monday, february 23, 1981
daily nebraskan
page 3
Miller Lite fame a trickster
Pool shark's 'practiced' shots hit the mark
By Tom Prentiss
The E.F. Hutton of billiards showed off
his talents Saturday before a crowd of 200
in the Nebraska Union ballroom.
Steve Mizerak, who has won more than
35 major pool titles, impressed the audi
ence by sinking shots most pool players
can only dream of-or make by accident.
He performed various trick shots, some
times using cues as obstacles accompanied
with a sense of humor that would earn
Rodney Dangerfiekl respect.
Mizerak is perhaps best known as the
pool player on the Miller Lite commercial
who hits difficult combination shots and
then says all it takes is "practice, practice,
practice."
The Lite Beer commercial took about
8'2 hours to film, he said.
The producer had to make sure the
foam on the glass of beer was full. That,
along with making the series of shots,
accounted for the time problems.
Mizerak then lined up the balls as they
are in the commercial and showed the audi
ence how it was done.
He made the first two shots, but on the
final combination series, the cue ball left
the 15 ball just shy of the corner pocket.
Precision touch
Mizerak swept it in with his cue as the
crowd applauded.
With the precision touch of a Cartier
jeweler, Mizerak sank shot after shot that
left most in the crowd murmuring: "Only
he could have sunk that shot."
Yet while exuding a confidence that
rivals papal infallibility, Mizerak showed he
was human by missing some shots. He has a
standing rule that he gets three tries on each
trick shot.
Once after missing on the third try,
Mizerak looked disappointedly at the
errant ball and said, "That shot is impos
sible." The crowd errupted with laughter.
Humor is an important part of the
Mizerak performance. He constantly milks
the crowd, using a delicate sense of timing
on his jokes that kept many spectators
from thinking the exhibition was purely a
"spectator sport."
A few spectators got a chance to chal
lenge Mizerak in a game of eight-ball.
Enjoyable game
The first victim to fall to the surgical
talents of Dr. Mizerak was Scott Johnson
of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. Johnson
broke and sank four balls before missing
a shot.
Mizerak then strolled to the table and
asked Johnson, "Enjoy the game?" He
then proceeded to clear the table.
Johnson said he was pleased with his
performance because he hadn't played any
pool in more than a year.
After polishing off another competitor,
Mizerak was challenged and almost beaten
by Tim Miller, a UNL student from Grand
Island.
Mizerak played him solely by using his
left hand, often not even resting it on the
rail for balance. When Miller was one shot
away from winning, Mizerak kiddingly
wiped the balls into the pockets, telling
him that he doesn't give anybody a chance
to beat him.
For his next trick, Mizerak enticed
Linda Steele of Springfield, Mo., to be a
part of a trick shot.
Laying her on her back at one end of
the table, he placed a chalk cube between
her teeth.
He then placed a ball on the cube, and
from the rail below attempted to hit the
ball off Linda's mouth and into a corner
pocket.
He failed on all three tries but each one
was a little closer than the time before.
Mizerak closed by taking three cues and
laying them so the tips touched. He placed
the cue ball at the pointer where the
tips met. Then he used one cue as a lever
to lift the other two with the cue ball
balancing at the apex of the pyramid.
After several tries, Mizerak succeeded in
his trick and brought the crowd to a stand
ing ovation.
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