Can anyone explain what semi pro means?
I have heard this term used for various activities/sports.
Does it mean you get paid to play pool but it isn't your full time gig?
Re The Nagy story
- Thread starter alphadog
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Can anyone explain what semi pro means?
I have heard this term used for various activities/sports.
Does it mean you get paid to play pool but it isn't your full time gig?
Means different things for different people. But in general. . .accomplished, competent player. Perhaps could play pro level pool, but does not attempt to make it a full time profession, although may compete in professional events periodically and do fairly well (and thus get "paid"). Has a non-pool full time job (in this case, journalism).
Janette Lee gives Nagy credit for being one of her instructors.
your reading comprehension is horrible.
"I was twenty-two the first time I entered 'the zone.' It was like nothing I had ever experienced. Ball after ball went tumbling into the pocket, almost before I knew I had taken a shot.
Stripes and solids, bank shots, cut shots, and combinations. One after another. I lost count quickly, but my mentor, Gene Nagy, kept tally as he set up each new rack.
We were out in Queens, at a cafe known as La Cue, where I played every day with Gene. He had the perfect personality for a mentor, with his long, flowing white beard, he even looked like a guru.
A crowd gathered around us, but I didn't notice. All I saw was the table, as it gradually revealed its mysteries. Somehow, for the first time in my life, I truly could not miss.
When at last it ended, on an impossible lie, I was ecstatic. One hundred and twenty-two balls! I had never heard of a woman toppling one hundred, and I thought for sure I had scaled the mountain.
Then Gene chalked up. In the very next inning, he started a steak that ran for 230 consecutive shots. He didn't say a word, but I learned plenty just the same."
Jeanette Lee
The Black Widow's Guide to Killer Pool
Lou Figueroa
You know better. How many others have been credited with this antic. Antic running into a wall.
While i didnt know Gene on a personal level, his reputation of being a perfectionist, ocd and a bit nutty is how all the locals would describe him. A savant of sorts. I could see him smashing his head into a wall; it wouldnt be a stretch. Fran and Jeanette would know best.
The other story about Gene is that he was a very talented musician. Carnegie Hall level. Seriously. I think someone told me that despite playing at that level, he got frustrated with his playing and....quit.
Eric
watched him play in Dallas
Gene was in Dallas 1970ish. He played a very good, and pretty well
known player at Times Square Pool room on Main and Carrol. They
played 9 ball on the 4x8 table at the front. They played non stop
from Friday until some Sunday. I would watch until I got tired go home
or to work, come back and they were still playing. Then do it again.
It's the longest non stop match i ever saw. Gene's opponent was getting
staked by the Ft. Worth crew as I was told. I don't remember for sure
who brought Gene in and was staking him, it was some of the Dallas
bunch I think. Gene wins, a pretty big amount. Now here's where it gets
interesting. The place is packed with every character, gangster, stake
horse, heister, big time book, etc. in Dallas and Ft. Worth. They were
marking the games up and were to settle up after they finished. Now
I know that they should post and pay every game bla, bla. but this
was not unusual with these people back then. Gene stays in Dallas
waiting on his end for a few days, and then finally they show up to
settle up. They are all in the parking lot and start arguing, trying to
make a deal or something. Every one there except Gene has a gun
and draws it. Well Gene doesn't know whether to sh-- or go blind,
and takes off getting on the first bus back to N.Y. The whole deal was
just to beat Gene out of his end. The stake horse's had already settled
up with each other. That's the story that we all heard and if you were
around Dallas back then you would understand. These were some
very dangerous people he was dealing with and robbing or shooting
someone was a very common thing, so this was nothing to them.
jack
Gene was in Dallas 1970ish. He played a very good, and pretty well
known player at Times Square Pool room on Main and Carrol. They
played 9 ball on the 4x8 table at the front. They played non stop
from Friday until some Sunday. I would watch until I got tired go home
or to work, come back and they were still playing. Then do it again.
It's the longest non stop match i ever saw. Gene's opponent was getting
staked by the Ft. Worth crew as I was told. I don't remember for sure
who brought Gene in and was staking him, it was some of the Dallas
bunch I think. Gene wins, a pretty big amount. Now here's where it gets
interesting. The place is packed with every character, gangster, stake
horse, heister, big time book, etc. in Dallas and Ft. Worth. They were
marking the games up and were to settle up after they finished. Now
I know that they should post and pay every game bla, bla. but this
was not unusual with these people back then. Gene stays in Dallas
waiting on his end for a few days, and then finally they show up to
settle up. They are all in the parking lot and start arguing, trying to
make a deal or something. Every one there except Gene has a gun
and draws it. Well Gene doesn't know whether to sh-- or go blind,
and takes off getting on the first bus back to N.Y. The whole deal was
just to beat Gene out of his end. The stake horse's had already settled
up with each other. That's the story that we all heard and if you were
around Dallas back then you would understand. These were some
very dangerous people he was dealing with and robbing or shooting
someone was a very common thing, so this was nothing to them.
jack
I believe it for several reasons:
First, Geffner wrote of it from a face-to-face interview with Nagy. Beyond that, Geffner was thoroughly familiar with the NY pool scene at the time and would have access to all kinds of folks to verify whatever Nagy told him.
Second, Fran confirmed.
Third, Nagy himself admits to be drugged up much of the time and that he was driving himself insane with his perfectionism.
