The Mystery of a Pool Shark

This issue of MT somehow got invaded by fish, but the following tale is more than just another fish story. It's a mystery, too. In 1978, Wally Moilanen found a dented silver-plated trophy while fishing a creek near Tapiola in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It bore the inscription: "1924, University of Michigan, Straight Rail Billiard Tournament, Won By Curtis D. Becker."

The loving cup hung in Moilanen's barn for 20 years. Recently, Moilanen asked a friend to surf the Internet for Curtis Becker or a member of his family. The search yielded only a "Curlycue Mike" who manages a Website, "Billiards in Michigan."

Curlycue Mike contacted Betsy Sundholm, manager of Michigan Union's Billiards Room. Sundholm pored over University records but could learn only that Curtis Becker had enrolled at U-M but never graduated. Who was Becker? Was his prowess at pool linked to academic troubles? How did his trophy get from Ann Arbor into a creek in the Upper Peninsula? The mystery remains.

Meanwhile, Becker's trophy is in a display case outside the Billiards Room. Anyone with information about Becker is asked to call the Billiards Room at (734) 763-5786--Joanne Nesbit, U-M News and Information Services.