Jean Balukas - why did she stop?

Jimmy M. said:
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. :D


I never felt slighted by you with your responses to my posts and u do not need to apologize.we only had minor disagreements.I am a big believer in freedom of speech.I also believe that I can live in harmony with the people that disagree with me.I did not construe your disagreements with me as insults hurled at me.
 
Last edited:
Gerry said:
... 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?

Absolutely. I don't know a thing about the situation first hand, but wasn't the fine $200? To walk away from the game for $200 is using it for a convenient excuse. Again, I'm just some Joe from the EXTREME outside looking in on the situation, but that's definitely the way it reads to me.
 
JohnnyP said:
So why doesn't ESPN show some of her matches? WPBA politics?
You may find this hard to believe, but ESPN didn't record a lot of pool matches at the time Jean was playing. There may be some around someplace, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Come to think of it, in the "grand scheme" of things, ESPN doesn't record that many pool events now. There are so many great pool tournaments, around the world, that we never get to see.
 
sjm said:
I was a fan of women's pool even back then. I know both Robin and Jean and have heard both their accounts of what happened. Despite all this, there remains a lot of room for speculation.

It's all true. Jean made a few remarks that Robin didn't like and a protest was filed and a fine assessed. Jean refused to pay it, but the story of why she gave pro pool up requires some speculation. After all ---

1) Jean was a gifted all-around athlete, especially proficient at basketball, golf, and bowling, and craved to compete in many areas of sport.

2) There was little left for Jean to achieve in pool and nobody ever emerged that could compete with her for #1. Allison Fisher has had Karen Corr to push her for the last seven years, but nobody ever threatened Jean's domination of women's pool.

3) One must consider the possibility that once Jean had been away from the game for a while, she didn't really miss it. While her refusal to pay the fine assessed against her was the initial reason she walked away, I suspect the reason she stayed away is that she realized she didn't miss women's pro pool.

Although the story wasn't written this way, in so many ways, Jean walked away on her own terms, atop the sport and indisputably the best ever in her sport.

Jean Balukas and women's pro pool are thriving today, and here's to a great future for both.
I can't help selfishly wishing that Jean would find the fire again, practice and rejoin the WPBA for a year or so. I would love to see her compete against Allison, Karen and the rest of the top players today.

I saw Jean play in the early 80's and I've seen the current WPBA stars play. I don't think it would be a cakewalk for Jean, but everyone she played would not like it. :cool:

Heck. While I'm wishing . . . . Jean, please practice and play in some 14.1 events (though few and far between).
 
freddy the beard said:
Her fundamentals were scary.

the Beard

That is what i'm talkin about. I was a total Mike Sigel clone, but when i watched her play, i became a closet fan of her style & patterns.

I saw her in the audience sitting with the "Miz" on a pool show that was on TV last year. I can't recall wich one.:)

I miss her, i wish she (like Sigel) would come back.

I was surprised when i did NOT see her name on the IPT web site list of players.

:)
 
What it seems like to me is that this was an opportunity to lynch a dominant player and get her out of the picture....just like now with Allison the current crop of top pro women can't play at her level....I watch Dawn Hopkins and Ewa Mataya-Laurance play...there's a reason they are commentating instead of playing....I'd gamble even up with them any day of the week...
________
 
Last edited:
CaptainHook said:
I saw her in the audience sitting with the "Miz" on a pool show that was on TV last year. I can't recall wich one.:)
It is not uncommon to see Jean in attendance at some of the WPBA events. I have also seen her on TV, watching the Ladies Tournament of Champions events, from the large booths where the VIP's sit. It's a shame, most of the people in the audience don't even know who she is.

Like you, I would love to see her make a come back and I think she would be more successful than Mike Sigel has been.
 
wannaplaySOME? said:
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.


Excuse me, could you repeat that? Tell us how you really feel.
 
sjm said:
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.

In that same tournament, she had to play a good player named Earl Herring. Prior to the match, he said that if a girl beats him he will quit pool. She did and he did, for about twenty years.

And yes, Jean did win a 9-Ball match with the Miz. I think it was at the Sands in the late 80's. Machine Gun Lou dropped out of the tournament because they let her in. He refused to play in a tournament with a woman. I always wondered if he was afraid he might have to play her.

