Peters Township resident combines pool, education
Joe Busche eyes up a shot on his Brunswick Diamond Pro Am table at South Hills Golden Cue in Bridgeville.
Peters Township resident Joe Busche took over South Hills Golden Cue in May.
Gary McMarr of South Park Township prepares for a shot at South Hills Golden Cue.
John Wissel of Heidelberg prepares for a shot at South Hills Golden Cue.
Faith Wise of Scott Township gets ready to make a shot using a bridge stick.
As a physics professor, Joe Busche is likely to talk about friction, entropy or momentum conservation.
And he’s likely to do the same as the owner of a pool hall.
The Peters Township resident is extending what he does as an educator at Wheeling Jesuit University to bring education to his business, South Hills Golden Cue in Bridgeville.
“I’ve taken it and I’ve tried to turn it into community outreach,” he explained.
Busche’s background actually is in astrophysics – that’s Stephen Hawking territory – and over the summer, he used Golden Cue’s stadium-seating area for astronomy presentations, enlightening youngsters on three occasions.
Of course, the kids had an opportunity to shoot pool and, perhaps, learn a bit about the science of how a ball rolls across a table and into a pocket. For example:
”Friction plays a much bigger role in pool than you think,” Busche revealed for aspiring pool pros. But there’s more to it than science.
“Sometimes, you might know the physics of it, but then you find that the actual practice of something is also a lot about adjusting to changing conditions,” he said. “There’s a little bit of artwork in it.”
Whether it’s art or his knowledge of physics, Busche is likely to run the table in about three minutes, and that’s with taking some extra time to explain what he’s doing.
“My main interest in pool started when I was in college many years ago,” he said. “At that time, I was always interested in possibly having a pool hall.”
He took somewhat of a time out, understandably, while working on advanced degrees at the University of Pittsburgh. But that interest persisted, and the opportunity to follow through came this year.
Joe Marino, whom Busche calls a “world-class player in his own right,” opened South Hills Golden Cue in 1978 and operated it until his death in January. The new owner took over in late May.
“His family is very much interested in trying to keep it as a pool hall,” Busche said. “It used to be very, very popular with kids and high schoolers. Nowadays, they’re all doing video games and things like that. I’d like to try to get them back out.”
Among the tables that fill Golden Cue are two seven-foot models, as opposed to the standard nine feet, making them more suitable for youngsters.
“There’s a lot to offer as far as people who want to learn how to play pool and want to learn how to play a little bit better,” Busche explained, noting that Shane Jackson, a well-known player in the Pittsburgh area, is on hand to impart his knowledge. “There are opportunities for people to play in leagues, and if they do, they’ll be playing on much better equipment.”
Golden Cue also has two billiard tables, which differ from pool tables in that they have no pockets, along with Busche’s pride and joy, a Brunswick Diamond Pro Am as the focus of the seating area.
“This place is really about pool, community, entertainment and a family-friendly environment,” he said. “You can really just enjoy pool for pool.”