Thanks for the pic of the "too tight gang". As one of my lady friends said;"damn those shirts are snug!!". LOL!!! Just a little about the guys in the pic. Ernie of course you know.
Teddy the guy in front is a creative guy and architecht in his own right and very articulate. Teddy is Ernie's good budy and motorcycle riding partner. He also used to own Players. The toughest Action spot in Los Angeles where all the monsters used to get in action. Jean Robert Bellande (Tall Bobby) was always there holding court gambling with the best. Efren was there, SHannon, any body who came to LA came to Players. THis is where Santos gave Jennifer Chen the 6,7,8, and the breaks and drilled her. (on tape by JJ). Some great memorable action games at this missed spot.
JJ, the tall man in the back is a monster. First he used to do hair back in Philly. He did Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, Screamin' Jay Hawkins (I am so not worthy), etc. hair. He fell in love with pool and , Freddy you should remember him from the Ye Billiard Den days, when he played all the champions in one pocket. He then began being the first vidoeographer of great matches. He first did the LA Open in the 90's where every great player played. Banks, Nine Ball, One pocket. He's got Jersey Red, Hawaiian Brian, Mark Tadd, as well as the champions of the day. Some of the stuff he's got are Mike Sigel in an all around with Efren (9 ball, Banks, and one pocket), Cecil Tugwell vs Keith McCready, Alex Pagulayan vs Francisco Bustamante (one pocket) where Francisco didnt know how to play the game except for his 8 and out technique and ran 17 balls and out. He has the greatest collection of money games bar none.
The Asian guy is a fan.
Where else but in pool could you get a Black, a Latino, a Jew, a Asian, and a brilliant young man from the midwest all together in a room talking about the thing they love. To me this is what pool is all about. The friendships and the acquaintances that Ive made in pool rooms across this country and the online forums cannot be equaled to anything else.
PS I tried to get Tall Wayne who is a good friend of Ernies up there too but he had to work. Wayne is a Canadian from the cold parts and one of our top one hole players on the west coast. That would top off the combo.
Justin and Chad thanks so much for your hard work and effort. Next time youre out here we try for Tad. Maybe we can make a docu like a Michael Moore film; Hunting for Tad! Much Love for TAR!
