A Pool Player's Commute

For this fall session we got moved into a different division. We were in Division #014 and now we're in Division #013. Caveman said it's common for that to happen every few years, expected even. I don't know how it happened, but I'm not complaining. I'm actually pretty excited about it. Not only do I think it's awesome that we'll be facing a whole new division of pool players, but the venues are all much closer to Sophie's. In our new divsion, the farthest north we have to go is 14th Street.

In what may take the cake as the biggest pool-dork idea ever, I've made a map comparing our old division locations (green) to those of our new division (red). Sophie's is marked with the blue circled X. If you look closely you'll see that some green and red arrows overlap. That's because three bars–-O'Hanlon's, Josie Wood's and Whiskey Ward--are all places that we played in our old division.

Bars from our old division that I won't miss: Paddy McGuires (two-dollar tables, not very good seating for visiting team), Barfly (nice table but it's too big for the space, a white pole gets in the way) and Why Not (cramped table, too far from Sophie's). Bars that I will miss most: Maker's (lots of seating and plenty of clearance around pool table) and McSwiggan's (same reasons as Maker's, but with added convenience of the M15 bus stop right outside the front door). Peter Dillon's (right) was another nice place to play. Granted, these critiques are my own personal opinions. And none reflect the personalities of the people we play at the venues. I know Sophie's is not without its own shortcomings.

This week we just had our first away game at one of the new venues, Edge Bar. I am no stranger to Edge. A tight table for sure, but at least they have nice Trouble Shooter short cues of varying lengths to choose from. Getting a high-quality short cue is an idea I would like to see implemented at two other new venues we'll visit: Lucky Jack's and Musical Box.

Logistical things aside, there is something to be said for all the times I've been in a cab or on the bus headed back to Sophie's after a great match elsewhere. I would say the commute is definitely a different kind of team-bonding experience. Below, Slima watches a train approach after our playoff loss to Why Not in September.