It is very sad when I hear about the guys in their mid to late 70s passing- the guys who supported this game post Hustler movie in the 60s, but more importantly during the 70s into the early 80s when all the hoopla from the post Hustler movie days had died and thousands of pool rooms closed their doors.
Many younger people here picked up the game post Color of Money - but our senior centers in America that still have their billiard rooms intact regularly see the guys who supported this game through thick and thin beginning in the 1960s still showing up, now in far fewer numbers; to enjoy the game and the camaraderie as much as they can prior to their demise.
I have rubbed elbows with many guys now in their 70s still enjoying the game - many of these guys like my oldest brother who introduced me to the game- served our country in the Vietnam era and saw brutal jungle combat - and these are the guys who never gave up on the game; came back to us, and really helped keep it alive in America in the 70s and early 80s when pool was dying prior to the COM movie.
Balabushka, Szamboti, Ray Martin, Mizerak, DiLiberto, and the young guns at the time, Varner, Sigel, Hopkins, Rempe, Liscotti, all of you ended up with great recognition from this game, let us not forget the guys who made this all possible by staying with a game that many gave up on during that time period.
Hats off to you " Bugsy"!! Thanks for hanging in there when so many ran from this great game. Thanks for keeping it alive and passing the baton! Those of us who can still enjoy this grand game today salute you
