This is a stupid little story, but I've never let THAT stop me from posting before, so why start now.
I've seen ALOT of Buddy in my lifetime, both in New Orleans and here in Tampa. Planet 9-Ball was his (our) home room for 7-8 years.
Anyway, Buddy was in P-9-Ball practicing nineball alone. I never ask Buddy if I can practice with him, because I play so badly that I could only bring his game DOWN and not be any competition for him. When you aren't a threat to EVER run a rack or win a game, people don't feel any pressure and play (or take a flier) at everything.
So, Buddy has been practicing alone for quite awhile I notice that it's getting harder and harder for him to go around the table and gather the balls and reach under the table for the rack and so on. I go over and tell Buddy that I'll practice with him for a little while and spot him 'THE BREAKS'. He smiles and goes for it.
We ended up playing 10 games and he pulls up with the score 10-0 to Buddy. I shook his hand, thanked him for the games and told him, "I just couldn't outrun THAT SPOT."
He almost died......laughing.
Doug
( Buddy and I are the same weight, same build and same age...... no wonder so many people think that he's ME )
That's a funny line, you couldn't out run the spot. I used to talk to Steve M. until I was blue in the face and it never did any good. I've only talked to Buddy once or twice about this, but no more. I realize now that's it's up to them to make the decision to do something about their weight, and no amount of talking will change their minds.
Buddy is one of the best friends I have ever made in Pool. I don't know if he knows this, but we have got along great for forty years now, since we were both kids in J.C. We always have a few laughs when we are together, and we can talk about anything. I'd love to tell the story here that he told me about the crank on a John Deere tractor but it is double X rated.
Buddy has been consistently one of the best players for over 35 years now, longer than anyone else. Only Rempe and Varner have had nearly as long and successful careers. Hopkins is a little younger. NO ONE has won more tournaments in the last 35 years than Buddy. It's not even close. He would criss cross the country for years playing tournaments nearly every weekend. Big tables, bar tables, it was all the same to him. He won zillions of bar table tourneys in the South with strong 64 player fields. First prize might have only been a grand, but he earned it the hard way.
No one knows the highways of this great nation better than Buddy. He knows the roads better than most truckers. He refused to fly until the last few years. God, it doesn't seem like the big Dayton tourneys were over 30 years ago. Buddy won one after another in the early to mid 70's. And let me tell you the quality of the fields back then were every bit as good as today, if not better. He had to deal with Mataya, Mizerak, McCready, Reid, Marino, Lisciotti, Varner, Dan Louie, Hopkins, Mathews, Cornbread, Jersey Red, Shorty, Kelly, Richie, Ronnie, Hubbard, Rempe, David Howard, Medina and later on Sigel.
I'm surely forgeting someone who belongs on that list, and there were many more decent players who weren't easy either. That's why I brag about finishing 13-16th in a couple of 64 man fields back then. And Buddy beat 'em all many times, more than any one else of his era. And more than that, he could beat them gambling too. Not one of the above great players wanted to gamble with Buddy even at 9-Ball. I can only think of one player from the above list who could have matched Buddy ball for ball at 9-Ball in his prime and that's Richie, and maybe the Ed Kelly of the 60's. Many of the others tried and failed. Only Cornbread could have out gambled him.
I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Efren in his prime could not beat Buddy Hall in his prime at 9-Ball. Buddy broke better and ran out more racks. Only Earl strung racks better than Buddy in tournaments. And by the way, Buddy played jam up One Pocket and Banks as well. Only a handful of guys had a chance against him playing Banks. He played with the best players of his era like Tony Fargo and Truman. At One Pocket it was the same story, only a handful of players would mess with Buddy, and he was the favorite along with Efren at most One Pocket tourneys in the early to late 90's.
Was he the best ever? I don't know. Was he one of the best? DEFINITELY!
