By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
"A lot of people don't realize how big pool is," says Pedro Aranda. "Six or eight years ago they didn't have pool leagues in Dowagiac," but now there are 16 to 18 teams competing just on Tuesday nights between the city and Sister Lakes.
"The minimum you can have on a team is five players and you can have up to eight, which almost every team does. A lot of women play. Our Tuesday night team plays out of the White House in Niles."
Dec. 15-16 Aranda has organized a 24-hour pool shoot-out at VFW Post 1855, 472 E. Division St., for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Donations/pledges will be accepted for every ball Pedro pockets in the 24-hour period.
As little as half to a penny a ball can make David's wish come true.
The VFW gave $500 in addition to use of its hall. Oil Can Alley donated two oil changes. He also got gift certificates in Edwardsburg from Lunker's and Harding's
Aranda, a 1987 Union High School graduate, said Friday he will be shooting balls on two tables, with volunteers racking one while he's at the other.
"There is a world record," he said. "I don't know the exact ball count, but I do believe a professional pool player from Canada set it with 17,000. We've got to keep track because we've got pledges for a penny a ball," including Wahoo. "If I make 10,000 balls, that's $100. Half a cent would be $50. I'm not taking anything for my own expenses. I've probably forked out $70 from my own pocket just for gas" lining up sponsors and putting up fliers donated by Preferred Printing.
"It's something I've wanted to do for the last two years," Aranda said. "I've been playing pool since I was like 17" at the former Maw and Paw's Barbecue restaurant on M-51 North. "I got in the APA (American Pool Players Association) leagues in 1991 or '92. There are always people holding tournaments and benefits, like the one at White House in Niles for a lady who had surgery and didn't have any medical insurance."
"The biggest night is Thursdays in Niles," he said. "They've got teams out of Dowagiac that play in Niles. Monday nights I play at Bleachers in Valley league in Mishawaka, Ind. I also play on APA in a league operated by Dean Johnson of Niles. Monday nights I play two different leagues the same night. Valley has to be run by an amusement owner, like distributors that put tables and jukeboxes in bars. APA is a franchise, which for this area is owned by John Easton of Buchanan. There's a lot to it. You've got ACS (American Cue Sports) and BCA (Billiard Congress of America). Valley and APA are the leagues that are really hopping.
"Tuesday nights I play in the Dowagiac APA. Wednesday nights I play APA out of the White House in Niles, but we also come to Dowagiac and go to Berrien Springs. I also play Thursday night APA and have Fridays off from the leagues. Saturday we have junior leagues with the kids. Sunday I have nine-ball leagues for APA," which explains how he selected Friday-Saturday for his pool marathon, though "I don't make these leagues all the time because of my job. I'm only a captain on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday. APA you've got to have people who are not as good because you've got to keep the handicap at 23 or under. Valley, there's still a handicap that goes to 10. After one round of five games, "It's all ball count – how many balls you leave on the table."
The Tuesday night team has two couples, Aranda and his girlfriend of eight years and the Chris Rockafellows, Fourth District Court magistrate and bailiff.
"Any Tuesday night, Wounded Minnow's got teams, Beeson Street's got teams, Eagle's has got teams, the VFW has got teams."
Wednesday night other teams play out of Dowagiac.
"It's a traveling league. One week you might be at your home bar. THe following week you're going to have to be at a different one," said Aranda, a former welder who now drives trucks. The Railroad Street resident made it to Life Scout in Boy Scouts. His brother, Victor, is an Eagle Scout.
"I'm really involved with the kids playing on Saturday afternoons," said Aranda. "We've got our kids playing junior leagues for APA on Saturday afternoons. I have three girls. My oldest is 19, my middle one's 16 and my youngest is seven, and I have two stepboys. My middle daughter plays and my stepboys, 12 and 9, both play. Their father and his girlfriend have two kids on the team, so it's one big family thing."
Even with exes involved, "Everybody gets along," he said. More often, "When parents are divorced or separated, there's a lot of fighting going on over kids. People can't believe that we all get together every Saturday. Years ago I tried to open up a billiard room, but the city just shot it right down. When I was a kid, growing up in Dowagiac, (Hook's) had a couple of tables in back."
"To me, it's all about the kids," Aranda said. "In the summer time I coach tee ball. I was assistant coach for my two older girls when they were growing up and playing softball. My youngest one plays tee ball, so I've done that the last two years. This year she'll be moving up, so I hope I'll be a regular coach instead of an assistant. A lot of parents love me because I make it fun for the kids. At one practice I took all these little girls. I rolled them all balls and told them to throw them back as fast as they can. I had balls flying everywhere, teaching while they're having fun.
