Fugitive Who Hid Identity as a Billiards Hall Manager Caught and Indicted for Murder
- Thread starter argonath
- Start date
OMG, I am pretty sure I've been to this place before. The reason I remember it is because it was the first time I had ever seen country clogging. They had a DJ there, and the patrons would get up and dance. It was so much fun.
We were staying nearby in a "dry county," and we ventured out looking for a pool place and then stumbled upon this joint. What a small world it can be sometimes.
Of course, when I was there, it was long before this happened. :embarrassed2:
I really have fond memories of Chattanooga. The people there were so nice. I love that country clogging. :smile:
That's a surprise. Phil runs a pretty tight ship, of course this has nothing to do with the Chattanooga Billiards Club or pool & billiards at all for that matter, but as usual, the media had to blow it all out of proportion. Unless the business was involved in some way, why do they always have to stick it to the pool rooms and the sport in general. We have enough goofs giving the sport a bad name without the media putting their biased reporting into the issue.
Here's a link to a story about a memory of mine from the Chattanooga Billiards Club. http://www.shermcue.com/poolstory1.html
Thanks for getting the bad PR out there for the pool world. It has been so good for so many years we needed this !
So I guess you made the big time now Mr Reporter.
I know it just the facts. You were mostly doing positive things.
I hope you get back to that trend. Pool needs all the good news it can get.
So I guess you made the big time now Mr Reporter.
I know it just the facts. You were mostly doing positive things.
I hope you get back to that trend. Pool needs all the good news it can get.
glad they caught him...now lets remember Michael L. Surber
http://www.mikesurber.com/
this guy is still out there....somewhere
http://www.mikesurber.com/
this guy is still out there....somewhere
First thing I thought when I saw the thread...that they caught Mike's murderer. Johnnyt
Thanks for getting the bad PR out there for the pool world. It has been so good for so many years we needed this !
So I guess you made the big time now Mr Reporter.
I know it just the facts. You were mostly doing positive things.
I hope you get back to that trend. Pool needs all the good news it can get.
I understand the angst you have here. If you have been reading my articles over the past 3 months, I rarely write anything ill will of anyone, or towards a business entity and organization.
In fact, I was lambasted mercilessly when I wrote a profile of the UPA and did NOT mention the fiasco of how players got screwed out of winnings.
I am trying to be one of billiards biggest promoters, both in Phoenix and around the country and report with the intention of showing the best side of the people and the sport.
But if I write an occasional article that some may feel is 'harmful' to the sport, I have to temper that consideration with those who would feel I am a constant polyanna if I dont write the good and the bad.
My article had nothing wrong to say about the Chattanooga billiard hall, Mike Massey, or Phil. They were victims as much as anyone besides the guy who was murdered. As well, the news is nationwide, and since it had a billiards spin to the story, I was obligated to either write on it, or ignore it.
Argonath
When I first saw the title of this thread I thought they'd caught Mikes killer! I wish that had been the topic.
Gives new meaning to the phrase, "I'd kill for that job."
This link has a picture of the two killers.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/1...ed-plans-days-hours-killed-tattoo-shop-owner/
These two Einsteins didn't realize:
A) The last person who was at the party with the murder victim would be a suspect.
B) It might be a bad idea to text message your plans.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/1...ed-plans-days-hours-killed-tattoo-shop-owner/
These two Einsteins didn't realize:
A) The last person who was at the party with the murder victim would be a suspect.
B) It might be a bad idea to text message your plans.
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I agree that this is bad news for pool but please don't shoot the messenger. This guy was not a pool player and lied to Phil about his experience to land that job. This guy was a DJ in Chicago and a gay porn star. This coupled with the fact that his girl friend, who was porn star herself, made the murder a prominant story in Florida and Chicago. The story also made national news.
The original poster did no harm.
The original poster did no harm.
