Mike Carella

Bill,

If there is one good thing here, Carella did not have to pay today's price for his Balabushka.

Happy New Year and Regards,
Hal
Wouldn't have mattered about the money. I saw him break the replacement Balabuska into tooth picks because he missed a nine ball. He was one of a kind.
 
My best Michael Carella story.

Used to be a Merita bread truck driver in Tallahassee. One of the best players around but mostly golf and snooker. He and Carella had played 6 ball on the snooker table all day and just traded back and forth. Finally they put a hunk of money to do best of 10 spot shots on the snooker table. Carella fired in ten no problem. The bread man made nine and some loudmouth said loud enough for him to hear it. Even if he makes this it's a tie. God couldn't have made the spot shot after that. Another of my favorite Carella events was jumping balls from one table and making shots on one two tables away. LOL. There will never be another Michael Carella and I feel honored to have known him. Rip Carella.
 
I must interject here. I know Carella since he was 15 years old. He was born into money, was a pool brat at 15, and became even more obnoxious as he got older. I dont think even Danny D liked him, whether he will admit it or not. He was very disdainful and viciously mocking if he beat you. All the road players I knew wanted to push him down a flight of stairs. When he got older he flew drugs in for the Miami cartels. They wound up murdering him. None of the players I knew mourned his passing. On the plus side, he was one of the most gifted, talented players I ever met.

Excerpt from my new book, The GosPool on this subject:

Cheapskate Award goes to:
"Mike Carella of Hialeah, FL. After winning $25,000 in Detroit, he was obligated to tip the gamekeeper, Bugs Rucker, who had refereed the game for 24 hours. Mike told Bugs that Kenny "Romberg" Remus owed him $200, and if Bugs could collect it he could keep it."

When I played him (1978), he did not have the traditional bank roll. He was wearing deep pocketed bib over-alls without a shirt. He had a BRICK of hundred dollar bills in each of his front pockets. This impresses a lot of people. I think this guy was the worst kind of social parasite. He was human garbage.

I have to say that I am not anxious to speak ill of anyone, especially on here. I won't be bashfull in this case.
 
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Good story but just to set the record straight (I have a way of doing this), Richie Ambrose finished second to Rempe in Burlington. I was there. We put a very shy schoolteacher (and current World Champ) named Steve Mizerak on radio for a live interview. Boy did he change once he got on TV.

I beg to differ. I too was at that tournament in Burlington. Rempe beat Carella in the final.
 
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I beg to differ. I too was at that tournament in Burlington. Rempe beat Carella in the final.

That must have been the second year. It was played twice in Burlington in the 70's and Rempe beat Ambrose in the finals the first year.
 
That must have been the second year. It was played twice in Burlington in the 70's and Rempe beat Ambrose in the finals the first year.

I remember Burlington very well, RA was there, and that year, probably the last and this is why I think it was the LAST event....Rempe cashed out earlier as I did, only to find out shortly thereafter, the promoters took the money and left. We were lucky that the cage cashed our checks, because the bank wouldn't. Right after that, I left for the E. Coast for the tournament at Beanies room.
I do remember the Ring Game, Searcy, Mataya, Bob Osborn/Black Bart and a few other great players, came and went...........EXTREMELY humid along the Mississippi, and was Very difficult to run a Ten Ball rack under those conditions. Osborn hocked his new Volvo Wagon, and got it back, and Mataya went to bed, got eight hours of sleep and came back and busted the game. There was also a guy watching the game on the sidelines in this hallway/foyer area....he fell asleep and when he awoke someone had five fingered his cue right out from under em.
 
Now that's just wierd Bill...and here's why. You had agreed to give me a ride back to CO from Burlington (I had hitchhiked out there), and I put my backpack in your hotel room, for safekeeping until we left the next morning. Only problem was that you skipped out of the hotel in the middle of the night, and stuck me with your hotel bill...which the hotel wanted paid before they would relinquish my backpack. Now, why would you be leaving from IA to go to VA, when you had agreed to take me back to CO the night before? There's a 40-year old mystery for ya! :rolleyes: :D I remember that ring game too. It went for days in the green room at the hotel. I also remember Richie Florence getting a brand new Balabushka delivered to him at the hotel, and getting it stolen a day later.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

I remember Burlington very well, RA was there, and that year, probably the last and this is why I think it was the LAST event....Rempe cashed out earlier as I did, only to find out shortly thereafter, the promoters took the money and left. We were lucky that the cage cashed our checks, because the bank wouldn't. Right after that, I left for the E. Coast for the tournament at Beanies room.
I do remember the Ring Game, Searcy, Mataya, Bob Osborn/Black Bart and a few other great players, came and went...........EXTREMELY humid along the Mississippi, and was Very difficult to run a Ten Ball rack under those conditions. Osborn hocked his new Volvo Wagon, and got it back, and Mataya went to bed, got eight hours of sleep and came back and busted the game. There was also a guy watching the game on the sidelines in this hallway/foyer area....he fell asleep and when he awoke someone had five fingered his cue right out from under em.
 
