Billiard Balls as Sports Jersey Numbers…Because, Why Not?

| Posted on |

In the 2004 film Fever Pitch, Drew Barrymore talks about how math nerds rearrange license plates and stuff in order to make more interesting combinations. On Jeff Pearlman’s podcast, Two Writers Slinging Yang, he spoke with Sports Illustrated writer Steve Rushin about how dates sometimes remind him of jersey numbers. Rushin, in response, said he thought the same when using combination locks. Confession: these nerdy pastimes have always been a part of my life. And when I heard the Pearlman-Rushin episode, I decided to tackle a project I’ve always found intriguing — even though some may call it weird. The project, of course, is the correlation between billiard balls and sports jersey numbers.

One day, back in 2008 or 2009, I was shooting pool at Mad Monk’s in Binghamton, NY — a dive bar across from NYSEG Stadium — when, for whatever reason, I couldn’t stop associating the Orange, No. 5 ball to Donovan McNabb’s football (and basketball) jersey at Syracuse. From there, I immediately thought, hmm, that eight-ball reminds me of Albert Belle’s jersey when he played for the Chicago White Sox. At the time, I didn’t assign all 15 balls to a jersey number. Now, however, because of the massive public interest, I have…and here they are.

Note: These are the first players that came to my mind. I’m sure that, if you actually care, you may disagree. If so, leave a comment and we’ll talk!

 Billiard Balls as Sports Jersey Numbers

  1. Yellow — Jamal Crawford (Michigan Wolverines)
  2. Blue — Luol Deng (Duke Blue Devils)
  3. Red — Ken Griffey Jr. (Cincinnati Reds)
  4. Purple — Adrian Dantley (Utah Jazz)
  5. Orange —Donovan  McNabb (Syracuse Orange)
  6. Green — Bill Russell (Boston Celtics)
  7. Maroon —Joe  Theismann (Washington Redskins)
  8. Black —Albert  Belle (Chicago White Sox)
  9. White/Yellow — Bill Mazeroski (Pittsburgh Pirates)
  10. White/Blue — Terry Collins (New York Mets)
  11. White/Red — Julio Jones (Atlanta Falcons)
  12. White/Purple —John Stockton (Utah Jazz)
  13. White/Orange — Manny Machado (Baltimore Orioles)
  14. White/Green — Jamie Benn (Dallas Stars)
  15. White/Maroon — Dak Prescott (Mississippi State Bulldogs)
Embed from Getty Images

I have to say, the No.11 ball was one of the hardest. Think about it, there are SO many superstars that have worn No. 11 for teams who rock white, red, and sometimes, black. I chose Julio Jones because the actual lettering on the No. 11 ball is black and the Falcons, well, have black in their kit. But, there’s also Larry Fitzgerald on the Cardinals, Isiah Thomas for the Hoosiers and Pistons, Barry Larkin for the Reds, and many more.

Let me know if anyone else has done this before or if you have your own correlations. I look forward to it.

Thanks for reading! Please follow me on Twitter here (Aaron Carter just did…so why not, right?). Or if you love you some Slackie Brown, share this article or follow us on Twitter here.