Have you ever met a big name player???

prulhiere cues

prulhiere cues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
In 1989, I was just a young punk who thought he new how to play pool. I was playing at a local bowling alley that had a pool room with about 8 full size tables with orange cloth. It was the spot to be back then. I was playing for about $5 a rack(Big money then) I had no good shot, so I was going to play safe and hide the cue in tight on the object ball. I had one of those spasms that you get and hit it way to hard. Well, I hit the object ball on the kick which grazed off of another ball and slid over and just barely tapped the nine ball into the corner. Of course, I had to act like I meant to do it(we didn't call our nines).....then I heard a mans voice say "nice shot." I turned to look, and it was none other than Buddy Hall. I was stunned, and just said "uhhh, thanks" I later found out he was friends with one of our locals who played in some of the pro events and was in town for a visit. We all stood around that night and watched them play a few racks and listen to a lot of good BS. It was a cool night for me, and up until this post, not even Buddy realized I hacked it in the corner.....
 
Where I grew up the first name I heard was Joey Spade (Spaeth), the best player around. One day he came into the poolroom where I hung out and tried to get a game. In a room full of players, no one would play him. I wondered how good he must be that everyone is afraid to play him. Little did I know that ten years later I would be playing him - FOR MONEY! ;)
 
fortunate to have met two

i live in wheeling wv and for a year or better Mr. 400 john schmidt operated and owned a pool room here until sept when he sold it. during that time john made schmidt billiards a very nice room with 2 pro 9 foot tables and 6 bar bioxes they were all diamond tables. during that time the "black widow" came to town for about three days and i had the pleasure of meeting jeanette lee and she put on an exhibition also. after the show i had my picture taken with both of them and it is on my facebook page. it was a very special moment for me. i learned a lot from john and consider him to be a class act as is jeanette also.


HUD
 
Big name players

Met Jimmy Caras after an exhibition when I was 14.

Met and played Jimmy Mataya when he was a teenager on his first road trip in San Diego back in '68 or '69.

Met and played Willie Mosconi in an exhibition match in San Diego in '68 or '69.

Played Dorothy 'Dottie' White 100 dollar sets in Houston in '71 or '72. She was traveling with a man. Played him first and beat him. Played Dottie 2 sets, won them both, and she quit.

Met and played Buddy Hall $10 9 ball getting the 7 at first, then the 8 later, less than a year before he turned pro.
 
Met Grady Matthews once after watching him give a lesson. One of those shots I have yet to replicate. He was a class act. I also met Jimmy Mataya. I was less impressed with him. His exhibition seemed more like a vetting process to find someone to gamble with him. I also met Mike Zuglan once. Nice guy. When I was in the army I broke and ran out against Tom Rossman during one of his exhibitions. He gave me a signed picture and a bumper sticker. He was a very nice guy, but nobody would even play me for fun after that.
 
Snapshot9 said:
Met Jimmy Caras after an exhibition when I was 14.

Met and played Jimmy Mataya when he was a teenager on his first road trip in San Diego back in '68 or '69.

Met and played Willie Mosconi in an exhibition match in San Diego in '68 or '69.

Played Dorothy 'Dottie' White 100 dollar sets in Houston in '71 or '72. She was traveling with a man. Played him first and beat him. Played Dottie 2 sets, won them both, and she quit.

Met and played Buddy Hall $10 9 ball getting the 7 at first, then the 8 later, less than a year before he turned pro.
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Scott,

I have heard other stories of yours...can you confirm that you are 95 years old or what? I would have guessed you were late 30's...how could you even be alive in '68? You must have one of those aging secrets...pearl cream or something?

KMRUNOUT
 
One of the best things about our sport is, you can meet the top players, even if you can't make 3 balls in a row.
I have taken pictures, gotten autographs and talked with 100s of the best players in the world.
I've also sat and talked with authors , tournament promoters and famous cue makers.
The only rule I ever followed was to be respectful when I approached them.
I watch them to make sure they are not getting ready to play or that they did not just get beaten and have not recovered.
Don't use flash and be quick, unless they initiate a conversation.
You would want the same consideration.
Usually I have my camera and autograph book out so they can see it and I hang around just outside their space a while, and they usually come to me if they are not busy.
I have had some people look at me like I was odd to want pictures or autographs but it is a way for me to remember all the fun I had at a tournament years ago.
I was at the US Open 1 year and a Japanese film crew was there , they kept seeing me talking to all the players and taking pics and when I started photographing some of their players, they were taking "MY" picture. They must have thought I was a reporter or something. That was pretty funny.
 
