Another long story...Jack Cooney !
- Thread starter SJDinPHX
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SJD, thanks for the great pool stories. Cooney and "Little " Richie are two of my all time favorites also.
Dick, keep the stories coming. I'm sure I speak for many here that are hungry for road stories, especially from one that has gone through it and has the ability to paint the pictures with his words as you do. Your stories are especially interesting to me because they are from my era and me knowing and having played many of them.
Hopefully the other guy (we all know who) stays out of the mix here with his insignificant minor details.
Hopefully the other guy (we all know who) stays out of the mix here with his insignificant minor details.
Early seventies when Grady opened his pool room here in town, it was his wife. I think she eventually moved to Ada OK after the split and she's probably still there.
Sandy had short red hair and usually was holding pretty good, being the den mother of a titty bar selling $25 bottles of Andre Champaign to the Fort Carson military brats, retail at the time was $2.75 per bottle.
I also remember Bob Osborn coming to town in his new Green Volvo 245 Wagon and bringing the first Red Circle cue ball into play, he offered Matthews 1 on the wire 9 ball sets if he used that ball, Grady wasn't bitin' he was more used to the Blue circle from the Centennial sets. Next time I saw Osborn was in a ring game at the Courtney coffey event where the stakes walked, it was along the river in Burlington IA. It was he, Searcy, Mataya and one other, Bob actually hocked his car to keep playing, got his money back....Mataya went to the room, slept 8 hours, took a shower ate and came back and busted the 10 Ball game. There was a sweater watching the action, he fell asleep and someone five fingered his cue during play, no one ever figured that out. They played thru the night and in those humid conditions along the Mississippi, by the time ya got to the 8 or nine ball your were spent and sold out to next in line. I then went from there to Weenie/DeValles place on the E. Coast and saw Louie Roberts empty out to Carella, only to let Louie hock his gold Jewelry and lower the set price to his last $800 and then he busted Carella.
If he did, then he's the only one who could. A lot of people didn't know how good George played. Lassiter himself said that George was the best player he ever knew, and that included Willis. Luther and Don (Willis) used to come to Dayton to visit George when I was a kid. I never saw a road man (including Kelly, Spaeth and Ervolino) beat George and he was already in his 50's. When a real good player came to town they called George and he took care of them. :wink:
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When Louie caught that gear he might not miss a ball for hours. He shot scary straight! I did pretty good staking him, until he got worn out (after maybe 24 hours straight) and would go off. I finally learned to pull up after ten or twelve hours of play. Louie would always be pissed at me for pulling down my money, but then he would go off and come to the room hours later broke and depressed. At least this way I had money to get us back in action a day or two later. Louie would thank me after the fact for pulling up and saving some money. That was our M.O. :grin:
You can be a snake and pretend you are not doing this or that but we all see it here. You said you would have to get Terry to call Barbara so...Lenny; I hadn't thought about Jack in awhile since Freddy's passing! This thread sparked that I may want to talk to Him, you know, about some of the old days at the 'Rack!'
Theses types of stories make people think about others, and what they're up to.
Like I said, I don't have His number, I'll get it from Terry, that's all!
Maybe I'll let YOU find someone I can play EVEN in AZ!
P.S. I won't post in THIS thread anymore, unless YOU find that player from AZ!
P.P.S. Lenny, since YOU want me to find someone to play, I'll play YOU!
YOU play me, 9/6 one pocket and I'LL play YOU 30/20 in 3 Cushion! We can play some $500.00 or 1K a game! Either game won't take long!
Remember, YOU started the 'sarcastic' remarks!
As far as playing you goes, not in this lifetime even if you offered to play even up one pocket. Go start your own thread and tell us a story we might enjoy, do something positive on this forum instead of being a $hit starter. :wink:
If the distractions are finally out of the way...for those who like 'em..got another story coming up soon. This ones about one of my most favorite people ever, Richie Florence
I'll be looking forward to that, Dick.
I got a Richie story he told me...I'll save it for your thread.
...with your permission, of course
pt...putting all these threads on subscribe
According to George he completely quit playing for about 25 years. I got the impression it had something to do with his eyes. Not often does a guy with his ability completely quit playing.
No, it was because his business breeding show dogs got so big. He was nationally known in those circles and became one of the top dog show judges as well. By the way he was never completely retired, regardless of what you heard or read. Remember, George's roots in pool were as a hustler, running around with Lassiter and Willis when he was a young man. I saw him often (two or three times a week) come in and practice for a couple of hours just to stay sharp. He would throw nine balls on the table and run out for an hour or so. Then he would rack them up for a Straight Pool break and regularly run over a 100 and just quit when he was satisfied.
