Jean Balukas on "I've Got a Secret" -- 6 Years Old!

JAM

JAM

I am the storm
Silver Member
An AzB-er sent me this link, and I thought it was cute. I'm not sure why he did not post it, or if he did post it, but I'm sharing it you y'all, in case he did not. :smile:

Anybody who's my age or older remembers the show "I've Got a Secret," with Steve Allen as host: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNAtK-Qhlqg

She stumped the panel and gives an interview. She then gives a brief exhibition on stage. Six years old. WOW! I couldn't have even held a cue steady at that age. She was hitting 'em like a seasoned pro at six! :thumbup:
 
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Ironman317 said:
i think this video was posted a few months back. it is very cute though.
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Thanks for letting me know. I wasn't sure, but I decided to post it, just in case there are some who may not have seen it. :p
 
So as not to waste anybody's time reading this thread, in case you have seen this video of Jean previously, I came across this article in The National Billiard News, July 1978, page 23.

It is entitled "There was this fly..."

A common fly once achieved the distinction of determining the billiard championship of the world.

It was on September 7, 1865, in the ballroom of Washington Hall, Rochester, NY, when two billiard masters, Louis Fox and John Deery, met to decide which would reign as billiard champion of the world. :wink2:

Louis Fox was at the table, giving a superb performance. He chalked up 100 points, 200, 300, gaining a commanding lead. The championship was at the tip of his cue stick. Just a few more markers, and he would be the winner! :cool:

The tension in the ballroom increased, and Fox, a handsome vain man, basked in the rapt attention. He swaggered as he walked around the table, studying the position before making his final run. John Deery watched, certain he had met defeat. :frown:

Every eye was watching Fox when the deadly silence was broken by the buzzing of a fly. :yikes:

The fly circled the table and then landed directly on the cueball. Fox confidently shooed it away, smiled at the spectators, and prepared to shoot. Again, the fly landed no the cueball, and a nervous laugh ran through the audience. Fox brushed it away and sighed his shot. But the fly returned for the third time, and the spell was broken as the crowd roared with laughter. :rotflmao:

Fox lost his poise. He stabbed at the fly with his cue. Accidently, his cue grazed the cueball, and it rolled an inch. The fly vanished, but Fox had miscued and lost his chance to continue shooting. :embarrassed2:

Deery took over and played magnificently. Making the most of his unexpected opportunity, he scored out to win the world championship and the winner's share of the purse. :grin-loving:

Fox left the ballroom like a man in a dream. His body was found floating in the river the next morning. Louis Fox had taken his own life. A little fly had decided the championship of the world and cost the life of the man who lost it.

Urban legend or fact? I'm not sure, but it is an interesting read! :thumbup:
 

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Wow! What memories that brought back. I instantly knew the names of all the panel members! I'd have never guessed that information was hidden back there in the memory valuts. I always thought that Betsy Palmer was a real fox!

I had forgotten that Steve Allen did the show. I rememer Gary Moore doing it.
 
I never seen the other thread or ever seen this vid before. Thnx for posting it up. I wonder if she's playing with a Szamboti?
 
We all owe Jean a debt of gratitude for protecting pool's image. When asked by a panelist "Were there any animals involved?" she answered "No."
 
Danny...It was a few years after The Hustler came out. Jean was born in 1959, and she was 6 1/2 when she did this program.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Danny Kuykendal said:
Any info on the year of this? The "Hustler" came out in about 61 or so. I wonder if this was before or after.
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The five year old has Keith's stroke oddly enough. :thumbup:
Purd:smile:


JAM said:
An AzB-er sent me this link, and I thought it was cute. I'm not sure why he did not post it, or if he did post it, but I'm sharing it you y'all, in case he did not. :smile:

Anybody who's my age or older remembers the show "I've Got a Secret," with Steve Allen as host: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNAtK-Qhlqg

She stumped the panel and gives an interview. She then gives a brief exhibition on stage. Six years old. WOW! I couldn't have even held a cue steady at that age. She was hitting 'em like a seasoned pro at six! :thumbup:
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for this JAM! I missed it when it was posted before but I've downloaded it now and I'm going to put it on DVD and give it to Jean. This is AWESOME!
 
