So she married a pool player.
In 1976, Teri Norfolk married a pool shark. Armed with needles and yarn,
she'd set out for the poolroom to crochet while her husband played. Little
did she know it was the beginning of the end for tea cozies and solitary crafts.
Six months later, she turned in her needles and found herself at a state
championship for pool. Today she is a competitive player and secretary to
the president of the United States Poolplayers Association.
"I used to sit there and crochet. The [owner] of the place got so sick
of watching me crocheting. It drove him crazy! So, he said to me, 'How
would you like a part-time job? Since you're here anyway, you may as
well get paid for doing something.'
"So, I ended up going and working for this gentleman....That way, my husband
could come down after work and he'd play....I ended up getting to the
point where I got to know the customers and started watching how to play the
game," she says.
With a little coaxing, a fellow player got Norfolk to attend a state championship.
"She said, 'This would be good experience for you.' It had a $10
entry fee and I ended up taking third place!" remembers Norfolk.
Over 20 years later, Norfolk can not only shoot like a shark, she can talk
with the best of them as well. Half the game, she explains, is being able
to psych out the opponent.
"Well, it's a mind game too. When I know I'm going up against
someone that is a break-and-run player and their handicap average is higher
than mine,...I feel pressure about them, and I start joking with them. Especially
if I'm breaking. I say, 'Look, take it easy. We're not playing
for money here. Let's have a good time here,'" says Norfolk.
Sometimes mind games get out of hand. To be a pool shark is a good thing
-- it means you're a good player. To be caught sharking someone is a
bad thing -- it will gain a player a reputation for being a loud mouth. Intentional
sharking, says Norfolk, is just plain rude.
"Some people get the attitude that they can't be beat and that they're
just too good, and they know they're good. People don't like people
like that. Some people do have a short temperament, and the first thing that
comes to the brain comes out the mouth."
After all these years, she's learned to deal with the rude behavior
that often comes with the territory. "I've been around pool players long
enough to know they can talk all they want and it doesn't phase me, because
I don't take it personally. When I get up to a table, I'm not playing
against you, I'm playing the table. I'm playing for me," she says.
Bill Cooper, a director with a billiards and snooker association, says
that players' rugged personalities pose a problem for the sport. He explains
that the problem is especially elevated in the game of snooker, because pro
players won't work as a team to develop a code of ethics for the game.
Everyone seems to have an individual goal.
"We'd like to have everything under one umbrella, but it's unrealistic
to expect to be able to do that because no two people can agree about the
way to go," he says.
But while the lack of team spirit disappoints him, the game remains an
important part of his life. "I've been playing 35 years. I'm a national
caliber snooker player. I've been to the nationals and I'm going
there again this year," he says.
Cooper is active in sport, beyond just shooting stick. He sits on the board
of directors, runs tournaments and attends meetings to determine association
policies. He would not, however, recommend it as a profession. Keep it fun,
he advises. "Only [play] as a hobby," he says.
The good news is, anyone can take it on. According to Cooper, pool is not
innate. You won't find any special pool playing genes in the pros. "It's
not something you're born with the ability to do, so anyone can learn
to do it," says Cooper. "No one's born with the ability to play pool."