Philip Mazzie

My Grandfather developed and owned most of the area where we still are. Be it bars, restaurants, pool halls, or properties, he was the bank south of Detroit. Old guy even kept the lookouts peepholes still in the basements while I was growing up. He gifted my father an early custom Joss "Snake Bite" (back when a Joss meant something). And my Grandfather being the guy he was at the time was a backer for Willie Hoppe (Hence my cues that probably aren't documented on my wall). My father took that custom Joss and practiced so hard, while taking care of 2 kids himself. We didn't know that he ended up a 1989 champion at the time. My brother and I figured this out years later. Ma just liked the stacks, My older brother does his own thing.

But I love pool.

People put so much emphasis of what they shoot with that they think a "money" cue will do them any favors. We all see it all the time. Someone drops $2K into a cue and still gets beaten. Shocking.

I could grab the ol' mans Joss, the dinosaur Huebler (post snap), the one Hoppe that's functional, or any cue from my wall. I shoot with a real "The Miz Collection" cue. With the gold embossing and the pic and signature. My first cue. It may be set up and customized a bit now but all in all, it was about $50. I shoot for the love of the game. Not the value or the price.