Conversation and good people are still alive in this crazy world at least in Roanoke

Q

quitecoolguy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This past sunday i had to travel to Roanoke Va for a training on monday. My company kindly put me up in a hotel and i quickly asked the lady ehind the desk 2 questions...first where can i get a good steak and 2 where is a pool hall. I had done some research and had decided on Guy and Dolls.

It is a tucked in small place that looked a bit run down , and dear god no parking..but i put on my big boy pants and got out of my van to go bang some balls around. As i was walking up a older gentleman with cue case in hand spoke to me about the weather..it was a beautiful day and i told him i was from Richmond...As i walked in he asked me if i wanted to shoot. We walked up and got some balls and got to it. We talked about cues and the table and the game. He sticks his hand out and says my name is Tony...i say well aint that something...so i mine...nice to meet you Tony.

He asked me about his cue and the value..an old pre-mass production Muccie. I told him he could go on azbilliards and someone could give him a price.

Another guy heard me mention the forum and asked me was i on it, i gave him my screen name and he gave me his..i cant remember to save my life..but he was an older guy...but shot jam up. Then the coolest thing...we started naming pool players...and this older guy slips up to a chair and starts telling me stories of old pool players and guys who hit em good in the area it was a blast..they made me feel right at home...the funniest thing he told me was that he and another guy went around as kids breaking into any outside machine that took quarters..hahah he said "You just take a buch of bobbie pins and stack em and tie em togehter..he laughed and said the trunk of the car was full of damn quarters" i laughed my tail off..just a bunch of old guys spining the yarn. I didnt care about pool time or time on the clock on the wall..i could have listned to old pool room stories all night....and actually i did..what a great day at Guys and Dolls...cant wait to go back.
 
Hi Tony! Glad to see you posting again! Hope life is well in Richmond! Love to see you again for a tuneup...you're due! :grin: Glad you had fun at Guys & Dolls...that room has been around forever and a half! LOL The other guy you mentioned (Az poster) might be Neal, who posts as nb92. He and I have communicated about lessons before.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

quitecoolguy said:
This past sunday i had to travel to Roanoke Va for a training on monday. My company kindly put me up in a hotel and i quickly asked the lady ehind the desk 2 questions...first where can i get a good steak and 2 where is a pool hall. I had done some research and had decided on Guy and Dolls.

It is a tucked in small place that looked a bit run down , and dear god no parking..but i put on my big boy pants and got out of my van to go bang some balls around. As i was walking up a older gentleman with cue case in hand spoke to me about the weather..it was a beautiful day and i told him i was from Richmond...As i walked in he asked me if i wanted to shoot. We walked up and got some balls and got to it. We talked about cues and the table and the game. He sticks his hand out and says my name is Tony...i say well aint that something...so i mine...nice to meet you Tony.

He asked me about his cue and the value..an old pre-mass production Muccie. I told him he could go on azbilliards and someone could give him a price.

Another guy heard me mention the forum and asked me was i on it, i gave him my screen name and he gave me his..i cant remember to save my life..but he was an older guy...but shot jam up. Then the coolest thing...we started naming pool players...and this older guy slips up to a chair and starts telling me stories of old pool players and guys who hit em good in the area it was a blast..they made me feel right at home...the funniest thing he told me was that he and another guy went around as kids breaking into any outside machine that took quarters..hahah he said "You just take a buch of bobbie pins and stack em and tie em togehter..he laughed and said the trunk of the car was full of damn quarters" i laughed my tail off..just a bunch of old guys spining the yarn. I didnt care about pool time or time on the clock on the wall..i could have listned to old pool room stories all night....and actually i did..what a great day at Guys and Dolls...cant wait to go back.
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For the real old time stories--catch Alie next time in--he once ran with Cue Ball Kelly--Tha place has history --Jimmy Rempe hung out there forever and called it home for awhile back in the late 60's and early seventies--it's been a colorfull spot to say the least.
 
Chip Roberson said:
For the real old time stories--catch Alie next time in--he once ran with Cue Ball Kelly--Tha place has history --Jimmy Rempe hung out there forever and called it home for awhile back in the late 60's and early seventies--it's been a colorfull spot to say the least.
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I was born and raised in Roanoke. The late 60s and early 70s featured The Sportsman in downtown Roanoke. Guys and Dolls did not exist on Williamson Road during this time period. Guys and Dolls started out in Vinton, Va. (my home town) and moved out to Williamson Road in the 70s and stayed at this location for a few years. Then it moved to another location on Williamson Road on the other side of the road near its current location, for a short time period. I can assure your that Jimmy Rempe did not hang out at the Guys and Dolls poolroom in the late 60s and early 70s because it didn't even exist then.

Where he did likely hang out was at the Sportsman, which closed around September 1975 (I am looking at a Roanoke Newpaper article now written by Mike Ives). Guys and Dolls did not blossum until after this shutdown event. And yes, Alie was there at the Sportsman all the time too. He will tell you that the best player who ever came out of Roanoke was Bobby Thomas (had thick coke sized glasses).

Yes, the old folks in Guys and Dolls have been around forever, and I too try to get stories out of them every time I visit there.
 
It's cool when I bump into fellow AZers, I wish they all wore signs around their neck lol. I feel like when I walk into any given room there are probably a half dozen of us playing, each of us unaware of the others.

I'm not much of a storyteller but hope to bump into you someday when I go to the richmond area. It's only a matter of time before I make my way to diamond billiards.
 
About Rempe hanging out--I got the info from Joplin and took it that it was from the same place--I had forgotten about the Sportsman, was a few years before my time of running around there--best player that was there when I was coming around was Ronoake Red-but that's another story-Never got to meet Bobby Thomas, must have been a great player in his day. Joplin told me a number of times about Jim R wanting him to travel with him back in the day but Joplin didn't like the idea about moving around like that--
 
Guys and dolls

Great poolhall I play there weekly. Theres a little action and almost always is entertaining
 
Chip Roberson said:
About Rempe hanging out--I got the info from Joplin and took it that it was from the same place--I had forgotten about the Sportsman, was a few years before my time of running around there--best player that was there when I was coming around was Ronoake Red-but that's another story-Never got to meet Bobby Thomas, must have been a great player in his day. Joplin told me a number of times about Jim R wanting him to travel with him back in the day but Joplin didn't like the idea about moving around like that--
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Joplin was either running his construction company and back then was the owner of the New Wood - hottest place in Roanoke with only one bar table. Mexican Joe and One-Eyed Jack came there in 2 week intervals and each ran 13 racks of 9 ball, taking all of the local's money, including Red Terry (Roanoke Red as you called him).

Back in Red Terry's prime Thomas Elkins was slightly better IMHO, especially for money. Red was the best $5 nine ball player in the world but choked horribly as the bet went up (Joplin used to talk about this). Of course anybody will tell you that back then Steve Dillon was without a doubt the best 9 ball player. But, the best player of all around that time was a kid named Lloyd Aldridge. I used to play with him at the Sportsman. He beat the snot out of Red Terry for the cash on a bar table, never missing a shot. Red was so freaking mad (cause he used to beat the kid) that you could see the steam coming out of his big head, and Lloyd was off to the side joking with me that now Red had no chance against him. Lloyd was also good on the big table. I left Roanoke about this time and never heard of Lloyd again, other that the patrons of Guys and Dolls telling me that Lloyd had become a loud mouth drunk who couldn't play anymore like he used to. BTW, Lloyd died a few years back. Red I believe died also a few years back of cancer. Thomas Elkins is probably still in prison from robbing a 7 Eleven. Even after he got out of the pen for a while people in Guys and Dolls said nobody messes with Thomas. Thomas had a beautiful precise stroke and could come back after a 7 year layoff and play like he had never left the game. But, people told me that Thomas did not have money any more and was a non factor in the gambling world.
 
Yeah its been a while since i posted ..or really even shot pool...life..divorce..kids...new woman..planing for a wedding..ugggh..but some how my love of pool stayed just below the surface...I dont get to shoot at all really but went out last fri with my best friend at diamonds and banged em aroudn for a bit..loved it..even played some one hole..that i totoally killed em at haha.it kinda lit a fire under my azz a bit been wanting to hit as many as i can.. i miss apa playing because it was consistent playing..but i have played in years.. i stopped playing in the Moose Lodge Tournaments..they were awsome...but glad to see so many friends were patiently waiting for my return

as for action they were playing two man one pocket 5 dollars a man in guys and dolls....was fun to watch.
 
quitecoolguy said:
This past sunday i had to travel to Roanoke Va for a training on monday. My company kindly put me up in a hotel and i quickly asked the lady ehind the desk 2 questions...first where can i get a good steak and 2 where is a pool hall. I had done some research and had decided on Guy and Dolls.

It is a tucked in small place that looked a bit run down , and dear god no parking..but i put on my big boy pants and got out of my van to go bang some balls around. As i was walking up a older gentleman with cue case in hand spoke to me about the weather..it was a beautiful day and i told him i was from Richmond...As i walked in he asked me if i wanted to shoot. We walked up and got some balls and got to it. We talked about cues and the table and the game. He sticks his hand out and says my name is Tony...i say well aint that something...so i mine...nice to meet you Tony.

He asked me about his cue and the value..an old pre-mass production Muccie. I told him he could go on azbilliards and someone could give him a price.

Another guy heard me mention the forum and asked me was i on it, i gave him my screen name and he gave me his..i cant remember to save my life..but he was an older guy...but shot jam up. Then the coolest thing...we started naming pool players...and this older guy slips up to a chair and starts telling me stories of old pool players and guys who hit em good in the area it was a blast..they made me feel right at home...the funniest thing he told me was that he and another guy went around as kids breaking into any outside machine that took quarters..hahah he said "You just take a buch of bobbie pins and stack em and tie em togehter..he laughed and said the trunk of the car was full of damn quarters" i laughed my tail off..just a bunch of old guys spining the yarn. I didnt care about pool time or time on the clock on the wall..i could have listned to old pool room stories all night....and actually i did..what a great day at Guys and Dolls...cant wait to go back.
Click to expand...

Very Cool thread!

I love the old timers and stories!
 
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