I'm not trying to crucify the author of the article or the OP, which I gather is one in the same. I just think he put too much emphasis on the Chattanooga Billiard Club, especially with the big picture heading up the article. The Fox Network report http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/16...oo-shop-owner/
gave all the facts without the picture of the pool room and the mention in the articles title, instead showing pictures of the criminals. It mentioned the employment but didn't make it the focal point of the whole story! That's my only complaint. News is news. If it's your job to write about it, can't you being a pool player (I assume, since you posted in this forum) couldn't you have written the story with the focal point, the crime and the criminals instead of the pool room. I'm not asking you to lie to make pool look better, but what was the need in dragging the Chattanooga Billiard Club through the mud? They were not in any way involved. The crime took place before the guy was even an employee! No need to make pool look worse than it is.
I hope the OP takes this as constructive criticism and realizes that my love for pool and the fights I've had to encounter, opening and running pool rooms have influenced my opinion on this type of story. The negative image pool has, often due to sensationalism like this, is where my frustration comes from. I almost lost everything I owned when a group of "do-gooders" tried to stop me from opening Beechmont Billiards, after we jumped through all the normal hoops and had about $60K in to the remodeling and equipment we were told we couldn't open! We fought it and eventually won because the opposition had no real grounds to keep us from opening, but it cost me close to $100K in expenses to fight it, and that put me so far behind the 8-ball it took years to dig myself out of the hole. By then I'd lost my enthusiasm! I can see people reading that article and thinking I don't want a pool room in my neighborhood!
I agree that the article put way too much emphasis on CBC. That being said, this guy had to be a pretty smart cookie to pull the wool over Phil's eyes and get a job at the best room in East Tennessee.
Thanks for getting the bad PR out there for the pool world. It has been so good for so many years we needed this !
So I guess you made the big time now Mr Reporter.
I know it just the facts. You were mostly doing positive things.
I hope you get back to that trend. Pool needs all the good news it can get.
Oldzilla,
I have the utmost respect for you but it's time to face the fact that pool will never be more than an underground seedy cult activity. So what's the harm in warning the unsuspecting public?
Here's another photo of the guy at the Chattanoga Billiard Club. Looks like he is wearing the same shirt in his arrest photo.
http://www.cbcburns.com/galleries/?pageId=2&page=popup&pid=1717&cat_id=72
I wasn't aiming that at you and I hope I didn't come across too harshly. I too believe pool gets WAY too much negative press.
By the way, that was a great read from your web site. Phil remodled the down town pool hall and has lots of great pictures and programs from tournies on the wall. I wonder if some are from the event you mentioned.
I do respect your constructive criticism, as I try to take everyone comments and write better articles each day.
You asked why I emphasized the billiard hall? I am a billiards columnist, not a news, crime, etc... My stories and articles have to BE primarily about billiards and billiards events, news etc...
As I wrote in my first response... I completely understand anyone angst on the article and how it could affect how pool is seen by others. But the pool hall has been mentioned many times in other articles from news, crime sources, and so has Phil and Mike.
I added that the killer used a 'hidden identity' in my title to try to express that CBC was bamboozled in this.
It is fortunate that stories involving pool halls dont show up very often anymore (not like my Morgan Earp story from last week), but I certainly will try to phrase things a bit differently if I can in the future.
Argonath
Thank you for your response. I'm sorry, I hadn't caught the part that you were a "Billiards Reporter" which explains why you had to put a billiards angle on the story. I guess due to my own personal experiences that I briefly touched on in my last post, I'm a bit touchy about the subject. I do appreciate your willingness to listen to constructive criticism and try to phrase thing in a better light for pool! I wouldn't want you to candy coat anything but when the pool room's not part of the actual crime, maybe it would be better to focus on the fact that the criminal wasn't a long time employee and that Phil was taken by surprise by the development. And go with pictures of the criminals instead of the pool room, that makes people who just glance at the pic and the title think the pool room was possibly involved.
I'm not trying to keep digging at you, only offering some heart felt suggestions, because I believe you want to do the right thing and not tarnish pools name any farther than it already is. Good luck with your writings. Please do post when you have any articles out, I'd be interested in reading them.
I thought your story was unfair to the porn industry. There is no reason why you had to point out that those two were porn stars. Then you manage to associate porn with BILLIARDS of all things.
:grin: