By DAVID THORNTON, Photographer
Let one finger stay and the other will point the way. This is the motto pool players follow
Dawson Tidaback holds his pool cue, letting it rest between the fatty part of the index finger and thumb. For him, this concept gives the best control for pocketing shots.
Since Tidaback was “tall enough to see over a billiards table,” he’s loved playing pool. His father, Russ Tidaback, introduced him to the basics: how to hold a pool cue and how to hit a ball. At any chance he could, Tidaback would play pool.
When this junior health and sports science major arrived on campus, he met resident assistant Mason Monsees.
“My freshman year, Mason invited me to play,” he said. “I told him I wasn’t good, so Mason helped. We played all the time, and I got better over time.”
After attending class and coaching the women’s basketball team, Tidaback spent most of his time in Coronado Hall. He said he’d play between two and five games of pool each week.
When Tidaback isn’t near a pool table, he sometimes will play pool on his phone, playing iMessage 8ball.
“I used to play almost 10 people a day,” Tidaback said. “The games got competitive, so I played a lot.”
Tidaback has close to 1,000 wins since the game was created.
With new players, Tidaback likes establishing common ground on the rules. All players play by different rules. The way Tidaback likes playing pool is by using traditional rules when the cue ball is the game ball. To legally win, that player must call which pocket he’ll shoot the ball into.
“Pool is a game people of all ages can play,” Tidaback said.
In the future, he said he “definitely will have a pool table in his house.”