Names from the past

[jgpool]

I ran into "Cowboy" about 10 years ago he was driving/living in an old converted bus played good enough to get the cash from all the shortstops said he traveled and sold things at flea markets. He stayed about 2 weeks and booked zero losers but didn't play Corey, Shawn Putnam or Chris Szuter who were all around at the time

Last I heard he is in the Denver area now. If it's the same Cowboy, he used to cover my bar boxes back in the mid 80's in Colorado Springs.

 

[Don Owen]

I first got inspired in the Golden Cue my freshmen year. It was right after The Hustler came out and I met Tommy Fisher and a couple of others in there. I played with Don Owen back then a couple of times but I wasn't much of a player yet. Jimmy Caras put on an exhibition there in 1963 and he talked about the old days playing Greenleaf and Mosconi. A few years later he came out of retirement and won the U.S. Open Straight Pool at age 57.

I used to play $1 on the five and $2 on the nine with Jack Garner, James Garner's twin brother. He drove a coca-cola delivery truck. He said his brother was the best pool player in Norman when he was 17. So James Garner could play a little. Do you remember the old pool hall downtown? I'd go in there and practice late at night when everything else was closed down. Sixty cents an hour back then! :smile:

Great thread Jay,

I remember Jimmy Caras coming to the Golden Cue but I thought it was a little later than you remember. Maybe he came more than once. The reason I thought it was later is because Dick Lane played him in the evening session and I got to play him in the afternoon session. Dick didn't come to OU until some time after 63. Dick is certainly a great name out of the past.

I heard that Tommy Fisher offered to gamble nine ball with Jimmy Caras. Tommy had a lot of gamble. In fact I think he took the gambling culture of Norman by storm.

Don

 

[Don Owen]

Wow, what a great read... love this thread!

I remember the pool hall in the OU student union... I used to play pinball there when I was about 12, lol! The Golden Cue on Campus Corner was a great spot, also.

REALLY happy to see Don Owen's name pop up, sure hope you're doing well! If you had stayed in the league business around here I may never have quit playing leagues.

About 20 years ago a fellow of about 50 years or so that called himself "Cowboy" or "The Cowboy" came through OKC with a younger fellow in his late 20's / early thirties called Andre. Cowboy claimed to be a pool room owner from Colorado Springs (maybe Denver). Who knows how much, if any, of this was true... ring any bells for anyone?

OklaPony,

I am doing great. Thank you. Check out our new league at POOL300.com. By the way who are you?

Don Owen

 

[risky biz]

Peter Rabbit was one funny son of a gun! He wrote a cool book, "How to get by without working."

As a teenager I used to sidebet on him at Congress Bowl in North Miami. I heard he also hung around a place in downtown Miami called Dinty Moore's. I assumed it was a pool hall but I never saw it. I saw him once downtown having lunch by himself. I didn't know he wrote a 'book'. That would be interesting to see. I think he followed the ponies around. When someone asked him about playing on the road he said there wasn't any life on the road.

 

[Pushout]

I didn't know he wrote a 'book'. That would be interesting to see. I think he followed the ponies around. When someone asked him about playing on the road he said there wasn't any life on the road.

I have a copy of the book and I know that Gary Pinkowski's old friend and road partner had one also.

 

[freddy the beard]

As a teenager I used to sidebet on him at Congress Bowl in North Miami. I heard he also hung around a place in downtown Miami called Dinty Moore's. I assumed it was a pool hall but I never saw it. I saw him once downtown having lunch by himself. I didn't know he wrote a 'book'. That would be interesting to see. I think he followed the ponies around. When someone asked him about playing on the road he said there wasn't any life on the road.

Apparently you go back pretty far my friend. Dinty Moore's was an old time pool hall frequented by Marcel Camp, Rabbit, Kilroy, etc., in its heyday. I dont think it made it to the 70s.
Rabbit did go on the road since he was originally from Philly. He also left Miami and moved up to Detroit and hung out at the Rack.
When he was in Miami he lived with Bunny Rogoff's brother, Sol.

