1st Time Billiards on Television

[RabbiHippie]

In 1960, Glenn "The Eufaula Kid" Womack participated in a televised match on KTTV, the independent station owned by the Los Angeles Times. KTTV was best known for broadcasting Dodgers away games after the team's move from Brooklyn in 1958. Eufaula's TV appearance happened before the Johnston City tournaments were shown on network television which got me wondering ... When was the first televised billiards match?

Here's an article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from April 5th, 1948, which describes a televised Boy's Club tournament involving BCA Hall of Fame members Willie Hoppe, Willie Mosconi and Charley Peterson.

I also found a clipping in the Middletown (New York) Times Herald from January 25th, 1941, for an early radio broadcast of the 1941 World 3-Cushion Championships on WOR-Mutual. Willie Hoppe took the title that year with a 16-1 record and a 1.100 average against stiff competition from Jake Schaefer Jr., Jay Bozeman and Welker Cochran--all of whom averaged over a point an inning.

 

[measureman]

Irving crane came in 14th,didn't know he played 3 cushion.

 

[RabbiHippie]

Irving crane came in 14th,didn't know he played 3 cushion.

The field in the following year's 3-Cushion World Championships (1942) featured a couple guys, like Irving Crane, who are better known as pool players: Ralph Greenleaf and John "Rags" Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick, of course, is a One Pocket legend.

 

[RabbiHippie]

1965 Johnston City finals on ABC Wide World of Sports with Harold Worst defeating Boston Shorty for the title.

Check out that break by Harold Worst! Worst parks the rock right in the center of the table and nearly makes the 9-ball in the side pocket! Then he plays perfect position on the 1-ball to get onto the 2-ball but an accidental kiss forces him to turn the table over to Boston Shorty by taking an intentional foul to spot the 9-ball hanger.

Shorty gets ball-in-hand behind the line (rules weren't anywhere on the table at the time) and makes an incredible straight-back bank for his first shot. Shorty gets out of position on all of his shots but runs the balls down to a difficult cut on the 9-ball which he flubs. Worst sinks the easy 9-ball, making it 10-5, and ultimately takes the set 11-5.

 

[RabbiHippie]

Here's the TV Guide from July 16th, 1966, showing the coverage for the 1965 Johnston City tournament won by Harold Worst.

Seems there was quite a delay before ABC's "World of Sports" actually broadcast the footage from Johnston City. The finals actually happened eight months earlier in November, 1965. Harold Worst was already dead when this aired--that is, unless this particular showing was a "repeat."

I have some newsreel footage from 1954 of Harold Worst at the 1954 3-Cushion World Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I've used that footage before to perform my Video Stroke Analysis on Worst's stroke--same method I use for myself and my coaching clients.

Now I'm thinking I may expand on my analysis of Worst's stroke using the Johnston City footage as well. Maybe analyze other historical players too and share the results on YouTube.

 

[bbb]

would love to see worst's stroke analysis and the 3 cushion footage

 

[RabbiHippie]

would love to see worst's stroke analysis and the 3 cushion footage

I'll probably share it on the RabbiHippie channel. I have a playlist of Vintage pool videos for famous historical players you can check out.

I'm both curious and a little scared of what an analysis of Willie Hoppe's stroke might reveal.

Here are a couple examples of my Video Stroke Analysis method for the One Pocket and 3-Cushion break shots. The timers at the top measure different aspects of the shot process. The final number in green is the length in milliseconds of the backswing on delivery of the final stroke. A long, smooth backstroke is one of the hallmarks of the "Pro Stroke." I have a training routine that helps develop this. This works even with "remote" coaching clients that record themselves doing a few specific diagnostic drills.

 

[kling&allen]

View attachment 755508
In 1960, Glenn "The Eufaula Kid" Womack participated in a televised match on KTTV, the independent station owned by the Los Angeles Times. KTTV was best known for broadcasting Dodgers away games after the team's move from Brooklyn in 1958. Eufaula's TV appearance happened before the Johnston City tournaments were shown on network television which got me wondering ... When was the first televised billiards match?

View attachment 755509
Here's an article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from April 5th, 1948, which describes a televised Boy's Club tournament involving BCA Hall of Fame members Willie Hoppe, Willie Mosconi and Charley Peterson.

View attachment 755510
I also found a clipping in the Middletown (New York) Times Herald from January 25th, 1941, for an early radio broadcast of the 1941 World 3-Cushion Championships on WOR-Mutual. Willie Hoppe took the title that year with a 16-1 record and a 1.100 average against stiff competition from Jake Schaefer Jr., Jay Bozeman and Welker Cochran--all of whom averaged over a point an inning.

View attachment 755511

Ponzi’s autobiography includes a claim that he was the first to play pool on TV (as opposed to newsreels rebroadcast on TV).

Edit: It's not 100% clear, but it looks like Ponzi was referring to a televised exhibition he did in 1942. His book has lots of photos of the event.

 

[RabbiHippie]

Boston Shorty is at the table for most of the video, not Harold Worst. The contrast and picture quality in the video was so poor that I couldn't tell who was who during my first viewing.

I used my video editing software to darken and sharpen the video and also added some subtitles to clarify what's happening. (You can actually see the numbers on the balls now in some shots.) The green timer in the upper right is part of my Video Stroke Analysis method that measures the length of the backswing for the "Finish" stroke in milliseconds.

Worst never got to see his Johnston City victory on broadcast television before he died, although he desperately wanted to. He died on June 16th, 1966, and the footage wasn't shown on ABC Wide World of Sports until July 16th, 1966. The match actually took place on November 17th, 1965.