The Greatest Rivalry in Pool

pt109 · May 20, 2020

TATE said:
This is a great read from the Golden Age of billiards: Greenleaf versus Brunswick. We missed some good action.

https://www.billiardsdigest.com/new_untold_stories/UntoldStories_GREENLEAF.pdf

I’m with Charlie Peterson on that beef....would’ve loved to see Ralph play...
...but what a waste of talent...Alex Higgins was like that...great to watch him play..
...but tough to be around...like a lot of Hollywood stars are.
The man from the era before I was born that I think I’d most like to share a dinner table...
..Jimmy Caras....and probably Frank Taberski

Kickin' Chicken · May 21, 2020

Fats and Willie...

Riveting.

Seth C. · May 21, 2020

TATE said:
This is a great read from the Golden Age of billiards: Greenleaf versus Brunswick. We missed some good action.

https://www.billiardsdigest.com/new_untold_stories/UntoldStories_GREENLEAF.pdf

Thanks for posting this. Very enjoyable to read.

lfigueroa · May 21, 2020

haystj said:
The Earl vs. Efren is way up there,,,,,, but,,,,,,,

That battle ready Psycho Bunny attire that Lou wears ,, for me,,, takes the Lou Figueroa vs John Barton rivalry to the top of the list.

Gail bought me those.

Said she always thought of me as cute but dangerous =:-X

Lou Figueroa

Buster8001 · May 21, 2020

TATE said:
This is a great read from the Golden Age of billiards: Greenleaf versus Brunswick. We missed some good action.

https://www.billiardsdigest.com/new_untold_stories/UntoldStories_GREENLEAF.pdf

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to TATE again.

Thank you for posting this! Great history.

Sealegs50 · May 21, 2020

Hard to choose:
Efren vs. Earl
Sigel vs. Varner

Island Drive · May 21, 2020

TATE said:
I began thinking about it. It has to be Earl and Efren. It has everything, two of the most talented players in history peaking at similar times. American pool versus the Filipino invasion. A lovable, humble genius with immense finesse versus a scrappy power player with unlimited fire power. They even met head on with one of the greatest matches in history. This is our McEnroe versus Bjorg and Jack versus Arnie.

Earl and Efren, in my book, the greatest rivalry in pool.

What's your greatest rivalry in pool?

Rudolph Wanderone going to IN (Indiana) and Playing Daddy Warbucks/Hubert Cokes at his room.
Money was NOT there goal and the "Bet always was Big'', bragging rights was the score, even if one played won 10K in the 40's and 50's.
''Quote'' Evelyn Wanderone 6 weeks after Fats passed on in Dowell IL.

Both men....had Great Respect for each other.

Daddy Warbucks took Varner under wing in the early seventies. T

Nicky knows All Games.

Varne was Thee only player Ever to go to the Philippine's and play Efren in his prime on his home court and Win.

Tin Man · May 21, 2020

All great choices.

I have to agree with Efren and Earl. My reasoning:

1) They were both in the running for best pool player that ever lived.
2) They both had gifts the likes no one had ever seen, different gifts that formed a really amazing contest when they played.
3) The Color of Money match was the height of this conflict and makes my list as one of the top moments in pool history
4) This rivalry was going on during my formative pool years and I am incredibly biased

fjk · May 21, 2020

Sigel vs Rempe

TATE · May 21, 2020

fjk said:
Sigel vs Rempe

I've watched a couple of old tapes of Jim Rempe. I think he could play with anybody, past or present. Plus, like Siegel and Efren, he was an all around player.

This match with Efren shows off his firepower - great match. you can clearly see Rempe's respect and admiration for Efren. It's one of the most entertaining 9 ball matches you will find:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4maz6bcF3WQ

pt109 · May 21, 2020

xradarx said:
Mosconi, in his own autobiography, says that Greenleaf beat him 57 games to 50 during a 1934 exhibition tour. And this was even though Greenleaf was dead drunk during many of the games. “All told, we played 107 games in 112 days,” wrote Mosconi.

Willie was 21 then...he matured

westcoast · May 21, 2020

Tin Man said:
All great choices.