"In pool, I try to teach kids on other teams if I see them doing something wrong. I try to help them with their game. You've got to play serious at tournaments because you're trying to win. For 2006, I played APA and Valley, which has a state tournament in Battle Creek every year. Last year I placed fourth in the 2005 open for eight ball in Michigan and tied ninth through 12th for nine ball. This year, in the Masters, I placed third in the state in eight ball. My team took fourth in the Masters in Michigan for 2006. I also play in Indiana. We took fourth in the open at Indianapolis. None of us played singles. In South Bend they have ACS (American Cue Sports). In the 2006 state open tournament I tied ninth through 12th in nine-ball singles and I took first place in the state for the eight-ball open. This coming spring I'll be placed in the Masters there. It would be nice to be (state champion), but people would not believe how many tough pool players there are in Michigan. Mike Davis, over by Watervliet, is a very tough player. Kalamazoo has phenomenal players" like Mark DeYoung, Jason Kirkwood of Big Rapids and Juan Garcia of Holland.
"I had the pleasure of playing with all these guys about three years ago when they put together a Dream Team," Aranda said. "We took second place in Sandusky. We got beat by a team from Canada. I'm a big fish here, but you go to a big town and then I'm like fish bait. Jason is 26 or 27 and he played in two pro tournaments and took first place in one of them. He's just phenomenal.
"You're thinking, how can I better my game to be as good as him? It's hard to turn pro. Tournaments last like a week, so you've got to stay in hotel rooms and eat out. You have to prove yourself and win some major tournaments to get sponsors. Right now, with kids at home, it would be too hard to be gone like that. My job takes me away enough. I try to arrange it so I'm home on the weekends and can watch them play. Our kids took first place the last two times they played. We've got a pool table at home to practice."
The tournament part Friday evening at 7 is Scotch doubles 10 and under, a handicap system from 2 to seven. Pedro's rated the highest, a seven.
"If you were rated a three, and we met up for a match, you'd have to win two games and I'd have to win six games to win for the team. You're not the best because you're a seven, but it means you're a very strong player. I've been a seven since I came into the league. Sometimes a seven hurts a team. You could play a seven, six, five, three and two. The handicaps added up is 23 right on the money. In league rules, you have to stay 23 and under. If you go over, you forfeit all your matches."
Sixteen or 17 when he started "beating balls around and I've been playing ever since. I've never taken a session off. I've played the whole year-round since 1991 or '92. I play summer, fall-winter, springtime. There are three sessions a year. In June they have a city tournament. They'll divide into three brackets with a blind draw. First place in each bracket gets a trip to Las Vegas. Last year was the first year for nine-ball and my team made it for APA for 2006."
"I not only do it for recreation, I do a lot of tournaments as well. We had four-man teams in Sandusky Thanksgiving weekend. There's no handicap. The only limitation is you're allowed to only have one pro player on the team."
"I also play Valley leagues. Anybody can be beat on a given day. It doesn't matter how good you are, somebody is always going to be better. You can have a bad day and get beat. I got beat by a girl right here in Dowagiac who's rated a three. We're all friends, so there's a lot of trash talking. Next thing I know, I end up getting beat. Three or four of us are real tough – myself, Robert Castaneda, Brian Roberts, Robert Bailey. My brother Vic is rated a seven and he can be tough at times. I think what gives us sevens the edge is the dedication we put into playing."
"It's just like chess in a way. If you watch the pros play nine ball on TV, if they don't have a shot, they'll try to stick you behind another ball, but there are rules to doing that. You have to drive a ball to the rail after making contact. You can't just nudge the cue ball and try to hide it. You not only have to hit your ball, you have to drive something to a rail after you hit your ball playing eight ball."
Eight ball uses all 15 balls, one player sinking stripes, another putting in solids until the black eight ball remains. Nine ball uses just that number, which must be pocketed in sequence.
"If I shot the one into the nine and made the nine, game's over. I win." That's called "choosing the nine. I play both eight ball and nine ball for APA leagues," Aranda said. "Those are the only formats for league play."
"When you break, you might have balls that are tied up and you can't get them broken out. You've got to look way ahead. I'll look at the whole table and tell you exactly when I can run out. That doesn't mean I will every time, but I'm going to take this shot, this shot and this shot and then hook you. I'm going to drive my ball to a rail, then I'm going to put the cue ball right here, so you don't have a shot. It has to do with strategy a lot if you want to win. If I want them to get a certain ball out of my way, I'll hook them so that's the only ball they can shoot at. Then, if you play a stronger player, like Robert, Brian, Bob Bailey or my brother Vic, you can't take them for granted. You have to force them into something they don't want to do. If you give them an option with an open table because you miss, it's a good possibility they're going to run out and you just got your butt kicked. Even the pros, nobody can't be beaten."
Aranda plays chess occasionally and poker maybe on a Friday night, but he saves most of his strategizing for his first love, pool.