Jean Balukas - why did she stop?

[9BallBust-O]

> Someone in the crowd heckled her somewhat,and a piece of chalk was thrown,Joe spoke to her again,and words were exchanged,and a name usually associated with a large drainage ditch was used. The chalk-throwing incident was supposed to be the real reason for the fine. .

So let me get this "straight" ... someone in the crowd or the ref. called her some slang term refering to her sexuality and she threw some chalk at them?? And SHE got fined?? They are lucky they didnt get their butt beat. That is a SHAME. WELL and the FUNNY THING IS .... that didnt shark her.... SHE WON! CHAMPION!


YEAH ESPN .. AIR THIS MATCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JustPlay]

The link to the newspaper article was very apropos. The story related there is quite accurate.

I have known Jean since she was a little 11 year old playing with a cue longer than her. I saw her beat Dorothy Wise for the women's title at age 13.

Several times after she retired I attempted to get her to play again. More than once she related to me that she was burned out on Pool. Remember she had been playing non stop from age 4 to 29. That's twenty five long years as a poolplayer. That is a long career for anyone.

As far as the fine, she was not allowed to appeal it and in my opinion it was a bit harsh. Her comments would go unnoticed in a mens event. If Robin got sharked by it, then she was a little too thin skinned. That's all part of Pool. I've seen far worse in every mens tournament I've ever worked.

As someone else said, Jean had won sixteen tournaments in a row. The other women were not real happy about her domination. I wonder how many of them called Jean to ask her to come back and play. Try zero.

Many times I was asked how Jean would have done with Allison and Karen.
My personal opinion is that Jean would not have been the dominant player anymore, but she would win her share of tournaments. Jean had a strong will to win and the talent to back it up. Overall her game matched up good against the best women today. She could have cranked it up a notch if she had to.

I saw her play against the men and she had to play better than before. She won matches against many top players, including Buddy, Keith and Lebron to name a few. She finished in the top sixteen with all the top men present.
If she had continued, I expect she would have done even better, maybe even won a tournament.

.......... The cream always rises to the top.......

And if Jean had decided to come back, I suspect she would still be a tough match for anyone.

Great perspective, Jay....Jean was ahead of her time as a woman professional pool player and the lack of (or abundence) of top womens players must have worn her down after 25 years of playing. Her real competition was the men players. It must have been frustrating for the other women players at the time to watch her win tournament after tournament and just the oppsite maybe true for Jean as well. When another woman player was abel to step up and compete with her, it might have frustrated her to be challenged by someone(s) whom she has always dominated and having to play lucky 9-ball most of the time also added to the frustration..

 

[CaptainHook]

Just my 2 cents.

I think she would have mopped the floor with Coor & Fisher. Her speed would have thrown there rhythm out the window. She was a "Shot maker".
If she would have kept at it, she would be in a league of her own.

I for one, miss watching her play.

She was a true inspiration.

 

[wannaplaySOME?]

what a bunch of F&*%*ng B#$(#* S*%!

lol, it is so funny when i read this... i heard many countless stories as to why she doesn't play anymore, some to include, the women on the tour united together to get her off because she was too good, the men didn't want to lose to her so they wouldn't allow it... many.. but now that i read the articles and real reason i have to say what a BUNCH OF FU&*$(g BULL##*$!!!!! I say that because, that is the natural conversation that goes with this game... you hear it all the time... man if earl strictland got a fine for every time he threw a fit, stalled, walked out or any player for that matter... then they would all be broke and the A$$HOLES running these tourmaments would be filthy rich!

this language is part of the game, people wonder why it has a negative connotation.. THIS IS WHY but it is PART OF THE GAME! and always will be, theres not enough soap in the world to clean out the potty mouths in pool, and im not even going to argue that i am not one of the offenders!

this was all a ploy to get her out of the sport, which the people who wanted to successfully did... its a shame it happened IMO.

 

[Eric.]

Jean still plays at a high level, even though she rarely practices. Hall of Fame Billiards in Brooklyn, has a Thursday night Open tourney that she plays in. I think it's the last Thurs of the month (I haven't been by there in a while) and Jean usually plays if she's in town.


Eric

 

[9BallBust-O]

HEY WANNAPLAYSOME?!!!!

Just a few questions since you have seen Jean play. Fast play? She use wrist action or mainly elbow? How was the break?

 

[wannaplaySOME?]

i have never...

HEY WANNAPLAYSOME?!!!!

Just a few questions since you have seen Jean play. Fast play? She use wrist action or mainly elbow? How was the break?

