Sinking shots at the Bull Pen
Students learning to play pool at Utah State University are learning from one of the best teachers in the valley.
Playing for more than 30 years now, Rick Skinner has a formidable history and expertise in his field.
Skinner is currently the manager at the Bull Pen on the bottom floor of the Taggart Student Center and teacher of the billiards classes offered in the same location.
Although Skinner has taught at USU for the past five years, he said he still doesn’t consider himself a professor.
“Sometimes I see my name written on different forms on campus as Professor Skinner,” he said. “But I still feel weird using that title.”
Skinner received the job after applying to be the game room manager in the TSC.
“At the same time they had an opening for a teacher and I took it. It was really a good decision,” he said.
Skinner said finding a player like him isn’t too uncommon because a lot of people enjoy playing pool.
“People who are good at pool at my age are proof we had nothing to do but play pool in a bar when we were young,” he said.
Skinner himself actually made a living for a short time playing pool in bars and pool halls across the country.
Born in Logan, he traveled around the country while in his 20s betting on games and playing people for money each time. Although it was usually for just a few dollars each time he won, he said sometimes people play for a lot of money.
“Years ago I played a guy for $500 and won,” he said. “That was probably one of the biggest.”
Even though he bet a lot when he was younger, Skinner said the one rule he holds at the Bull Pen is ‘No Betting.’ The rule is in place because betting is illegal and the school is government-funded so they don’t want any problems.
“I don’t doubt betting goes on anyway. It comes with the game,” he said. “But if I see it, I will enforce the rule and tell them to stop.”
Skinner’s skills and knowledge of the game go beyond just betting in bars years ago. He has actually studied billiards for the past 37 years.
“I watch videos, read books and attend trade shows,” he said.
Along with the studying, he has also met some famous professional pool players including the “Black Widow” Jeanette Lee, who is second best in the world for women’s nine-ball, he said.
Skinner said a good billiards player usually practices for about two hours each day while the professionals practice for at least eight.
“It is really a game of extreme skill,” he said.
The number one thing he teaches his students is controlling the cue ball, he said.
He said, if you are one-thirty-second of an inch off when you hit the cue ball, depending on the distance it travels, it might be a quarter of an inch off when it hits another ball. That means the ball might end up a foot away from the pocket.
To demonstrate this concept Skinner placed the black eight-ball on top of the cue chalk near the middle of the table. He then said he planned on hitting the cue ball and bounce it off five of the walls. The cue ball would end up hitting the ball on the chalk with just enough force to make it wobble but not fall down.
He was successful.
Skinner teaches these skills of billiards in 10 different classes during the week.
Each class is a pass/fail recreation class and worth one credit.
Skinner said he definitely has one of the best jobs on campus.
“My favorite part is working with the students,” he said. “I really enjoy meeting new people. After being an Army brat and being in the Army myself I have learned to love traveling and meeting different people. Pool has helped me in this.”