Darrel Norman, who owned D's Club in downtown Temple, Texas put up with me as a 14 year old kid in a man's world of pool. He gave me tips on how to play certain shots and introduced me to well known players of that era like "Cannonball", a black player who spent most of a summer in Temple, taking on and beating all comers.
W.D. "Big Daddy" Clifton, who owned two pool halls in Waco, Texas, one of which was the Golden Cue near the Baylor campus.
A small diversion from the thread. Big Daddy told me about the time the large tornado swept through downtown Waco in the 50's. He and a group of gamblers were playing dominoes in his upstairs pool room in down town. He said guys were cussin', griping about the rocks they had drawn when someone looked down the street and saw the tornado approaching.
The windows started breaking up with glass flying everywhere. The gamblers dived under a snooker table for protection and Big Daddy said the conversations went from cussin' to "Save me Jesus, Save me Jesus"! Must have been a lot of converts in those few minutes. The structure was not damaged except for the windows and outside sign and, after sweeping up glass and righting the table and chairs, they went back to gambling on dominoes.
I greatly miss these two gentlemen because they were willing to put up with kids in their rooms and offer advice, not only about pool but life situations. I hope they are in a better place and entertaining others with their quick wit and smiles.
W.D. "Big Daddy" Clifton, who owned two pool halls in Waco, Texas, one of which was the Golden Cue near the Baylor campus.
A small diversion from the thread. Big Daddy told me about the time the large tornado swept through downtown Waco in the 50's. He and a group of gamblers were playing dominoes in his upstairs pool room in down town. He said guys were cussin', griping about the rocks they had drawn when someone looked down the street and saw the tornado approaching.
The windows started breaking up with glass flying everywhere. The gamblers dived under a snooker table for protection and Big Daddy said the conversations went from cussin' to "Save me Jesus, Save me Jesus"! Must have been a lot of converts in those few minutes. The structure was not damaged except for the windows and outside sign and, after sweeping up glass and righting the table and chairs, they went back to gambling on dominoes.
I greatly miss these two gentlemen because they were willing to put up with kids in their rooms and offer advice, not only about pool but life situations. I hope they are in a better place and entertaining others with their quick wit and smiles.
