Billiards is Food for the Soul
- Thread starter JAM
- Start date
JAM, I haven't been to Raytown Recreation since I moved from KC in 1981. It was my home when I lived there. God, I miss that place.
I have several pictures that I will dig up and post; showing Don, the room, and (I think) "Big Bertha".
Don taught me the fundamentals of 3 cushion (now lost somewhere in my dusty memory) and used to run very sporty numbers on me in practice; 5's and 7's regularly, and even a 13 one time. He consistently finished in the top 10, sometimes top 3 to 5, in most U.S. national 3 cushion events in the late 70's and early 80's.
Steve Hassell was just a youngster then, but was already a strong player, taking on the likes of a young David Matlock when he came through.
Raytown taught me that in a "real" pool room you have to walk up or down a stairway when you come in the door.
I have several pictures that I will dig up and post; showing Don, the room, and (I think) "Big Bertha".
Don taught me the fundamentals of 3 cushion (now lost somewhere in my dusty memory) and used to run very sporty numbers on me in practice; 5's and 7's regularly, and even a 13 one time. He consistently finished in the top 10, sometimes top 3 to 5, in most U.S. national 3 cushion events in the late 70's and early 80's.
Steve Hassell was just a youngster then, but was already a strong player, taking on the likes of a young David Matlock when he came through.
Raytown taught me that in a "real" pool room you have to walk up or down a stairway when you come in the door.
Scottster said:
This is so funny. Keith and me are like two ships passing in the night sometimes.
I just asked him, and he said he knows Don Brink real well, that he stayed at his house, and they used to go to the dog track together. In fact, he said, "I love Don Brink."
Geesh, small world, huh?! Show me your picture, Scott, so that I can show it to Keith to see if he remembers you.
Now we are going to Raytown Recreation for sure, me and Keith. I can't wait.
He said Don used to take him in all the tournaments around there in Kansas City. He used to go to Shooters over in Olathe all the time, he said. Sounds like Don is a pretty cool cat! I hope I get to meet him someday!
JAM
Thanks for the link. Looked like a nice place for action!
Great thread Jennie,
I was nearly broke in KC once. It was scary. I was near the Crown Center. I didn't know if I was in Kansas or Missouri. Keith told me once if I got in trouble go to Reytown. Go to the pool hall and ask for Don or JoAnne Brinks. I took a taxi cost about $40 so I must have been far away. This was in the 80's.....The house man told somebody to take me to the bar that JoAnne was playing league. I had never seen her in my life. She took me home. (to their home) to meet Don. Great Guy. And later took me back to the Crown. They were super people and I was able to leave town with money in my pocket. Otherwise I would have had to call Jimmy Fusco and beg.
I was nearly broke in KC once. It was scary. I was near the Crown Center. I didn't know if I was in Kansas or Missouri. Keith told me once if I got in trouble go to Reytown. Go to the pool hall and ask for Don or JoAnne Brinks. I took a taxi cost about $40 so I must have been far away. This was in the 80's.....The house man told somebody to take me to the bar that JoAnne was playing league. I had never seen her in my life. She took me home. (to their home) to meet Don. Great Guy. And later took me back to the Crown. They were super people and I was able to leave town with money in my pocket. Otherwise I would have had to call Jimmy Fusco and beg.
JAM,
Great post and great links....I could almost smell the cigars all the way here in los angeles. I too have a very soft spot for the old time rooms and what they represent, thanks for the reminder....
Joe
Great post and great links....I could almost smell the cigars all the way here in los angeles. I too have a very soft spot for the old time rooms and what they represent, thanks for the reminder....
Joe
Wow, what a guy. Left his wife for 5 years on a whim. Only a pool player.JAM said:...stepping back in time to a place where billiards was king, like Kansas City in the 1940s, where people huddled around tables in crowded but hushed parlors to watch matches between top players....
Sound familiar? These old-timey pool rooms are scarce today, but not in Kansas City. That's right. Even in 2008, a half-a-century later, Kansas City offers a slice of American pool at Raytown Billiards on 12th Street.
With oriental rugs on the floor, comfy cushioned chairs for railbirds, Raytown Billiards is one pool room I want to visit. And I will for sure.
I love this quote from the article below, a must-read: In pool, a ball takes a short trip to the pocket, but a successful 3-cushion billiards shot can be a long, beautiful journey. The cue ball travels slowly over a smooth green plain and caroms off three, four, sometimes five or six rails before it finally, gently taps its prey.
I remember the first pool room I worked in had two billiard tables, and they got played by the old-timers and Asian-American clientele. Eventually, they replaced the tables with pocketed Gold Crowns, due to lack of interest. Billiards as a game seemed to diminish in popularity.
One time, some kids came in there to play pool, and I gave them the tray of balls. They went all the way in the back of the room and proceeded to rack the balls for a friendly partner game of 8-ball. Up at the counter, Old Man Mickey nudged me to watch what inevitably was going to happen when they broke the balls on the billiard table. The expression on the kids' faces was priceless when they realized the table had no pockets.
This article is about a billiard champion named Don Brinks. According to the article, he went to the DCC in Louisville this year. He keeps pool alive and well in what I consider to be a rarity, this pool room of his. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE 2-plus minute video of this beautiful room where it says Hear Stories About the Hall's Past: http://www.kansascity.com/782/story/535176-p2.html
After you read the article, you too will long to drive to Kansas City to see this place up front and close, like stepping back in time, as the article reads, and maybe, if you're lucky, you will get a chance to chat with Don Brink, a American champion billiards player.
ARTICLE: http://www.kansascity.com/782/story/535176-p2.html
JAM
Now we are going to Raytown Recreation for sure, me and Keith. I can't wait.
OH! NO! NO! NO! Please stand to be corrected, You, Keith, and Frankie....LOL
Your not getting away this time, you owe me...LOL
OH! NO! NO! NO! Please stand to be corrected, You, Keith, and Frankie....LOL
Your not getting away this time, you owe me...LOL
ScottR said:And, finally, the proud winner of a Raytown Rec tourny.
Gawd I look so young......
Those were the days, huh?! When I see pictures of myself younger, I get all melancholy. Man, did I have a nice mane of hair, all blond. I was very conscientious in how I looked. Today, I'm happy to just wake up with no aches and pains, much more so than what I see in the mirror staring back at me.
Thanks for sharing all those great pictures. I can't wait to show them to Keith when he rises and shines!
How fortunate you were to have enjoyed playing pool at Raytown. What a pool room that is!
Pretty cool trophy you got there, too!
Ltldebbie said:
Wow, that's a nice story. The Brinks sound like first-class pool folk.
When that happened to me -- and it did a few times on the road -- Western Union was my best friend!
I will NEVER forget the ride home on a bus from rural Tennessee to D.C. with only 5 bucks in my pocket, a 25-hour odyssey through the mountains and then transfers at filthy bus stations filled with scary scoundrels in the urban districts.
JAM
JimS said:
Thanks so much, Jim. I feel the same way about you. There truly are some good pool folk on this forum.
I just received a PM from Steve the table mechanic from Southern California. He gave me a little pool smut to give Keith, but he also shared this link about Raytown.
I love this pool room more and more. It may just be the last one of its kind, a traditional American pool room.
I will be going there next time I am on the road going west, without a doubt.
Here is the new link about Raytown and Don Brinks: http://www.realcities.com/mld/kansascity/living/18450503.htm
I got a kick out of this quote from the article: The floor is Oriental rugs. The air is powder, smoke and grumbles.
JAM