New York City/State Straight Pool Tournaments of the early 1960's

[L.S. Dennis]

Johnny Irish had the reputation for being able to play his "A" game on almost no sleep. Definitely a useful skill for a hustler. He reportedly ran a twelve-pack against Irving Crane in a 9ball action match.

Stu, maybe you can verify this story. I once heard that Johnny Irish was sleeping in one of the railbird seats in some pool room (I assume it was in NY) with his hat pulled down over his eyes when someone woke him up to tell him that Nixon had just won the presidency. It was at this point that he pulled the hat up above his eyes and said "Well how about that, the guy can't run 4 balls and gets elected president!) at that point pulling the hat back over his eyes and went back to sleep. Any truth to this?

 

[sjm]

Stu, maybe you can verify this story. I once heard that Johnny Irish was sleeping in one of the railbird seats in some pool room (I assume it was in NY) with his hat pulled down over his eyes when someone woke him up to tell him that Nixon had just won the presidency. It was at this point that he pulled the hat up above his eyes and said "Well how about that, the guy can't run 4 balls and gets elected president!) at that point pulling the hat back over his eyes and went back to sleep. Any truth to this?

No, I've never heard that one, but I like it.

It's somewhat similar to when Babe Ruth, in an interview, was asked if he realized he made more money than President Herbert Hoover. His legendary reply was "so what, I had a better year than him."