.like a Chef that knows just the right amount of spice and seasoning to make the dish
CJ was the real deal! He always looked for the biggest games and was not afraid to play the best players. I remember a period of a year or so where CJ followed/chased Efren all around the country to get him to play some 9-Ball, and they did several times. I'll let CJ tell you the rest of the story. :wink:
CJ also made by far the biggest tournament score in Pool before the IPT came along, back in 1996 in Santa Rosa, CA. ESPN put on a special tournament which featured the best men and the best women players. CJ won the men's division for something like 40 or 50K and then played Vivian for the overall title. That match was a joke, but CJ pocketed another 25 or 30K for winning it as well. I did some of the commentary for ESPN and worked with Lon McEachern, the announcer more well known for doing the World Series of Poker. CJ will probably remember better than me how much he won in that event, but it was a big number!
We had some great times at all the tournaments in the 90s didn't we?
The ones you put on were amazing, the one at The Burbank Hilton was especially memorable, it was my first time on ESPN against Earl Strickland and I had to beat Francisco Bustemante for that opportunity.
You must have, Jay, had 700+ people that night they were hanging off the rafters {it seemed like anyway}, the match between Fransisco and I went down to 12/12 with me receiving the winning opportunity.
One thing about your tournaments they were promoted, marketed and advertised well, the results were impressive! We also had great tournaments at the Bicycle Club that attracted Hollywood celebrities and professional athletes for our Charity Events (that's another thing that Jay organized is charity events that were great public relation vehicles and beneficial for everyone involved).
One of the reasons I don't enjoy tournaments these days is there is a lack of electricity in the air, suspense, anticipation.....the game has lost the extra something promoters like Jay Helfert put into the tournaments.....like a Chef that knows just the right amount of spice and seasoning to make the dish special....something that leaves the impression "that was delicious, I want more the first chance I get!" The Pool fans in LA were in a great spot!
That ESPN World Open tournament Jay mentioned was incredible for me as well, not only was the money lucrative, ESPN filmed ALL matches like they were the finals. .
The grand finale was the winner of the women's played the winner of the men's world title for $60,000 first and $40,000 runner up -
they reported an audience of 2,800,000+ which is probably more people seeing us play than our entire career combined. ....ESPN played those matches over and over, Gary Morganstein, the producer for ESPN told me I had over 600 International Hours of exposure internationally.
I literally couldn't walk though an airport without 20-30 people saying hi and making remarks about pool and the tournaments. We were averaging 1,000,000 viewers per show, it was unprecedented exposure for pocket billiards on TV....the Women and Men were Teamed Together, which made the events synergistic with standing room only crowds.
I appreciate all you've done, Jay, we shared a lot of memories. another historic event we shared, when you were our Tournament Director - Earl ran 11 racks in a row for the $1,000,000 - if anyone didn't know, Jay racked the last racks of that historic run of 9-Ball at CJ's Billiard Palace in Dallas. Talk about ELECTRICITY in the air, Max Eberle was there, in an interview {from our documentary} he said there was more excitement during those last racks than he'd seen in any one tournament combined {up to that day in his life}. *Yes, Earl did get paid, we had a 2 year lawsuit and won- it's all in the documentary on my web site MPB.
Great memories, my friend, hopefully there will be many more, hope you are always well!
The Game is Our Teacher
Saw CJ play a couple times in Tulsa before we knew who he was. Well, we found out believe me.
. Never seen or heard of another match going that long anywhere in the USA.