At 1 PM, the best answer to “Where to play pool?” was driving into Sunday’s shitstorm known as the Marine Corps Hurricane, and heading up Rock Creek Parkway, and over on Calvert Road to Bedrock Billiards – this despite having no idea if roads would be closed (Continental was closed, and so was half of Rosslyn). No matter, the tables at Bedrock are superior, and so is the beer. There’s no food, but there are pretzels to stave off hunger.
Well, I played my old nemesis, in town from the Hamptons, just before he left for Union Station, and got my ass handed to me, 9-4 (nine-ball). He’s tough, and I can only hang with him if I’ve been playing; I haven’t played since I last saw him several years ago – before that, it had probably been a good five years. This does not make for quality billiards at any level.
There’s no powder allowed on the tables at Bedrock Billiards, and I think that’s a good thing since it keeps things clean. (Please note the “Where Are The Best Pool Halls in the DC Area?” in the Help Needed thread, and answer if you know of any, despite the immediate situation having been solved.)
So, Bedrock it was, and we had a fantastic time together – I’ve only seen him twice in the past ten years now, and he’s one of my very best friends. Yes, we played “Win Or Suck” Nine Ball, and it goes without saying that I sucked a lot more than I won – we both did, in fact, the person who called “Win Or Suck” got their challenge declined and handed back to them for about the first five games, and lost every single time. If any serious billiards players are reading this, I do believe that we’ve invented one of the very greatest set of rules there are for any game. See them in detail here and give it a shot if you have a competition-worthy rival – it’ll shut you both up very quickly, I promise you. As bad as we played, we both could not have enjoyed ourselves any more than we did. Gosh I love billiards – I’ve never been quite the player that I am in table tennis, but I love it all the same, and with a little practice? Who knows  – I’d like to find out, that’s for sure.
As for today and the food, when I got there, my friend was enjoying a pint of Samuel Smith (on the bill as Guinness, 6.82), and I followed with a pint of Great Lakes (Cleveland) Elliott Ness Lager (how appropriate, since I’m addicted to “Narcos,” $5.45), and he made do with a pack of Pretzels ($1.50). The tables were in great shape, the crowd was high-energy but not-at-all bothersome (the Redskins were on), and it was just a terrific atmosphere to have may ass handed to me, much as it hurts to say.
Pool was $11.32 an hour, and we played for just about two hours, so with our “loser pays” agreement, this cost me a fair amount, but … I put the emphasis on the word, “fair,” because Bedrock Billiards is just a great place. I’m going to see if I have it in Italic, and if I don’t, I’m going to make that change right now.