Attention John Disque !!

SJDinPHX

SJDinPHX

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
John Disque said:
Rudolf Wanderone never beat anyone and was only famous for running his mouth.

He was a good card-player but he HURT pool and convinced millions of American partents to keep their children away from degenerates and idiots like this fat-ass.

He put on a freak-show, with nothing but his mouth, and it was interesting for about 10 minutes - then people laughed at him, and the pool world, and were convinced that it was filled with fools like Fatty.
HE LEFT POOL IN THE DARK AGES and got rich by being an obnoxious, loud, attention-junkie.
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Mr. Disque, You are the most opinionated blowhard on this forum!..You rarely make any sense at all!..True, Fats was not the greatest player, but he probably did more for pool, than Mosconi (or anyone else) ever did!..His colorful non-stop chatter, made him a popular guest on all the talk shows, where Mosconi couldn't even buy his way on!..Pool has always had an 'image' problem, but at least Fats got people to notice pool!

Anyone who really knew Fats, (as I did) and even those who didn't, enjoyed being around him. He was a one man party!.. No, he could never beat Willy at pool, but he was 50 times more interesting and likable!..Tevis would never admit he modeled his "Minnesota Fats" character after Fatty, because they were always in litigation over the fact..He also wouldn't admit he made up the "Fast Eddie" character after Ronnie Allen, for much the same reason.

PS..You need to work on your facts, as you are certainly not impressing anyone with your dislike for Fatty, or your "inside" knowledge of pool in general! :(
 
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I have no skin in this game, but the whole Minnesota Fats thing always struck me as odd, since The Minnesota fats character was nothing like NY Fats. The character in the movie dresses in suits (Rudolph says he hated doing that), didn't really talk smack, and seemed much more reserved and not as boisterous. He certainly wasn't the one man party in the movie you describe in real life.

I've never read the book so maybe the similarities are more noticeable there. To me it just seemed like the name was the only thing similar.

It is true that NYfats/Minnesota fats certainly is a polarizing figure in pool. Kinda like Earl is now I guess.
 
True Dat

SJDinPHX said:
Mr. Disque, You are the most opinionated blowhard on this forum!..You rarely make any sense at all!..True, Fats was not the greatest player, but he probably did more for pool, than Mosconi (or anyone else) ever did!..His colorful non-stop chatter, made him a popular guest on all the talk shows, where Mosconi couldn't even buy his way on!.

Anyone who really knew Fats, (as I did) and even those who didn't, enjoyed being around him. He was a one man party!.. No, he could never beat Willy at pool, but he was 50 times more interesting and likable!..Tevis would never admit he modeled his "Minnesota Fats" character after Fatty, because they were always in litigation over the fact..He also wouldn't admit he made up the "Fast Eddie" character after Ronnie Allen, for much the same reason.

PS..You need to work on your facts, as you are certainly not impressing anyone with your dislike for Fatty, or your "inside" knowledge of pool in general! :(
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I second that opinion.
 
Dick, i was in my teens when ya'll were strokin an jokin down in Johnson City and didn't have the experience to clock speed. A friend, whose opinion i respected, felt FATS, at one time, was probably a top 5 bank pool player and a top 10 one pocket player. Was he in the ball park?

Thanks In Advance, adam
 
DCS_SF said:
I have no skin in this game, but the whole Minnesota Fats thing always struck me as odd, since The Minnesota fats character was nothing like NY Fats. The character in the movie dresses in suits (Rudolph says he hated doing that), didn't really talk smack, and seemed much more reserved and not as boisterous. He certainly wasn't the one man party in the movie you describe in real life.

I've never read the book so maybe the similarities are more noticeable there. To me it just seemed like the name was the only thing similar.

It is true that NYfats/Minnesota fats certainly is a polarizing figure in pool. Kinda like Earl is now I guess.
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Tevis had to make his character somewhat different than the real Fats, otherwise he would have had to admit to copying his likeness! (likewise with RA) Also, the director of 'the Hustler' (Rossen) had a lot of input in creating the character of Minnesota Fats!
 
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ribdoner said:
Dick, i was in my teens when ya'll were strokin an jokin down in Johnson City and didn't have the experience to clock speed. A friend, whose opinion i respected, felt FATS, at one time, was probably a top 5 bank pool player and a top 10 one pocket player. Was he in the ball park?

