By Setarreh Massihzadegan
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Male and female players alike have long presided over Brooksby’s billiards tables, but it wasn’t until recently that the newly organized men’s players really swung into action.

With the help of Michael Fioccoprile, who moved to Brooksby with 50 years of experience under his belt, the group became the Brooksby Village Ball Breakers. While Fioccoprile takes his pastime seriously— he fi rst picked up a pool cue at age 11 and is ranked an “A+” player—there’s no shortage of fun in the billiards room, where the group meets six afternoons a week and often attracts an audience.

“Most people around here call it ‘comedy central,’” says Richard Urie, who found his new obsession with pool after giving up golf. “It’s extremely hard to make a shot without somebody saying something,” he adds. Mike Marotta, who moved to Brooksby just three months ago, agrees.

“I enjoy playing with them. It’s like a three-ring circus—they all rib each other,” he says.

Work meets play
Despite the constant stream of jokes and gentle nudging, the players respect each other and work to improve their game with both personal and group instruction.

“It takes drills; you have to be rigorous,” Fioccoprile explains. “The worst thing you can do is just get up there and hit [the ball].”

Fioccoprile ranks at the top of the roster along with Lenny Yanofsky, one of the group’s longtime members. “The idea of [Fioccoprile] playing with these guys here and teaching them how to play a little better—we love it,” says Yanofsky, who also gives classes two days a week for Brooksby’s women’s billiards group.

Many of the men in the Ball Breakers are picking up the pool stick for the first time, or for the first time in years, and they welcome the pointers from more skilled players. Now with new faces and a ranking system, there’s plenty of incentive to improve, beyond avoiding jabs from the others.

“I’d like to move up a couple of notches on the sheet,” Marotta says.