I have always thought that Wimpy said that not only because Don played great but more so that he did not wilt under pressure.
What Buddy said about Lassiter
- Thread starter measureman
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I have always thought that Wimpy said that not only because Don played great but more so that he did not wilt under pressure.
maybe they could have a rematch now :thumbup: that would be a cool tar match
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But,
Double HemLock, I called Buddy when I saw this post and asked him! He does not brag, he answers a question when I ask him! Now what were you disagreeing about? HHMMMM!
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.
Doin' good, LNL. I'll be down you way imminently.
As to Buddy, I haven't actually read much that Lassiter said about him... There's a Playboy article featuring Wimpy way back then, I guess I''ll check that. SBP.
Lou Figueroa
I think Earl has to be included with Buddy and Lassiter for sure, the guy was right there with Shane and Earl is way past his prime. If he had a good head on his shoulders he would have won that match I feel. Shane has a great break and is an awesome player who has worked hard to be where he is, Earl is pure natural talent.
I really don't know.
And I only got a chance to see Lassiter play once.
Him and Balsis and Crane and I think Cicero Murphy came to an Oakland pool room across from my home town of SF for and exhibition, probably in the early 70's, though when I mentioned this foray to Ray Martin last month when I took a lesson from him, he pegged it at 1968 when all them guys were down south in LA for a big event.
Anywhos, these guys were all warming up with each other before the exhibition, playing 1pocket. I had no clue what I was seeing that day, but basically, no game lasted more than a few minutes -- they just each took turns running eight and out and then, like nothing at all had happened, racked the balls up for the next break. So my college buddy and I are playing and Lassiter is standing at the counter, pretty much not paying attention to anything, and I dog a straight in with my lovely Adams cue with the stylish two-tone wrap, and he kinda just barely takes notice of me and I go, "Heh, heh. You made me dog it, Wimpy." And, rightfully, he just kind of turned away and took no further no of what was going on on our table. Of course I felt like a smuck. BUT, it was still great to see the legends.
Lou Figueroa
I was very fortunate to have seen Luther play many, many times starting in the mid 60's.
Nine ball, one pocket and straights. He was good. He was real good.
His nine ball game left nothing to be desired. And you didn't hear too many people woofing at him. I'm not sure if any living human being on earth could have beat Lassiter at 9-ball when he was in his prime.
Hope Jay Helfert gets in on this. I am sure he has a very educated opinion.
Nine ball, one pocket and straights. He was good. He was real good.
His nine ball game left nothing to be desired. And you didn't hear too many people woofing at him. I'm not sure if any living human being on earth could have beat Lassiter at 9-ball when he was in his prime.
Hope Jay Helfert gets in on this. I am sure he has a very educated opinion.
I was disagreeing about Buddy saying Wimpy was the best....
...I'm sticking up for Buddy whether he likes it or not.
Buddy Hall, in his prime, was the best 9-ball player I ever saw.
regards
double hemlock
Was Whimpy Duckin Him ?
I heard that Lassiter ducked playing George Rude (spelling wrong?) and that it wasn't just once he did it on two occasions. Please if anyone could shed a little more light on this I would be interested. Thank YOU
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I had the wrong guy it was Harold worst that I was talking about Just read what Jay wrote he is right.
I heard that Lassiter ducked playing George Rude (spelling wrong?) and that it wasn't just once he did it on two occasions. Please if anyone could shed a little more light on this I would be interested. Thank YOU
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I had the wrong guy it was Harold worst that I was talking about Just read what Jay wrote he is right.
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wimpy
Lot of good post here. As I recall Wimpy was widely regarded as the best 9 ball player of all time. That opinion was held well into the 70's and 80's as far as I know. It was the prevailing opinion in the early days of ESPN billiard coverage. While it is true that there are a host of champion players who could win on any given day I agree that it is the whole body of work that matters. Wimpy dominated 9 ball for a span that covered several decades. When speaking of the best of all time, there are several names in the hat, Wimpy certainly earned his spot. Buddy Hall and Effern Reyes have their place in this discussion as well, as does pools bad boy Earl Strickland. As for my personal opinion I have to defer to someone who had a much better knowledge than I. Omaha John Shuput once said that Effern was the best 9 ball player he had ever seen. That is a superb endorsement. I do not know if John saw Wimpy in his prime years. I don't know how old John is, just that he is older than I am. Removing Wimpy from his place as best all time 9 ball player isn't to taken lightly, but the aqfore mentioned trio certainly have a good argument. As for me I will go with Effern based on what I've seen, my limited knowledge and the endorsement from John.
Lot of good post here. As I recall Wimpy was widely regarded as the best 9 ball player of all time. That opinion was held well into the 70's and 80's as far as I know. It was the prevailing opinion in the early days of ESPN billiard coverage. While it is true that there are a host of champion players who could win on any given day I agree that it is the whole body of work that matters. Wimpy dominated 9 ball for a span that covered several decades. When speaking of the best of all time, there are several names in the hat, Wimpy certainly earned his spot. Buddy Hall and Effern Reyes have their place in this discussion as well, as does pools bad boy Earl Strickland. As for my personal opinion I have to defer to someone who had a much better knowledge than I. Omaha John Shuput once said that Effern was the best 9 ball player he had ever seen. That is a superb endorsement. I do not know if John saw Wimpy in his prime years. I don't know how old John is, just that he is older than I am. Removing Wimpy from his place as best all time 9 ball player isn't to taken lightly, but the aqfore mentioned trio certainly have a good argument. As for me I will go with Effern based on what I've seen, my limited knowledge and the endorsement from John.