Now that's just wierd Bill...and here's why. You had agreed to give me a ride back to CO from Burlington (I had hitchhiked out there), and I put my backpack in your hotel room, for safekeeping until we left the next morning. Only problem was that you skipped out of the hotel in the middle of the night, and stuck me with your hotel bill...which the hotel wanted paid before they would relinquish my backpack. Now, why would you be leaving from IA to go to VA, when you had agreed to take me back to CO the night before? There's a 40-year old mystery for ya! :rolleyes: :D I remember that ring game too. It went for days in the green room at the hotel. I also remember Richie Florence getting a brand new Balabushka delivered to him at the hotel, and getting it stolen a day later.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

If that's the case I owe ya one. Next time I see ya we'll have some good laughs and I'll get the meal. I was holding pretty good then, just came from Vegas 2K heavier I probably did that....because of the crooks skippin' with the prize funds. What was the name of that hotel? I loved it, they put a 9 footer in the end of the hallway, which then became the ring game table. That was close to 45 years ago, are we really that Old :wink:
 
Daphne Asbell had lots of pictures of Carella and I from the 70's. Don't know if she and Byrd are around or not. They were both great folks and very good friends.
This is Whit from Tallahassee, Byrd (Gary Asbell), got a law degree and was practicing in Tallahassee. Might still be, though I guess around 70 now. I returned to do a bit of work in the mid 00's and caught him playing the ghost one Sunday Morning at Snookers (Larry Knox's place) Still played quite well. Returned to try to get a friend qualified for the US Open 9 ball and thought he might play, but was playing harmonica in a band on weekends...

I'd like to see some photos of Mike as well. Only saw him play twice, Once at Brew and cue playing $100 games of 9 ball and running a bunch, and once at a club on hwy 98, just playing around.
 
old thread but i remember a little bit of mike. sure he played as good as everyone. a million pool players play great for a time and they are all about equal. some a little better than others but all beat each other at times on conditions favoring them.
saw mike at congress and he wasnt a nice person at all. maybe he paid when he lost but that isnt all there is to fit in.
once they are gone all things about them get better in the stories.

except for sizemore of course. the hole is too deep for him. at least he joins joe veasy in it. and detroit whitey.
 
old thread but i remember a little bit of mike. sure he played as good as everyone. a million pool players play great for a time and they are all about equal. some a little better than others but all beat each other at times on conditions favoring them.
saw mike at congress and he wasnt a nice person at all. maybe he paid when he lost but that isnt all there is to fit in.
once they are gone all things about them get better in the stories.

except for sizemore of course. the hole is too deep for him. at least he joins joe veasy in it. and detroit whitey.
Mike was not very nice, I knew him pretty well from the Congress. He pretty much beat anyone who came there though. Players like Hubbard, Mataya he barbequed. Ronnie Allen tried giving him some weight and didn't like it. He learned a lot from Camp and Jerry Hunt.

You mentioned Sizemore, he threaten me with a knife. If not for Sugarshack Johnny he may have killed me.
 
Thanks for the story. You were at Jack 'n Jill's in Alexandria, Va. I think it was some kind of high end linoleum flooring. I saw Louie come back like that several times, AFTER he did some stuff. I guarantee you he wasn't on the natch when he made his comeback.

When Louie got wired up, he might not miss a ball for eight hours. Carella played straight as far as I know. I think me, Danny and him smoked some weed once in L.A. And then we went for some Italian food. But that's about it.
After reevaluating the flooring comment, it was a fiberglass mixture, why? Because the Pool Room was a below ground room close to sea level, and when and if it got flooded the carpet did not mold and could be cleaned. Also, my Rempe comment was wrong. He didn't win it, but he did place and cashed his winnings check at the entry gate collection area for spectators and i think the next day, no one else got paid. Smart move on Rempe, he actually got money where almost No one did.
 
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