"billiards" by john grissim

E

evergruven

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
what a fine read
lovely mix of the technical
and the poetic
all pool tales told well
I'm sure many of you are familiar
in any case
pick up this 'cue-
 
Title

I found it to be one of the best reads among the many pool related books I've seen. And it has one of the all time coolest titles: Billiards : Hustlers and Heroes, Legends and Lies and the Search for Higher Truth on the Green Felt
 
ctyhntr said:
Great book, and I believe the first account of Efren Reyes.
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There is actually a photo that shows a very young Efren in the book. Grissim claimed that there were Filipino players who could spot our best players the eight ball. Of course I scoffed at this and confronted John at the Lake Tahoe tournament in 1982. I was certain that no one could beat our best players at 9-Ball.

John looked me in the eye and repeated that assertion about the Filipinos. He said one day I will see for myself. As it turned out he was right, and it seems that the influx of Pinoy champions has continued to put a hurt on the American tournament scene for the last thirty years and counting. They keep sending new guys over here and they keep dominating our tournaments. Only a few select American players can compete with them on even terms.
 
jay helfert said:
There is actually a photo that shows a very young Efren in the book. Grissim claimed that there were Filipino players who could spot our best players the eight ball. Of course I scoffed at this and confronted John at the Lake Tahoe tournament in 1982. I was certain that no one could beat our best players at 9-Ball.

John looked me in the eye and repeated that assertion about the Filipinos. He said one day I will see for myself. As it turned out he was right, and it seems that the influx of Pinoy champions has continued to put a hurt on the American tournament scene for the last thirty years and counting. They keep sending new guys over here and they keep dominating our tournaments. Only a few select American players can compete with them on even terms.
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I posted this pic years back, thinking it was Efren as well. Freddie was pretty sure that it wasnt, because the "neck was wrong". :thumbup:

images
 
RiverCity said:
I posted this pic years back, thinking it was Efren as well. Freddie was pretty sure that it wasnt, because the "neck was wrong". :thumbup:

images
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That's not the photo I'm referring too. There is another photo in his book with a group of players and Efren is one of them. I just picked up my copy of the book. On the same page as that photo are two other smaller photos. A very young Efren is in one, wearing a white Tee-shirt with his hands on his beltline, standing next to the table. The guy playing was the number one player (his name escapes me at the moment), who was killed a few years later after being involved in a dump.

There are many great photos of old time players like Don Willis, Shorty, Jersey Red and Gene Nagy, and the book is a must have for billiard fans. Some great stories by Grissim in there. I recommend it highly.
 
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jay helfert said:
That's not the photo I'm referring too. There is another photo in his book with a group of players and Efren is one of them. I just picked up my copy of the book. On the same page as that photo are two other smaller photos. A very young Efren is in one, wearing a white Tee-shirt with his hands on his beltline, standing next to the table. The guy playing was the number one player (his name escapes me at the moment), who was killed a few years later after being involved in a dump.

There are many great photos of old time players like Don Willis, Shorty, Jersey Red and Gene Nagy, and the book is a must have for billiard fans. Some great stories by Grissim in there. I recommend it highly.
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hi jay, found this while searching for threads on the book (you're on page 2)-
https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?434423&p=5654219#post5654219

ps sure looks like efren..pretty wild that back then, he was mentioned in a book
 
This book was a great find for me back in the early 80’s when there was not a lot of books about billiards being published. Great pictures and stories. Here is my favorite of Boston Shorty.

7A1FB1F4-517D-4ECF-9DBD-268D0413115A.jpeg
 
jay helfert said:
There is actually a photo that shows a very young Efren in the book. Grissim claimed that there were Filipino players who could spot our best players the eight ball. Of course I scoffed at this and confronted John at the Lake Tahoe tournament in 1982. I was certain that no one could beat our best players at 9-Ball.

John looked me in the eye and repeated that assertion about the Filipinos. He said one day I will see for myself. As it turned out he was right, and it seems that the influx of Pinoy champions has continued to put a hurt on the American tournament scene for the last thirty years and counting. They keep sending new guys over here and they keep dominating our tournaments. Only a few select American players can compete with them on even terms.
Click to expand...
This picture😜
IMG_4336.jpeg
 
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