Help me find this billiards article from years ago!!

dearnold

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Help me find this billiards article from years ago!! - (Found it)!!

UPDATE: I found the article. It is in it's entirety on page 2 of this thread. Enjoy the read and thanks for everyone's input and ideas.

Regards

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Back when I was in grad school in the early 90s, I had access to Lexus/Nexus which was an online repository of news and journal articles. I was doing an MBA project about opening a pool hall. This was back when Jillians was the new hot thing (glad I didn't pursue that!!).

Anyway, I ran across one of the most in depth pieces of billiards reporting that I had ever read. It was basically a bio about this pool genius who went mad trying to perfect his game and then gave it up. When I read the recent thread about Gene Nagy, that name rang a bell and I thought it might have been about him. I tried an internet search for the article, but just can't seem to find it.

What I remember about the piece is that it was pretty long. Almost a short story. There were also two points in the story that stuck out at me. First was a recounting of when the guy went mad. Something about being in a big money match and a bat flew out of the rafters and scared the shit out of the guy. The second was a quote where he said something to the effect that before he went mad, his game was like splitting atoms, and afterwards it is more like throwing rocks at rabbits.

So there is the challenge. This article is a must read for any billiards enthusiast. Special props to the first person who can provide a link to it!!

Thanks for your help.
 
Last edited:

Pushout

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If I remember right, there was an entire chapter devoted to Nagy in "Hustlers and Heroes, Legend and Lies, and the Higher Truth on the Green Felt". Could it have been that chapter?
 

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Back when I was in grad school in the early 90s, I had access to Lexus/Nexus which was an online repository of news and journal articles. I was doing an MBA project about opening a pool hall. This was back when Jillians was the new hot thing (glad I didn't pursue that!!).

Anyway, I ran across one of the most in depth pieces of billiards reporting that I had ever read. It was basically a bio about this pool genius who went mad trying to perfect his game and then gave it up. When I read the recent thread about Gene Nagy, that name rang a bell and I thought it might have been about him. I tried an internet search for the article, but just can't seem to find it.

What I remember about the piece is that it was pretty long. Almost a short story. There were also two points in the story that stuck out at me. First was a recounting of when the guy went mad. Something about being in a big money match and a bat flew out of the rafters and scared the shit out of the guy. The second was a quote where he said something to the effect that before he went mad, his game was like splitting atoms, and afterwards it is more like throwing rocks at rabbits.

So there is the challenge. This article is a must read for any billiards enthusiast. Special props to the first person who can provide a link to it!!

Thanks for your help.
Max Eberle?? Just kidding but Max is waaay out there. It does sound like Nagy. Guy would run 200 balls , get out of line on 201 and go off. Kinda like pool's Rainman.
 

lfigueroa

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If I remember right, there was an entire chapter devoted to Nagy in "Hustlers and Heroes, Legend and Lies, and the Higher Truth on the Green Felt". Could it have been that chapter?


That would probably be it.

It's Chapter Nine entitled "The Raider Vs. the Ice Man" and it documents the dialogue between a 26-year-old Gene Nagy playing 1pocket against Jack Breit. It kicks off with Nagy saying, "What you know about one pocket I already forgot. All I'll get out of this match is your cash." And away they go.

However, I do recall something else about Nagy out there somewhere but can't place it at the moment.

Lou Figueroa
 

dearnold

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I remember the article coming from a newspaper or periodical, definitely not a book chapter. I did google for lots of stuff and tried to google the quote about throwing rocks at rabbits as well. No luck.

The gist of this story was definitely the going insane part. So if Nagy doesn't fit that, then he isn't it. I got the impression from the article that the guy was a well known local talent. Not a tournament player, but accomplished and known in his day. I read the article circa 1993. It was probably written within 10 years of that.

I have the vaguest recollection of New York, but that could be entirely wrong.
 

Pushout

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I remember the article coming from a newspaper or periodical, definitely not a book chapter. I did google for lots of stuff and tried to google the quote about throwing rocks at rabbits as well. No luck.

