Anyone remember Jack White?

OneIron

OneIron

On the snap, Vinny!
Silver Member
Jack White used to do exhibitions when I was in college in the early 70's. He could freeze the cue ball on the center of the bottom rail and freeze the object ball on the center of the top rail and cut it in the corner pocket. He was very entertaining and made some amazing shots. Never heard anything about him after I finished college.
 
I still know him very well Neil! In fact I just spoke with him recently. :D I took over Jack's tour in 1995. Jack is retired and still living in sunny S. CA. Jack was a highly skilled player, but he could be beaten. He was a king of schmooze though! LOL

OneIron...Where did you go to college? I met Jack for the first time, when he came to my college in Gunnison CO in '71. Jack was the king of the college exhibition tour. He performed at several hundred schools over the years...some of them for 20 years straight!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Neil said:
Scott Lee knew him well. He will post when he sees this thread.
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Jack White

Jack used to come to Southern Oregon State College in the 80's and I saw him there several times. He'd do some exhibitions, run a little tournament, and entertain everyone around. Doing the college tour, I bet he shot more trick shots on crappier equipment than just about anyone. I know I'd like to have the fancy old ebony Palmer he was always playing with. I'm glad he's doing well.
 
Scott Lee said:
I still know him very well Neil! In fact I just spoke with him recently. :D I took over Jack's tour in 1995. Jack is retired and still living in sunny S. CA. Jack was a highly skilled player, but he could be beaten. He was a king of schmooze though! LOL

OneIron...Where did you go to college? I met Jack for the first time, when he came to my college in Gunnison CO in '71. Jack was the king of the college exhibition tour. He performed at several hundred schools over the years...some of them for 20 years straight!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...

Went to Augusta College ( now ASU) in Augusta, GA. Jack came 2 or 3 times. We had 5 9' Gandy's in the Student Center. It was a packed house whenever Jack showed up. I've only seen the frozen rail cut shot made one other time but it seemed that Jack could make at will.
 
I saw Jack in Athens, OH when my brother was in scool at OU in the early 80's. Very entertaining and talented man.
 
I met Jack White in the late 60's. He was well connected at UCLA and he got the VIP treatment when we attended their basketball games. He introduced me to coach Wooden who was #1 at the time. At a little pool room in Inglewood CA (Hamner's)Jack taught me some of one-pockets finner points. He was fun to be around and he certainly has the gift of gab.
 
Jack came every year to The University of North Texas when I was a student there in the late 80's and 90's...

He could do some really cool shots and was a very nice man if you got him one on one...

Me and some friends took him out to dinner in Denton one night and he was a totally different person away from the crowds and his show...

I still have an autographed copy of his book and 3 trophies from the school tournament he ran (though I never won one - 2 2nds and a 3rd)...

Jeff Georges
 
OneIron said:
Went to Augusta College ( now ASU) in Augusta, GA. Jack came 2 or 3 times. We had 5 9' Gandy's in the Student Center. It was a packed house whenever Jack showed up. I've only seen the frozen rail cut shot made one other time but it seemed that Jack could make at will.
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How do you play that shot? It sounds impossible. I can play that shot with lots of English but not often and definitely not with the CB in that position!
 
I met Jack in the mid 80's when I attended Towson University. I won the college tournament and got to play him several games as part of the exibition. He showed me how to toy with someone in last pocket 8 ball (I was the victim of course).

Truely nice guy who I enjoyed talking with over lunch. He was the first person to explain to me how difficult it was to make a living playing pool. The gift of gab was definately a strength of his. He was easily one of the most entertaining trick shot masters I have seen.
 
OneIron said:
Jack White used to do exhibitions when I was in college in the early 70's. He could freeze the cue ball on the center of the bottom rail and freeze the object ball on the center of the top rail and cut it in the corner pocket. He was very entertaining and made some amazing shots. Never heard anything about him after I finished college.
Click to expand...

I saw Jack White in 1973 at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Ms. He showed up in a big-finned Caddilac with stick-on or magnetic signs on each front door saying something like, "JACK WHITE, World's Greatest Trick Shot Artist". His box-type pool cue case had a little metal plate on it with the same inscription.

From what I can remember, he didn't do too much actual pool shooting or crowd challenges during his exhibition, but he put on a good show with a variety of trick shots.
 
TheThaiger said:
How do you play that shot? It sounds impossible. I can play that shot with lots of English but not often and definitely not with the CB in that position!
Click to expand...

Saw him make it twice but I've never been able to. Always thought hit the rail just right of the object ball with extreme left, maybe even a little bend. Sounds good in theory but...
 