Beard

 

[OklaPony]

I first got inspired in the Golden Cue my freshmen year. It was right after The Hustler came out and I met Tommy Fisher and a couple of others in there. I played with Don Owen back then a couple of times but I wasn't much of a player yet. Jimmy Caras put on an exhibition there in 1963 and he talked about the old days playing Greenleaf and Mosconi. A few years later he came out of retirement and won the U.S. Open Straight Pool at age 57.

I used to play $1 on the five and $2 on the nine with Jack Garner, James Garner's twin brother. He drove a coca-cola delivery truck. He said his brother was the best pool player in Norman when he was 17. So James Garner could play a little. Do you remember the old pool hall downtown? I'd go in there and practice late at night when everything else was closed down. Sixty cents an hour back then! :smile:

Jack Garner was actually Jack Bumgarner, James dropped the "Bum" part for a stage monicker (as did Jack for a few roles, apparently) Jack was a very nice man and well respected in the community, I remember him greeting us at the front door of the church every Sunday. Unfortunately passed on, now I believe.

The only old pool hall I would know of might have been H&H... not sure of its beginnings since you "old" guys are about a generation ahead of me. :smile:

When that "Cowboy" fellow came through here was right about the time when Tommy "Tucker" Schultz picked up his cue again. Tucker offered to play and Cowboy refused, not knowing he could have picked him clean. I remember Cowboy telling it something like... There once was a man named Tommy Tucker and he shot pool like a ######.

RIP Tucker... you were a little rough around the edges but a good-hearted soul, nonetheless.

OklaPony,

I am doing great. Thank you. Check out our new league at POOL300.com. By the way who are you?

Don Owen

Don, if I check out your new league that would mean I'd have to dust off my cues and try to discover where I last lost any resemblance of a stroke that I may have had, lol! Back in the early 90's I was a self-employed musician / sound technician with plenty of time to burn in poolhalls and was fortunate to run across a few folks like you that were happy to help the sport along in the OKC area even if it meant answering questions and lending assistance to bozos like me. I played out of the Samurai initially, on an 8-ball team that eventually took down your city-wide tourney at the Hixon's joint in Bricktown, then mostly played out of Norman on both 8 and 9-ball teams. The smoke initially drove me out of the rooms and now a family complete with a 2 1/2 y.o. boy pretty well keeps me in check... but I wouldn't change it for the world!

Check your pm's...

 

[JoeyA]

I've got a name for you Jay...Put your thinking cap on.

The "Boy Wonder" Bubba Howard from Mobile, Al.
He was 16 years old when a friend of mine brought him to Vegas at the Stardust.....He beat everyone he played according to the story.
He was 6' 3" tall and weighed 220 lbs. with light blonde hair.

I heard he beat Billy Incordona 11 to 0 in a race to 11.
He ran 5 racks and then came up dry on the break....Billy's only shot was to kick at a ball which he missed..
Bubba ran 6 more racks and Billy uncscrewed his stick and said...."Damn....who in the hell are you...?"

He also played and beat Steve Cook and many others at the Stardust....That would have been in 1968 if I'm not mistaken.

My brother took him on the road when he was 16 as well....They came through Georgia where I was stationed in the Air Force just outside of Macon.

I traveled a few days with them and he beat everbody he played. We stayed in Atlanta a few days and he beat everybody there then they headed on to South and North Carolina where they never lost.

All of ther big players came through Mobile at one time or another to play Bubba according to the stories but I was away in the Air Force so I was not in the loop then.

What the heck happened to Bubba? Is he still around?

 

[jrhendy]

jay,

what do you know about dick henry? I understand he feared no one
and had buddy hall stuck for 3 days in colorado springs at grady's pool
hall in the 80's?

