In San Diego, I guess back in the late 60s/early 70s was a pool player named Jerry Clark (not his real name) He quit pool and raised a family and came back to it in the late 80s at a pool hall I designed and ran On Cue. He taught pool there for 20 years. He was a great guy. There were a lot of stories (none from Jerry) about how good he was back when he played, And when he was teaching in the 80s he was still a pretty elite shot. I talked to Jay Swanson about him one time and Jay said he was maybe the best player he had ever seen. I doubt anyone else has ever heard of him.
In the apocryphal department another San Diego player Roy the Cook apparently beat Matthews at his peak in like some 25 hour marathon one pocket match, and was definitely at one point a pro level player. He unfortunately got deep into heroin addiction but when I knew him he could still play quite a bit.
My friend and I reference him often. He once made a shot that seemed kinda impossible with the action he got on the cue ball. I asked him how he did it and his answer was " Well I hit the cue ball here and it went over there"
In the apocryphal department another San Diego player Roy the Cook apparently beat Matthews at his peak in like some 25 hour marathon one pocket match, and was definitely at one point a pro level player. He unfortunately got deep into heroin addiction but when I knew him he could still play quite a bit.
My friend and I reference him often. He once made a shot that seemed kinda impossible with the action he got on the cue ball. I asked him how he did it and his answer was " Well I hit the cue ball here and it went over there"