About Grady Mathews
- Thread starter DrCue'sProtege
- Start date
Friend used to get the 7 from him at Pool Sharks. Always mentioned him and the other heavies there. Never discussed one pocket though. I should buy the book prolly...
I met Grady in 92 at Cuetopia in Vegas, he was in town for a few weeks. Got to know him then. We got along good, nice talks. I never played him.
He had the one pocket tourney at the Reno Hilton in Jan 93 which Ed Kelly beat Cornbread in the finals. If any pool match I’ve ever seen could be recorded it would be that one. WOW! Grady ran a great tourney. I’m sure some people here were that for that.
In 2007 Grady and I got to talking about doing something like that again, he had the room in South Carolina at the time. We didn’t get anything going.
I always enjoyed seeing and talking with Grady, he’d call me once in a while to chat. Never asked for a dollar. He was my friend. I still have his number in my phone. I can’t erase it.
A few observations over the years, Grady had a short fuse (glad he liked me), he loved and lived pool as much as anyone ever-total lifetime immersion. Was a brilliant commentator and loved winning. Grady wasn’t a milk drinker & he never took a yoga class.
I sure miss Grady.
I’m glad he was my friend
Fatboy
He had the one pocket tourney at the Reno Hilton in Jan 93 which Ed Kelly beat Cornbread in the finals. If any pool match I’ve ever seen could be recorded it would be that one. WOW! Grady ran a great tourney. I’m sure some people here were that for that.
In 2007 Grady and I got to talking about doing something like that again, he had the room in South Carolina at the time. We didn’t get anything going.
I always enjoyed seeing and talking with Grady, he’d call me once in a while to chat. Never asked for a dollar. He was my friend. I still have his number in my phone. I can’t erase it.
A few observations over the years, Grady had a short fuse (glad he liked me), he loved and lived pool as much as anyone ever-total lifetime immersion. Was a brilliant commentator and loved winning. Grady wasn’t a milk drinker & he never took a yoga class.
I sure miss Grady.
I’m glad he was my friend Fatboy
Biloxi Boy
Man With A Golden Arm
Grady definitely had a fuse, but I am not sure it was "short" on every occasion. I saw him blow up at a tournament in Mobile, Alabama, -- he grabbed an arm full of balls and went after an asshole who had unmercifully baited him. I was watching their match and was amazed Grady took so much for as long as he did.
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There's a relatively unknown Accu-Stats X-rated video of Keith McCready v. Bushwhacker (the late Gary Nolan). Grady Mathews is commentating and in rare form. The entire recording is a pool satire.
A little background. Keith had been up all night gambling and engaging in other nefarious activities. His stakehorse is in the commentator's booth with Grady sweating his cheese. Gary and Keith play a race to 11. Gary jumps ahead of McCready, but Keith comes back, and the match goes down to the wire. Literally. One shot to win the set. They both dog it! Keith gets back up and blasts the 9 ball in at warp speed, just barely pulling through, much to the delight of his stakehorse.
Here's a snippet of the words spoken in the first 2 minutes, and they're just getting wound up. Grady Mathews is in the booth with Keith's stakehorse, Ken Taylor.
GRADY MATHEWS: And we're here live. Accu-Stats Video Productions proudly presents championship 9-ball. In today's feature match, we have Gary Tallywhacker–I mean Bushwhacker Nolan from parts abode versus Keith McCready.
With me in the booth here today is Jackie, who does not wish to reveal her true last name, Barry Shaw from New York City, and Ken Taylor, all the way here from Fresno. And Bushwhacker has won the lag.
Now, we might be surprised here this afternoon, fellows. We do have two of the playing-est mother-f*****s I've ever laid eyes on in my life. And Bushwhacker has crushed 'em. He pocketed a ball on the break and has a nice shot on the lowest-numbered ball.
KEN TAYLOR: You know, Grady, if Keith misses one f*****g ball in this match, I guarantee you that I'm hanging his underwear out, and he's going to be in them in the snow because what he's pulled here this week. There ain't a son of a b**** in the world would fade the s*** that I've faded here.
GRADY MATHEWS: Well, you know, Keith's backers usually take an extended leave of absence.
