A city behind the eight ball gets some help

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© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 23, 2001

When Sharon Pritchard was 18 years old, she volunteered to care for babies with water on the brain. She won't say how long ago that was, only that she is now 18 "plus, plus and plus." Somewhere in those "plus" years, medical science figured out a way to drain the excess fluid from a baby's brain and eliminated that malady.

"Thank God they no longer occur," she said last week, already wrapping Christmas gifts for her grandchildren.

The years have not, however, eliminated the need she has to volunteer her services, or the spirit that keeps her answering the call. A few years ago, when Hurricane Andrew devastated Homestead, she took her nursing skills there to offer assistance.

Last month, when terrorists struck the World Trade Center, she, like most of America, was stunned by the news. She was also eager to help, but until recently, unsure how she could.

The answer came from an unlikely source.

A native of Buffalo, she still has friends and relatives in New York, many of whom worked in or near the area the terrorists hit. She was relieved to learn that none of them was among the victims of the carnage.

Her relief, however, was tempered with the knowledge that many other lives were crushed under the rubble. "It could easily have been us," she says.

So when an opportunity to help came along, she jumped at it. The source of that opportunity was not one traditionally associated with charitable sentiments. In fact, it was a source with a reputation -- albeit one fed by an image that was shed long ago -- for attracting people interested in only one charity: themselves.

Pool players, thanks to Hollywood and a dwindling number of predators, are largely seen as sharks who swim in smoky rooms waiting for gullible food fish to stray into their midst.

Pool is, after all, the infamous game that starts with P, which rhymes with T, and that spells trouble.

On Nov. 10, people who cling to that image will be in for a shock. Across the nation, the game of pool will have its heart on display. Even the endangered sharks and their self-destructing patsies will declare a truce. People who are happy just to hit the ball they're aiming for will feel comfortable competing against those who appreciate the art and science of the game. All will go home with their money still in their pockets.

Except for the few dollars they give to charity.

That's where Pritchard comes in. In addition to her nursing credentials, Pritchard owns Breakers Billiards, a 10-table poolroom at 1458 Belcher Road S in Clearwater. She will host Pinellas County's participation in the national event, Billiards for America.

It will be a double-elimination eight-ball tournament with a $5 entry fee, raffles and door prizes, and will start at 1 p.m. Registration will begin at noon. The tournament is open to anyone, and all proceeds will go to the American Red Cross, said organizer Bill VanBuren.

The day has been designated by the Billiard Congress of America, the world's largest organization of pool players, as a way to consolidate efforts to assist the recovery from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Around the country, pool establishments will sponsor tournaments and other events with the proceeds going to a charity chosen by local organizers.

Baker's Billiards at 1811 N Tampa St. will host a similar event in Tampa.

VanBuren, a BCA league operator, said he's hoping for at least 64 players in the tournament. With about 200 players in his league, several hundred in other leagues in the county, plus the many players who don't play in leagues, Van Buren said he can easily accommodate more players if his estimate is low.

Membership in the BCA is not required to play, he said, and competing is not the only way to participate. Donations of cash or merchandise that can be raffled or given as door prizes are ways for nonplayers to contribute, he added.

Pritchard says she opened Breakers three years ago "looking for something a little more mellow" after she burned out running a restaurant and bar. She says it is not the 24-7 headache the bar was, which allowed her time to adopt a new headache. She publishes Cue News, a quarterly magazine for area players.

Billiards establishments and organizations have tried for years to bring respectability to their game. They have cleaned up the environment in which it is played, taken a hard line on using it to gamble, and identified hustlers and barred them from their establishments. Many tournament organizers enforce strict dress codes. Pool halls now attract families and draw customers from a variety of fields.

Proficiency at it is no longer a sign of a misspent youth, as pool players often heard in the past.

It is a game that combines physics and art in an endlessly fascinating, nonrepetitious series of moving patterns. It inspires imagination and focus. It is continuous learning with study that's never dull.

And on Nov.10, America will see that is a game loaded with people like Sharon Pritchard, people more interested in sharing what they have to offer than in taking what others can't afford to give. America will see pool has a heart.

"I estimate we'll do okay," Pritchard said.

She should know. She's done okay for plus years.

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