Article: Every Man A King; Checkers Is the Game; Friendship Is the Aim.

Most of the men at the Capitol Pool Checkers Association remember when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president, when people listened to boxing matches on the radio and checkers was played in nearly every barbershop.

"We used to sit around and brag about what we were doing," said David Hill, 79. "Today, we brag about what we used to do."

"Actually, we lie about the things we used to do," added another man, laughing.

Now each man saves his best jive-talking for his opponent.

"I'm gonna whip the gray off your head," Joe Green, 81, told the man he was playing on a recent Saturday evening.

"The Shotgun gotcha," Clinton "Shotgun Smiley" Lassiter, 60, announced as Tal Roberts, 63, studied the board.

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