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OneIron said:
Went to Augusta College ( now ASU) in Augusta, GA. Jack came 2 or 3 times. We had 5 9' Gandy's in the Student Center. It was a packed house whenever Jack showed up. I've only seen the frozen rail cut shot made one other time but it seemed that Jack could make at will.
Click to expand...

Last time I saw him, he bet the crowd $5.00 a head that he could make the frozen rail shot in 10 tries. He got several takers. He missed 9 times and asked if anyone else wanted the bet. Got several more takers. Set up quickly on the 10th try and made it. Always figured he could've made any of the first 9 tries. When the crowd went for their wallets, he smiled and said he had already been paid and wouldn't take their money.

We tried to make that shot for months...
 
Steve Mizerak had that shot in his exhibitions.

I saw Jack White at Bowling Green State U. 1971-1975, and at Toledo U.
a few years after that. Awesome stroke. Still my favorite exhibition player of all time.
 
onepocket1...Interesting story about UCLA and Jack White. UCLA was Jack White's very first gig. His wife Mollie got it for him. UCLA had been booking Mosconi every year, but they booked Jack for a one time show. He was so entertaining that they rebooked him immediately for the next year. The following year he was a huge success again, and began what was a 25 year run at UCLA. Along the way, he moved out to S. CA, and got to be good buddies with John Wooden. Wooden trusted Jack so much that he let the BB team members go off campus to Jack's house, when he wouldn't let them go elsewhere. All of the famous players have been to Jack & Mollie's place, including Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem, and Sven Nader, among many others.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

onepocket1 said:
I met Jack White in the late 60's. He was well connected at UCLA and he got the VIP treatment when we attended their basketball games. He introduced me to coach Wooden who was #1 at the time. At a little pool room in Inglewood CA (Hamner's)Jack taught me some of one-pockets finner points. He was fun to be around and he certainly has the gift of gab.
Click to expand...
 
Frankenstroke said:
Steve Mizerak had that shot in his exhibitions.

I saw Jack White at Bowling Green State U. 1971-1975, and at Toledo U.
a few years after that. Awesome stroke. Still my favorite exhibition player of all time.
Click to expand...

I would have to agree with that!
 
OneIron...After I took over for Jack, I continued to appear at Augusta State for another 10 years. They have a new student center now, but I don't think the gameroom made the jump to the new building.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

OneIron said:
Last time I saw him, he bet the crowd $5.00 a head that he could make the frozen rail shot in 10 tries. He got several takers. He missed 9 times and asked if anyone else wanted the bet. Got several more takers. Set up quickly on the 10th try and made it. Always figured he could've made any of the first 9 tries. When the crowd went for their wallets, he smiled and said he had already been paid and wouldn't take their money.

We tried to make that shot for months...
Click to expand...
 
Jeff...I have done shows at UNT also. I was there with Jack, the day OJ Simpson's verdict came in. We had several hundred people watching our show, and when then announced that the verdict was coming in, people rushed to tv's wherever they were. Our huge crowd dwindled to just a few dozen hard cores! LOL

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

McKinneyMiner said:
Jack came every year to The University of North Texas when I was a student there in the late 80's and 90's...

He could do some really cool shots and was a very nice man if you got him one on one...

Me and some friends took him out to dinner in Denton one night and he was a totally different person away from the crowds and his show...

I still have an autographed copy of his book and 3 trophies from the school tournament he ran (though I never won one - 2 2nds and a 3rd)...

Jeff Georges
Click to expand...
 
Scott Lee said:
onepocket1...Interesting story about UCLA and Jack White. UCLA was Jack White's very first gig. His wife Mollie got it for him. UCLA had been booking Mosconi every year, but they booked Jack for a one time show. He was so entertaining that they rebooked him immediately for the next year. The following year he was a huge success again, and began what was a 25 year run at UCLA. Along the way, he moved out to S. CA, and got to be good buddies with John Wooden. Wooden trusted Jack so much that he let the BB team members go off campus to Jack's house, when he wouldn't let them go elsewhere. All of the famous players have been to Jack & Mollie's place, including Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem, and Sven Nader, among many others.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...

Great story, Scott. I'm glad I posted this thread. He must have really made an impression on me since I still talk about him to all of my friends after all these years. If you talk to him, I would appreciate your telling him how much I enjoyed his exhibitions.
 
Scott Lee said:
OneIron...After I took over for Jack, I continued to appear at Augusta State for another 10 years. They have a new student center now, but I don't think the gameroom made the jump to the new building.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...

Wish I had known. I would have attended. The old Student Center is no more. It's mostly offices now. They have a new area for students but I'm not sure if they still have pool tables. It's a shame. We had a hard core group of players that loved the game.
 
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