African American pool pros

Black Pool Players

There are many Black Bars,or Bars that Blacks frequent,that have pool tables. The problem for me as an African-American that takes pool seriously,is that MOST Bars don't take good care of the Tables,or sticks(although I have my own)and there is too much loud Music,Pretty Ladies,and usually just a not-level,bad rails,Bar Table or two there! I don't take Pool seriously, in that environment. There have been many Greats,as noted in other posts,but just as Cicero was prevented from playing against his peers,Blacks are not as likely to get sponsors,and it's hard enough for anyone in the USA to make a full-time living by playing pool! Compounding this even further,when young folks see hardly any Faces of their own race playing prominently,the younger Kids don't aspire to be Champs,or to put the time in that's necessary to excel in it! Pool isn't as expensive to play and learn as Golf or Tennis,although both Sports have been very prejudiced toward Minorities,just like Baseball,Football(Quarterback especially),Hockey,Basketball,Auto Racing,etc.. The image of Pool was so bad when I was growing up in the 60's and 70's,that most Parents,Black or White,thought that this was a Bad environment to be in,and a waste of our childhood! We couldn't go in the poolroom without a Parent or Guardian,unless you were at least 18(sometimes 21!)but you could go and die in the War. Now,I can take my 11-year old Grandson to the Poolroom with me,and there are Ladies and Girls there! When we thought about Pool,Tennis, or Golf,Blacks didn't expect to see any heroes of our Race to inspire us to achieve! We loved Mosconi,Fats,Eddie Taylor,Bugs,Lassiter,or whoever,because that all we had to choose from. We heard about some of the challenge matches between White Champs and the Best Black Players,but we couldn't separate Fact from Fiction,unless a Top Player that we trusted or someone like John McHenry, who had been on the Road told us and verified it's authenticity.
 
Don't doubt that what you say is accurate

LeftyIke said:
There are many Black Bars,or Bars that Blacks frequent,that have pool tables. The problem for me as an African-American that takes pool seriously,is that MOST Bars don't take good care of the Tables,or sticks(although I have my own)and there is too much loud Music,Pretty Ladies,and usually just a not-level,bad rails,Bar Table or two there! I don't take Pool seriously, in that environment. There have been many Greats,as noted in other posts,but just as Cicero was prevented from playing against his peers,Blacks are not as likely to get sponsors,and it's hard enough for anyone in the USA to make a full-time living by playing pool! Compounding this even further,when young folks see hardly any Faces of their own race playing prominently,the younger Kids don't aspire to be Champs,or to put the time in that's necessary to excel in it! Pool isn't as expensive to play and learn as Golf or Tennis,although both Sports have been very prejudiced toward Minorities,just like Baseball,Football(Quarterback especially),Hockey,Basketball,Auto Racing,etc.. The image of Pool was so bad when I was growing up in the 60's and 70's,that most Parents,Black or White,thought that this was a Bad environment to be in,and a waste of our childhood! We couldn't go in the poolroom without a Parent or Guardian,unless you were at least 18(sometimes 21!)but you could go and die in the War. Now,I can take my 11-year old Grandson to the Poolroom with me,and there are Ladies and Girls there! When we thought about Pool,Tennis, or Golf,Blacks didn't expect to see any heroes of our Race to inspire us to achieve! We loved Mosconi,Fats,Eddie Taylor,Bugs,Lassiter,or whoever,because that all we had to choose from. We heard about some of the challenge matches between White Champs and the Best Black Players,but we couldn't separate Fact from Fiction,unless a Top Player that we trusted or someone like John McHenry, who had been on the Road told us and verified it's authenticity.
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I don't doubt that what you are saying about racial issues was and to a degree is still accurate. I always find it funny that racism can be far stronger in places it is less obvious and in your face. Here in the deep south in the sixties and even in many places in the early seventies in violation of law, blacks weren't allowed in certain pool halls or bars. Funny thing though, there wasn't a pool hall that I know of that a black person wasn't welcome if he had game. Didn't matter if he was a go off or cleaned the place out, players were players, black, white, or green!

Likewise, I played in very rough black places without any real trouble during the same time period. There were some objections until people found I was there to play pool and gamble, didn't care about anything else. It was kind of funny, once I had went in a place three or four times I was "a regular" too and other regulars would jump in to tell people to leave me be.

