In Mosconi's biography he mentions that in 1972, well after his retirement he played a series of exhibitions with snooker/english billiards player Rex Williams. They played both straight pool and snooker matches, in the U.S. and in England. Mosconi says he won all the straight pool matches and at first he lost several snooker frames but started to get the hang of the game and started winning some of the frames. Does anyone know anything else about these matches? I'd love to know how Mosconi played snooker and also how Rex Williams played straight pool.
Mosconi vs Rex Williams
- Thread starter Mr441
- Start date
I was at one of the matches. I don't know why but I can hardly remember what happened. I know Mosconi won the pool leg and won at least one of the snooker frames. I had a problem there because I didn't have on a jacket and tie. I ended up getting in but only after some arguing. It was at Inverary where Jackie Gleason lived. I think he had something to do with it being there. I was just doing some googling and can't find a thing about it. It was sponsored by I think a liquor of some sort. They called it something like the "Black tie tour" or something like that. That is about all I can remember.
I heard from Wayne Norcross that Mosconi won all the 14.1 games and about half of the snooker matches. Mosconi was one helluva player.
I got to watch Mosconi play Rex Williams at the Denver Athletic Club. He killed him in 14.1, and won one of the snooker frames. Even in "retiremen", Mosconi still played great!
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Do you recall what they called it? It had to do with the sponsors name. It was a big deal at the time and I can't seem to find even a mention of it anywhere. I tried doing an image google of Williams and Mosconi but there is nothing on the net I can find.
macguy...The only name that comes to mind is Walker, which I think is a kind of scotch. It might have been something like that. I was young and starry-eyed watching The King, and didn't pay much attention to the "sponsors"! :grin:
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
There was a video made of the first match-up between these two. I think I have a copy of it somewhere. I thought they played three games with Mosconi winning two out of three. Mizerak also played a challenge match against one of the snooker champs (Steve Davis?) and beat him. Same format, Straight Pool and Snooker. I'll look for those tapes tomorrow.
Rex Williams was a decent but not a first rate snooker player. He was more successful at English Billiards.
There's not much written about Rex Williams, which is quite typical of billiards, as there is not much of an archives to reference.
However, he does have small Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Williams
According to Wiki, he's still alive, making him 75 today. Here he is depicted on the left, with Jimmy White on the right.
However, he does have small Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Williams
According to Wiki, he's still alive, making him 75 today. Here he is depicted on the left, with Jimmy White on the right.
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Rex was better known for his Billiards but he was a pro snooker player too. A good match might have been billiards and straight pool between these 2 guys but really I don't think either of tham would have a chance at the other one's game. Mosconi played good snooker for a guy that didn't play it though.
I believe it was a traveling show. They played maybe 6 times in different parts of the country. That would be great if you have the tape. It would be great to see. Although already older Mosconi still had much of his skills. I saw him play dozens of times in the 60's and when you try to tell someone how good he really was it is hard for them to believe. He even beat Richie Florence at 9 ball in a gambling match I heard. Do you know anything about that? I know Mosconi he gave Nick V. the seven for like $1000.00 a game and snapped him off. Any stories?
Mosconi
Jay,
If you still have the tapes, would you consider having them made into DVD's?
Some of us might be interested in something like that. (That is providing we aren't stealing food off of another man's plate).
There may be some AZBers who have the equipment to transfer the tape to disk.
JoeyA
Jay,
If you still have the tapes, would you consider having them made into DVD's?
Some of us might be interested in something like that. (That is providing we aren't stealing food off of another man's plate).
There may be some AZBers who have the equipment to transfer the tape to disk.
JoeyA