Surely this is a joke. But this person is in the dcc results page losing to Sean Morgan in the first round of the banks. Maybe Paul Newman is smiling up there...
Eddie Felson at the derby???
- Thread starter jalapus logan
- Start date
Not sure if it is the same guy but Eddie Felson was a character based on a pool player named Eddie Parker. I had the pleasure of attending a trick shot exhibition put on by Eddie Parker in the early to mid 90's at Monoski's in Montoursville, PA.
Is his story true? I met him, saw an exhibition by him....and played pool half the night with him. Incidentally that was around 1990/91 or so back in PA. I always thought it was just an unsubstantiated claim.
I was under the impression Walter Tevis had denied that the characters were based on any real people. Hard to ask him now, 'cause he's dead....but I seem to remember he shut down any such claims a long time ago, even before the movie Color of Money.
The guy I met was signing autographs at the time "Fast Eddie"....I think it was the same guy, Parker.
EDIT: Just googled him. Parker died in '01. He claimed he was the basis for the character, but it's controversial apparently. I kind of doubt that Tevis based the character on Parker....but I really don't know. And after seeing the pics I found, yup, that's the guy I met.
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I remember when I met him he was shooting with a JOSS much like mine, maybe a Josswest...I don't remember for sure. I was standing there holding the cue and standing next to my Fellini case watching him warm up when he came over, lifted his cue up in front of him as if to show me, and said "Nice cue" while he was looking at mine. Kind of like a salute. It was really cool.
We talked a little about the cues and he said he had a Balabushka but had sold it. I think he mentioned he sold it overseas somewhere. I remember the guy talked a mile a minute.
Wow this brought back a lot of memories.
We ended up shooting pool half the night after his exhibition.
That was at the Cue and Cushion on Rt. 51 South of Pittsburgh...around 90/91 I think....maybe 89?
I left my Vuarnet sunglasses in the pool hall that night. If anybody found them....you can have them....I got a new pair....
We talked a little about the cues and he said he had a Balabushka but had sold it. I think he mentioned he sold it overseas somewhere. I remember the guy talked a mile a minute.
Wow this brought back a lot of memories.
We ended up shooting pool half the night after his exhibition.
That was at the Cue and Cushion on Rt. 51 South of Pittsburgh...around 90/91 I think....maybe 89?
I left my Vuarnet sunglasses in the pool hall that night. If anybody found them....you can have them....I got a new pair....
I saw that too. I thought he was Will Pay's cousin...
Thats nothing, i was at the houston open this year and they kept calling a match for "jim walker" Not sure if that was a real player or a pseudonym but everytime they called it I kept heaing the line for PHJ in my head "I been beating this Jimmy walker lookin Mofo all night he cant win!" 
had me cracking up all weekend.
had me cracking up all weekend.Chopdoc...You're correct in assuming there was no real Fast Eddie. The closest thing would have been Ronnie Allen back then. Eddie Parker, while a REALLY nice guy, and decent trick shot artist, was just another person who saw a way to cash in on the popularity of the Color of Money. He travelled all over the country doing exhibitions anywhere he could make a buck (I saw him in Bozeman MT in 1987). He apparently even passed a lie detector test, asking him about his alleged "notoriety"...which just goes to show ya, you can tell a lie long enough that even you believe it! LOL BTW, Fast Eddie passed away from a heart attack in S. Padre Island at a pool tournament being directed by Randyg.
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Is his story true? I met him, saw an exhibition by him....and played pool half the night with him. Incidentally that was around 1990/91 or so back in PA. I always thought it was just an unsubstantiated claim.
I was under the impression Walter Tevis had denied that the characters were based on any real people. Hard to ask him now, 'cause he's dead....but I seem to remember he shut down any such claims a long time ago, even before the movie Color of Money.
The guy I met was signing autographs at the time "Fast Eddie"....I think it was the same guy, Parker.
EDIT: Just googled him. Parker died in '01. He claimed he was the basis for the character, but it's controversial apparently. I kind of doubt that Tevis based the character on Parker....but I really don't know. And after seeing the pics I found, yup, that's the guy I met.
I saw a guy doing a trick shot show in Lexington, KY around '93 who went by the moniker "Fast Eddie". I really enjoyed his show, but then again, I had NEVER held a cue in my entire life at that time (I was 15 or so at that time). I had never even heard of the movies The Hustler or TCOM, so I had no reason to doubt what he said. This fella was probably in his 50's or so at that time.
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Check out flaco jimenez music video "de bolon pin pon" on youtube. You will see that same guy doing trickshots. Maybe flaco or the uploader could tell you more.
Recently I was with Nick Varner and a young man (24 maybe) came ove and shook Nick's hand and said "I know you from somewhere, do you go to vegas for the leagues?" Nick told him sometimes I sell cues there" The guys says "No thats not it, I can't remember where I have seen your face before" So since Nick isn't gonna tell the guy who he is I step in and tell him, thats Nick Varner, 8 time World Champ and Hall of famer. The guys says "Oh really? let me tell you about the greatest play I ever met. His name was Fast Eddie Felson and that guy could play real good and I don't think that anyone could beat him even you" Nick looks at me with a quizical look as if to say "Are you punking me right now?" Nick then explains that FAst Eddie was a fictional character from the movie. The guy wouldn';t have it and swore that fast Eddie was real and was the greatest player that ever lived. After the guy left Nick shook his head and walked away. The next two days were filled will comments here and there of Nick telling me that we had better watch out on the road in case we run into fast Eddie and he wants to match up"
I knew Eddie Parker and I believed his claim about the movie character. Eddie was an extremely good player in his day but I knew him late in life. He came to my hometown looking for me not long before he passed away. Missed seeing him that day and have always wondered what he might have wanted.