Pool Nicknames that Don't Rhyme

jay helfert said:
A little long forgotten tidbit about Willie and his arch enemy Fats. During Fat's exhibitions in the 1960's and well into the 1970's he would tell a long story about a great player called Willie the Wop, and how he went down to defeat in a long past World Championship. He needed one ball and had a short straight-in on the side pocket. He spent a long time studying the shot, finally got down on it and proceeded to miscue!

All the players knew Fats was maligning Mosconi with this story but they laughed along with everyone else. The way Fats told the story was funny, even with it being so demeaning to Mosconi.

Prior to agreeing to play the televised shoot out with Fats, Mosconi made him agree to no longer tell this story in his exhibitions. I never heard him tell it again. They made quite a bit of money together and that brought peace between them. Willie even began to laugh at Fat's joking around during matches. He saw Fats as a good meal ticket and got his revenge by beating him in every match they played, proving his superiority.
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Just a minor nit, Fats ended up beating Mosconi once on TV, and Willy was in tears. Fats came to his rescue reminding everyone that Mosconi was the greatest player that ever lived.
 
Cornerman said:
Let 70’s or early 80’s. It would have been the 3rd time they faced off, IIRC.
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I ask because I saw him in what may have been one of his last exhibitions in the late 80s. It was sad. Many shots didn't work he actually began doing the same shots over with the same commentary and jokes he had done thousands of times. His daughter had to stop him.

It got worse. He played some challenges with spectators. He played a kid about 14. They played 8 ball and the kid won. Mosconi got furious and wanted to play again.

The kid looked almost frightened and the daughter ended it.
He then signed autographs but the whole thing was uncomfortable for everyone there.
 
Cornerman said:
Just a minor nit, Fats ended up beating Mosconi once on TV, and Willy was in tears. Fats came to his rescue reminding everyone that Mosconi was the greatest player that ever lived.
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I think that was in 7-Ball, a strange adaptation of 9-Ball. In truth Fats was probably a favorite over Willie in One Pocket, Banks and Three Cushions. He was no slouch at those games!
 
middleofnowhere said:
I ask because I saw him in what may have been one of his last exhibitions in the late 80s. It was sad. Many shots didn't work he actually began doing the same shots over with the same commentary and jokes he had done thousands of times. His daughter had to stop him.

It got worse. He played some challenges with spectators. He played a kid about 14. They played 8 ball and the kid won. Mosconi got furious and wanted to play again.

The kid looked almost frightened and the daughter ended it.
He then signed autographs but the whole thing was uncomfortable for everyone there.
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This is true. In his last couple of exhibitions he did for us at Hard Times he took me aside and asked me to stop him if he started to shoot the same shot again. Willie never liked to lose, even in an exhibition. He would do a couple of hundred a year for Brunswick and he did get beat a couple of times. In a private interview we did (lost forever by an incompetent cameraman) he shared with me that he lost only three times in over ten years. I am aware of one that happened in Idaho, the players name forgotten now. Willie immediately challenged the man to a 1,000 point match for $500, and of course the guy refused. That soothed Willie's fragile ego. He also lost to a well known player in the Northwest (sorry, forget his name now as well).

In the exhibition we played, Pancho had been chosen ahead of me and he was a legitimate 60-70 ball runner. Willie refused to play Pancho, saying he was a hustler, so I was thrown to the wolves instead. But that's another story.
 
cjr3559 said:
A few more:

George ‘Ginky’ SanSouci
Jimmy ‘Pretty Boy Floyd’ Mataya
Keith ‘Earthquake’ McCready
Eva ‘Striking Viking’ Laurence
LoreeJon ‘Queen of the Hill’ Ogonowski-Brown
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All the Mexican players called Keith "El Diablo." For years they ruled the bar boxes and then this kid comes along and spots them all the Eight ball and wipes them out one by one. Thus he was their personal devil.

He was also widely known as Ether ("Keither with the Ether"), probably because he was so deadly. And finally, one more nickname for Keith was simply 'Evil.' Tell me any other pool player with so many nicknames and all of them so foreboding.
 
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jay helfert said:
This is true. In his last couple of exhibitions he did for us at Hard Times he took me aside and asked me to stop him if he started to shoot the same shot again. Willie never liked to lose, even in an exhibition. He would do a couple of hundred a year for Brunswick and he did get beat a couple of times. In a private interview we did (lost forever by an incompetent cameraman) he shared with me that he lost only three times in over ten years. I am aware of one that happened in Idaho, the players name forgotten now. Willie immediately challenged the man to a 1,000 point match for $500, and of course the guy refused. That soothed Willie's fragile ego. He also lost to a well known player in the Northwest (sorry, forget his name now as well).

In the exhibition we played, Pancho had been chosen ahead of me and he was a legitimate 60-70 ball runner. Willie refused to play Pancho, saying he was a hustler, so I was thrown to the wolves instead. But that's another story.
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I saw him play dozens of times. I was like a stalker when he was within a hundred miles. He usually played 150 point games. I never saw him lose, it was never even close. He would run a 100 or more almost every match.
He played one friend of mine, a real good player. Bill ran like 60 first inning and played safe. He told me later that Mosconi whispered to him. "Nobody came here to see you play"
that was all Bill got, Mosconi got out in 2 more innings.
 
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