Dr Cue Gives Surprise Exhibition to Dallas High School Students

(Above L-R) BCA Instructors Carl Oswald, Bill Suden, Tom Rossman aka "Dr Cue", Mike Bearskin-Winger, Nolan Shaw, Earl Munson -- (Below L-R) JJ Pearce H.S. Mustangs players Jessica Junek, Robert Weir, Lauren Mays, Garrett Gibbs, and Dennis Paniagua have fun with Dr Cue

Their appearance was short notice: the Dallas-area high school billiard program director, Earl Munson, got a surprise telephone call from Marty Rossman, asking if he would like for them to visit. Having watched "Dr. Cue" in action at the Junior Nationals and the BCA Expo, the response was an immediate "Yes, the students will love it."

Some of the students, having competed at the Junior Nationals, immediately recognized Rossman and were thrilled to see him again. As the buzz spread around the room of who he was, the excitement and anticipation grew as everyone watched in amazement. One particular shot that “Dr. Cue” made repeatedly was his famous wing shot where he would roll an object ball down table and effortlessly shoot the cue ball and pocket the object ball when it was still in motion. He made bank shots and kick shots from ANYWHERE on the table with ease.  One student noticed and picked up an over-sized cue stick and held it in bewilderment of what this cue was for. Another cue stick he had which looked liked a giant pencil would later be demonstrated for his world-famous "draw shot."

Even veteran BCA instructors and players Bill Suden, Mike Bearskin-Winger, Nolan Shaw, Carl Oswald, and Earl Munson laughed and shook their heads in amazement as they witnessed Rossman perform his craft of "artistic pool."  Rossman is the modern-day founder of "artistic pool," in which several Dallas area high school players have been very successful in competition at the Junior Nationals Artistic Pool Championship hosted and organized by Tom and Marty.

Trey McMullen from the Rockwall H.S. Yellowjackets had taken second place in the artistic pool event in 2006 at the University of Arizona with Trey's brother Trent McMullen taking third place the following year at the Minnesota State University in the same event. Wylie H.S. Pirate Vince Villarreal had taken second-place honors also in last year’s event in Minnesota. Players who will be selected to compete this year at the 2008 BEF Junior Nationals will once again try to be the best in artistic pool.

The students, teachers, and parents were impressed by Rossman’s visit, but also equally impressed were "Dr. Cue" and his wife after witnessing the high school billiard program firsthand and remarking that this could be a program that could spread around the United States.

Tom Rossman understands the need to promote billiards to the youth in this country and has many years of experience working with youth, having served on the Billiard Education Foundation board and promoted and run the annual Artistic Pool Championships held jointly with the BEF Junior Nationals. Everyone in attendance was awed and thankful for the visit, and talks were of hopefully them visiting again in the future and giving an exhibition at several of the Dallas-area high schools.
For more information on high school billiards, please contact the Billiard Education Foundation at Billiardeducation.org.