Yep, and I had allot of respect for Toby Sweet.... and Rempe.
Best Pool Player you saw alive, regardless.
- Thread starter Shooter08
- Start date
Wish I could take credit for that, but I was quoting Jack Colavita, a contemporary of the Miz.
Rafael Martinez and Cliff Joyner are my top heroes after watching them play in person. I've also watched SVB, Earl, JJ, Corey Duel, Bustamante, Efren, a young Skylar, Billy Thorpe since he was 11, Jason Miller, and a bunch of others. I liked watching Cliff and Rafa the most.
I saw Willie play a short exhibition at a trade show at McCormick Place in Chicago in the late 70’s. He never missed.
I’m not sure if he was the best I ever saw, but I’m told he was.
I’m not sure if he was the best I ever saw, but I’m told he was.
Rafael martinez has to be ALONG SIDE of tony chohan
the most creative/fearless/entertaining players of all time
jmho
You were told right
Of all the men I've met in the pool world, one particular one is forgotten within this thread.
In his later years when I was working for the BCA, he showed up at the BCA trade show.
Sad the public never got to meet this man like the industry members did.
No player Efren/Mosconi and on would have felt like they had a good game playing this man, NO one.
Eddie Taylor/Knoxville Bear.
He was 100% himself, a special human spirit that had a built-in demeanor of happiness and contentment, I truly enjoyed talking and being around him.
He told me, he broke and Banked 4 racks of 9 ball, then broke the fifth rack and banked one more.
37 in a row.
In his later years when I was working for the BCA, he showed up at the BCA trade show.
Sad the public never got to meet this man like the industry members did.
No player Efren/Mosconi and on would have felt like they had a good game playing this man, NO one.
Eddie Taylor/Knoxville Bear.
He was 100% himself, a special human spirit that had a built-in demeanor of happiness and contentment, I truly enjoyed talking and being around him.
He told me, he broke and Banked 4 racks of 9 ball, then broke the fifth rack and banked one more.
37 in a row.
when i was a kid i played eddie taylor. he had to bank 25 before i make 25. we split in two games. he had bigger fish to fry and probably didnt want to take my money. good guy. and nobody could even come close to him in banks or shootout 9 ball certainly when he was younger.
True that, the greatest Banker ever. I left him out but he was a legend. His One Pocket game was super too, maybe the only guy along with Bugs who Ronnie couldn't spot.
As I live out in the woods in Maine, I don't have the opportunity to see the great players play in person much. The best I've watched play in person would have to be Mike Dechaine, as he lives in this area so it's not unusual to see him. He was doing challenge matches and such at our local pool room one night, it was fun to watch.
Earl did an exhibition near here a couple years ago, but I couldn't get away from work to go.
I have walked by Bustamonte, Ewa, and Corey Duell, when I was in Vegas for APA once, but I didn't see them actually play, they were in the vendor areas. Jeanette Lee and Tom Rossman were doing exhibitions while I was out there, but the timing of those shows didn't match up to when I could see them.
Earl did an exhibition near here a couple years ago, but I couldn't get away from work to go.
I have walked by Bustamonte, Ewa, and Corey Duell, when I was in Vegas for APA once, but I didn't see them actually play, they were in the vendor areas. Jeanette Lee and Tom Rossman were doing exhibitions while I was out there, but the timing of those shows didn't match up to when I could see them.
Well, lets see it...
I also live in the sticks
so SVB is the only elite player I’ve seen in person. It was just a barbox 8 ball tournament. He’d break, look it over, then make his suit disappear. He was impressive. People were hassling him, challenging him to ridiculous spots. He never broke stride, just kept running racks.
I loved to watch Mosconi. Saw him in person dozens of times during his traveling Straight Pool (my lifelong favorite game) exhibitions and during several of his 14.1 championship competitions when my uncle - a major fan - took me as a little boy.
As everyone knew in those days (especially the East coast sportswriters) he was a peerless Straight Pool specialist -- who got himself in positional trouble less often than any player (before or since) during the entire history of professional pool.
He routinely shot with automaton-level perfection during his 15 victorious world 14.1 title attainments. My favorite anecdote -- that I've told often to emerging Straight Pool players relates to the time a true dunce sat in the bleacher row in front me at a Mosconi exhibition-- with his audibly intelligent wife as me and the dazzled crowd watched Willie beautifully run his typical (and promised) 100 balls.
When Willie was finished (to vigorous applause) I heard the dunce irately say to his wife "What was so great about that; he never had a hard shot! His pool-savvy wife instantly replied: "Why do you think that was?"
Arnaldo ~ After that apt & brilliant zinger, I'm guessing the dunce and his wife ended up sleeping in separate bedrooms for a few days.
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Unfortunately, I only saw him run 28 balls at a sports and boat show.
Lassiter was up there but he always looked horrible -- like he was about to miss and then he didn't.
The smoothest I saw from that generation was George Rood. At 88 he had the smoothest movement around the table I have ever seen (at Derby City). He had recently run 126. In the 1930s/40s he was up with Mosconi and Lassiter, but he chose a different path.
In person, I've loved watching Efren and Earl. Also, there was a time when Mika seemed like he was winning everything. Watching Danny DiLiberto, Grady Matthews, and Mike Massey putting on shows were also a great joy to watch. In person, in a match, I watched Rafael Martinez do some amazing things. Jack Hines as well.