I have to agree with Efren and Earl. My reasoning:

1) They were both in the running for best pool player that ever lived.
2) They both had gifts the likes no one had ever seen, different gifts that formed a really amazing contest when they played.
3) The Color of Money match was the height of this conflict and makes my list as one of the top moments in pool history
4) This rivalry was going on during my formative pool years and I am incredibly biased

Even though I knew ahead of time that Efren came back to beat Earl it was hard to believe that was actually going to happen when I watched it for the first time on youtube years ago. Earl was playing some of the best pool ever for the first two days. Efren played great in his comeback but Earl also melted down toward the end- I think he must have felt immense pressure after blowing such a large lead so late in the race (I think he was up 105-88)

lfigueroa · May 21, 2020

westcoast said:
Even though I knew ahead of time that Efren came back to beat Earl it was hard to believe that was actually going to happen when I watched it for the first time on youtube years ago. Earl was playing some of the best pool ever for the first two days. Efren played great in his comeback but Earl also melted down toward the end- I think he must have felt immense pressure after blowing such a large lead so late in the race (I think he was up 105-88)

A couple of hazy recollections about watching that match.

Earl came out of the gates with one of the greatest exhibitions of power pool ever -- crack the rack and the run the table in no time flat. Subsequently, he built out a pretty good lead. But then, if I recall correctly, Efren came back by running tough rack after tough rack, with surgical precision. I seem to recall that towards the end, Earl half-heartedly slams at a couple of shots and there may have been mutterings by Earl to the effect: he'll win, he always wins.

Lastly, I heard that MW, one of the commentators, had to talk Earl out of his room the last day. Earl didn't want to play and MW kept telling him that a lot of people had paid really good money to see the match and he had to come out and play.

It really was a tremendous match.

Lou Figueroa

JohnnyOzone · May 21, 2020

The greatest rivalry in pool that I've ever seen is Earl vs. himself

Cornerman · May 21, 2020

Jimmy_Betmore said:
Sigel vs Varner comes to mind only because I remember hearing Varner mention it a few times.

That’s the one for me, too.

fjk · May 21, 2020

I played Rempe a few times and watched him a lot. Back in the 70s and 80s, he had at least a 50% chance against anybody.

pt109 · May 21, 2020

Tin Man said:
All great choices.

I have to agree with Efren and Earl. My reasoning:

1) They were both in the running for best pool player that ever lived.???
2) They both had gifts the likes no one had ever seen, different gifts that formed a really amazing contest when they played.
3) The Color of Money match was the height of this conflict and makes my list as one of the top moments in pool history
4) This rivalry was going on during my formative pool years and I am incredibly biased

I don’t think Earl was ever considered for ‘best all around’ like Efren....
...in the running for best 9-ball player....many would say ‘best tournament 9-ball player’.

dd1228 · May 28, 2020

i loved Mosconi and Fats!!!!!

spliced · May 28, 2020

I'm going to go with Allison Fisher and Karen Corr. I think both peaked at around the same time and it seemed like those two were in the finals of every single tournament for about 15 years. Ah the good old days when you could flip on ESPN and have an excellent chance of catching a Tournament of Champions..

sjm · May 29, 2020

spliced said:
I'm going to go with Allison Fisher and Karen Corr. I think both peaked at around the same time and it seemed like those two were in the finals of every single tournament for about 15 years. Ah the good old days when you could flip on ESPN and have an excellent chance of catching a Tournament of Champions..

Yup, best rivalry ever in women's pool. Allison switched from snooker in 1994 and Karen did the same in 1999. From 2000-2010, they fought many big battles over the glorious green felt. Like the Varner/Sigel rivalry, so often there was a title hanging in the balance.

Another great rivalry in women's pool, and one that the fans seemed to enjoy even more than Allison vs Karen was the rivalry between Jeanette Lee and Vivian Villareal. The was a little gamesmanship and even occasional trash talking between these two stars of women's pool. In 1993-94, just before the British invasion, they were trading turns as the number one ranked player on the WPBA, but they were serious rivals for their entire careers.

Before that, there was the great rivalry between Ewa Mataya and Lori Jon Jones and each of them counted Robin Bell Dodson as a fierce rival.

The Greatest Rivalry in Pool

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