I was asked to tell some stories about Cliff Thorburn. He won the World Snooker Championship twice in the eighties, marvelous accomplishments. At that time he was young, exciting and very offensive minded with his snooker.
I played Cliff once at "Tacoma Whitey's"pool room in Tacoma, WA. He spotted me the wild 6 ball, meaning I could shoot that ball any time I wanted and even as many times in a row as I could, as it spotted back up. I lost and in retrospect, I don't think it was much of a handicap. It was a great learning experience for me.
I was there when he played our best snooker player, the great Denny Searcy. They played 50 hours and broke even on one of the 6' X 12' tables in Cochran's but honestly that hallowed contest was played with American balls and rules but Denny had never even heard of a snooker cue. In all it was the stuff of legend and perhaps the finest match this humble correspondent has ever witnessed. Again, remember, Denny could do things that nobody else even knew was possible. To put things into perspective, with my game, Denny used to spot me one point and it was gambling.
Cliff beat everybody he played, including "Herman the German" in OKC except Ronnie Allen. The only reason Ronnie beat him was that he tricked Cliff into playing on an ultra tough table with three red balls. Nobody ever played better defense than Ronnie at Snooker or One Pocket.
Simply put, it's an honor and a pleasure just to know a great champion like Cliff.
I played Cliff once at "Tacoma Whitey's"pool room in Tacoma, WA. He spotted me the wild 6 ball, meaning I could shoot that ball any time I wanted and even as many times in a row as I could, as it spotted back up. I lost and in retrospect, I don't think it was much of a handicap. It was a great learning experience for me.
I was there when he played our best snooker player, the great Denny Searcy. They played 50 hours and broke even on one of the 6' X 12' tables in Cochran's but honestly that hallowed contest was played with American balls and rules but Denny had never even heard of a snooker cue. In all it was the stuff of legend and perhaps the finest match this humble correspondent has ever witnessed. Again, remember, Denny could do things that nobody else even knew was possible. To put things into perspective, with my game, Denny used to spot me one point and it was gambling.
Cliff beat everybody he played, including "Herman the German" in OKC except Ronnie Allen. The only reason Ronnie beat him was that he tricked Cliff into playing on an ultra tough table with three red balls. Nobody ever played better defense than Ronnie at Snooker or One Pocket.
Simply put, it's an honor and a pleasure just to know a great champion like Cliff.