I was knockin' them around a few years back at the Q Club & Cafe in Costa Mesa, CA. I had the back room all to myself when in walks some guy and starts working on the tables re-felting them and performing some other maintenance. I didn't pay much attention at first cause I'm too busy hittin' balls. Finally I take a minute to look up and realize who it is....

Ernesto Dominguez.

I think he knew by the look on my face that I knew who he was.

Even though I knew who he was I wasn't going to go over and bother him while he was working...as much as I wanted to.

Ernesto ended up coming over on his own volition and spent almost an hour of his personal time giving me pointers and discussing vary aspects of the game.

Elbow dropping on certain shots...using the wrist were some of the topics I was quick to probe him on while I had the chance. :cool:
 
I've met a few, either by going up to them myself or being introduced. That's one of the neat things about the professional game is it's relatively intimate in regard to the fans. They go in and out of the tournament room through the same door we do.
 
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Ive had the plesure of meeting just about every top pro. I am proud to call a few of them friends. The fondest memory I have of meeting a top pro is meeting Steve Mizerak at the 1997 us open I was 18. I met Nick Varner when I was 16 and he and I have become friends over the years, Grady Mathews has always been a great friend to me. Always there for advice on running and promoting tourneys. Shawn Puttnam is another friend You will find most pros are very down to earth people.
 
S.b.e.

Being that I frequent the S.B.E. every year,, Ive had the pleasure of meeting, and getting majority of the autographs from ,Massey, Van Boening, Rossman, Nikolaidis, Yow, A.Hopkins, Pelinga, Varner,O.Dominguez, Souquet, Immonen, Hatch, Archer, Deuel , J.Lee, A.Fisher, A.Segal , Kohler aka(Venom),and the infamous Strickland..;)

If you never been to the S.B.E.,, sharpie and highlight it into your places to go,,its always ACTION, AMAZEMENT, and overall A GREAT EXPERIENCE !!!!!!!

:thumbup:
 
Yeah I've had the pleasure of getting my ass kicked by Jose Parica, Gabe Owen, and Glenn Atwell. Next I'm hoping to be murdered by Larry Nevel.
 
I'm lucky to live in the upstate of SC...Stevie Moore is a friend of the bartender at the local pool joint and has just shown up to say hello, he's a nice guy and pretty "normal" except for his pool game.

Bryan White shoots locally some at the pool hall across town...met him, but that was about it.

Larry Nevel is in the area a lot and I've gotten to shoot with him..actually more like watch him shoot. One of my buddies went to Turning Stone with him...nice enouh guy and his stroke is insane in person.

I'm hoping to meet Earl one day...Earl's my hero
 
Hi there,
next to the "pool names" i also name some of the Carom and Snooker guys i met. Just the names which i remember now in a short rethinking,

Jeanette Lee, Eva Mataya, L. Jon JOnes, Bustamente, Strickland, Mizerak, Souquet, Massey, Jeff Carter, O. Ortmann, T. Engert, A. Lely, Thorburn (Snooker), T. Blomdahl (Carom), R. Ceulemans(Carom), Kobayashi (Carom), S. Spielmann Sen. (Carom),

Sure forgot several- and Sry if i forgot *a big name*. I could also name so many *big names* who are just great guys but wouldn t be really popular :)
 
prulhiere cues said:
In 1989, I was just a young punk who thought he new how to play pool. I was playing at a local bowling alley that had a pool room with about 8 full size tables with orange cloth. It was the spot to be back then. I was playing for about $5 a rack(Big money then) I had no good shot, so I was going to play safe and hide the cue in tight on the object ball. I had one of those spasms that you get and hit it way to hard. Well, I hit the object ball on the kick which grazed off of another ball and slid over and just barely tapped the nine ball into the corner. Of course, I had to act like I meant to do it(we didn't call our nines).....then I heard a mans voice say "nice shot." I turned to look, and it was none other than Buddy Hall. I was stunned, and just said "uhhh, thanks" I later found out he was friends with one of our locals who played in some of the pro events and was in town for a visit. We all stood around that night and watched them play a few racks and listen to a lot of good BS. It was a cool night for me, and up until this post, not even Buddy realized I hacked it in the corner.....
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Off the top of me head I have played: Efren Reyes, Scott Frost, Buddy Hall, Steve Cook, Alex Pagulayan, Francisco Bustamonte, Rafael Martinez, Keith McCready, Cecil Tugwell, Richie Richardson, Dallas West, Leil Gay, John Brumback, Larry Nevel, Panama Richie Geiler, Piggy Banks, Ike Runnels, Mark Jarvis, and Mark Wilson.