I grew up in Monterey Park, Ca about 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Dick's family lived almost across the street from me and Dick and his younger brother went to high school with my older brother who is six years older than me.

Dick, like lots of players in the 50's/60's, started playing snooker on a 5 x 10 snooker table. He must have left for Colorado in the late 50's or early 60's. By then he was traveling some and playing out of the old Hollywood Billiards at Hollywood and Western. He was one of a ton of good players who played there and Ronny Allen and Jack Perkins were a couple of them.

I saw him again in the late 60's when he came home for a short visit and he was getting pretty strange. His brother Jerry worked for the railroad and used to stake me once and a while. Jerry was a little nuts too. Their dad owned a motorcycle shop and built drag bikes.

Both died fairly young.

 

[jay helfert]

I've got a name for you Jay...Put your thinking cap on.

The "Boy Wonder" Bubba Howard from Mobile, Al.
He was 16 years old when a friend of mine brought him to Vegas at the Stardust.....He beat everyone he played according to the story.
He was 6' 3" tall and weighed 220 lbs. with light blonde hair.

I heard he beat Billy Incordona 11 to 0 in a race to 11.
He ran 5 racks and then came up dry on the break....Billy's only shot was to kick at a ball which he missed..
Bubba ran 6 more racks and Billy uncscrewed his stick and said...."Damn....who in the hell are you...?"

He also played and beat Steve Cook and many others at the Stardust....That would have been in 1968 if I'm not mistaken.

My brother took him on the road when he was 16 as well....They came through Georgia where I was stationed in the Air Force just outside of Macon.

I traveled a few days with them and he beat everbody he played. We stayed in Atlanta a few days and he beat everybody there then they headed on to South and North Carolina where they never lost.

All of ther big players came through Mobile at one time or another to play Bubba according to the stories but I was away in the Air Force so I was not in the loop then.

I always wondered whatever happened to that guy.
P.S. He didn't want to play Cornbread, after 'Bread offered to play him some for a thousand a game.
Red knew how to make them quiver! He turned a lot of pool players to jelly.

 

[jay helfert]

Great thread Jay,

I remember Jimmy Caras coming to the Golden Cue but I thought it was a little later than you remember. Maybe he came more than once. The reason I thought it was later is because Dick Lane played him in the evening session and I got to play him in the afternoon session. Dick didn't come to OU until some time after 63. Dick is certainly a great name out of the past.

I heard that Tommy Fisher offered to gamble nine ball with Jimmy Caras. Tommy had a lot of gamble. In fact I think he took the gambling culture of Norman by storm.

Don

Thanks Don, Jimmy was on tour for Brunswick and made the same stops every year. By 1964 I was in OKC trying to beat high school kids out of five dollars and sneaking into bars at night, playing for a dollar a game. What a life! Somehow I survived and was able to pay my rent. I shared an apartment in the city with Mike Vaught until the U.S. Army came after me. :smile:
Dick Lane was by far the best player to come out of OU. Do you remember John Guffey? He loved to play and became an excellent cue maker years later.

 

[Pushout]

Do you remember John Guffey? He loved to play and became an excellent cue maker years later.

I remember hearing about John and his cues. Never saw him in person, though. Isn't he dead, Jay?

 

[jay helfert]

I remember hearing about John and his cues. Never saw him in person, though. Isn't he dead, Jay?

I sure hope not! He would be in around 60 now.

 

[Spider1]

Any Portland Don stories? Heard he was a character and had some serious, serious gamble back in his day.

 

[FELIX]

John Guffy

Hi Jay John is alive and well , he is a top sales man at Mathis Brothers
I dont see him much it cost me too much to say hi . Robert

 

[Don Owen]

Jack Garner was actually Jack Bumgarner, James dropped the "Bum" part for a stage monicker (as did Jack for a few roles, apparently) Jack was a very nice man and well respected in the community, I remember him greeting us at the front door of the church every Sunday. Unfortunately passed on, now I believe.

