‘Cue sports’ continue to pitch for Olympics designation

You might be a Southerner if you think “cue sports” means cornhole games, which are traditionally associated with “cues” – short for barbecues.

However, the Billiard Congress of America, based in Broomfield, Colo., is quite serious when it insists the “cue sports” term blankets the world of billiards, pool and snooker. All of the variations of these sports require a player to use a cue stick to strike and roll balls on a green felt surface.

Professional pool players have been pushing for their sport to be included in the Olympic Games for eons, it seems. They were full of optimism that the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris would welcome the billiard arts into the Olympiad. 

France is the birthplace of billiards. Historians say the first lawn game played with sticks and balls that resembled billiards was brought indoors during the 1400s by King Louis XI. (The fabric atop the flat table was colored green to resemble grass.)

The Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games, however, voted “no” on cue sports, while recommending breakdancing, climbing, skateboarding and surfing be added as official Olympics sports. 

A travesty of justice. The cue sports are truly international. Louis XI was nicknamed “Universal Spider,” reported Susan Abernethy, a freelance writer based in Denver, Colo. As king of France, he spun webs around Europe,” she wrote. “It seems he was never happier than when he was planning his next scheme.” 

So it is with pool players. Always thinking ahead, studying the angles, envisioning the reaction of the cluster of colored and striped balls when smashed about by the white cue ball. 

Best of all, billiards players have retained the custom of sporting nicknames, perhaps as a tribute to Louis XI. 

The late Stan Silliman, a sports journalist and comedian, was once assigned to cover the U.S. Open Women’s Professional Billiards Association event. He told his wife Orin: “We’re heading out to see the “Striking Viking,” the “Texas Tornado” and the “Black Widow.” 

He explained that “most women pro pool players have nicknames.”

Ewa Svensson Mataya Laurance, a native of Sweden, is known as the “Striking Viking.” She now makes her home in Myrtle Beach, S.C. 

Vivian Villarreal, the “Texas Tornado,” began helping out at Mollie’s Lounge in San Antonio, owned by her grandmother, Amalia Huerta. The restaurant had a single pool table, where Vivian started to play at age 8. 

Jennette Lee of Brooklyn, N.Y., has leveraged the “Black Widow” nickname with her preferred color of clothing from tip to toe. Her brand is seen on an assortment of cue sports equipment as well as on contemporary and urban apparel and within the hunting and fishing industry. She now resides in Tampa. Fla. 

Jennette Lee 

Gerda Hofstätter of Friesach, Austria, is also a licensed pilot, which contributes to her nickname of “G-Force.” Her athleticism has propelled here to the forefront of other sports – tennis, snow skiing and fencing. 

Silliman reported: “In a few instances their nicknames don’t fit,” such as the “Duchess of Doom,” the nickname for world champion Allison Fisher from Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England, on River Lee. “She doesn’t look doomlike at all.” 

Sherman Hollar, associate editor of Encyclopaedia Britannica, said the nickname originated because of Allison’s “deadly consistent shot making. Her achievements led many observers of cue sports to deem Fisher the best female pocket billiards player in history.”

 

Allison Fisher

Still, Silliman thought the royalty theme could be retained with a nickname like “Duchess of Dominance.” Allison Fisher makes her home in Charlotte, N.C.