Amazingly, I actually beat a half dozen of them guys :-)

Lou Figueroa
 
I have had dinner with Ralf Souquet on a couple of occasions as he is a friend of a friend.
I have played against Keith McCready in a weekly tournament in Laurel, MD, years ago.
I have had dinner with Dennis Orcullo and Ramil Gallego at the US Open. They are buddies with a pool-playing Filipino friend of mine. We ate at Maymar in Chesapeake, which was cool.
I once had Neils Feijen ask me to gamble, which I declined.

I have not officially "met" any other pros, except maybe for a passing comment in a group conversation at a sanctioned event.

John Schmidt played in the Maryland 14.1 last year at Big Daddy's Billiards in Glen Burnie, MD. That guy talks to everyone...and he is a very nice man...and funny too.

Archer was there as well, but who cares about him? LOL
 
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lfigueroa said:
Off the top of me head I have played: Efren Reyes, Scott Frost, Buddy Hall, Steve Cook, Alex Pagulayan, Francisco Bustamonte, Rafael Martinez, Keith McCready, Cecil Tugwell, Richie Richardson, Dallas West, Leil Gay, John Brumback, Larry Nevel, Panama Richie Geiler, Piggy Banks, Ike Runnels, Mark Jarvis, and Mark Wilson.

Amazingly, I actually beat a half dozen of them guys :-)

Lou Figueroa
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Oh Yeah !!!...Well I have played all those guys, (except Alex)...PLUS, Ronnie Allen, Jack Cooney,and Ed Kelly, about 200 times each !...(Lou, please PM me for my win/loss record, as I am too modest to post it here)..:p :p :p
 
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US Open Champ

Thanksgiving 2007 I was in Rapid City SD. Was up there on an MRT. That's another story. Me and some buddies went to the Break Room, for a couple beers and some pool. Who do I see but the newly crowned US Open Champ. Watched him shoot around a bit and got a chance to talk, and hangout with him over the next three days, shot pool with a world beater and enjoyed every minute of it. I won 3 games!
 
prulhiere cues said:
In 1989, I was just a young punk who thought he new how to play pool. I was playing at a local bowling alley that had a pool room with about 8 full size tables with orange cloth. It was the spot to be back then. I was playing for about $5 a rack(Big money then) I had no good shot, so I was going to play safe and hide the cue in tight on the object ball. I had one of those spasms that you get and hit it way to hard. Well, I hit the object ball on the kick which grazed off of another ball and slid over and just barely tapped the nine ball into the corner. Of course, I had to act like I meant to do it(we didn't call our nines).....then I heard a mans voice say "nice shot." I turned to look, and it was none other than Buddy Hall. I was stunned, and just said "uhhh, thanks" I later found out he was friends with one of our locals who played in some of the pro events and was in town for a visit. We all stood around that night and watched them play a few racks and listen to a lot of good BS. It was a cool night for me, and up until this post, not even Buddy realized I hacked it in the corner.....
Click to expand...

Buddy was the first top player I met too. He has always been one of my heroes, and he turned out to be exactly what I hoped he would - a nice, down to earth dude.

For those of you who have a short "have met" list and a long "want to meet" list, get yourself to the Derby some year. Your lists will likely flip-flop over the course of a few days.

Aaron
 
Back in the early 80s I was playing pool at the Texas Cue Lounge in Timonium Maryland and we were watching this guy run rack after rack after rack. Turns out it is Mike Sigel. After a while a girl bumps into him going to her table and he misses. He looks at me and says "I guess I'm ready". He then goes on to win the Straight Pool championship.

Later on, I went to Joss Cues to have a tip put on my cue and Sigel was working the counter.
 
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