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9 Ball Girl said:
Thanks for this JAM! I missed it when it was posted before but I've downloaded it now and I'm going to put it on DVD and give it to Jean. This is AWESOME!
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Does she still play?
 
SpiderWebComm said:
Does she still play?
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Jean was one of the great players of her time, more than holding her own against the men, as well as the women.

Unfortunately, she and the WPBA had a parting of the ways. She has retired from professional pool, but I don't know if she still picks up a cue from time to time.

JAM, Thanks for reminding me just how old I am! Loved the clip. I used to watch that show every week.

Steve
 
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SpiderWebComm said:
Does she still play?
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She would play in her weekly tournament that she held on Thursdays at Ovington Billiards in Brooklyn but from what I know, that tournament hasn't happened for about 2 years at most. In any case, I remember seeing a picture of her and Steve Allen on her wall so she may already have this vid.
 
yea

JimS said:
Wow! What memories that brought back. I instantly knew the names of all the panel members! I'd have never guessed that information was hidden back there in the memory valuts. I always thought that Betsy Palmer was a real fox!

I had forgotten that Steve Allen did the show. I rememer Gary Moore doing it.
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yes i remember them all also, dam i getting old!!!:confused: :confused: GREAT I LOVED IT!!!
 
How can Jean and the WPBA have a falling out? Hmmmm. How does a tour let itself get into a falling out with its star player? Sounds to me that they made sure there was a falling out because they were tired of her winning.
 
From what I remember, Jean was playing Robin Bell (now Robin Dodson) in a TV match, and it appeared that Robin was going to win the match, at which time Jean started verbally insulting Robin, and ended up winning the match after Robin was visibly affected by the criticism.

The WPA fined Jean $500 for her behavior, which Jean flat refused to pay, even when the WPA lowered the fine to $200. And that is it, no more Jean Balukus since then. I may have it a little askew, but that's how I remember it.

I do remember that John Mcnroe advised Jean to not pay the fine, and of course he had paid all his fines from his bad behavior. I personally think it was a colossal mistake on Jean's part, unless she was ready to quit pool anyway.
 
Danny Kuykendal said:
...verbally insulting Robin...
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There's been a lot of threads about this particular topic in the past, and if memory serves me right, Robin slopped a ball in or something like that, and then Jean commented to Robin: "Beat me with talent, not with luck."

All of the WPBA pros at this time, from what I have been told and read, were sick and tired of seeing Queen Jean Balukas' name in the headlines year after year after year. In fact, it was a rare occasion that anybody could beat her on the tour because she was such a strong shooter. They say she broke balls like a man.

At a BC Open (not BCA) one year, a male-dominated event, Jean Balukas defeated Keith McCready, who at that time was on top of his game, and Buddy Hall, another top-flight male pro at the same event. The crowd ate it up and loved it. She was quite popular with everybody except her fellow lady pros on the WPBA tour.

I think the fine Jean got was a bum rap. So what if she said beat me with talent and not with luck. I don't blame her for not paying it, and today, I totally understand, 100 percent, why she quit the professional tournament trail.
 
Next time I see Robin I'll ask her about this. I think she might have a slilghtly different take on what happened.

I think it's too bad Jean retired from pool for this reason. So the WPA was wrong? Is that any reason to end a Hall of Fame career? And listening to John Mcnroe of all people. He paid all of his fines, but told Jean to hold out. No skin off his back.

There might be more to the reason that she retired. I know she wanted to start playing golf.

We all have paid fines or penalties we thought were wrong. I think she deprived the world of many years of some great pool, and she probably would have kept Alison from dominating the way she has the past 10 years.
 
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