Where did you meet him?
Anyone know if Mosconi ever saw Efren play, and if so, .....
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Where did you meet him?
I first saw Efren in '86 in Atlantic City at Resorts International's Last Call for 9-Ball.
He borrowed a cue from Rudolfo Luat to play against a nobody, but Sigel, Mizerak, and Rempe were serious onlookers and talking about this new guy who recently won the Red's Tournament in Houston. They especially marveled at his kicking ability.
Last year (2018), I spoke with Efren about that 1986 Last Call and how well he played (Sigel won it) and he laughed. Efren is extremely modest, but he told me that he was at the top of his rotation game when he was 17, 18, 19 years old. By 1986 he was already "past his prime". Hard to believe! He said "I can't see the balls now".He also said that one of his favorite games is Balkline, but "it's hard to find anyone to play and I can't break, so I have no chance in 9-Ball or 10-Ball. Now they jump balls, too"
I first saw Mosconi in 1954 before his heart attack and he destroyed Jersey Red in Passaic, NJ. He turned his nose up at Red because Red wasn't properly attired and looked sloppy. Someone in the audience lent Red a sports jacket before the lag, but it made no difference. Mosconi ran 125 and out on a loose 5x10 Brunswick, using his own cue ball and mud house balls. My father and I left as soon as Willie finished his trick shots. He was all business and the exhibitions were just a job to him. There seemed to be no joy in that man.
Efren v. Ceulemans Balkline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HanjQHbvpU
Efren v. Blomdahl 3-Cushion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWslEvlL4YQ
Bonus but off topic.
Efren v Blomdahl 9Ball https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FukB1oV8q9s
Efren v. Blomdahl 3-Cushion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWslEvlL4YQ
Bonus but off topic.
Efren v Blomdahl 9Ball https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FukB1oV8q9s
Why is everything today considered "racist" today? Can't anyone have an opinion or disagreement without being called racist? Stop watching CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC and CBS.
My appreciation of Efren only grows. First time I've ever seen him smoke.
Thanks for posting.
You must not have watched the Efren vs Earl Hong Kong Challenge.
It's in five parts. Start here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgVPmjLkQq4
Enjoy.
It's in five parts. Start here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgVPmjLkQq4
Enjoy.
It’s amazing how people don’t like to hear statements about people being racist or sexist. However, they don’t seem to be as upset about the actual racism being displayed. It’s also very easy to prove that the Pool-World, along with the rest of America, was very prejudiced in Mosconi’s day. Cicero Murphy wasn’t even allowed to play in the U.S. Open until 1966, four years before 1970! Baseball was integrated in 1954, and Basketball in 1950. Mosconi has a well-known history of anger toward his opponents,the audience, and had a superiority complex. It’s very self-serving to accuse Democrats of being prone to accuse others of racism, just as much as it is an assumption and stereotype to assume that anyone that watches CNN,MSNBC,ABC,CBS, & NBC, should be avoided, to be clear-headed! Fox News is much more widely known for blind racism, and phony accusations against those who don’t agree with our widely-acknowledged racist President Trump. Just watching Fox News doesn’t make you prejudiced,or racist, though. The mention of Mosconi’s background doesn’t take anything away from his undeniable mastery of Straight Pool, or his dominance! Some people, however, say that Greenleaf was better, but of course, allowed his alcoholism to derail his career and shorten his life. Whether you admit it or not, Pool, and America was very racist in Mosconi’s day,and he certainly wasn’t fighting for inclusion in his day,before Mr. Murphy was allowed to play. Mosconi had a terrible temper and attitude, was intolerant toward those that he thought was less than him, and certainly earned his reputation, just like Ty Cobb-brilliant, but racially intolerant! You can’t tell others that they are wrong to mention racism or sexism. Trump, and the Republicans, are not diverse, and have demonstrated racism and intolerance.
I most definitely know the definition of racism and intolerance. I also know that saying that you thought Pool players are above some sort of reverse discrimination. Could Cicero Murphy have imposed “reverse discrimination “ on the Pool World, or Players that gladly competed with each other, but denied him and all other Blacks? Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief on the belief that one’s own race is superior. Were the Pool players of Mosconi’s era intolerant of Non-whites? Could they have insisted on being allowed to play? Did Mosconi speak up about injustices, knowing that Baseball had been integrated since 1947? Maybe you don’t know what racism is. Is Trump Racist? Is the Republican Party acknowledged as being Racist and Sexist?
