I love pool. I remember when I wasn’t allowed to playbecause I was just a kid. I could watch. I could rack. Icould not play. Boy, I loved racking!I remember when I used English on purpose and thecue ball did exactly what I thought it would do. Wow!That was cool! Man, there was nothing like pool!I remember my first tournament: two 17-year oldsteaming up against the small town hotshots who’d beenplaying for ages. We took second place! Second! Wewere so happy and so proud.I remember the first time I ever ran a rack. I jumped upand down for five minutes. You couldn’t slap that smileoff my face. Oh, how I loved pool!Back in ‘86, I took my first trip to Vegas for atournament. There were hundreds of people walkingaround with cues strapped to their backs. WOW! Theresure were a lot of people who loved pool!Remember your firsts? Remember that love?Sometimes we need to remind ourselves why we play.When you‘re struggling, keep this in mind.Remember…and enjoy!Remebering Why We PlayCJ Jerome