Fourth, there are plenty of stories about Nagy's eccentricities -- from tearing up money, breaking sticks, quitting when ahead, and so on. One story I've heard is that he would practice break shots for hours, becoming frustrated that he couldn't predict where every ball would end up.
Lastly, I used to play a guy who, sometimes, when he'd miss a shot, bang his head straight into the slate. Sometimes repeatedly. The last time I played him, he banged his head into the slate so hard his forehead and nose came up bloody and he had to quit because he couldn't see straight.
Pool players can be nuts. If you've been around, you know this.
Lou Figueroa
Jackpot tells a good story
as I recall jack beat Nagy with the 7 ball
back then,playing 2 shot roll out
it seems like the 7 was a big spot,bigger than it is today
Tall tales from Texas or just pool talk
you had to be here,those were different days
It was always fun to see the legends come through town
then as now,very few left Dallas with the money
as I recall jack beat Nagy with the 7 ball
back then,playing 2 shot roll out
it seems like the 7 was a big spot,bigger than it is today
Tall tales from Texas or just pool talk
you had to be here,those were different days
It was always fun to see the legends come through town
then as now,very few left Dallas with the money
The two worst I ever saw were Harold Anderson from somewhere in Illinois. He was a good player (a sometimes road man) who could not handle losing. He would literally go crazy, screaming and yelling, tearing out his hair, knocking over furniture and acting really scary. Most of his craziness was self inflicted though, and he usually only brought harm to himself. I saw his act twice and that was enough to convince me to avoid him completely.
Then there was Crazy Bruce out of Miami. Another fairly good player (Eight Ball was his specialty) who was movie star handsome. He was friendly and personable while trying to make a game but got deadly serious when playing. He might play great for a while but after the first miss you would begin to see the chinks in his armor. After a couple more misses, the self flagellation would begin, berating himself loudly, scratching his face with his long fingernails, pounding his fist into the wall and on and on, getting worse by the minute. I used to play him with the stipulation that if and when he began to go crazy I could quit. He would smile and say okay and once I got him stuck a few games here we go again, and I would quit and he would act even crazier. He scared me too but I was ready for him and he knew it, so he knew where to draw the line.
In our last game together, he was holding good from his real estate job and made me bet 25 a game (1960's). I got him stuck maybe four games and he went crazy again, as I knew he would. I gave him one or two chances to calm down but he was beyond help. Once again I told him I quit and he couldn't handle it. I had been paid after each game and I took the balls up to the counter to pay the time. Bruce ran outside into the parking lot and the next thing I heard was a loud thump. Some girl came inside and said this guy had just run into the wall of the poolroom and knocked himself out cold. Sure enough, I looked outside and Bruce was laying on the ground. On closer inspection I saw his bloody forehead and the blood on the ground. The girl brought a wet towel and began to wipe off his head. Once he started to come around I left.
The next time I saw Bruce was on Venice Beach maybe ten years later. He was with some gorgeous blonde and he gave me a big hello like we were old friends. He introduced me to his GF who he claimed was a Playboy Centerfold (maybe she was, who knows) and he told me he had gotten rich in real estate. I asked him if he ever played Pool anymore and he told me how much he hated the game. Haven't seen him since and that was thirty years ago.
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Gene was my closest friend for many years. If you have a question about Gene, you can ask me and I will probably know the answer. Yes, he was capable of that head-banging stuff but he was so much more than that.
He was a virtuoso trumpet player. He attended Julliard and he played in a symphony orchestra for a while. His radio at home was set to the classical station. I used to like asking him, "What's that piece playing now?" He would listen closely for a few seconds and then tell me without hesitation.
He was mostly quiet and passive but he was fiercely protective of those who were close to him. And when it came to pool, he was an eternal student of the game. I learned so much just by watching his process of figuring things out. I watched him run hundreds and string tens of racks of 9 ball, all like it was a simple task without much effort. That's because he had the amazing ability to take something complicated and reduce it to simplicity, just like Einstein's e=mc(squared).
He was a virtuoso trumpet player. He attended Julliard and he played in a symphony orchestra for a while. His radio at home was set to the classical station. I used to like asking him, "What's that piece playing now?" He would listen closely for a few seconds and then tell me without hesitation.
He was mostly quiet and passive but he was fiercely protective of those who were close to him. And when it came to pool, he was an eternal student of the game. I learned so much just by watching his process of figuring things out. I watched him run hundreds and string tens of racks of 9 ball, all like it was a simple task without much effort. That's because he had the amazing ability to take something complicated and reduce it to simplicity, just like Einstein's e=mc(squared).
Does anyone have a link to the article?
Now thats funny.
Fran, wasn't there someone else that was just as close to Gene? I think he was a childhood buddy/life long friend? I got this from a conversation I had with Jerry T (a long time ago).
Eric
Yes, David Adamovich who went to high school with Gene. You can see David on Facebook as The Great Throwdini. He has become a world champion knife thrower and travels the world giving exhibitions. David actually was the one who got Gene started playing pool. Gene introduced me to David back around 1983 and we all stayed friends. David and I are still good friends after all these years.
Thanks. That's what I was looking for.
That is tough action, right there.
bet what you want. They don't care, coz you're not leaving with it!
bet what you want. They don't care, coz you're not leaving with it!