach.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3144"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/www.billiardcoach.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3165,"href":"http:\/\/www.billiardcoach.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3144\/revisions\/3165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billiardcoach.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billiardcoach.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billiardcoach.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}