“Dr. Cue”® Goes to Russia & Returns!!!

Tom “Dr. Cue”® and his wife, Marty “Ms. Cue” Rossman of Cloverdale, Indiana recently completed a business journey to Moscow, Russia. Leaving from Indianapolis on March 23, via Chicago and Frankfort, Germany, they arrived in Moscow on March 24 after 12 hours of flight time. This special visit was arranged by a Mr. Arkadiy Lachakov, who Tom and Marty met last year in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA), while at a billiard industry international tournament. The Valley National Eight Ball Association of VNEA conducts an annual event in Vegas at the Riviera, in which Tom as “Dr. Cue”® conducts instructional clinics, performs trick, fancy, skill, and “novelty” entertainment shows, and directs an “artistic pool" division of competition among all players in attendance. A team from Russia was there last year, plus Arkadiy came to observe and study billiards in the United States. After several days of watching “Dr. Cue”® in action, Arkadiy opened communication channels with him… to potentially arrange for a ”Dr. Cue”® visit… for promotion of an expanding billiard market in Russia… since the breakup of the old Soviet Union nearly 10 years ago.

SPECIAL NOTE: Arkadiy’s credentials are too numerous to mention in the context of this descriptive journey letter, so a bio is linked HERE. Not only is he a truly talented instructor of “master level” background, he is also a logistics expert of vast nature. His pioneering efforts in the field of billiards within the Russian State are second to none, and I believe the state of billiard development worldwide and for potential Olympic involvement will be in part the direct result of his dedication and desire.

One of Arkadiy’s first contacts within the billiard venues of Moscow was with Sergey Bombusov. Sergey is the VNEA league and program director in Moscow and for the Russian State of billiard players. In conjunction with the VNEA charter, an agreement to host “Dr. Cue”® at the Russian qualifying pool tournament was made. The winners of this tournament would be potential visitors to Las Vegas in the International Tourney later this year. An agenda to do “artistic pool” shows, conduct clinics, and run the first ever “artistic pool” trick shot division at this event was arranged for the first weekend of the trip. Huge audience response was noted, while tournament players and city visitors to the tournament site enjoyed their inaugural look at pocket billiards presented in a Globetrotter/Tabletrotter style of skill and comedy by “Dr. Cue.”®

Arkadiy and Sergey made Tom and Marty feel right at home with logistical setup in truly a professional manner. Translators for the language barriers, transportation with professional drivers, and special people to watch over the personal concerns of Tom and Marty were evident throughout not only the tournament event, but also their entire visit. A bodyguard was assigned as a personal valet, so to speak, to get whatever was needed to make their stay more enjoyable. This person, named Igor, also kept an eye on special equipment of cues, balls, etc., which “Dr. Cue”® uses in his shows/clinics. The VNEA function ended after 3 days, and an enlightened image and approach to billiards was relayed to everyone. This “ambassador” approach to billiards is essential throughout the world… for Olympic recognition eventually as a medal sport, and continued league/tournament bonding efforts.

The following week kept “Dr. Cue”® very busy. Performances were arranged in 6 main billiard rooms/clubs, which have similar image relationships to our upscale rooms in the United States. These club venues are slightly smaller than ours… with usually 10 to 15 tables. In some cases location is on the second or third floor of an old theater building, so space is at a premium, and a resultant 4 to 6 table presence is evident. The rule of thumb for type of tables is based on type of clientele; that is, if the customer base is younger.. then pocket billiard tables are arranged with a mix of coin-op and some 9’ sizes on time payment. A couple of Russian Billiard tables (12’ in length) are placed in the room to satisfy older, tradition play mode. In a room/club with an older customer base, one will find the Russian Billiard table predominantly and a few coin-op tables for young adventurers of cuesport activity. The Russian Billiard table is something hard to understand in the evolution of equipment design. Over 200 years ago, Peter I, Kind of Russia State, went to Holland and brought back billiards in a carom style table (no pockets). As time went on, pockets were introduced, but on in the concept of our standard image of pocket pool. I will call id pocket billiards, but with some unusual characteristics. Let me draw a picture for you!! Imagine the table 12’ in length like an English Snooker table. The pockets are 6 in number; however, they seem the size of snooker pockets. In actuality, there is roughly a 3 to 3 ¼ inch opening. The balls are approximately 3 inches in diameter, so the clearance to make a ball is only a fraction of an inch on each side. To slow roll a ball in an attempt to make it is an almost impossible task… and I do mean task!! One my “blast” or “pound” the balls through what I call “reverse cut pocket points.” A 28 ounce cue is used and it is generally 60” in length. The force and challenge of Russian Billiard table conditions makes on really appreciate our normal pool table designs. I must admit, though, a certain entrancement or magnetism held my attention every time I played this unique or uni”cue” game/sport. Maybe I would fit right in to the older Peter I tradition of cuesport activity. I have always liked carom billiards here but only a few subscribe to our 3 cushion appeals. I thick surely as time goes on in Russia cuesport exposure, pool will take the forefront of activity almost everywhere. Currently there are approximately 1000 Russian Billiard tables and over 5000 pool or pocket billiard tables in the Russian state… primarily centered in the Moscow region. A similar demise of a standard play mode table; namely the 12’ Snooker table in Canada took place over the last 5 to 7 years. Pocket billiards or pool has now engulfed Canadian players due to promotions, leagues, tournaments and easy to learn and play standards.

(Note: Normal pool balls are 2 3/4” in diameter and 6 ounces in weight. Russian billiard balls are over 10 ounces. Normal cues are 57” to 58” for pool and weigh from 17 to 21 ounces.)

