UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 28, Page 3
April 21, 1994
Taking aim; Student to compete in international shootout

     By the time he gets to Phoenix later this month to battle it out with
some of the best college pool shooters in America, Forrest Derr will have
raised his level of play yet another notch.
     A University sophomore from Hockessin, Derr will be facing three days
of stiff competition when he chalks up his stick at the 1994 International
Pocket Billiards Championships at the University of Arizona's Tempe campus.
     "My goal is to keep up with the competition," Derr said. "I am never
satisfied with my present level of play."
     The tournament, sponsored by the Association of College Unions
International, matches players from each of the 16 regions nationwide to
compete for individual male and female honors.
     Derr, who earned an invitation to the ACU-I international by winning
the men's eastern regional tournament Feb. 28 at Trenton, N.J., has been
playing pool for about two years.
     "I became interested in pool through a bowling league at Price Lanes
on the Kirkwood Highway," he said. "There were some pool tables in the
bowling alley, and I got hooked watching other people shoot pool."
     Derr said he switched from bowling to pool because playing pool is
something he could focus on.
     "The key to the game is controlling that little white ball," he said.
     After getting a job at the nearby Diamond Billiards pool hall, Derr
competed in his first tournament.
     "You can go into a pool hall and join a league," Derr said. "In the
leagues, there are about 60 to 70 players that go to different pool halls
each night."
     The game played in these tournaments is 8-ball.
     At the Trenton regional tournament, Derr was part of a field of 12
players competing in a series of race-to-five matches, where the first
player to win five games wins the match.
     "Pool has been compared to chess and war," Derr said. "It's a
combination. You are playing both the table and your opponent." Derr
qualified for the Trenton tournament by taking the Feb. 18 contest held in
the Sports Lounge in the basement of the Perkins Student Center.
     "Since the beginning of last semester, we have been trying to promote
the Sports Lounge," said Chris Stewart, building supervisor. "Because of
its location, many students don't know that the place exists."
     Stewart, who plays when he can find the time, recently purchased his
own personal cue-stick.
     "They say that once you buy a stick, you're hooked," Derr joked. "The
only known cure is marriage."
     Pool sticks reflect an individual's personal preference, but buying a
stick can be an expensive proposition.
     While the price of a stick may vary from a basic $50 for beginners to
$50,000 for solid ivory, most professional players bank on sticks costing
between $3,000 to $4,000.
     Besides having the proper equipment, Derr and Stewart said they agree
that mental preparation is the key to having a good tournament.
     "I've seen some very good players freeze in the big tournaments,"
Stewart said. "They get nervous and take some stupid shots."
     Pool shooters engage in a variety of tactics to throw their opponents
off guard, but there are certain things that you cannot do, such as
breaking an opponent's field of vision.
     "One of the tactics I use is to talk to myself while I'm shooting,"
Derr said. "It gives others the impression that I'm confused."
     The ACU-I international tournament has regulations that should be
familiar to any basketball fan.
     At the Arizona showdown, a 45-second shot clock will be used. A player
will have 45 seconds to execute his or her shot from the time that an
opponent's cue ball comes to rest.
     To keep the games moving, there will be one 3-minute time-out per
match, and only one 30-second time-out per game to study the table.
     Any player caught deliberately stalling the match will be given a
warning. Failure to heed this warning can result in loss of a game.
     These rules, coupled with a strict semi-formal (coat and tie) dress
code and high level of competition, make this tournament a class event.
     "This will be the biggest tournament that I have ever played in," Derr
said. "I'll be able to tell my grandchildren that I played in the
international tournament while I was in college."
                                                  -Jerry Rhodes