KEN TAYLOR: Well, I guarantee you that I've left my absence because this guy has put me in just a dead-f******g coma. I mean, this guy is–look, if he scratches, I'm going to–well, okay. Here we go.
GRADY MATHEWS: Well, let's watch him. Let's see if the patented little sachet strut comes into play. You know how Keith will walk around that table.
KEN TAYLOR: Did you see that shot, Grady? That looked like a 3-year-old girl picking her nose. I can't believe it. This guy, you know, he couldn't get a h***-on if he had to.
GRADY MATHEWS: Well, you know, that does bring up another interesting subject.
And this is only the beginning. Billy Incardona steps in the booth for a spell later in the video.
Gary Nolan passed away in 2018. Grady Mathews, also known as "The Professor" or "Mr. One Pocket," was the first inductee into the One-Pocket Hall of Fame in 2004. He promoted pool throughout his career, particularly the game of one-pocket. He passed away April 18, 2012, at the age of 69.
"I'll have a another Drambuie and potato salad."~~ Dub (Grady Mathew's character in "The Color of Money)
I was so excited to get my photo taken with a legend. Me and Grady Mathews when I was working at Champion Billiards in Silver Spring, Maryland. Mid-'80s.
Gary Nolan aka Bushwhacker owned Lucky Break Billiards in Pennsylvania during the latter part of his life. He was an unsung hero in our pool world. Not to many people know how strong he really played, and I have a feeling he liked it like that.
Randi and Grady Mathews at the 2003 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Virginia.
A little background. Keith had been up all night gambling and engaging in other nefarious activities. His stakehorse is in the commentator's booth with Grady sweating his cheese. Gary and Keith play a race to 11. Gary jumps ahead of McCready, but Keith comes back, and the match goes down to the wire. Literally. One shot to win the set. They both dog it! Keith gets back up and blasts the 9 ball in at warp speed, just barely pulling through, much to the delight of his stakehorse.
Here's a snippet of the words spoken in the first 2 minutes, and they're just getting wound up. Grady Mathews is in the booth with Keith's stakehorse, Ken Taylor.
GRADY MATHEWS: And we're here live. Accu-Stats Video Productions proudly presents championship 9-ball. In today's feature match, we have Gary Tallywhacker–I mean Bushwhacker Nolan from parts abode versus Keith McCready.
With me in the booth here today is Jackie, who does not wish to reveal her true last name, Barry Shaw from New York City, and Ken Taylor, all the way here from Fresno. And Bushwhacker has won the lag.
Now, we might be surprised here this afternoon, fellows. We do have two of the playing-est mother-f*****s I've ever laid eyes on in my life. And Bushwhacker has crushed 'em. He pocketed a ball on the break and has a nice shot on the lowest-numbered ball.
KEN TAYLOR: You know, Grady, if Keith misses one f*****g ball in this match, I guarantee you that I'm hanging his underwear out, and he's going to be in them in the snow because what he's pulled here this week. There ain't a son of a b**** in the world would fade the s*** that I've faded here.
GRADY MATHEWS: Well, you know, Keith's backers usually take an extended leave of absence.
KEN TAYLOR: Well, I guarantee you that I've left my absence because this guy has put me in just a dead-f******g coma. I mean, this guy is–look, if he scratches, I'm going to–well, okay. Here we go.
GRADY MATHEWS: Well, let's watch him. Let's see if the patented little sachet strut comes into play. You know how Keith will walk around that table.
KEN TAYLOR: Did you see that shot, Grady? That looked like a 3-year-old girl picking her nose. I can't believe it. This guy, you know, he couldn't get a h***-on if he had to.
GRADY MATHEWS: Well, you know, that does bring up another interesting subject.
And this is only the beginning. Billy Incardona steps in the booth for a spell later in the video.
Gary Nolan passed away in 2018. Grady Mathews, also known as "The Professor" or "Mr. One Pocket," was the first inductee into the One-Pocket Hall of Fame in 2004. He promoted pool throughout his career, particularly the game of one-pocket. He passed away April 18, 2012, at the age of 69.
"I'll have a another Drambuie and potato salad."~~ Dub (Grady Mathew's character in "The Color of Money)
I was so excited to get my photo taken with a legend. Me and Grady Mathews when I was working at Champion Billiards in Silver Spring, Maryland. Mid-'80s.
