1974 14.1 Invitational Championship
- Thread starter Hambone
- Start date
wow, i haven't heard that name since early or mid 70s when he came though michigan. he played pretty sporty at the time. robbed a few in lansing.ibuycues said:
M.C.
DogsPlayingPool said:
I think you're talking about the place in Santa Monica on Santa Monica Blvd.
There were also several House of Billiards back then. One in Santa Monica, one near downtown L.A., one at 6th and Western and one in the Valley.
sjm said:
Of course, he was a champion 14.1 player in the 60's and early 70's. But he may have been the all time slowest Straight Pool player, much slower than Dick Lane. Frank played in Fred Whalen's events in the early 70's and than he moved to Montana to work for George Franks and Corner Pockets of America. They had about 17 poolrooms at one time in the hinterlands of the USA. Frank was George's right hand man. He may still be living up there somewhere. Would be in his 70's now.
I think there are still a few of the original Corner Pockets left. Some just changed their name with new ownership.
Last edited:
jay helfert said:
Frank won the 1968 14.1 World Championship. There were two "World Championship" 14.1 tournaments that year, Crane won the other one.
I corresponded with Frank McGown several times over the years. He is very easy to talk with and knows a lot about the older players. He doesn't follow pool close anymore. He'll be 76 his next birthday. Still lives in Billings, Montana. He impressed me as a gracious gentleman.
The all time slowest 14.1 Champion, in my opinion, is still Frank Tabeski.
Terry Ardeno said:
Though I saw im play a few times, I met Frank just once and liked him immediately.
He was, indeed, ridiculously slow, although, on reputation, Frank Taberski rates as the slowest player of the twentieth century. Still, it seems most unlikely to me that Taberski played slower than 1990's PBT nineballer Greg Fix.
Though I can't confirm that it is true, I have heard that McGown was among those who influenced the game of Jean Balukas when she was just a child.
I've also heard stories of Frank Taberski not only being incredibly slow in his pace of play, but also notable for frequently running 14 balls on his opponent and playing a lock up safety repeatedly.
sjm said:
You're right SJM. Frank owned a pool room in NY when Jean was learning the game. She spent a lot of time with him there.
Plus c? change...
Great thread and a nice article link to the Sports Illustrated archives. However did no-one else notice that the tournament organizer was apparently losing a ton of money. When Balukas won her first match with Harada, forcing a play-off, he took the step of throwing everyone in the audience out and charging them another entry fee to get back in to watch the Women's final. Even the dear old IPT never tried that one!
Great thread and a nice article link to the Sports Illustrated archives. However did no-one else notice that the tournament organizer was apparently losing a ton of money. When Balukas won her first match with Harada, forcing a play-off, he took the step of throwing everyone in the audience out and charging them another entry fee to get back in to watch the Women's final. Even the dear old IPT never tried that one!