I just received word from his son, Devin, that Tommy Carr had a massive heart attack this morning and passed away a few hours ago. I asked Devin if I could pass the word along to the anyone who might have known him and he said it was fine.
I'm not very good at stuff like this. I tend to take people's passings pretty hard, whether I outwardly show it or not. With that said....
Tommy Carr had been living in the Pocahontas, Arkansas area, which is in the northeast part of the state, somewhat near the Missouri bootheel. I had only known him for a little over 2 years, so I don't know much about his background. I do know he had an "infectious" smile and laugh. He loved his son, Devin, who is a good, strong, young player in his early 20's here in Arkansas.
Both the father and son were members of the APPA (Arkansas Pool Player's Association) here in the state. Tommy's health wasn't great the last few times that I saw him, but when I did see him, he was always rooting Devin on.
I have a couple of fond memories of him. One of the first times I met him, we played each other at a little pool hall in Pocahontas that is no longer around. It was on a Friday night and we were playing 9B. For some reason, they liked playing "short races" in that league location, and as that, well, Tommy wasn't that great of a player (to be truthful), he only needed to win 2 games against me. That's a pretty tough nut to outrun, even tho I think I only needed 4 myself. It was all normal 9B rules, except that you must call the 9-ball's pocket. I honestly don't remember how Tommy won the first game, but he did, and bang....he's on the hill. I had been taking him pretty lightly and shooting at things I shouldn't have. I ended up with virtually no shot at the moneyball in the last rack, so I banked safe, leaving the 9 frozen to a long rail and the CB was frozen to the other opposite long rail. They were nowhere near any natural angle. They were actually sitting almost dead opposite each other. I figured there was no way he'd ever make that bank and I was looking for him to sell out.
Tommy stared at it for a minute and then just smacked it in. I turned to him and I don't know whose eyes were wider, his or mine. We both then busted out laughing, as we each knew that he had no idea how he did it and it was probably a 1-in-50 bank shot for him. And so he beat me. I was a little disappointed, but as I look back on it now, I'm glad he won, because it genuinely made him happy. We had fun that night.
The other great memory I had was when I played his son, Devin, in the finals of a league tournament this past April. I had been playing lights out all night and made it to the "hot seat" match. Devin proceeded to run over me 6-1, leaving footprints on my back.
I then had to play in the finals of the loser's bracket against a guy that Devin had beaten prior to me. I knew it was the first time he had ever played Devin and asked him how it went. He said, "That guy beat me 6-0. I....WANT....REVENGE!" Well, I proceeded to beat that guy 5-0. Lol.
So, Devin and I met again in the finals, with his dad rooting him on. I probably shot some of THE best pool of my life and Devin played strong as well. I believe I slid past him like 5-2 or 5-3 in the first set. This put us up for a final set. We traded every single game, back and forth, each of us running a couple racks (alternating breaks) to get hill-hill. Devin ended up with a fairly makeable shot in that last one and jawed it. I got out.
It probably goes down as the best I've played in a tourney and also being the most fun I've had. There were times that I would look at over at Tommy and see how proud he was of his son.
As soon as I made the last ball, I turned to Devin to shake his hand, but Tommy beat him to it. His Dad shook my hand that fast. He knew he had seen a great match and even tho his son didn't win......he just loved pool.
The first words out of Tommy's mouth were, "How many times have you watched that video?" I just looked at him and asked him to repeat himself. I didn't know what he meant. He then said, "You know, that pool video. I can tell you've watched it." I just laughed and said I had a stack of pool instructional videos and matches a mile high at home. He said, "Well, this one is online. Some guy named Tor, or something, made it."
I BUSTED out laughing and said, "Yeah, I've watched Tor's stuff. I own the Kicking and Banking Videos as well. How could you tell?"
We then jabbered back and forth and before you knew it, 2 guys, and a Dad, who had been in "tournament combat" just moments before, were exchanging info back and forth like excited lil kids. I ended up showing Devin more stuff that night, and he to me, along with CJ Wiley's TOI method. He really caught on fast. He saw right away why I was pocketing balls like a madman, moving the ball around the table a little bit differently than he was used to seeing......and kicking and banking at balls pretty accurately.
So, Tommy Carr, whereever you are.......you might not have been anyone famous in the pool world, but your memory as a pool fan and recreational player will be recorded here for eternity.
