撞球杆之神George Balabushka cues

  当电影The Color of Money“金钱本色”里，保罗纽曼把其珍藏已久的George Balabushka（百拉布什卡）宝杆送给汤姆克鲁斯时，当此电影画面曝光之后，使得千百万的撞球爱好者开始对收藏杆(Collectable Cues)产生了兴趣与概念，并到处咨询George Balabushka何许人也？其实早在1959年George Balabushka开始制作球杆之后，其所制作的球杆就像意大利人Strndivari所制的名琴一样，为当时所有喜爱打花式撞球的选手、郎中（当时美国有很多靠打撞球赚钱生活的人）、收藏家等梦寐以求的球杆了。

1966年附带齐全证书的收藏品

    George Balabushka俄国人1912年生，于 1975年去逝享年63岁，12岁时移民美国纽约布鲁克林区定居。George第一份工作就是在曼哈顿区内一所学校负责制作木制教学玩具给学生。也因此使其对木器工艺及木材属性有了良好的基础。之后，他离开了原有工作，自己开设一家公司继续从事设计、制作木器产品，在一次意外里他的中指被电锯切断了，而他为自己作了一支人造手指，当时就连一些与George非常亲近的朋友都不知道，由此可见George Balabushka手工细腻之处。George年轻时就很喜欢打撞球并参加过多项大型比赛，也因此其结交了许多当时著名选手与撞球名人。

     除了正业之外George也开始帮一些球友修理球杆，此时他看到另一位著名制杆师傅Frank Paradise以自己姓名作为其球杆品牌，激起了George Balabushka开始制作球杆的念头，1959年底他将做好的球杆当作圣诞节礼物送给一些球友试打并征询意见作为制杆参考，等到George Balabushka开始正式接受订制手工球杆生意时，已经有30年制作木器产品的经验作为基础后盾了。

1959~1962年间其大约每年制作20~30支球杆，George Balabushka喜爱简单朴实的个性也使得其球杆无形中走向简洁朴素的花样设计和注重好打的特色。当时在美国全国性的花式撞球比赛中，就经常会发生同桌竞赛的顶尖知名选手不约而同都是使用George Balabushka球杆而引为趣谈。之后，佳评逐渐传遍全美各地撞坛，使得订单接踊而至，更有人先寄一张空白支票只为求得一支George Balabushka球杆。

尽管他的球杆在顶级球员中拥有爆炸性的人气，但他的球杆仍然是独家的，而且制作数量仍然很低，即使他在1975年去世之前一直在全职制作球杆，但大师制作的球杆仍未超过1200个球杆。

生涯末期Gus Szamboti插角的Balabushka作品。

    如果你有幸遇到George Balabushka球杆以下有几点特征是辨识其球杆不可缺少的特点供球友参考：

    一、George Balabushka球杆98%都适用Steel Joint（白铁中轮）5/16-14镙牙连结Butt（后截）。

    二、四层木质色板做成四叉角镶嵌前臂（Forearm），再镶嵌一些星形或圆形Mother Of Pearl珍珠母为主。

三、Cup大轮大部分是空白无任何花样，插角最早是使用Brunswick制品，后来自己制作，1966年改向一家专门制造插角和球杆公司Burton Spain购买叉角，直到1971年George 遇到美国东岸另一位制杆奇人Gus Szamboti并对其所制的球杆叉角设计和黏合方面技术印象深刻与赞赏，随即改向Gus Szamboti购买叉角一直到去逝为止。

