All World Hockey by T. Michael Travers

Where were you ... To be selected for the  Hockey Hall of Fame, apparently, a player needs to score 1 ,000 pts. The Philly Flyers, Bill Barbour, however, did it with only 883 points and was best known as hockey's inventor of "The Dive". Now there's a penalty for what made him famous. How'd he get in?  And, the Islander's tough guy, Clarke Gillies was also selected when he only managed 697 points. How'd he get in? No need to name more undeserving Hall of Fame selections, there are lots of them who don't have resumes that come close to Rocket or Howe or Mikita or Lafleur or Hull or Lindsay or Beliveau or Orr or Bossy or Kennedy or Gretzky. Do you think the Hockey Hall of Fame inducts honoured members based on their popularity? I remember where I was in Sept. 1972.  I remember the excitement, the drama,   the anticipation of the biggest, most exciting hockey series ever in hockey history. I remember everything about every day during the 27

At 16, I wanted nothing more than to be able to play pool. However, you couldn't get into a pool room  in the 1960s unless you were 18. The local pool room was owned by a retired cop.  I have no idea why he let me in (he could have lost his license). I couldn't get enough. The atmosphere,  the money, the gambling, the skill, the sound of billiard balls smashing into each other, and of course, the smell of the place. All of it was intoxicating. A movie, "The Hustler"  starring Paul Newman in the lead role as "Fast Eddie Felson and Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats , showed at local theatres. Ya, I was Fast Eddie . I got to be very good. So good at pool, the only game I'd play was skittles. It was where you could win (lose) the most money. Just 3 billiard balls and five pins -- four white pins and one black (sometimes red). I somehow developed the knack of clearing out the four pins and leaving the black pin standing.

Country Music singer, Shania Twain,  had a song titled;"That don't impress me much".  It perfectly describes my wife Lorraine's attitude toward sports or entertainment people who may be well known or super-rich or who have some well-disguised reason for being famous. She barely takes notice. When I was working and traveling on business I stayed in some very nice hotels.  I spent 17 years traveling to Miami, starting in the 1980s. At the time, the downtown area was a little dangerous. And, after one bad hotel experience, I moved to the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach. The Eden Roc on Collins Ave. was and still is spectacular. Its art deco look and eye-popping lobby, designed by Morris Lapidus, it was the standard by which other Miami Beach hotels were compared. Sinatra and every other big-name performer were regulars in The Eden Roc's dining rooms. The "Rat Pack" all entertained there as individual performers. The Eden Roc was in a category of its ow