Thanks In Advance, adam
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I would say he's pretty close, Adam!..I would say there was probably more like 20 people who played both games better, during Fats prime!
 
SJDinPHX said:
Tevis had to make his character somewhat different than the real Fats, otherwise he would have had to had to admit to copying his likeness! (likewise with RA)
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So what similarities between the two are there if you change everything? Is the character modeled after him then if his dress, demeanor, and personality are all different?

If you take away all that, there isn't a whole lot to the character besides he was a known good pool player who liked action. (Again, just going by movie, and maybe the book fleshes him out a bit).

I'm not being argumentative it is just this story has always bothered me and I get to ask someone about it. :grin:
 
DCS_SF said:
So what similarities between the two are there if you change everything? Is the character modeled after him then if his dress, demeanor, and personality are all different?

If you take away all that, there isn't a whole lot to the character besides he was a known good pool player who liked action. (Again, just going by movie, and maybe the book fleshes him out a bit).

I'm not being argumentative it is just this story has always bothered me and I get to ask someone about it. :grin:
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The main similarities (as I see it) are his belt size, and eating habits!..Plus the fact that both the real Fats, and Tevis' character were both full time 'pool action junkies'! :wink:

PS..If you read the book, he does 'flesh out' the character more!.... Also, as I said earlier, according to what I've read, the director of 'the Hustler' (Rossen) did have a lot of input in creating the character of Minnesota Fats!
__________________
 
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I grew up in Philly - a block away from Willie's room.

Walter Tevis stated hundreds of times that his book was not written about this fat slob who had never even been to Minnesota and has never even had a damn job. - He shoulder-hopped on other people's success.

He was a card-player - and a decent one, because he'd shark them into doing stupid shit!

Willie Mosconi, who was friends with Tevis, publicly stated this many, many times, which is why Wanderone hated Willie and talked-shit about him every single day of his miserable life.

If you want to find great players - there's thousands of them from that era and they would've all given their nuts to play Wanderone for money!

There's 10,000 of them today who would give their balls to play Wanderone for money. The guy sucked and couldn't even get down on a shot so he poked at everything. He could barely hold a cue.

But you just keep on believing what you want to believe.

Pool is the only sport you could do this because the public is stupid about it.

If I got up and said I could hit 100 home runs in a row - you would tell me to prove it, but no one ever did this with Fats because he was a master at diverting their tiny attention spans.

ONE person had patience with him and it was Willie Mosconi, who would stand there begging him to get his fat-ass to the table and bet something!
 
John Disque said:
I grew up in Philly - a block away from Willie's room.

Walter Tevis stated hundreds of times that his book was not written about this fat slob who had never even been to Minnesota and has never even had a damn job. - He shoulder-hopped on other people's success.

He was a card-player - and a decent one, because he'd shark them into doing stupid shit!

Willie Mosconi, who was friends with Tevis, publicly stated this many, many times, which is why Wanderone hated Willie and talked-shit about him every single day of his miserable life.

If you want to find great players - there's thousands of them from that era and they would've all given their nuts to play Wanderone for money!

There's 10,000 of them today who would give their balls to play Wanderone for money. The guy sucked and couldn't even get down on a shot so he poked at everything. He could barely hold a cue.

But you just keep on believing what you want to believe.

Pool is the only sport you could do this because the public is stupid about it.

If I got up and said I could hit 100 home runs in a row - you would tell me to prove it, but no one ever did this with Fats because he was a master at diverting their tiny attention spans.

ONE person had patience with him and it was Willie Mosconi, who would stand there begging him to get his fat-ass to the table and bet something!
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Mr. Disque..I am not basing my knowledge of Fat's on "growing up near Mosconi's pool room"..It is obvious you detest the man, so I will let you continue on making yourself look foolish to anyone who really knew him..I know Willy just well enough to know I don't care to know him any better..Hell of a player, but not much else going for him!