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
I don't doubt that what you are saying about racial issues was and to a degree is still accurate. I always find it funny that racism can be far stronger in places it is less obvious and in your face. Here in the deep south in the sixties and even in many places in the early seventies in violation of law, blacks weren't allowed in certain pool halls or bars. Funny thing though, there wasn't a pool hall that I know of that a black person wasn't welcome if he had game. Didn't matter if he was a go off or cleaned the place out, players were players, black, white, or green!

Likewise, I played in very rough black places without any real trouble during the same time period. There were some objections until people found I was there to play pool and gamble, didn't care about anything else. It was kind of funny, once I had went in a place three or four times I was "a regular" too and other regulars would jump in to tell people to leave me be.

Hu
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It's always strange how people assume they're going to get hassled if they're in a room with most of the people in it being of a different race.

it's pretty rare that people are waiting to jump up and hurt someone because they're the only 1 of their race in a room
 
not real strange . . .

poolplayer2093 said:
It's always strange how people assume they're going to get hassled if they're in a room with most of the people in it being of a different race.

it's pretty rare that people are waiting to jump up and hurt someone because they're the only 1 of their race in a room
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It isn't real strange, I can't think of a time it failed to happen in that time period when I went in a "black" place. Just a matter of other people disagreeing with those wanting to hassle me.

A classic time was when I was on highway 71, headed north outside of Opelousas. I had underestimated how many beers it took to drive from the other side of Baton Rouge to LA Downs on the other side of Shrevesport and I was dryer than a popcorn fart. Hadn't seen a store in twenty miles or so. Came to this huge honky-tonk. Hundreds of cars around it and parked up and down the highway for half a mile. It was two or three in the morning and nobody was in sight outside the place. Music is thumping, the building is shaking, people making a lot of noise. For some reason it faced the back of the lot instead of towards the highway. I opened the door and stepped in and the band literally stopped in midsong. Everybody stopped shouting over the noise talking to each other and the hundreds of people in the place all looked at me. You could have heard a pin drop.

Oh well, things didn't much matter now and the bar was fifty feet or so across the room so I ambled over to get a couple three beers to go, every eye in the place on me. As I was paying for my beer three or four guys came up talking ugly about me being in their place, violence on their minds. A great large guy came over and stood beside me and told them to let me be. I talked to him a few minutes, offered him a beer or drink, and bugged out. Just stopping for road beer anyway. I don't know if the big guy was the cooler for the nightclub or just a very respected customer, either way he stopped things from getting very ugly with a ton of people between me and the only door I knew of.

I had very similar things happen probably a dozen times. Always a faction that objected to me being in a black place, others that were in favor of leaving me be. Pretty much the same story when I took my black friend in places where I was a regular, always a few tools. We weren't but a few years away from when places like service stations had four bathrooms, most still had four but two were kept locked. Integration was very fresh and new, mostly created by court order. A lot of people of all races thought it was a bad idea. I liked freedom of choice but I still think artificial integration and some arbitrary ratio are silly ideas.

Back to the subject at hand, there was a tall thin older black man that came into Greenway, looked like he must have once been a giant of a man himself. Never knew anything about him other than that the best in Greenway treated him with respect.

Hu
 
There is a black gentleman in DFW, TX. named Claude Gragg that plays pretty sporty at all pool games, in his own right! Thats not the best part he is willing to help any one that ask, with their pool game,he has a wealth of knowledge that he loves to share! I for one, as well as others are the better for having met this man,who helped our pool game a great deal! There a many great players but not many of them are willing to stop and teach the young guns to think as well as play the game. Guys like him help our sport continue to grow, Thanks C.G. you are my hero! I still remember the day we met he did not know me from Adam. I ask him about a shot that cost me a match ,got alot more than just a 1 shot lesson ,but a personal coach/instructor and friend for life! That what pool is about learn it, do it,teach it!
 