Gary Nolan aka Bushwhacker owned Lucky Break Billiards in Pennsylvania during the latter part of his life. He was an unsung hero in our pool world. Not to many people know how strong he really played, and I have a feeling he liked it like that.
Randi and Grady Mathews at the 2003 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Virginia.
In the early '80s, long before I met Keith McCready, I was on the road with Geese (Michael Gerace), and we were at Baker's pool room in Tampa. Geese blew all his stew in a ring game on a snooker table, and I was already preparing for the worst. Those who know Geese are well aware of his hot Italian temper and that he did not like to lose.
When Geese walked outside of Baker's, busted and disgusted, he slammed his cue stick on the ground. You could see the steam coming out of his ears. Along comes this tall gentleman around the corner right at that moment, and he immediately picks up Geese's cue stick and hands it to him, stating, "You shouldn't treat your cue like that. What's wrong, Mike?" I was counting my blessings at this juncture, realizing Geese's temperament would change from here on in. Grady Mathews took us out to dinner. He was driving a silver Cadillac, the kind with the pointed tail lights. I never forgot Grady's generosity and how kind he was to me. He knew Geese could be, well, challenging to deal with when he lost.
Grady jogged every morning in the autumn of his life. He did his best to stay in shape, He was dead-set against altering one's state of mind at will; in other words, he didn't drink, smoke, or use drugs. He promoted pool tournaments and was heralded as a one-pocket phenom. He always bet his own money and loved the action, especially when he was shooting. He had no fear and would play anyone on the planet, especially one-pocket. That was his game. He was happiest, though, when he was sitting in the booth commentating for Accu-Stats or other live streams of the day. He wanted his words of pool wisdom to be preserved for future generations.
Grady loved to share his words of wisdom about pool, and he had many wisdom nuggets to share.
Grady, Nick Varner, and the late Larry Liscotti sharing a chuckle.
When Geese walked outside of Baker's, busted and disgusted, he slammed his cue stick on the ground. You could see the steam coming out of his ears. Along comes this tall gentleman around the corner right at that moment, and he immediately picks up Geese's cue stick and hands it to him, stating, "You shouldn't treat your cue like that. What's wrong, Mike?" I was counting my blessings at this juncture, realizing Geese's temperament would change from here on in. Grady Mathews took us out to dinner. He was driving a silver Cadillac, the kind with the pointed tail lights. I never forgot Grady's generosity and how kind he was to me. He knew Geese could be, well, challenging to deal with when he lost.
Grady jogged every morning in the autumn of his life. He did his best to stay in shape, He was dead-set against altering one's state of mind at will; in other words, he didn't drink, smoke, or use drugs. He promoted pool tournaments and was heralded as a one-pocket phenom. He always bet his own money and loved the action, especially when he was shooting. He had no fear and would play anyone on the planet, especially one-pocket. That was his game. He was happiest, though, when he was sitting in the booth commentating for Accu-Stats or other live streams of the day. He wanted his words of pool wisdom to be preserved for future generations.
Grady loved to share his words of wisdom about pool, and he had many wisdom nuggets to share.
Grady, Nick Varner, and the late Larry Liscotti sharing a chuckle.
Grady was a good friend and teacher. One of the best advanced teaching pool videos ever was Grady's 'Only Kicks'. If you haven't viewed it 100 times, go buy it and watch it. His knowledge of the sport was exceptional and the techniques he used is something that advanced pool players need to know. If Efren were to ever publish a video, it would be similar to Grady's video.
Here is a funny story for you guys:
Back in the early 1990s, Grady was staying at my house for a few days. He was helping me elevate my game—specifically in the area of “What do you do when you don’t have a shot?” That’s the line that separates the pros from the amateurs, and I wanted to learn his perspective—his real-life go-to moves that he executed like they were hangers.
After about four hours of working on his systems one day, we decided to head to a local restaurant for dinner. In true pool player fashion, Grady ordered a massive steak with all the trimmings, a drink to go with it, and devoured the whole thing like it was his last meal—telling stories the entire time.
At one point, he said, “I’m hitting the road down South for a week to do my painter’s thing, so I gotta stay in shape.”
I laughed. “Oh, you mean the hustle—where you pretend to be a local painter who just stopped into a bar after a long day’s work, looking for a casual game?”
