TBT: Pool Nights

This is a very fond memory. Pool Nights at Nick’s Pool Hall. It was so much fun just hanging out and shooting pool and having a couple of beers. This was a pastime Doug, Alan and I would partake in quite often during our latter years at Purdue. Everyone wanted to go to the Neon Cactus or Where Else, but I would have never chosen those places over Nick’s. I know one of the things that people will notice in this picture is my iconic Australian Fold-Up hat. I came back from a family vacation with that hat and it became something I was known for … although apparently I was the “creepy-guy-in-the-hat” according to my wife, whom I had barely known at the time (see previous TBT post).

We spent many  nights shooting everything from standard 8-Ball, to 9-Ball, and cutthroat. Some nights may have even involved attempting some trick-shots during those “Mike Massey” wanna-be nights.

I know several of our other friends would come and hang out at Nick’s, but as far as the three of us were concerned, this place was our “Central Perk“, “Cafe Nervosa“, “MacLaren’s”. I was disappointed to find out that when I returned to Purdue recently, Nick’s was gone. I think Alan said that it is under new ownership with a new location and a new name. It’s a real shame. Another shadow of the past, visible now only through the phantasmagorical images of our minds.