Just scanned this post, but I am amazed no one has mentioned Rodney Morris...He got game..:thumbup:
 
Played with most

tonygreen said:
Cecil Tugwell -- played often
Cliff Spotmaster Joyner -- played
Melvin Strawberry Brooks --played
Leonard Bugs Rucker -- played often
Chicago Paul Jones -- played often
Ike Runnels -- played often
Richmond Shorty -- dont know him
Ron BusDriver williams -- never played
Mark Tadd -- never played
Cisero Murphy -- played once
Jaffar "Patch Eye" -- played often
Pittsburg Jerry -- dont know him
Lotsapappa -- knew but never played
Youngblood -- played both Yngbld Washington and Yngbld James Brown
Cannonball Chapman -- played often
Rags Woods -- played
Bo Didley -- dont know him
John Henry -- played
Piggy Bank -- played often
California - DC Black Nate -- played
Marvin Henderson -- played
Edgar White -- played

these are in no order in regard to ability or game type .... these are simply names of "Pro Level" and i use that term loosely players in other words these players did or could have played tournament level pool at one time against 100 out of 200 Professionals at a given time...
...All of these players are Pros ... honorable mentions were left out because they are too many to count.
....Four on my list i never had the opportunity to see play (Sadly)
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The best action I ever had was in the black pool rooms in Chicago and LA and Miami.

Beard
 
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SJDinPHX said:
Just scanned this post, but I am amazed no one has mentioned Rodney Morris...He got game..:thumbup:
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I'm not sure if you're trying to be funny, as I haven't read the entire thread, but Rodney is not African American. I'm pretty sure his roots are from Hawaii. With his build, he could pass for Samoan, though last time I mentioned *that* word, a flame ensued. :smile:
 
Earl Herring has played in the World Championship Straight Pool Tournament for the last 3 or 4 years that I know of. He seems to play pretty good but I don't know his credentials. All the East Coast straight pool old timers seem to know him.
 
Don't judge a book by it's cover.

One of the black players that helped me with my game was a man by the name of Clinton Bailey. He was an older man and didn't say much. He and I had a run in when I first met him in the early 80's. It's a long story, and kind of funny or at least ironic but I won't go into that here and now.

Mr. Bailey played pool with one of my friends. He didn't practice with many people and most people kept their distance from him. It was rumored he was one of the really bad guys that you didn't want to mess with "fo shizzle". He kind of kept to himself and was quiet. People who knew him, said he was quite the 9 ball player back in the day. After our first run in, I just left him alone. As most who know me, I don't hate and simply left Mr. Bailey to himself. Years went by, many years........and one day Mr. Bailey walked up to my table. I was practicing by myself like I am apt to do on most days and he sat near my table saying nothing. I nodded hello and he did the same just sitting there. I wasn't afraid of him even though I had heard some of the other guys say he was definitely not one to f**k with and NO ONE DID. Lol.

Anyway, Mr. Bailey leaves my table and says nothing and that piqued my interest a bit. A couple of weeks later, there he is again, just sitting and watching. I asked him how he was doing and he said "Fine". I told him I was trying to work on my game and did he have any suggestions that might help me with my game. That's all it took. From there on, Mr. Bailey would seek me out whenever I had a table and work with me on my nine ball game. What he helped me with was patterns; over and over, rubbing the green Simonnis cloth in a circular motion of about 12" diameter, signaling me to put the cue ball there after the shot. He came to my table several times over the next year or so and we sometimes talked about how he and I got started off on the wrong foot. Lol. I asked him what was it that I had done that he chose to shark me in a tournament. OK, I said that I wasn't going to tell the whole story but once these fingers get to typing it's hard to make them stop.