The Human Genome Project, backed by the National Academy of Sciences, conducted a Study, done by Scientists from all over the World, from 1990-2003, concluded that there are no different Races. We are 99.9% identical! Worldwide. Racism started with Charles Darwin( the Creator of the Theory of Evolution), in 1859, wrote the Book ‘Origin of the Species”. Prior to that the Bible always won over Science. Darwin believed that there is no God. How were we created? How did racism and intolerance start? Although it’s “Black History Month “, And I don’t expect it to mean anything to you, but you can’t ignore Moscon’s or America’s history, or understand what minorities ,Women, or Native Americans have had to endure, and it persists. Especially, in Mosconi’s day, as noted by tenfttall. Read up, and be honest with yourself. Darwin believed that Blacks came from Gorillas, he believed that Asians came from Orangutans, and Darwin’s cousin that invented Eugenics, believed that there were Superior and Inferior Races. Mosconi may have been the Greatest Straight Pool player ever, but he was far from tolerant and even-tempered. Tenfttall was right.
How could anybody have ever criticized his stroke. That's pure ignorance on their part. The slight up and down action in his practice strokes subtly aids alignment and reduces side to side movement. Furthermore, years ago I was watching him play from a very close seat. I noticed sometimes when he put his left hand and cue on the table, the tip end of the cue vibrated fractionally longer than one is accustomed to seeing. That told me he plays with a very flexible shaft. Imho, his cue tip must hit precisely the aiming point every time. If you can't do that when you first start playing, practice can improve, but only to a certain point. I'm thinking that his very early days learning pool he already had a naturally perfect stroke.
Mistake..mistake . This is not the post I thought I was responding to. It was a different tableroll post about people criticizing Eferen's stroke.
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So he should only get his news from Fox, BBC, or Al Jazeera?
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I'm with you there. I was around Mosconi a lot and he was an equal opportunity hater.
One caveat. He didn't like Fats and vice versa. They both badmouthed each other.
Well there was an exception, the one time, the only time Fats beat Willie in one of those Legends ABC things, Willie was seen on camera with tears in his eyes. Fats made a nice little speech about Willie and helped him save face. Fats just had a great heart-as you know personally.
Well, part of the thread is still on track....
![CropperCapture[250].jpg](https://forums.azbilliards.com/data/attachments/377/377570-d0729ce3bad0fbb94eb3fd148f1d4312.jpg "CropperCapture[250].jpg")
You must not have watched the Efren vs Earl Hong Kong Challenge.
It's in five parts. Start here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgVPmjLkQq4
Enjoy.
I love Efren, but Earl really should have won the COM... the first couple
of days he was playing in top gear, lights out.. then he starts with
the whining, complaining about people getting up, etc. starts staring
into space.. took himself right out of the match. Glad Efren won.
Great links, thanks!
Btw: You don't happen to have a personalized license plate on your car that is very similar to your screen name, do ya?
There was a comment made earlier that Democrats often makes accusations of Racism. There was a comment that suggested not getting your News from ABC, CBS , CNN, and MSNBC. However, its widely known that Fox News has Racist views, is a blind supporter of Trump’s lies and Racist rhetoric, and has made up many false stories and broadcast them. If you don’t know why Fox News is mentioned in conversations about racism and intolerance, you must not watch any News, or be living in a Cage. Cicero Murphy was racially prohibited from playing in Pool events, as were ALL OTHER BLACKS, so it’s strange that you State is as if he was the only Minority that was excluded. Cowboy Jimmy Moore did an interview from a Wheelchair in the late 12980’s, where he referred to Blacks as Coilored-Boys, and called Lou Butera as a “Hot Dago, when he beat him! This is the same era that Mosconi and Trump were born and raised in. All major Sports practiced racist desegregation in those days. You obviously need to read up on American History, you’ll find out that Blacks, Native Americans, and Chinese were discriminated against, killed, or enslaved! My God you are blissfully uninformed.
And while you are so misinformed, you'll find out which country was the first to outlaw slavery, pass civil rights, etc, etc. To blindly assume someone was racist because they lived "back" in the day is idiotic at best. Where were all you tolerant people at, hiding in the bushes back then?
You might want to do some reading yourself on American history.
But, by all means, lets keep whining about something that happened decades ago,,, by all means, please continue dragging someone's name through the mud for the heinous crime of being born prior to 1970. Holy shit.
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Contrary to your beliefs, racism and bigotry is still happening today, if not necessarily you. Do you newch the News, any News? Trump Trump makes racist statements nearly every day. Do you tell Jewish people to stop whining about their Holocaust? If you see kids being raped in the Catholic Church, and don't say anything, you are complicit. If you sell Cadillacs, like irving Crane did, but Minorities can't come into the dealership to buy one, and you don't say anything, you are complicit. Moscow was ill-tempered, and intolerant, but one of the Greatest Straight Pool Players that ever lived, but he didn't give a Damn about equality, and neither did our Government, that enslaved and killed the Native Americans, Blacks, and Chinese. That's part of who Willie Mosconi was, you cannot change history. He didn't have to wear a KKK Hat. You are Clueless.