The gist of this story was definitely the going insane part. So if Nagy doesn't fit that, then he isn't it. I got the impression from the article that the guy was a well known local talent. Not a tournament player, but accomplished and known in his day. I read the article circa 1993. It was probably written within 10 years of that.

I have the vaguest recollection of New York, but that could be entirely wrong.

It was probably not about Gene Nagy, then. Gene was eccentric about his passion for the game of pool but, hey, a LOT of us are like that. Gene did not go insane, though in Hustlers and Heroes he was said to tear up money and want to jump out windows if he lost.
 

pdcue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I remember the article coming from a newspaper or periodical, definitely not a book chapter. I did google for lots of stuff and tried to google the quote about throwing rocks at rabbits as well. No luck.

The gist of this story was definitely the going insane part. So if Nagy doesn't fit that, then he isn't it. I got the impression from the article that the guy was a well known local talent. Not a tournament player, but accomplished and known in his day. I read the article circa 1993. It was probably written within 10 years of that.

I have the vaguest recollection of New York, but that could be entirely wrong.

Those of us who are old enough recall when there were places called Libraries,
that had actual books on shelves.

One of the great reference materials was the
'Reader's guide to periodical literature'.

Google that phrase and you will get enough links to
magazine and newspaper articles to keep you busy
for weeks.

Dale(who was literate, once upon a time)
 

dearnold

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Those of us who are old enough recall when there were places called Libraries,
that had actual books on shelves.

One of the great reference materials was the
'Reader's guide to periodical literature'.

Google that phrase and you will get enough links to
magazine and newspaper articles to keep you busy
for weeks.

Dale(who was literate, once upon a time)

Kinda of like Lexis/Nexis which I used back in the day. Unfortunately, all those services require paid subscriptions. I'm actually going back to school here in 1 week, so perhaps I'll have access to some of this stuff again. Or like you suggest, you can probably access it at the library. Thanks for the advice!
 

Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
Back when I was in grad school in the early 90s, I had access to Lexus/Nexus which was an online repository of news and journal articles. I was doing an MBA project about opening a pool hall. This was back when Jillians was the new hot thing (glad I didn't pursue that!!).

Anyway, I ran across one of the most in depth pieces of billiards reporting that I had ever read. It was basically a bio about this pool genius who went mad trying to perfect his game and then gave it up. When I read the recent thread about Gene Nagy, that name rang a bell and I thought it might have been about him. I tried an internet search for the article, but just can't seem to find it.

What I remember about the piece is that it was pretty long. Almost a short story. There were also two points in the story that stuck out at me. First was a recounting of when the guy went mad. Something about being in a big money match and a bat flew out of the rafters and scared the shit out of the guy. The second was a quote where he said something to the effect that before he went mad, his game was like splitting atoms, and afterwards it is more like throwing rocks at rabbits.

So there is the challenge. This article is a must read for any billiards enthusiast. Special props to the first person who can provide a link to it!!

Thanks for your help.
I had a few hours of discussion with Gene Nagy in 2004 doing the George Balabushka article. Wonderful man with plenty of stories. He certainly *got* mad and was known to break cues, but he was very sane.

He also dispelled rumors about him breaking Balabushka cues. He said he'd grab other cues to break, but never his own. Of course, he could have misremembered....
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
I remember the article coming from a newspaper or periodical, definitely not a book chapter. I did google for lots of stuff and tried to google the quote about throwing rocks at rabbits as well. No luck.

The gist of this story was definitely the going insane part. So if Nagy doesn't fit that, then he isn't it. I got the impression from the article that the guy was a well known local talent. Not a tournament player, but accomplished and known in his day. I read the article circa 1993. It was probably written within 10 years of that.

I have the vaguest recollection of New York, but that could be entirely wrong.
Any chance it was one of George Fels's columns? He wrote a lot of articles about players who might not have been up to tournament speed but were interesting for other reasons. I can also see George using the "throwing rocks at rabbits" phrase. George's columns were typically a full page.
 
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