All the shows were done on either the 7’ coin-op or select pocket billiard tables of 9’ dimension. An occasional request to do some trick shots on the Russian Billiard table was made so a few minutes of each show was spent performing specific shots with “barrier” technique on these monsters of billiard delight. Players and audience members laughed regardless of approach to table environment due to “Dr. Cue”® cover lines, which were translated to perfection. Thank you, God, for “humor”!!!

Several days were spend at the Russian State Academy of Physical Culture (Education). This university is over 80 year sold and offers 9 different faculties of degree attention. One of the 4 year programs in the “Faculty of Sport Games” is for Billiards and all its amenities. Other sport games include chess, golf, tennis, table tennis, and basketball. The course outlines for each sport game includes a year of general study similar to our college/university standards and 3 years of intense study in the sport game of selection. A degree of Bachelor Science is granted with specific attention given to anatomy, methodology, technique, and advance training principles for Olympic placement. Personal trainers in Russia are quite common for various sports and now billiards will have them. Tom taught at the Academy for a substantial time period in the advanced “structural mechanic” tuning of a billiard player’s game technique, the mathematical and angular study of “Diamond Systems,” and the physics/dynamics of billiards. Billiardology study includes spheres, projectiles, and planes, which corresponds to balls, cues, and tables. The Academy was truly amazing with the classroom/club venue housing two 12’ Russian Billiard tables, one 12’ Snooker table, one 10’ heated Carom table, and three 9’ pocket billiard tables. A special room is set up in the back of the Academy main room to accommodate written, oral, and group study with blackboard presentation, testing, and feedback modes. In addition to working with 7 Academy students, Tom taught several of Arkadiy’s private students at the Academy in non classroom time frames. Everyone learned from this unique instructional experience and the purpose of billiard development to higher levels occurred.

Arkadiy had scheduled a few days of sightseeing also within the busy 2 week time period. Visits were made to The Kremlin and accompanying Red Square area, The Pushkin Museum of Art, Cathedrals of famous, historical significance, and many special places of agenda too numerous to mention. Interesting points of note were unique architecture composed of domes, which looked like unions and multicolored designs, primarily on the cathedral structures. Inside these magnificent buildings were painted walls, ceilings, and marble floors, with tiles of color and stone origin in many impressive layouts. There were no empty walls; that is, everything had color or painted design on it. What a beautiful site!! The presence of God could surely be felt. The tradition of religion and culture of belief was maintained by many, even though years of oppression existed outside these walls of comfort and protection.

The Kremlin was unbelievable and an immense wall surrounding it for miles kept a certain mystique about it confined to an elite few. We were fortunate to tour the inside of the fortress as tickets are sold now for foreign viewing, due to a more open policy of tourism and commercial appeal so common to early century countries realizing the potential for additional revenues. This Kremlin area was the original Moscow nearly 800 years ago and houses 5 Cathedrals of former Russian Kinds and some key military buildings. A military front was present within the walls as many meetings still take place of importance to government hierarchy.

The night viewing of Moscow, primarily downtown, was brilliant as lights have been added to brighten what was years ago a dark and dim city. Citywide travel was rather rough with autos creating gridlock, congestion, and normal large city problems. The harsh winters have caused most streets to buckle and break. Due to the current Russian economy and financial crisis, funds are lacking to fix the infrastructure, except for an occasional road crew here and there. Auto service shops are constantly busy and probably one of the more thriving businesses. We did see some new road work/development near the airport and in some select city areas, but it was very limited in scope. Most fluent travel is done by a very sophisticated subway system. We were quite impressed with it as it offers escalators of over 300 feet in length to take people from ground level to a below ground maze of stations and transit marvels. The cost is inexpensive and moves from outer areas of the city in a wheel-like configuration to the center city around The Kremlin area. This became the highlight of our travel within the city. In addition, below ground level window shops for buying things were present. These where true window shops as you viewed items through the windows and bought via a teller style counter outside the small shop (usually a 4’ x 8’ size).

Food was primarily salad (cucumbers and tomatoes), fish (almost raw), pork (very good), potatoes (a mainstay of every meal), and breads of many varieties. Desserts are not common. We found McDonalds around the city and had an occasional Big Mac and ice cream for dessert. The grocery stores offered good selections, but were limited in location. Mary found street markets in abundance and one in particular had over 7000 booths offering everything imaginable at super low prices to us, but not for the Russian people in economic trouble. Thousands of people attend these shopping venues regardless of weather conditions. There are a few upscale malls in the city. The people of Moscow are always in a hurry, like in our big cities. Courtesy is at a minimum and drivers have the right of way in almost all cases. Pedestrians have to be on the lookout all the time. There is a lot of walking by the people of Moscow due to car costs (repair and purchase). One street in the city is over one mile long and only pedestrians are allowed on it. It is a sort of market/entertainment experience for those who journey on it. We did and found it quite interesting.

Our return flight home was fast (over 500 mph), high (over 35,000 feet), and very cold (outside temperature was over 60 degrees below zero). We stayed warm inside the cabin and had a safe journey. Marty enjoyed a 33 hour birthday on April 6, which was our return date to the U.S. The time changes and flight times made this all passable. We flew on United/Lufthansa on a plane holding over 400 people. Our return to the good old U.S.A. was very welcome to us; however, the bonds and links to our Russian friends and billiard experiences will never be forgotten. Arkadiy --- we thank you!!!!!

Submitted By,
Tom and Marty Rossman

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