Brunswick插角的Balabushka

Burton Spain插角的Balabushka

Gus Szamboti插角的Balabushka

    四、George Balabushka很少使用象牙作镶嵌材料，反而常用银质圆环作为装饰环或运用四层色板做成装饰环套在握把缠线（＃9号爱尔兰麻线）两边或大轮上。

    五、球杆长度为57.5吋较现代球杆58吋短约0.5英吋。

       如今一支真正的George Balabushka球杆（1960年以来有很多仿制膺品充斥市面）并且球杆状况良好，一支价格都在美金15000元以上，而且辨识不易在美国可以请制球杆协会（American Cuemaker’s Association）鉴定，或者可以请一些当代制球杆名家如：Bill Schick、Barry Szamboti、Richard Black、Bill Stroud (Joss West)、Ernie Gutierrez (Gina)、Paul Rubino 等和熟悉George Balabushka球杆的收藏家，甚至动用断层扫瞄仪来判定真伪。球友绝对不要以为球杆上印有George Balabushka签名字样就是真品，因为Balabushka家族早已授权给ADAM制杆公司及其它制杆公司以印有George Balabushka签名字样球杆作为促销卖点。

    曾经有一则报导，在佛罗里达州有一位球友停车时正好看见旁边一家宅院后面，有一位老先生手里正拿着一支很旧的球杆正在追打一只狗，一时兴起就花了50元美金买下那只不知名并且外观很老旧的球杆，回到家后就拿给当地一位制球杆师傅修理并更换新的握把缠线，当球杆师傅一拆开当场就楞在那里，原来握把上（缠绕线的下方）有George Balabushka 独特的签名和第“ 70 ”的序号，从此就成为George Balabushka球杆的认证方法之一种。

虽然以今日的科学水平要制作一支像George Balabushka一样的球杆并非难事。但是George对球杆基础结构及接合技术的专注精神影响深远，一直延续至今为后进学习的典范，其名自当成为美国近代撞球杆史中，最重要的大师级人物更为球杆收藏家唯独不可获缺之球杆。

George Balabushka did not have the life one would expect from an average cue maker. Instead of growing up playing pool, young George – born in Russia – grew up in the last years of World War I, lived through the Russian Revolution, then when he was twelve moved halfway across the world to a new country, a new language, and even a new name.

At Ellis Island, Gregory Balabushka became George Balabushka, and began his new life as an American. Balabushka spent his entire career working with wood, although he only made cues for about sixteen years. He started out making various wooden children’s toys and furniture in New York, which is where he realized not just his love but his talent for carpentry and woodworking. Despite having no formal training, he amazed friends and family with intricate carpentry pieces like accordions that he had built for fun in his spare time.

Balabushka also loved to play pool for fun. He loved to hang around the pros, or the equivalent of pros in the days before professional pool. He especially liked to play and watch straight pool, competing in or attending nearly every competition in the New York City area. Something about seeing ball after ball after ball fall into the pocket hypnotized him.

And then in 1959, he bought a local Brooklyn pool hall with his friend Frank McGown. While running the pool hall he began to repair cues and then make cues for friends as gifts. This was the first intersection of his gift of carpentry and his love of pool. Soon, other regulars began asking him to make cues for them. Then, at some point in the early sixties, his name, and his cues, began circulating around the professional billiards community.

By 1964, Balabushka was making cues full time, which he continued to do until his death in 1975. His cues departed from the ornate pieces of art that were just becoming popular and instead focused on making high performance hand-crafted cues. He pioneered the use of Irish linen wraps, using straight grain maple instead of curly or birds eye maple in the butt, and checkered rings just above the wrap now known as Balabushka rings, as well as many other cue features nearly universally used today.

George Balabushka died in 1975, a tragic loss not just to his family and friends but to the billiards community as a whole. But his legend lives on in the many improvements he made to cue manufacturing as well as many other places. The famous scene in the 1986 sequel to The Hustler, The Color of Money where Tom Cruise is given a beautiful cue by Paul Newman and told, “It’s a Balabushka,” made the name Balabushka synonymous with top quality pool cues. And David Forman, founder of Adam Custom Cues, licensed the name Balabushka from George’s family.  The trademarked name is now owned by Peggy Mallen who manufactures a line of cues under the Balabushka name as a memorial to one of the greatest figures in modern billiards.