I am basing my views on Fat's, from knowing him well, and having played him several times over the years!..I can't see you owning one, but if you can borrow a copy of Robbin's "Shots, Moves and Strategies", you can read about a few of our escapades in there! :cool:

PS..I am on pages 32, 134, 297 and 299..Fats is in there too!..I don't recall seeing Willy in there at all??? :embarrassed2:
 
SJDinPHX said:
Mr. Disque, You are the most opinionated blowhard on this forum!..You rarely make any sense at all!..True, Fats was not the greatest player, but he probably did more for pool, than Mosconi (or anyone else) ever did!..His colorful non-stop chatter, made him a popular guest on all the talk shows, where Mosconi couldn't even buy his way on!..Pool has always had an 'image' problem, but at least Fats got people to notice pool!

Anyone who really knew Fats, (as I did) and even those who didn't, enjoyed being around him. He was a one man party!.. No, he could never beat Willy at pool, but he was 50 times more interesting and likable!..Tevis would never admit he modeled his "Minnesota Fats" character after Fatty, because they were always in litigation over the fact..He also wouldn't admit he made up the "Fast Eddie" character after Ronnie Allen, for much the same reason.

PS..You need to work on your facts, as you are certainly not impressing anyone with your dislike for Fatty, or your "inside" knowledge of pool in general! :(
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I'm glad to finally see someone knowledgeable, say that tevis actually modeled the Fats character after Rudolf Wanderone.
Tevis lived and worked in at least one poolroom in the southeastern part of Ohio.
George Rood told me in the late 40s all the players, traveled through Marietta Parkersburg and even Athens Ohio, usually going to or from some other hot spot like Norfolk.
To believe Tevis didn't know of him, and his persona, and had been around him at some point, is absolutely ridiculous, in my opinion.
He would have had to have been blind and deaf.
 
SJDinPHX said:
Mr. Disque..I am not basing my knowledge of Fat's on "growing up near Mosconi's pool room"..It is obvious you detest the man, so I will let you continue on making yourself look foolish to anyone who really knew him..I know Willy just well enough to know I don't care to know him any better..Hell of a player, but not much else going for him!

I am basing my views on Fat's, from knowing him well, and having played him several times over the years!..I can't see you owning one, but if you can borrow a copy of Robbin's "Shots, Moves and Strategies", you can read about a few of our escapades in there! :cool:

PS..I am on pages 32, 134, 297 and 299..Fats is in there too!..I don't recall seeing Willy in there at all??? :embarrassed2:
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Drop mic! Perfect response. Who could top that?
 
I remember fats being real good! Running racks against volunteers in the crowds during an exhibition. 4-5in a row and when he missed "it was his plan" lol but still a A player in my opinion!
 
mvp said:
I remember fats being real good! Running racks against volunteers in the crowds during an exhibition. 4-5in a row and when he missed "it was his plan" lol but still a A player in my opinion!
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It was hard not to notice, that Fats seemed to take a very casual, nonchalant approach to every aspect of his game..Its amazing he played as well as he did!..He acted like he could care less if he played well or not!..Of course, this always got him a ton of action, so whose to say it was not by design!..As pool players go, his win/loss record was not all that bad! :confused:

PS..He was certainly never a world beater..But maybe he really was "triple smart"!.. After all, who else could have gotten the mileage he did, out of claiming to be a fictional movie star, like "Minnesota Fats"? :cool:
 
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DCS_SF said:
I have no skin in this game, but the whole Minnesota Fats thing always struck me as odd, since The Minnesota fats character was nothing like NY Fats. The character in the movie dresses in suits (Rudolph says he hated doing that), didn't really talk smack, and seemed much more reserved and not as boisterous. He certainly wasn't the one man party in the movie you describe in real life.

I've never read the book so maybe the similarities are more noticeable there. To me it just seemed like the name was the only thing similar.

It is true that NYfats/Minnesota fats certainly is a polarizing figure in pool. Kinda like Earl is now I guess.
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From what I've read over the years, the main similarities between the fictional MF and RW, who took over the name MF after the film came out, were: they both were fat, had the name "Fats" in their nom de guerre, both were known to play pool for large stakes, and both had a noticeable neck tick.

Tevis always denied basing the character on RW, however, in an interview (and to his everlasting regret), Mosconi once said the MF character in the book/movie was based on RW.

Lou Figueroa
 
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