LEE TRANSFERS PAIN TO OPPENENTS
Mike Panozzo
Friday, December 05, 1997, 10:37 PM (Central)

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Back pain hasn't slowed the Lee Express.
Jones Eyes Future
Still only 32 years old and entrenched in the WPBA tour's top five, Loree Jon Jones catches herself talking like a grizzled, old veteran every now and then, and admits that her playing days may be numbered.

"It's funny," said Jones, "I see the younger players out here, especially those who don't have a family, and I think, 'Sure, it's easy for them to be focused. They don't have kids to watch and jobs to go to.' Then I catch myself and realize it wasn't long ago I was in the same position."

Life these days is significantly busier for the former world 9-ball and world 14.1 champion, and three-time Billiards Digest Player of the Year. A lifelong New Jersey resident, Jones recently moved to Greer, S.C., with husband Sammy and the couple's three small children. She plans to open a billiard retail store in the spring, with sponsor Olhausen Mfg. billiard tables anchoring the store's product line.

"We needed to do something," Jones admitted. "I won't be playing forever. If the game doesn't make bigger gains in the next five years, I'll probably quit playing. I've been playing professionally for almost 20 years. I think I've given it an honest shot."

Still, Jones is the first to admit that talking about quitting and actually doing it are too very different things.

"Pool's in my blood. I probably wouldn't be able to stand being away!"

Despite constant and sometimes excrutiating back pain, second-ranked Jeanette Lee rolled to her second lopsided victory in the WPBA Brunswick Billiards National 9-Ball Championships at Treasure Island Resort & Casino in Red Wing, Minn. Also victorious in early evening winner's bracket matches in the 48-player, $85,000 event were defending champ and top-ranked Allison Fisher, Nikki Benish and Mary Guarino.

Lee, who has suffered with back problems for years, said she aggravated her back during her recent move with husband George Breedlove from Long Beach, Calif., to Indianapolis.

"I didn't really lift anything heavy," Lee said. "But just the constant twisting and turning and picking up even small things was too much. I'm do for another cortisone shot after this tournament, but when I saw the $16,000 top prize here, I figured I could play through the pain!."

At the Treasure Island, it was Ohio's Michelle Fleetwood who felt the pain, trailing from start to finish during her 9-4 loss to Lee. Saturday afternoon Lee will face Guarino, a 9-7 winner over Robin Dodson.

Runaway WPBA Classic Tour points leader Fisher had little problem dispatching Jan McWorter, 9-3. Following the match, Fisher insisted her game is still not as sharp as it had been earlier in the year. "I haven't been preparing for tournaments as well as I have in the past," she said.

Meanwhile, Benish held on to beat Tour roommate Kerry Hartsfield, 9-7. Hartsfield, of Everett, Wash., rallied from a 8-4 deficit to pull to within one game, but scratched on the ensuing break. Benish, ranked ninth on the Classic Tour, calmly stroked through the final rack to seal the victory.

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