She was not way better than Allison or Karen. These two are way above the opposition Jean faced in the 70's and 80's. They are both capable of beating Jean at her best in 9-Ball. And she would be just as capable of beating them. Now Straight Pool might be a different story. Jean would reign supreme.
 
wannaplaySOME? said:
you don't EVEN want to get me started... and it seems that many people on here agree with me...

LOL. I was just teasing you big guy.

Let me give you some unsolicited advice son. When you talk like that, no one listens or hears anything, just noise.
 
lol!

jay helfert said:
LOL. I was just teasing you big guy.

Let me give you some unsolicited advice son. When you talk like that, no one listens or hears anything, just noise.

what is tough about thes forums is that you can't ever physically hear something that is being typed, i was laughing during all of my posts, and when i said don't EVEN get me started, it was pure sarcasm, because I could go on and on about how ridiculous this whole thing is, and actually we are in much aggreance about the topic... no harm was meant, i am always smiling or laughing when typing, just imagine that when i wrote don't EVEN get me started!! :) <-- i should have done that! have a great day!
 
wannaplaySOME? said:
what is tough about thes forums is that you can't ever physically hear something that is being typed, i was laughing during all of my posts, and when i said don't EVEN get me started, it was pure sarcasm, because I could go on and on about how ridiculous this whole thing is, and actually we are in much aggreance about the topic... no harm was meant, i am always smiling or laughing when typing, just imagine that when i wrote don't EVEN get me started!! :) <-- i should have done that! have a great day!

Thanks, You too
 
Jean was head and shoulders above the other women of her era. But, honestly, who was her competition? Vicki Paski, Billie Billings, Belinda Bearden-Campos-Whatever, and Robin Bell. I don't think Eva or Loree-Jon had matured as players when Jean dropped out. So really Jean didn't have the kind of competition Allison, et al, face in women's pool today. Yes, she beat the occasional man--even the Miz--but not consistently.

All tours, men's and women's, are stronger today. Were Jean to take her game at her peak against Allison and Karen today, they'd stomp her.

I've never seen Karen play straight pool, but I'm pretty certain Allison would pound Jean in that game too. Consider that until the US Open of '92, Jean held the record for high run with something like 56. Lorie Jon and Eva broke it with 64 and 68, minutes apart. If women were playing straight pool regularly, I have no doubt Allison would have pushed the mark over 100, as well as Jenette and a few others.
 
tedkaufman said:
....

All tours, men's and women's, are stronger today. Were Jean to take her game at her peak against Allison and Karen today, they'd stomp her.
I am afraid I would have to respectfully disagree with this statement. Too bad that match couldn't be arranged. You could keep me broke!
 
Last edited:
Buddy Hall's thoughts on Jean Balukas

While in one of the sky boxes at the BCA event in Vegas in 2002, I was siiting a few seats away from Buddy Hall and Johnny Archer.

Jean Balukas and Gerda Hofstatter were in the next booth watching a match between Allison and Vivian (B side finals, I think).

Buddy asking Johnny if he had ever played Jean. Archer commented that she walked away just as he was coming onto the tour. Buddy mentioned splitting 2 matches with Jean and watching her playing Earl at some point. He said "Once I saw Earl checking her racks, I knew he was in trouble."

The conversation moved to a comparison of the top women at that time and Jean.

Buddy Hall's response was "only Allsion and Karen would have a chance against her".

I think his choice of words makes a strong point - "have a chance". Not to say that on any given day no one would be able to beat Jean but he did remark on her level of play and held her abilities in high regard.

I've also heard that Jean is not against playing Allison but the only way she would agree to a match would be if the monies, from ticket sales, advertising, videos, etc., are donated to charity.
 
wannaplaySOME? said:
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.

I don't understand why you would compare / justify her behavior by comparing it to the behavior of the sometimes worst behaved group of professionals I've ever seen (i.e., men's professional pool). I commend the WPBA for what they have done to legitimize women's professional pool (i.e., dress code, code of conduct, etc.).

Have you ever seen:
Earl Anthony: (After his opponent gets a lucky strike and the match is still ongoing)
Why don't you try actually hitting the pocket with your next ball!

Tiger Woods: (After his opponent get's a lucky bounce off the cart path)
What are we playing here …. miniature golf?

Larry Holmes: (After failing to tie Rocky Marciano's 49-0 streak)
Rocky Marciano couldn't carry my jock strap
…. Oh wait a minute … bad example!

I think your standards for what is appropriate behavior in a professional match are way too low!
 
Back
Top