"Billiards pool" is my name.

Billiards pool is my game.

I’m stuck, I’d like to shout,
I need help here at About,

For billiards pool, so I don’t feel shame.

I’ve been driven to sheer poetry (or is it drivel and sheer lunacy) by the name(s) of our game, pool and/or pocket billiards. I constantly have to write “billiards” along with “pool” if you want to find some of our hundreds of pages of pool instruction and billiards fun on an Internet search as “pool” tends to bring up people scantily attired in bikinis who are sipping martinis, some of whom are hairy men indeed. Um…

Seriously, I’ve taken at stab at both resolving our sport’s nomenclature crisis and a bit of Japanese-styled poetry. My poem was written in mere minutes but I’ve been meditating for a long time on the beauty and geometry of our game. I guess it all just came in one of those flashes of insight that comes following a botched Seppuku attempt. (I’ve also been meditating on James Clavell’s Shogun for some time.)

I’d love to read your billiards pool poems here. Why not leave them as a comment attached to today's blog entry? See if you can beat my best efforts as linked here below:

Contemplative Billiards Pool Haiku

Photo courtesy of Peeter Viisimaa/Getty Images

What does tennis super-pro Roger Federer have to do with pool and billiards? I agree with the sentiments a pool shooting fan wrote about Federer's and others' recent Wimbledon battles:

"Wimbledon was great. Andy Roddick's last two matches were the best of his career. Roger Federer is the greatest ever (and I agree although my fellow About.com Guide Jeff Cooper lists areas in which Federer can stand improvement, gotta love his moxie). Those who think Pete Sampras had tougher competition are not realistic.

I do think I think a tournament between Sampras, Lendl, Borg, McEnroe, Agassi, Connors, Becker, Laver, Roddick, Nadal, Murray, Djokovitch, Wilander, Vilas, Newcombe and Federer would be the ultimate. I'd have to bet on Roger Federer.

My only disappointment at Wimbledon was Serena beating Dementieva in the tennis semis. D played her best match ever and outplayed SW in every facet except serving. Williams sisters finals are always disappointing for me. They never play their best against each other. I always root for Venus. She has the better attitude. If Serena would lose 15-20 pounds she might never lose a match!"

I agree with most of these ideas. If you're a tennis fan and a Williams sisters, Roger Federer or Andy Roddick fan, you probably do also (if you don't, how about commenting right here beneath this blog entry)?

How does all this relate to pool? I'll tell you, gladly. First, the irony that Allison "The Duchess of Doom" Fisher dominates pool more than Roger Federer dominates tennis, but is rarely seen on TV outside ESPN, unlike Federer, and second, the Andy Roddick/Roger Federer showdown is notable in that both players made few, if any, tactical or strategy mistakes. And if you think they had, you would agree they certainly played the best games of their lives this week, and pool shooters can "take their cue" from these tennis stars.

Billiards players can learn as much from their mistakes as from their triumphs, and usually, more. A pro like Federer in tennis or Tommy Kennedy in pool is likely to replay a mistake shot in practice. If you want to be a pool pro, you should setup a wrongly played shot during your practice session, 200 times in a row, until you stamp the mistake out forever.

I want you to read today's article and learn from, and of course, eliminate (without needing to shoot 200 times)…

Pool Players' (But Not Roger Federer's) Ten Most Common Mistakes

Roger Federer photo courtesy of Julian Finney/Getty Images

I endorse Donny Lutz as a pool teacher able to improve your game, promptly. What he’s done and continues to do for my game he can build into yours.

You can also check out Donny’s cues and more at his excellent billiards site. Meet my pal…

Donny Lutz, Pool Teaching Genius

Billiards Photo courtesy of Donny Lutz

Whoa, maybe it’s time to leave the corner pocket forevermore!

Following up our popular round pool table story, comes more information from another source, Tim Meyers, cofounder of The JM Billiard Co.

The billiards story is compelling, the pool future, perhaps without another corner pocket evermore…

Go Round And Lose The Corner Pocket

Billiards photo courtesy MorgueFile.com