Godspeed, buddy.....
I'm not very good at stuff like this. I tend to take people's passings pretty hard, whether I outwardly show it or not. With that said....
Tommy Carr had been living in the Pocahontas, Arkansas area, which is in the northeast part of the state, somewhat near the Missouri bootheel. I had only known him for a little over 2 years, so I don't know much about his background. I do know he had an "infectious" smile and laugh. He loved his son, Devin, who is a good, strong, young player in his early 20's here in Arkansas.
Both the father and son were members of the APPA (Arkansas Pool Player's Association) here in the state. Tommy's health wasn't great the last few times that I saw him, but when I did see him, he was always rooting Devin on.
I have a couple of fond memories of him. One of the first times I met him, we played each other at a little pool hall in Pocahontas that is no longer around. It was on a Friday night and we were playing 9B. For some reason, they liked playing "short races" in that league location, and as that, well, Tommy wasn't that great of a player (to be truthful), he only needed to win 2 games against me. That's a pretty tough nut to outrun, even tho I think I only needed 4 myself. It was all normal 9B rules, except that you must call the 9-ball's pocket. I honestly don't remember how Tommy won the first game, but he did, and bang....he's on the hill. I had been taking him pretty lightly and shooting at things I shouldn't have. I ended up with virtually no shot at the moneyball in the last rack, so I banked safe, leaving the 9 frozen to a long rail and the CB was frozen to the other opposite long rail. They were nowhere near any natural angle. They were actually sitting almost dead opposite each other. I figured there was no way he'd ever make that bank and I was looking for him to sell out.
Tommy stared at it for a minute and then just smacked it in. I turned to him and I don't know whose eyes were wider, his or mine. We both then busted out laughing, as we each knew that he had no idea how he did it and it was probably a 1-in-50 bank shot for him. And so he beat me. I was a little disappointed, but as I look back on it now, I'm glad he won, because it genuinely made him happy. We had fun that night.
The other great memory I had was when I played his son, Devin, in the finals of a league tournament this past April. I had been playing lights out all night and made it to the "hot seat" match. Devin proceeded to run over me 6-1, leaving footprints on my back.
I then had to play in the finals of the loser's bracket against a guy that Devin had beaten prior to me. I knew it was the first time he had ever played Devin and asked him how it went. He said, "That guy beat me 6-0. I....WANT....REVENGE!" Well, I proceeded to beat that guy 5-0. Lol.
So, Devin and I met again in the finals, with his dad rooting him on. I probably shot some of THE best pool of my life and Devin played strong as well. I believe I slid past him like 5-2 or 5-3 in the first set. This put us up for a final set. We traded every single game, back and forth, each of us running a couple racks (alternating breaks) to get hill-hill. Devin ended up with a fairly makeable shot in that last one and jawed it. I got out.
It probably goes down as the best I've played in a tourney and also being the most fun I've had. There were times that I would look at over at Tommy and see how proud he was of his son.
As soon as I made the last ball, I turned to Devin to shake his hand, but Tommy beat him to it. His Dad shook my hand that fast. He knew he had seen a great match and even tho his son didn't win......he just loved pool.
The first words out of Tommy's mouth were, "How many times have you watched that video?" I just looked at him and asked him to repeat himself. I didn't know what he meant. He then said, "You know, that pool video. I can tell you've watched it." I just laughed and said I had a stack of pool instructional videos and matches a mile high at home. He said, "Well, this one is online. Some guy named Tor, or something, made it."
I BUSTED out laughing and said, "Yeah, I've watched Tor's stuff. I own the Kicking and Banking Videos as well. How could you tell?"
We then jabbered back and forth and before you knew it, 2 guys, and a Dad, who had been in "tournament combat" just moments before, were exchanging info back and forth like excited lil kids. I ended up showing Devin more stuff that night, and he to me, along with CJ Wiley's TOI method. He really caught on fast. He saw right away why I was pocketing balls like a madman, moving the ball around the table a little bit differently than he was used to seeing......and kicking and banking at balls pretty accurately.
So, Tommy Carr, whereever you are.......you might not have been anyone famous in the pool world, but your memory as a pool fan and recreational player will be recorded here for eternity.
Godspeed, buddy.....
