Hague 5 25th anniversary poem
Inspired by Freddy the Beard’s speech at the One Pocket Hall of Fame dinner 2013
Written by Pepijn de Wit and Alex Lely
It was 1994, March 4,
when the Hague’s first pool club opened its door.
It started out with five,
but soon after, the club took a dive,
deep it was too,
so they decided to continue with two.
On the second floor six tables were found,
a place where people got homebound,
unwilling to leave,
the sound of pool balls being the only thing to perceive.
Let’s start to name Gary, the thirsty Brit
for many years Hague 5’s biggest hit.
Sjaak Kort showed how to rock the game,
how good he could play, that was close to insane.
van Gelderen, Hoogendijk en Batis came to represent,
but the Rotterdam-guilders proved misspent.
Lamboo from Leiden came to try his luck,
but Superschnitzel and Plague got this Wildebeast stuck.
The Duijvestein brothers, Andre, Maurice and Salimin too,
for a game or a drink, always something to do.
Frenklin Reisner honing his skills on the break,
Ruysink could still give him the 7, make no mistake.
Of all the poolhall-junkies, mind you,
they surely broke most shafts in two
Behind table 6 was Grunewald counting to 20 so loud,
his pupil Feijen doing pushups, making his trainer proud.
Cannabinoid awareness has always been high,
for a breakthrough pool-theory no soul in there was ever shy.
it’s not sure that they always made sense,
but the urge to unravel was very intense.
Tromp and Herben, boy could they shoot,
late night hours, oh so often they took the loot.
Rachid Bouhaddane the first predator in the Hague,
the real deal, moved around the table like a Saudi Sjeik.
But don’t think it was only about the game,
Hardcore on and off the table, all the same.
What did we hear often around closing hours?
When people believed to have superpowers?
We gaan Door!!
freely translated in
We want more!!
Mounira, Gilbert, Jeroen, Schedel and Mo
are names that we all praise to know
Campi, even Mike and Aswan,
all first time followers get their place in the sun.
Morawek, Krens, Elfried and Bas,
names that remind us of how the beginning then was.
Bram and Sander joined Grunewald’s crew,
training the new hungry few.
Pepijn, Harvy, Jelle, Stefan, and Davy,
youngsters making established players shaky.
After training, Arthur forgot his glasses,
at his late night returns beer always passes.
Years later Rolf, Same, Jelle, and Pepijn joined forces,
giving each other bank pool courses.
Friday night’s ring games became famous,
not tolerating any soft shooting gayness.
The harder, the better,
the rest did not matter.
He is going for gold!
A 4-railer they told.
Tim De Ruyter and others have tried,
oh boy, they have cried.
Sunday night 8 o’clock Sanne would come in,
Looking for a game of one pocket to begin.
Everybody could not help but wonder,
which cue he brought to plunder.
5 years ago, two became three,
Slick Nick was added to the family tree.
Hip and trending the club became,
Hague 5 was thriving on its self proclaimed fame.
With the certainty of leaving many people out,
We will go ahead and give these regulars a shout.
de Taat, Elfried, Michiel and Govert-Jan Vos,
Chicken Bob, Anand, Marnix, and McGyver Bas Bost.
Shanna, Erroll, and Roy,
Howard, Tjeerd, Billy, Crazy Chris and Kim, a joy.
Arrekel and Opa Ronald what can we say,
both pool wizards in a very contrasting way.
If the Arruk starts boozing, you better pray.
Karin, Marlies and Paparazzo Fred,
for a pic to go viral he’s your best bet.
Dylan, King George and Coffeeshop Sven
as said in the good old days:”in de Eggegezen”.
Cruz and Niem an honourable mention,
they give every foreign champ a chunk of tension.
Lefty Tara a future champ,
maybe together with Iggy and Ishem.
Van der Poel, Maaike and Benno get a shout,
all the named people: the Hague 5 crowd.
Angela and Steven,
in any discipline they will play you even.
It’s all out of love for the game,
never once for the fortune or fame.
To say these two are heartwarming is nothing but fair,
100% passion and unconditional care.
Hague 5 25 years
We Gaan Door!