He grinned. “You got it!”
After dinner, he lit up a cigarette and kept the stories flowing like he never missed a beat. I just sat there smiling, soaking up the presence of a once-in-a-lifetime legend. He was special—larger than life—and one of my all-time favorite people in pool.
Anyway, we headed back to my place and played one of Grady’s patented 3-ball safety games. I hated that game—mainly because he kicked my ass every time—but it forced me to apply what he had just taught me. He is where I learned to be humble, shut up and listen to the master.
Around 2 a.m., I finally said, “That’s it. I’m going to bed.”
Grady replied, “OK, see you in the morning. Hope you learned something today.”
Now, every pool player knows that when a pro says, “See you in the morning,” they really mean around 1 p.m. LOL.
So I crashed for the night. Grady stepped outside for a smoke. I remember thinking to myself, This guy is in such poor health—so thin and frail, always smoking. How does he survive life on the road?
About half an hour later, I heard noises coming from his room—loud, weird noises, like he might be in pain. I ran downstairs, knocked on the door, and asked, “You OK? Sounds like something’s wrong in there.”
He opened the door, standing there in a t-shirt, sweaty, grinning from ear to ear.
“Just doing some sit-ups before I hit the rack,” he said.
“Sit-ups!!! ... After drinking, smoking, and that huge meal?” I asked.
He laughed. “What I do for a living is tough—mentally and physically. I’ve got to get into character. How do you think I pull it off?”
“Grunting in your bedroom?” I teased.
Grady grinned. “Normally, I watch my diet but I have to look the part. You know what I mean? but I still do 200 sit-ups and 100 push-ups every morning and every night. How else am I supposed to fool people into thinking I’m emaciated and can’t make three balls in a row? Just… do me a favor and don’t tell anyone.”
Well, I’ve never told that story—until now.
And I’m still laughing and still amazed.
R.I.P. Grady
Here is a funny story for you guys:
Back in the early 1990s, Grady was staying at my house for a few days. He was helping me elevate my game—specifically in the area of “What do you do when you don’t have a shot?” That’s the line that separates the pros from the amateurs, and I wanted to learn his perspective—his real-life go-to moves that he executed like they were hangers.
After about four hours of working on his systems one day, we decided to head to a local restaurant for dinner. In true pool player fashion, Grady ordered a massive steak with all the trimmings, a drink to go with it, and devoured the whole thing like it was his last meal—telling stories the entire time.
At one point, he said, “I’m hitting the road down South for a week to do my painter’s thing, so I gotta stay in shape.”
I laughed. “Oh, you mean the hustle—where you pretend to be a local painter who just stopped into a bar after a long day’s work, looking for a casual game?”
He grinned. “You got it!”
After dinner, he lit up a cigarette and kept the stories flowing like he never missed a beat. I just sat there smiling, soaking up the presence of a once-in-a-lifetime legend. He was special—larger than life—and one of my all-time favorite people in pool.
Anyway, we headed back to my place and played one of Grady’s patented 3-ball safety games. I hated that game—mainly because he kicked my ass every time—but it forced me to apply what he had just taught me. He is where I learned to be humble, shut up and listen to the master.
Around 2 a.m., I finally said, “That’s it. I’m going to bed.”
Grady replied, “OK, see you in the morning. Hope you learned something today.”
Now, every pool player knows that when a pro says, “See you in the morning,” they really mean around 1 p.m. LOL.
So I crashed for the night. Grady stepped outside for a smoke. I remember thinking to myself, This guy is in such poor health—so thin and frail, always smoking. How does he survive life on the road?
About half an hour later, I heard noises coming from his room—loud, weird noises, like he might be in pain. I ran downstairs, knocked on the door, and asked, “You OK? Sounds like something’s wrong in there.”
He opened the door, standing there in a t-shirt, sweaty, grinning from ear to ear.
“Just doing some sit-ups before I hit the rack,” he said.
“Sit-ups!!! ... After drinking, smoking, and that huge meal?” I asked.
He laughed. “What I do for a living is tough—mentally and physically. I’ve got to get into character. How do you think I pull it off?”
“Grunting in your bedroom?” I teased.