...seen her play, many others on here have seen her though, i think you just read my post incorrectly... however from the time that i began shooting, back in 2001... i have always been told that she is the greatest woman to ever play the game, including fisher and coor... and when the question arises, "will women ever be as good as the men, or why aren't women as good as men?" <--- the answer I have heard is that Jean Balukas was as good as the men, and she is the closest any woman will ever come.

 

[9BallBust-O]

wanna -

ooppss yes I did mis read - sorry


You know, this goes back a little bit in the post but Im still fired up about it for some reason. If the ref. called her some slang term for her sex life then he should be fined. Better yet, I wonder what would happen if a ref got up in Earls face and called him a "fagett". Hes not and Im not saying he is,I like Earl a LOT, but I can tell you this with great confidence, there would been a little bit more going on that some chalk being thrown. SECOND OF ALL ... didnt it all start cause Jean said something about Robin getting lucky - JEANS SMART MOUTH?? Give me a break - this has got to be one of the biggest JOKES EVER that they fined Jean.

 

[freddy the beard]

Trivia question:

Trivia: Who was the first player Jean played against when she played in her first Pro men's tournament? And how did she do?

the Beard

 

[Jimmy M.]

Trivia: Who was the first player Jean played against when she played in her first Pro men's tournament? And how did she do?

the Beard

Was it Mizerak? I remember seeing a quick interview with him where he said something along the lines of "she plays well, but she has no chance of winning a major men's event". If I remember correctly, she beat him in a tournament after that at some point. I'm going off memory here of something that happened when I was about 14 so I could be wrong.

 

[Jimmy M.]

Her comments would go unnoticed in a mens event. If Robin got sharked by it, then she was a little too thin skinned. That's all part of Pool. I've seen far worse in every mens tournament I've ever worked.

Hey Jay. Unfortunately, you're right about the men's tournaments. However, wouldn't it be nice to see crap like that go away in tournament pool? Gambling is another story, of course, but that crap really shouldn't be so accepted in tournament pool. I've had to deal with it from time to time myself and, until recently, I've never said anything to a tournament director about it. I did say something in a recent match when it was getting a little out of hand. That was the first time. Maybe I'm getting a little idealistic in my old age.

 

[Big Dave]

Fascinating thread!

 

[vader93490]

Trivia: Who was the first player Jean played against when she played in her first Pro men's tournament? And how did she do?

the Beard

If I remember correctly, she played & beat Buddy Hall. The score was 11-4, I think.

 

[JG-in-KY]

Trivia: Who was the first player Jean played against when she played in her first Pro men's tournament? And how did she do?

the Beard

Lets see...Lake Charles, ILL 1987, some guy named the mustache, goatee or something like that. She won and also beat Mike Lebron and finished 17-24.

 

[sjm]

Trivia: Who was the first player Jean played against when she played in her first Pro men's tournament? And how did she do?

the Beard

I recall that in her first ever PPPA Straight Pool Championship playing in the men's division (1981, I think), she lost to a fellow name Dave "The Face" Lipner, but I don't think it was her first match.

 

[vagabond]

I've had to deal with it from time to time myself and, until recently, I've never said anything to a tournament director about it. I did say something in a recent match when it was getting a little out of hand.

hi,
Hire me as your body guard and the punks will never dare to mess with u any more.I am a parking lot pugilista.

 

[Jimmy M.]

hi,
Hire me as your body guard and the punks will never dare to mess with u any more.I am a parking lot pugilista.

I know we're about to meet in Vegas so now that I know that I would like to formally apologize for anything I might have ever said during any forum disagreements.

 

[freddy the beard]

You got it right

Lets see...Lake Charles, ILL 1987, some guy named the mustache, goatee or something like that. She won and also beat Mike Lebron and finished 17-24.

I was the first male pro she played and she beat me 11 to 2. She missed nary a ball and shot an accu-stats 900. Incidentally, her break was pretty crispy too. She was such a nice kid, she apologized for beating me so badly.
"I'm sorry, Freddy." she said. I wasn't the last guy to fall to her. She beat more than Mike LeBron in that tourney. From then on she beat just about every champion at least once. Her fundamentals were scary.

the Beard

 

[Gerry]

That's ok Freddie, I got beat by Karen Core in a 14.1 tourney.....she just started playing the game, and told me she stole a few patterns from me!...i was like......uhh, yea right! no problem, well played....She was nice as could be, and I think Julie Kelly was sweating the match that day...very cool.

Anyone think maybe Jean was looking for an out from Womens pool, and that's why she let all this blow up into quitting the game? Seems to me if she wanted to continue playing, a small fine, and a short vacation could have fixed things. If you really LOVE doing something, nothings going to keep you away. Like Jay said, maybe just too many years of tournament play...

Gerry

 

[JohnnyP]

So why doesn't ESPN show some of her matches? WPBA politics?