The Washington times., 1935-11-26
HoppeHair
BeHesHs
.. Years
Bv KIRK MILLER
Times Sports Editor

You never can tell about a
blond.
One is impressed with such
a saying on observing the eter-
nally young Willie Hoppe do
magic with a billiard cue and
three ivory balls which respond
to his delicate touch as though
they were the ivory keys on a
baby grand instead.
Which is to say that Willie
Hoppe never seems to grow a day
older. His blond hair, only tinged
by a slight frosty-gray bellies his
admitted 48 years. A champion
billiardist in one class or another
almost continuously since he was
18, Hoppe, then known as the
''boy wizard" keeps his bland
countenance, face unwrinkled and
immobile except for the dimples
which creep in when he is off
tension and smiling.
Two Long Stretches
Meanwhile, Hoppe has lost moth
ing of the fine hand he has ever
displayed with the cue-the fine
hand which enabled him to win
the worlds 1872 billiard champion
ship in 1907, sharing it that year
with such masters as George SUIT
ton and Young Jake Schaefer,
then coming back to win it in
1910, to keep it throughout the
ensuing 10 years.
Back he came in 1922 to earn
the title again, holding it for the
next three years. So it is not eX-
aggerating the facts to say he has
dominated the modern field OF
1872 billiards, as he did the 1871
division until it was practically
abandoned for championship pur-
poses.
You still see a lot of the smooth.
face boy in Willie Hoppe that
characterized the lad when he
first toured the country as a
youthful phenomenon. Delicate
violin or piano fingers. of medium
stature, a high temperamental
forehead, yet with a long, firm
jaw, Hopes physical attributes
present a picture of an artist who
is thoroughly master of his task
Clear, Blue Visage
His clear blue eyes tell a story
Of a temperate life. They are
StudiouS eyes, calculating, and
mercileSs when he is ready to
draw back the arm which directs
the slender, sensitive wrists.
The fine proportion of Willie
Hopes body as he approaches
the fifty-year mark reveals the
excellent care he has taken Of
himself in the score and a half
Of years he has travelled in bill
lard exhibitions.
And how does he keep his mind
and his body always fit for the
tremendous strain that profes.
Sional billiard playing entails?
He walks a lot, he sleeps lot.
and he eats what he pleaSes, but
never heavily. and seldom just
before a match, but rather after.
Willie Hoppe is a fresh-air
fiend. Whenever such a proce
dure is compatible with the policy
,of the parlor in which he exhibits,
he requests the spectators to re
frain from Smoking-so essential
is good, clean air to his game and
to his personal well-being and
aplomb while under the strain Of
performing.
Masters Fancy Shots
While essentially a straight
billiard shot, Hoppe, in latter
years, has gone in for some of the
fancier shots made famous by Al
bert Cutler and such contempo
raries of two decades ago.
In his current exhibition,
Hoppe mixed orthodox three
cushion billiards with freak and
fancy displays which saw the
white and colored ball hopping
in and out of derby and off Of
stacked cubes of chalk, or run
along the rail for several feet be-
fore dropping off the cushion and
onto the table to "click" the OBJ
ject ball.
Seeing Hoppe play billiards, is
still like watching Hagen rhoot
golf-you feel like going home
and throwing away all the equip
ment you have been struggling
with for years.
Like poetry, there's only one
kind of billiardist-the best. The
others don't count.