Pool Tournaments

For about a year I worked for Verizon Wireless answering customer service calls. Most days I enjoyed the interaction, but one of my favorite aspects was a weekday off. I worked Wed-Sun afternoon/evenings. That meant Mondays I would drive to Evanston. It was during these times that Grandpa took me to the Senior Center and tried (unsuccessfully) to teach me to play pool. He had a group of buddies that were nice enough to let me play with them. They all love Earl. He can kick any one of their butts when he wants to, but he never won. He would challenge these gents and play hard with them...shit-talking the whole time :). But when it came down to it he let one of them win. Jack, in particular, took losing hard. It took me a long time to realize what was happening. It wasn't due to my lack of knowlege of pool. It was because he didn't let them know he let them win. They thought they really beat him. He was humble enough to enhance their days. He has a multitude of senior pool tournament prizes...all second and third places because he watched each day to see who needed the win the most.