This picture was on Toby’s website.
Is that Pete Margo on the right?
Is that Pete Margo on the right?
The Miz vs. Toby Sweet.....................
- Thread starter garczar
- Start date
I don't think that's Pete. That's not how Pete did his hair in his prime. Pete Margo, I believe, retired from competition in the late 1980's.
That guy on the right does, however, look familiar.
The senior tour was mostly affected by Steve Mizerak’s health....
...he couldn’t handle a full tour near the end.
The Seminoles said they would sponsor the tour as long as the Miz lived.
I tried to talk Jerry Forsyth into taking it over.
I miss going to Lake Park and playing Steve low priced gin rummy...
..Karen liked when I showed up...Steve needed to be active.
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That's not Pete Margo. I think he is the owner of that room. That's Larry Ross, Toby, Ervolino and Jimmy Reid across the middle of the photo. Three of the best in that era. Johnny pretty much mentored all the young Northeast area money players. Johnny may have been the best money player (playing top competition and not suckers) around back then. Toby was from Westchester County and Jimmy was originally from Massachusetts.
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Toby was considered one of the top money players of his era, along with Buddy, Jimmy Reid, Billy Johnson (Wade Crane), Dennis Searcy, Greg Stevens, Billy Incardona and Bernie Schwartz. I never heard of Toby booking a loser at 9-Ball! I do know he was the last guy to spot Buddy the eight ball! That was in Johnston City in the late 60's. He wasn't much into tournaments back then. It took too long and there just wasn't enough money in it. He could do much better traveling up and down the Eastern seaboard from New York to Florida playing 9-Ball for big bucks.
Just watched most of the match. This was Billy and Grady at their best. Expert analysis by both of them and they pretty much stuck to the match without a lot of fooling around. Yet they still injected some humor into things to liven it up. First of all Steve Mizerak was one of the greatest players ever to hold a cue! But by this time he was severely overweight and it had taken a toll on him. Steve was well over 300 pounds (maybe close to 400) here and would only survive for five more years. Toby was about the same age as Steve, maybe 52 or 53 at this time. He was not at his peak either but still a very formidable player. He always wore bell bottom trousers and probably still does to this day. I wouldn't be surprised. Take a look at the cut shot on the five in game number 5 (19.50 mark). This was one of Toby's real strengths, his ability to cut balls down the rail with accuracy. One other shot that I saw that was noteworthy was in game number 9 (32.40), the long shot on the one ball. Look at how cleanly he makes it. Another strength of his were long shots like this one. In that last game, he definitely had a brain fart on the seven ball. You'll notice he got down and shot way too fast with little preparation. In other words the cue went off in his hands and he hit it way too hard. So unlike Toby, but like I said this was not Toby at his killer best. He was rich and comfortable by this time, having built and sold several successful poolrooms, making money on each of them. It was a fun match to see though. I always liked Toby and wish I could have spent more time around him. He settled in Florida and I settled in California.
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If Toby was from Westchester, where I'm from, it must have been until he was 10 or so. Everyone here speaks of him being from Rockland County which is at the other end of the Tappan Zee bridge from Westchester on the West Side of the Hudson.
This is where he resides now, having finally giving up on Florida to be with his daughter and long time friends. I never thought to ask him and just went with the flow.
I've sweated quite a few matches with Larry and played him a couple times at Steinway. A very enjoyable guy to be around.
In 2015 I needed heart surgery and wasn't loving the idea of giving my my local VA a shot at it. My eldest son who works in NYC found the best in the biz at NYU Langone Med Center and so that's where my operation was done. I was in there about a week and happy to say it went well. Larry and I would call each other to check in and say hello every once in a while and very soon after this surgery I called him and learned that he was also in that exact same place the very same week just a few rooms down from me having heart surgery, too. We laughed about the missed opportunity, that we could have been talking pool all week. :thumbup:
I've lost track of Larry's contact info with phone changes and all. Hope he is doing well.
best,
brian kc
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Sorry about that. I know him from playing in the Westchester area on Central Parkway. I guess he did live a short distance away.
I've sweated quite a few matches with Larry and played him a couple times at Steinway. A very enjoyable guy to be around.
In 2015 I needed heart surgery and wasn't loving the idea of giving my my local VA a shot at it. My eldest son who works in NYC found the best in the biz at NYU Langone Med Center and so that's where my operation was done. I was in there about a week and happy to say it went well. Larry and I would call each other to check in and say hello every once in a while and very soon after this surgery I called him and learned that he was also in that exact same place the very same week just a few rooms down from me having heart surgery, too. We laughed about the missed opportunity, that we could have been talking pool all week. :thumbup:
I've lost track of Larry's contact info with phone changes and all. Hope he is doing well.
best,
brian kc
Larry has outlived at least 4 Pacemakers and probably 3 Doctors. Im not getting around much anymore myself so I dont really know but i think he has slowed down himself after the last operation. There is a pic on his Facebook of him being at Steinway in October.though.
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The commentators and a couple posters in this thread said the shot Toby dogged on the 7 was hit too hard. I disagree. He hit it the perfect speed to bounce off the rail enough to play the next ball in the same pocket. He hit it way too fat, but not at the wrong speed.
If he did hit it easier, the 7 might have fell "on that too fat hit", but then his position on the next ball would have been horrible.
If he did hit it easier, the 7 might have fell "on that too fat hit", but then his position on the next ball would have been horrible.
He hit it harder than necessary. With the proper stroke on the ball the cue ball would have gotten far enough off the rail for a good shot on the eight, which wasn't sitting that tough. He definitely dogged the out, and I'm sure he would admit it. He also could have just rolled the cue ball forward (with a soft stroke and a little inside english) and had a cut shot on the eight. Brain fart!
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He was thinking about beatin' Miz. The s^*t ran-up his neck pure and simple. We've all done it.
I've known Larry since the late 1970's.
He's a wonderful guy and a joy to be around. He was an extremely successful businessman. Haven't seen him in at least eighteen months. He's had a tough go of it with heart disease for many years now, but he's never lost his good humor.
Yes he was, he did really well for himself but he dogged a Real Estate move in Florida and Im glad he did. One season i rented his place in West Palm, a small one BR with nothing new in it-haphazard furniture etc.
After the season i offered him 10K more than it was worth by the going rates-50K. I did that because i knew the apartment, the location etc and i knew there would be no surprises with noise, leaky pipes, bad neighbors etc and that was worth 10k to me. He asked 60 and i never considered it. About 3 years later after i had bought a 2BR with decorator furniture etc for 53K in the same complex, i saw in the newspaper that he had sold his for 25K.