The only old pool hall I would know of might have been H&H... not sure of its beginnings since you "old" guys are about a generation ahead of me. :smile:

When that "Cowboy" fellow came through here was right about the time when Tommy "Tucker" Schultz picked up his cue again. Tucker offered to play and Cowboy refused, not knowing he could have picked him clean. I remember Cowboy telling it something like... There once was a man named Tommy Tucker and he shot pool like a ######.

RIP Tucker... you were a little rough around the edges but a good-hearted soul, nonetheless.


Don, if I check out your new league that would mean I'd have to dust off my cues and try to discover where I last lost any resemblance of a stroke that I may have had, lol! Back in the early 90's I was a self-employed musician / sound technician with plenty of time to burn in poolhalls and was fortunate to run across a few folks like you that were happy to help the sport along in the OKC area even if it meant answering questions and lending assistance to bozos like me. I played out of the Samurai initially, on an 8-ball team that eventually took down your city-wide tourney at the Hixon's joint in Bricktown, then mostly played out of Norman on both 8 and 9-ball teams. The smoke initially drove me out of the rooms and now a family complete with a 2 1/2 y.o. boy pretty well keeps me in check... but I wouldn't change it for the world!

Check your pm's...

I believe H&H was on main street across from the Past Time. I can't rember which it was but one of those places was where I first encountered Arnold Felcon (sp?), a player with a great deal of talent.

 

[risky biz]

Apparently you go back pretty far my friend. Dinty Moore's was an old time pool hall frequented by Marcel Camp, Rabbit, Kilroy, etc., in its heyday. I dont think it made it to the 70s.
Rabbit did go on the road since he was originally from Philly. He also left Miami and moved up to Detroit and hung out at the Rack.
When he was in Miami he lived with Bunny Rogoff's brother, Sol.

Beard

Yeah. I'm referring to 1966/1967. But I was only 16 or 17.

 

[risky biz]

I have a copy of the book and I know that Gary Pinkowski's old friend and road partner had one also.

Tell us more. I wouldn't mind some pointers on 'How to get by without working'. But in my case it sure isn't going to be by playing pool.:frown:

 

[jay helfert]

I believe H&H was on main street across from the Past Time. I can't rember which it was but one of those places was where I first encountered Arnold Felcon (sp?), a player with a great deal of talent.

Talk about a name from the past! I never saw or heard of him again. He must have gone straight!
I watched him draw his ball at the Golden Cue and I was mesmerized. I wanted to be able to do that. So I practiced all day and dropped out of school. :smile:

 

[jay helfert]

Any Portland Don stories? Heard he was a character and had some serious, serious gamble back in his day.

Don ALWAYS had today's Racing Form in his back pocket, even when he was playing pool. In fact he might study it while his opponent was shooting. I never saw him practice, just get on the table and rob guys! He wasn't a shortstop, he was a top player, one of the best. Number one in Popcorn's stable of players in El Monte, CA. Don was rated above Mike Massey, Larry Lisciotti and Eddie Burton. No one who knew him wanted any piece of him. He had this light touch where the cue ball only moved just as much as was necessary (kind of like Efren). A few inches here, a few inches there, and then the rack was over. It never looked like he was doing too much with the cue ball. He didn't get way down on the ball either, kind of standing half erect.

The only guy I saw challenge him to play that knew him was Richie (when he was 18!). They played to a draw. Don had Richie broke and Richie borrowed some money and got even. That's when 'Corn pulled Don up. Don was another silent player, never wasted any words. Old school I guess. Just play, win, and go sit down and wait for the next customer.
They put him on Danny Jones in Johnston City one year. Danny was also a top player but Don drove him crazy. Danny kept borrowing money, convinced he could beat him, but he never did as far as I know.

I will double guarantee you that if you talked to a guy like Don about aiming techniques he would just look at you and smile. He didn't need anyone to tell him how to aim! :thumbup: