Danny McGoorty
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yeah i loved that book. mcgoorty is a charactar
McGoorty
I'm hard pressed to find anything nice to say about the man, other than that he played a good game of 3 Cushion. He was a pretty low life hustler, the likes of which hasn't helped pool at all, IMHO.
I never understood why Byrnes didn't choose as a subject somebody like Don Watson or Ralph Greenleaf, if you wanted to do a story about a great player who drank. That being said, the book was a decent treatment of a bygone and forgotten era.
I'm hard pressed to find anything nice to say about the man, other than that he played a good game of 3 Cushion. He was a pretty low life hustler, the likes of which hasn't helped pool at all, IMHO.
I never understood why Byrnes didn't choose as a subject somebody like Don Watson or Ralph Greenleaf, if you wanted to do a story about a great player who drank. That being said, the book was a decent treatment of a bygone and forgotten era.
I think Byrne chose McGoorty because Byrne also lived in Northern California at the time and went to the same pool halls. McGoorty might have been an asshole to many but he still had a style and way of speaking that was all his own.
Many, many players were more worthy if talent was the deciding factor. I don't think any other player was still alive, had enough character to make a book as interesting as the one Byrne wrote, or happened to live close to the Bay Area. Byrne is a three cushion player most of all, so that was a big factor I'm sure. He also was around when Ronnie Allen, Searcy,etc...were playing but he just wasn't a one pocket or payball type of guy. Ronnie was a huge personality also, but I think the fact that Danny played billiards was the biggest factor.
I'd guess that he would choose someone like Jay Bozeman as a second choice for a book over any dead legends or great players who just didn't have that strange lifestyle and lingo of McGoorty. Bozeman was one of the greatest players to never win the world title and lived in Vallejo, CA (20 miles away from Petaluma, CA. My hometown and also where Robert Byrne lived for many years before moving back to Iowa)
Many, many players were more worthy if talent was the deciding factor. I don't think any other player was still alive, had enough character to make a book as interesting as the one Byrne wrote, or happened to live close to the Bay Area. Byrne is a three cushion player most of all, so that was a big factor I'm sure. He also was around when Ronnie Allen, Searcy,etc...were playing but he just wasn't a one pocket or payball type of guy. Ronnie was a huge personality also, but I think the fact that Danny played billiards was the biggest factor.
I'd guess that he would choose someone like Jay Bozeman as a second choice for a book over any dead legends or great players who just didn't have that strange lifestyle and lingo of McGoorty. Bozeman was one of the greatest players to never win the world title and lived in Vallejo, CA (20 miles away from Petaluma, CA. My hometown and also where Robert Byrne lived for many years before moving back to Iowa)
IMO, this is one of the best reads as far as pool goes. I've read many and this one stands out. Highly recommended!!!
Ryan
Ryan
he may have been an asshole, but the book was a good read.
I met him briefly in San Francisco at The Palace. Someone I met there, took half my action to play 15 points of Three Cushion with some old drunk. We put up $25 each. The "drunk" was McGoorty, and naturally he beat me, trying his best to keep it close. I realized then that my new "friend" had set me up, to steal my $25.
McGoorty tried to con me into a second "match", telling me that I played well and was unlucky. I offered to play him some 9-Ball or One Pocket and he just blew me off. I saw my "friend" and him sitting together talking only minutes later. They had fleeced another sucker, me. This was in the late 60's.
McGoorty tried to con me into a second "match", telling me that I played well and was unlucky. I offered to play him some 9-Ball or One Pocket and he just blew me off. I saw my "friend" and him sitting together talking only minutes later. They had fleeced another sucker, me. This was in the late 60's.