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wimpy
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Over at onepockert.org, Steve Booth did an interview with George Rood. He does talk about playing Lassiter, and many other interesting things, link is below.
http://www.onepocket.org/GeorgeRoodInterview.htm
Wimpy now and then comparison
I have quite a few storys about Wimpy and learned alot from him however most of them are from the last few years as i was a teenager when he was around.I know Wimpys nephew Mike Lassiter and I often go to Mikes house and play for hours on Wimpys 5x10 with shimmed pockets and the old cloth that wimpy played on.
My main comments are that I have heard a couple of comments going around very often from a professional player that Wimpy would have no chance playing him or just about any pro in todays world as there are at least 50 Wimpy Lassiters playing now.Well let me say when I go to His nephews house it is overwhelming to see all the articles and trophies especially the world championship trophies and the player that made these comments has no world titles and even has said similar comments about Willie Mosconi.
Simply said here are some differences from back then and now.
old wool cloth very slow and you actually had to have a stroke back then to move the cue ball around
no laminated or performance shafts
lighter pool balls
tables were not built as well and cushion speed was very slow.
with the exception of diamond tables the pocket sizes were mainly the same.
never had felt cleaner and never had ball polishers around or waxed the balls so the cloth and balls stayed dirty and it was much harder for the balls to seperate when playing staright pool and position playing rotational games.
Simply put there are not 50 Lassiters on any tour in todays world and this player that continually disrespects the players of the past that helped carve pool into todays world could never carry Wimpys cue case or even his jockstrap.
I have quite a few storys about Wimpy and learned alot from him however most of them are from the last few years as i was a teenager when he was around.I know Wimpys nephew Mike Lassiter and I often go to Mikes house and play for hours on Wimpys 5x10 with shimmed pockets and the old cloth that wimpy played on.
My main comments are that I have heard a couple of comments going around very often from a professional player that Wimpy would have no chance playing him or just about any pro in todays world as there are at least 50 Wimpy Lassiters playing now.Well let me say when I go to His nephews house it is overwhelming to see all the articles and trophies especially the world championship trophies and the player that made these comments has no world titles and even has said similar comments about Willie Mosconi.
Simply said here are some differences from back then and now.
old wool cloth very slow and you actually had to have a stroke back then to move the cue ball around
no laminated or performance shafts
lighter pool balls
tables were not built as well and cushion speed was very slow.
with the exception of diamond tables the pocket sizes were mainly the same.
never had felt cleaner and never had ball polishers around or waxed the balls so the cloth and balls stayed dirty and it was much harder for the balls to seperate when playing staright pool and position playing rotational games.
Simply put there are not 50 Lassiters on any tour in todays world and this player that continually disrespects the players of the past that helped carve pool into todays world could never carry Wimpys cue case or even his jockstrap.
I have no clue how good Lassiter played in his prime, but I have one comment to those who say that Lassiter (and Hall) were better than Efren:
When Efren came to USA, its been said by many that he showed the world how you can play kick safeties and make kick shots. Until he did that, kicking was more a "hit and hope" thing.
If this is correct and the players in USA - and the rest of the world - didn't really know how to kick before Efren came around, there is no way in hell players like Hall or Lassiter were better than Efren.
I would bet that if you could put a player who makes ALL open shots on the table, but only smacks them every time he must kick, up against Efren or a top player today, that player who can't kick will lose.
When Efren came to USA, its been said by many that he showed the world how you can play kick safeties and make kick shots. Until he did that, kicking was more a "hit and hope" thing.
If this is correct and the players in USA - and the rest of the world - didn't really know how to kick before Efren came around, there is no way in hell players like Hall or Lassiter were better than Efren.
I would bet that if you could put a player who makes ALL open shots on the table, but only smacks them every time he must kick, up against Efren or a top player today, that player who can't kick will lose.
You forgot to mention that Buddy Hall was the only player to beat Efren into a coma! When he came to the USA. Check the records and stats you will see. And this was for big money. Are you aware of this match up? Facts not just a statement either.Thanks for your input. Buddy Hall is a 12 time world champion....
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.
No disrespect intended here as I agree Buddy is one of if not the best 9 ball players ever. However, my understanding is that Buddy caught Efren on the tail end of being up gambling for several days straight when he beat him. There's a BIG difference between playing somebody when they're fresh and when they've been up for two or three days straight. Whether or not Buddy had been up for the same amount of time I don't know. I'm willing to bet that if Efren had been fresh, it wouldn't have been such a beating or even a beating at all.
http://www.onepocket.org/GeorgeRoodInterview.htm
Here is an interview with George talking about playing Mosconi and Lassiter,Jay Helfert got his start working for George in his pool room,he has some good stories about George and his playing abilities.
It's true that American players learned how to kick from the Philippinos.
Jose Parica was the player that first introduced this skill...Nick Varner
said it changed his outlook to the game....BUT...under the old roll-out
rules, this skill was never developed here because those rules need
shot making, not getting and hitting snookers.
Snookers became an important skill because of the '1 foul,ball in hand'
rule.
Lassiter was quoted as saying that if it was one person who he would not enjoy playing for money, it would be Harold Worst.
And then there were stories about no one jumping out of there seat to offer and play Harold when he walked into the pool room.
One other thing about the pocket sizes someone mentioned - in Lassiter's day the pockets were bigger, and even according to Mike Sigel the pockets were bigger in his earlier days. Mike wishes we could go back to larger pockets because a lot of the players today cannot do some shots that he did back then.
And then there were stories about no one jumping out of there seat to offer and play Harold when he walked into the pool room.
One other thing about the pocket sizes someone mentioned - in Lassiter's day the pockets were bigger, and even according to Mike Sigel the pockets were bigger in his earlier days. Mike wishes we could go back to larger pockets because a lot of the players today cannot do some shots that he did back then.