George did get the occasional game when a hustler came to town (in Dayton). He just wanted to be ready when Russ Maddox gave him a call. Let's just say he was semi-retired. Like many good hustlers, George would always say he hadn't been playing, but I knew better. I watched him destroy Ed Kelly when he was considered the best young player in the country. Kelly had beaten everyone in town and had no idea who Rood was. Kelly was dressed like a celebrity and had a fancy case and cue. He kept trying to raise the bet but George just ground him down at ten and twenty a game. Kelly was so frustrated he stormed out of there. It was in The Cue and Bridge in Northtown shopping center on N. Main St. I was working behind the counter.
Jay, I don't recall if I ever mentioned it to you, but my parents lived in Dayton...Once, when I was visiting them from California, an opportunity came up, and I wound up leasing a pool room in Fairborn OH, right near W/P AF Base !..It was about 1957-58, or so !..Those were the days of Winkler, Coffee, Maddox, Rood, and all the guys you always mention !..I was only there for about a year or so ! (one winter was enough :embarrassed2
Clem, Speath, King Curtis, and all the rest, came to my joint, to fire at the young hotshot from California...Some did OK, most didn't !..I got Maddox pretty good one time, at his pool room in Springfield, but, fortunately for me, I guess Rood was unavailable !..I never happened to run across him.. Whenever you start talking about Dayton, you sure stir up some good old mem's....Thanks !
Dick
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Anyone have any Denny Searcy stories? I was a fanboy when I was stationed near his stomping ground in the late 60's (Moffett Field,CA)
Loved watching weekly 9 ball tourneys around there with shooters like Denny, Dal Porto, Starry, The Plumber, Tom the cop, Smiley. As a D player I nearly took down the plumber(I got tons of weight)..lol.
Loved watching weekly 9 ball tourneys around there with shooters like Denny, Dal Porto, Starry, The Plumber, Tom the cop, Smiley. As a D player I nearly took down the plumber(I got tons of weight)..lol.
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SJD and Jack
Jay did you know George loved 3 Cushion Billiards. I played him at DCC in a tournament around 2003-2005. I beat him and he was so hot because he loved winning so much. I think he was 88 years old. When DCC was in KY. Getting back to SJD and Jack, Jack lived in Baltimore back in the late 80's, the first 2 years Jack sat around and watched and when he came out of his nut shell he busted all the big money players. He knew how to get all the money. A great guy and a nice person. SJD I never saw you play but heard a ton of stories about how good you played.I heard you were a great player and a nice guy too. I would have loved to seen you and Jack play. Two H.O.F. and Great One Pocket Players.
Jay did you know George loved 3 Cushion Billiards. I played him at DCC in a tournament around 2003-2005. I beat him and he was so hot because he loved winning so much. I think he was 88 years old. When DCC was in KY. Getting back to SJD and Jack, Jack lived in Baltimore back in the late 80's, the first 2 years Jack sat around and watched and when he came out of his nut shell he busted all the big money players. He knew how to get all the money. A great guy and a nice person. SJD I never saw you play but heard a ton of stories about how good you played.I heard you were a great player and a nice guy too. I would have loved to seen you and Jack play. Two H.O.F. and Great One Pocket Players.
I moved to SF in 1970 and worked a few bars there. I was down on Market Street and ran into him upstairs in the Crystal Palace?? I think that's the name. Anyway you had to walk up twenty plus steps to the pool room, and all the walls were covered in glass, a perfect place to watch someone play w/o them realizing it. I just turned twenty one and ran into this guy, nice man and we started playing ten or twenty dollar nine ball, I was laying down and learning my way around the rooms away from IL. Well this guy was up a few games so I decided to play better and then as good as I could only to realize he did the same thing. I think I lost $130 and realized I couldn't beat this guy. Next time I saw em was in a ring game in Burlington IA, playing with the likes of Mataya, Bob Osborne, and one other. He was the favorite in the game, but it was an all night ten ball ring game that played into the morning hours/a few other players jumped in and out during this Ring Game, I think it was two ta three hundred a rack. Well Mataya quit, went to bed, got up ate and came back and busted the game, but I can't remember how he finally did, tho he seemed to be the best of the group, till Jimmy got his rest. Black Bart hocked his Volvo but got his money back. Searcy was tough, playing at sea level along the Mississippi in those humid/dirty conditions with the old directional slow rag cloth did not seem to bother him at all, fatigue was the only culprit under those tough conditions.
Hey, thanks for the story..I enjoyed it.
That was Palace Billiards. I spent many an hour there.