Mr. Bailey and I were playing in a tournament in the late 80's and I was playing very well that night and when I beared down on a difficult shot in the side pocket, Mr. Bailey moved just as I was about to shoot. I didn't like that very much and so I stopped and while I didn't look at him to embarass him because he might have done it by accident. I restarted my pre-shot routine (if there was ever such a thing for me back then) and just as I was about to pull the trigger, he moved again, DEFIANTLY. This time, I stopped and looked him straight in the eye and stared at him with disdain. He stared back at me with a sullen expression, one which lacked emotion one way or another. I hadn't been looked at that way before and didn't put it altogether but knew I didn't like it. No one said a thing, the tournament players had seen it the second time and they didn't say a word to me or him. After a few seconds of that, I was now determined to make this shot and beat him more than ever. Those who know me, when you attempt to shark me in a tournament, you are stoking the fire of "the little engine that could". I think I can, I think I can........
I then decided to put in super effort and didn't care if he did jumping jacks when I shot. I was going to make the shot even if it killed me. And so once again, I beared down on the shot (it could have been easily missed) and again just as I was about to pull the trigger, Mr. Bailey moved exactly the same way, just as defiantly. Mr. Bailey was probably 10 years my senior and he was tall and lean. At that time I was probably in my late 30's and Mr. Bailey was probably in his early 50's. It was rumored that Mr. Bailey always carried a pistol in his pocket and had used it on more than one occasion. I had not reason to doubt the authenticity of the report. In fact, in my years I've learned that those who don't brag about their visciousness are the ones you have to be the most careful about, as they don't play. Nevertheless, I was DETERMINED to make this shot or die trying. :p This time, I pulled the trigger. It was the 7 ball and I made the shot and then the 8 and 9 and won the match. I didn't speak to Mr. Bailey for 15 years or so nor did he me. We just avoided one another. I never met him in another tournament after that.

Fast forward to me practicing on the table. After several months of him taking me under his wing, with many conversations behind us, I asked him, "Mr. Bailey, you've been working with me on my pool game for several months now. You've never asked me for anything (I would always pay for pool time if he practiced and would pay for any drinks that we had) all this time and I've been wondering why you and I got off on the wrong foot." He paused for a minute and he said, "I was mistaken about you. I thought you were a punk and I was going to let you know what I though of punks". At this point, I let out a belly laugh, more of an embarassed laugh than a ha-ha laugh and he knew it. All of us can be a bit of a jerk if given the right circumstances and maybe he caught the bad side of me once upon a time. Anyway, it was all good between us and I practiced. He racked, he rubbed the cloth in a circular motion and I tried hard to put the cue ball there every time although I failed most of the time. He never worried about the times I never put the cue ball where he indicated but when it came to rest where he said to put the cue ball, I always got the appreciative nod from him. That's the Mr. Bailey that I remembered, always the gentleman and friend that I almost never had. Mr. Bailey died a couple of months later. I never knew he was ill and he never complained. I did notice that he was a little thinner than usual but I never gave it much thought because he still appeared to be the stoic man I had come to know. He did tell me about a month before he died, that after he was gone, I should continue to work on my game, remembering the things that I had told him about breaking and shape and I did and I do. I remember thinking about that but fearing to ask him where he was going and just remained silent, except for my regular words of thanks which I always shared with him each and every practice session.
 
I don't know if anyone posted his name yet but... Tony Morrison from NY (I think!) plays like a motherf**ker. Def pro material.
 
Itsnotme said:
I don't know if anyone posted his name yet but... Tony Morrison from NY (I think!) plays like a motherf**ker. Def pro material.
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M'man Tyson...I gave him that moniker.
Knew him in Rochester,NY.
Always thought he as gonna make all 9 balls on the break.......
....or kill 9 spectators...:eek:
 
"Do you remember Broadway Billiards? I think it was also downstairs and had a similar crowd to McGirrs. Full of hustlers and scufflers and various low lifes. Naturally I loved it, and couldn't wait to get in action. It rarely took me five minutes to get a game in these places."

Yeah. Broadway Billiards was a life-threatening room, just like Julian's on 14th Street, gone since 1985 or so, was a hall you could get in trouble in. Broadway is now Society Billiards, an upscale room with a lot of well-maintaned Diamonds.

Why has nobody mentioned Rodney Morris?
 
SJDinPHX said:
Just scanned this post, but I am amazed no one has mentioned Rodney Morris...He got game..:thumbup:
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JAM said:
I'm not sure if you're trying to be funny, as I haven't read the entire thread, but Rodney is not African American. I'm pretty sure his roots are from Hawaii....
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Tanco said:
...Why has nobody mentioned Rodney Morris?
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Mr411 said:
Because he's not an African-American
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I don't think threads are read in their entirety anymore. Maybe folks are in a hurry and only read the last few posts in a thread. The same questions and replies seem to happen a lot in recent times on this thread as well as other threads.
 
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