Give a Shout Out to Person(s) Most Influential in Your Pool Life
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Eddy Gregory
Top player in New England who always made time for a nobody like me.
He was a mentor and friend. RIP
Harry (Joshua) Garfinkle
A generation before Eddy
Proved age is no excuse...or impediment
Guys like Harry were the reason I played every day year after year
Top player in New England who always made time for a nobody like me.
He was a mentor and friend. RIP
Harry (Joshua) Garfinkle
A generation before Eddy
Proved age is no excuse...or impediment
Guys like Harry were the reason I played every day year after year
A few...
Jack Hoffman, the first really strong player I saw play in the 1950s.
Dick Skaff, who sponsored players, pool teams, softball teams and a bowling team., in the late '60s, early '70s.
Willie Munson, who introduced me to high level defensive play in the '70s.
Jim Fox, who financed players and many teams in the '80s, especially when they were down on their luck.
Jimmy Scrima, who tightened up my game in the '90s.
Jack Hoffman, the first really strong player I saw play in the 1950s.
Dick Skaff, who sponsored players, pool teams, softball teams and a bowling team., in the late '60s, early '70s.
Willie Munson, who introduced me to high level defensive play in the '70s.
Jim Fox, who financed players and many teams in the '80s, especially when they were down on their luck.
Jimmy Scrima, who tightened up my game in the '90s.
Mike Massey
I owe more to him than anybody I ever met,he made me a million
I went to a cheap bar to win a few dollars playing bar pool with the local
lush crowd,I ran into mike Massey in the 60s
We started playing and I saw he had a bankroll so I let up on him, and asked to raise the bet a time or two
Mike perceived the situation and made a few remarkable shots that looked like luck to me.
He said' no' he was a great player and said that he could beat me one handed,in fact if I would bet $20 a game
(in the 60s this was like $200 pr game now)
that he would play with one hand and give me the 7ball
It wasn't long until Mike left with two bankrolls and I left dejected.This led to serious reflection on my part,which led to me throwing my two piece cue in the Trinity river and going to work in the real estate business where I became successful .It wasn't long until I owned a house ,an office,bought my mom a nice little house and accomplished what I never would have in the pool hustling industry
So,I thank Mike for that beating he gave me,
I owe more to him than anybody I ever met,he made me a million
I went to a cheap bar to win a few dollars playing bar pool with the local
lush crowd,I ran into mike Massey in the 60s
We started playing and I saw he had a bankroll so I let up on him, and asked to raise the bet a time or two
Mike perceived the situation and made a few remarkable shots that looked like luck to me.
He said' no' he was a great player and said that he could beat me one handed,in fact if I would bet $20 a game
(in the 60s this was like $200 pr game now)
that he would play with one hand and give me the 7ball
It wasn't long until Mike left with two bankrolls and I left dejected.This led to serious reflection on my part,which led to me throwing my two piece cue in the Trinity river and going to work in the real estate business where I became successful .It wasn't long until I owned a house ,an office,bought my mom a nice little house and accomplished what I never would have in the pool hustling industry
So,I thank Mike for that beating he gave me,
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Gene Nagy -- Who taught me that important discoveries aren't made by thinking inside the box.
Jack Colavita -- The best multi-rail position player I'd ever seen. He taught me how to love moving the cue ball around, which is now my favorite thing to do to this day.
Dalton Leong and sports psychologist Jim Loehr --- The mental game.
Jack Colavita -- The best multi-rail position player I'd ever seen. He taught me how to love moving the cue ball around, which is now my favorite thing to do to this day.
Dalton Leong and sports psychologist Jim Loehr --- The mental game.
Lots of influential people in my pool life...starting with Frank Oliva in 1971. Jack White, Jerry Briesath, Willie Jopling and Randy Goettlicher...all of whom have had a profound influence on me...as a player, an instructor, and even moreso as a person. Of them all, only Jerry and Randy are still around, and still influencing me to this day! I try to spend as much time with them as I can! I'll see Jerry this weekend at the SBE! :thumbup:
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
My wife for tolerating all the time I spend shooting since I started 5 years ago and AZB for teaching me what would have taken decades to learn on my own in just a few short years. ( my wife also permitted to have not only the GC in my avatar but I added a Valley bar box also. Now I just need to make room for a Diamond bar box)
I keep glancing at this thread...and I'm thinking that if I acknowledged all the people who
have influenced me in a positive manner in the pool world...
...this post would look like a telephone book....I've been very lucky.
So I'm going outside the pool world to golf...I worked at a pro shop starting at 12...
...by the time I was 15, I could break 80 sometimes...
...by the time I was 16, I could shoot par....sometimes.
My boss, Jack Madash, told me something that carried into billiards...and kept me from
going broke many a time....it was...
"Do your practicing on the practice field."
have influenced me in a positive manner in the pool world...
...this post would look like a telephone book....I've been very lucky.
So I'm going outside the pool world to golf...I worked at a pro shop starting at 12...
...by the time I was 15, I could break 80 sometimes...
...by the time I was 16, I could shoot par....sometimes.
My boss, Jack Madash, told me something that carried into billiards...and kept me from
going broke many a time....it was...
"Do your practicing on the practice field."