Grady grinned. “Normally, I watch my diet but I have to look the part. You know what I mean? but I still do 200 sit-ups and 100 push-ups every morning and every night. How else am I supposed to fool people into thinking I’m emaciated and can’t make three balls in a row? Just… do me a favor and don’t tell anyone.”
Well, I’ve never told that story—until now.
And I’m still laughing and still amazed.
R.I.P. Grady
At the Rack in Detroit…early morning…nothing going on yet…a player asks Grady about a one pocket situation.
Grady ends up talking about it for half an hour…everybody in the room gathers around the table like they’re in school….
…and he’s using words like predicate. I said “Grady, could you keep it simple? The only big word I know is marmalade…and I’m not sure what it means.” …..Grady laughed, said “I’m gonna use that one.”
Billy, Buddy, and Grady commentating….Billy asks Grady about a couple players if they ever had a money session….Grady says “Well, they circled each other a few times but they never did get it on.” Buddy started laughing…..brought it up a few times..loved Buddy’s laugh.
Grady ends up talking about it for half an hour…everybody in the room gathers around the table like they’re in school….
…and he’s using words like predicate. I said “Grady, could you keep it simple? The only big word I know is marmalade…and I’m not sure what it means.” …..Grady laughed, said “I’m gonna use that one.”
Billy, Buddy, and Grady commentating….Billy asks Grady about a couple players if they ever had a money session….Grady says “Well, they circled each other a few times but they never did get it on.” Buddy started laughing…..brought it up a few times..loved Buddy’s laugh.
This thread is really about The Derby at the casino venue. But there are some pretty good stories about the old Executive West days in there too. I'm sure you could find tons more by digging around with the search function.
His room is still open. In Lexington, SCI met Grady in 92 at Cuetopia in Vegas, he was in town for a few weeks. Got to know him then. We got along good, nice talks. I never played him.
He had the one pocket tourney at the Reno Hilton in Jan 93 which Ed Kelly beat Cornbread in the finals. If any pool match I’ve ever seen could be recorded it would be that one. WOW! Grady ran a great tourney. I’m sure some people here were that for that.
In 2007 Grady and I got to talking about doing something like that again, he had the room in South Carolina at the time. We didn’t get anything going.
I always enjoyed seeing and talking with Grady, he’d call me once in a while to chat. Never asked for a dollar. He was my friend. I still have his number in my phone. I can’t erase it.
A few observations over the years, Grady had a short fuse (glad he liked me), he loved and lived pool as much as anyone ever-total lifetime immersion. Was a brilliant commentator and loved winning. Grady wasn’t a milk drinker & he never took a yoga class.
I sure miss Grady.
Fatboy
"Fraught with peril" No clue how many times I heard him use that description. But, now, whenever I hear it I think about him.
This thread is really about The Derby at the casino venue. But there are some pretty good stories about the old Executive West days in there too. I'm sure you could find tons more by digging around with the search function.
I'm sure you know by now that threads tend to ramble a bit, especially when I am involved!(grin) I do try to let folks have a run at the original subject first. Funny thing sometimes we ramble around full circle and get back to it!
Appreciate the link. I'm sure I read that when it was new but I'm getting old enough anything a few years old is new again! I was actually trying to pry some old personal stories from the EW from you. Those you witnessed or participated in. Statute of limitations has to be over for most stories from that era!(grin)
Sad to say, I have been retelling a few old stories lately and realize I can use real names now, all the main characters are dead!(groan)
Hu
CLASSSSSSSSSIC stuff. One of the best tales i've heard in a WHILE.Grady was a good friend and teacher. One of the best advanced teaching pool videos ever was Grady's 'Only Kicks'. If you haven't viewed it 100 times, go buy it and watch it. His knowledge of the sport was exceptional and the techniques he used is something that advanced pool players need to know. If Efren were to ever publish a video, it would be similar to Grady's video.
Here is a funny story for you guys:
Back in the early 1990s, Grady was staying at my house for a few days. He was helping me elevate my game—specifically in the area of “What do you do when you don’t have a shot?” That’s the line that separates the pros from the amateurs, and I wanted to learn his perspective—his real-life go-to moves that he executed like they were hangers.
After about four hours of working on his systems one day, we decided to head to a local restaurant for dinner. In true pool player fashion, Grady ordered a massive steak with all the trimmings, a drink to go with it, and devoured the whole thing like it was his last meal—telling stories the entire time.
At one point, he said, “I’m hitting the road down South for a week to do my painter’s thing, so I gotta stay in shape.”
I laughed. “Oh, you mean the hustle—where you pretend to be a local painter who just stopped into a bar after a long day’s work, looking for a casual game?”
He grinned. “You got it!”
After dinner, he lit up a cigarette and kept the stories flowing like he never missed a beat. I just sat there smiling, soaking up the presence of a once-in-a-lifetime legend. He was special—larger than life—and one of my all-time favorite people in pool.
Anyway, we headed back to my place and played one of Grady’s patented 3-ball safety games. I hated that game—mainly because he kicked my ass every time—but it forced me to apply what he had just taught me. He is where I learned to be humble, shut up and listen to the master.
Around 2 a.m., I finally said, “That’s it. I’m going to bed.”
Grady replied, “OK, see you in the morning. Hope you learned something today.”
Now, every pool player knows that when a pro says, “See you in the morning,” they really mean around 1 p.m. LOL.
So I crashed for the night. Grady stepped outside for a smoke. I remember thinking to myself, This guy is in such poor health—so thin and frail, always smoking. How does he survive life on the road?
About half an hour later, I heard noises coming from his room—loud, weird noises, like he might be in pain. I ran downstairs, knocked on the door, and asked, “You OK? Sounds like something’s wrong in there.”
He opened the door, standing there in a t-shirt, sweaty, grinning from ear to ear.
“Just doing some sit-ups before I hit the rack,” he said.
“Sit-ups!!! ... After drinking, smoking, and that huge meal?” I asked.
He laughed. “What I do for a living is tough—mentally and physically. I’ve got to get into character. How do you think I pull it off?”
“Grunting in your bedroom?” I teased.
Grady grinned. “Normally, I watch my diet but I have to look the part. You know what I mean? but I still do 200 sit-ups and 100 push-ups every morning and every night. How else am I supposed to fool people into thinking I’m emaciated and can’t make three balls in a row? Just… do me a favor and don’t tell anyone.”
Well, I’ve never told that story—until now.
And I’m still laughing and still amazed.
R.I.P. Grady
My mom passed by for a quick visit about the time I got off work. I had been hanging calcium silicate insulation all day. Very dusty, looked like I was covered with white dust from cutting sheetrock. I excused myself for five minutes for a quick shower, then came back out with the same shirt and pants on.
Mom immediately suspected the usual bachelor laundry issues. "I have plenty of clean clothes, going shoot pool a little later." I hated my face or scalp dirty and kept my hands washed. I preferred everything clean but then putting dirty jeans and shirt back on didn't bother me a whole lot.
I did the opposite after I was married. Kept a couple cubes of Master chalk in my truck. When a place didn't have any chalk fit to use I would grab my own but it's main purpose was a bit more devious. If I had side tripped for a few hours in those days before cell phones I would take the chalk and carefully put a couple of square chalk marks just above my belt like I had leaned over a piece of chalk on the rail.
"Where the hell have you been??" The unmistakable tone of a wife several levels past redass. "Girl, I can't lie to you. I have been making mad passionate love to a beautiful blond for hours!"
"Ha, you wish! I see that chalk on your shirt. You have been at the pool hall with those bums." "Damn girl, I can't put anything over on you!"
Hu
The first real professional pool match I saw was the 89 Brunswick Open Finals between NICK and GRADY. Wow...what an exciting match. And they made it to the hill. Grady could REALLY play ALL games at a world class level when he was focused. True legend. I highly recommend checking it out on youtube. Nick was lucky to win....but he did have an angel on his shoulder that year...winning like 9 majors. Great thread.
i was going to check it out, but you just told us who won thanks so now i don’t have to
Mr. Joshua
Registered
I have one for sale on eBay. It's priced high, but I could do better here. If anyone is interested, please send me a PM.
Grady was able to do something I've never seen another pool player do. He would stand next to a pool table with his thighs leaning against the apron and jump straight up on both feet atop the table without using his hands for assistance. He was incredibly balanced gymnastically as anyone I've ever seen.
I tried searching for the Accu Stats video of McCready vs Gary Nolan but can't find it on the Accu Stats website?