Friend
The late John O'Neil, he was my best friend. I had gotten away from Pool for a good number of years, when in 1994 John decided to pay me an unexpected visit. We were doing the normal catching up on the past when John found out I had a Pool table set up downstairs. John and I spent a good amount of our youth playing at Flynn's Poolroom.
John was still playing at a couple local rooms and ignited my interest all over again. From 1995 thru 2009 John and I went to every US Open, SBE and Derby City, plus some Viking and others as well. In that time we became cue collectors and met just about all the top cue makers out there.John passed away in May 2009 but the fire he instilled in me about Pool and cues still burns bright today. I practice everyday on my table downstairs and there is never a day I don't think about John and the good times we enjoyed with Pool. When John came over that day in Oct. 1994 I owned one McDermot cue from then to now I have owned just about every cue from all the top makers and I owe that all to John.
The late John O'Neil, he was my best friend. I had gotten away from Pool for a good number of years, when in 1994 John decided to pay me an unexpected visit. We were doing the normal catching up on the past when John found out I had a Pool table set up downstairs. John and I spent a good amount of our youth playing at Flynn's Poolroom.
John was still playing at a couple local rooms and ignited my interest all over again. From 1995 thru 2009 John and I went to every US Open, SBE and Derby City, plus some Viking and others as well. In that time we became cue collectors and met just about all the top cue makers out there.John passed away in May 2009 but the fire he instilled in me about Pool and cues still burns bright today. I practice everyday on my table downstairs and there is never a day I don't think about John and the good times we enjoyed with Pool. When John came over that day in Oct. 1994 I owned one McDermot cue from then to now I have owned just about every cue from all the top makers and I owe that all to John.
One shot....
set the hook for me. In the college rec. center playing on a valley b.b. Mike O. played a five rail position shot to a spot the size of a silver dollar for the game winner. I didn't know who he was or how good...but that shot inspired something when I saw what was
possible.
From there playing partners in short rack snooker in the afternoon for quarters with
Eddie, Boyd, George, Tom, Jim, Dave (RIP to those who have passed) was the most fun I have ever had on a pool table..... made me a fan for life. George Ellis was the former
sparring partner for Harold Worst, and a great player in his own right. While he was well
past his prime, his influence on that game was there. Thank you guys for all the fun, and
camraderie. It was the best that this game can be... for me.
td
set the hook for me. In the college rec. center playing on a valley b.b. Mike O. played a five rail position shot to a spot the size of a silver dollar for the game winner. I didn't know who he was or how good...but that shot inspired something when I saw what was
possible.
From there playing partners in short rack snooker in the afternoon for quarters with
Eddie, Boyd, George, Tom, Jim, Dave (RIP to those who have passed) was the most fun I have ever had on a pool table..... made me a fan for life. George Ellis was the former
sparring partner for Harold Worst, and a great player in his own right. While he was well
past his prime, his influence on that game was there. Thank you guys for all the fun, and
camraderie. It was the best that this game can be... for me.
td
Don Harp of Riverside, Ca area. He played most roadplayers coming thru in the 60's and 70"s. Knew enough to keep a real job while playing some.
Wayne Norcross..TD at DannyK's when I met him. Johnson City straight pool player out of New Jersey.
Neither suffered fools. But, each was happy to share knowledge if asked, and if the questioner was earnest about learning. Both would gather a crowd when sharing a tip.
Thanks to you both..
Wayne Norcross..TD at DannyK's when I met him. Johnson City straight pool player out of New Jersey.
Neither suffered fools. But, each was happy to share knowledge if asked, and if the questioner was earnest about learning. Both would gather a crowd when sharing a tip.
Thanks to you both..
Then it's your fault
All these years I thought it came from Heaven. I remember it like it was yesterday.
Back in the 60's I was just a kid sitting on the bank of the the Trinity river, trying
to catch a carp for our dinner. When out of the sky this leather holster hits me on
the head. I open it up and I know immediately what it is. I had just seen The Hustler.
Well I thought this fell from the sky and is a sign for me. Well now I know. I started
playing every day and winning. But it wasn't long before Deano who I hardly knew
at the time is riding my coattails to one victory after another. Pool, Golf, Softball
you name it. I feel like the guy in the movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy". Now I
know who that guy I saw peering over the viaduct testing the wind with his damp
finger was. He must have seen me at Steves club when I first played a game and
figured he could make some money off of my ill spent youth. Well I guess I have
to change my answer to Deano.
jack
All these years I thought it came from Heaven. I remember it like it was yesterday.
Back in the 60's I was just a kid sitting on the bank of the the Trinity river, trying
to catch a carp for our dinner. When out of the sky this leather holster hits me on
the head. I open it up and I know immediately what it is. I had just seen The Hustler.
Well I thought this fell from the sky and is a sign for me. Well now I know. I started
playing every day and winning. But it wasn't long before Deano who I hardly knew
at the time is riding my coattails to one victory after another. Pool, Golf, Softball
you name it. I feel like the guy in the movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy". Now I
know who that guy I saw peering over the viaduct testing the wind with his damp
finger was. He must have seen me at Steves club when I first played a game and
figured he could make some money off of my ill spent youth. Well I guess I have
to change my answer to Deano.
jack