BillieBilliards
Registered
It saddened me today to find out that the billiard community has lost a favorite son, Mike Fusco.
An excerpt from my website says most from my point of view:
AROUND 1977, the WPBA was a fledgling organization. Many thought that the women’s side of the sport was hopeless. For the most part, we were considered window dressing to any major event. One of the first room owners to step up and hold a qualifier for the Women’s World Tournament was Mike Fusco (no relation to Jimmy or Pete), owner and operator of the Boulevard Billiard Club in Philadelphia, Pa. which recently closed its doors.
Hosting a women’s tournament for the WPBA meant giving up your pool room all day Saturday and Sunday, and therefore your weekend revenue, with little hope of an audience willing to pay an admission fee. And the room owner had to hope there were at least 12 women who showed up to play in the event. As WPBA President, I worked hard to fill the 16 player field. I also pushed out a blast of public relations material to the local press. Since a room owner was not going to make a profit from a women’s tournament, at least his room would get some publicity.
Not only did Mike Fusco and his wife, Renee, host our event, they donated money to our prize fund out of pocket and paid a qualifying fee that went into our major yearend event.
In a show of support for women’s pocket billiards, Jimmy and Mike were some of the first to congratulate Dorothy Wise, five time US Open winner, on her entry into the Professional Pool Players Association’s 1983 Hall of Fame.
Love him or hate him, Mike was quite a guy. And a heck of a pool player.
An excerpt from my website says most from my point of view:
AROUND 1977, the WPBA was a fledgling organization. Many thought that the women’s side of the sport was hopeless. For the most part, we were considered window dressing to any major event. One of the first room owners to step up and hold a qualifier for the Women’s World Tournament was Mike Fusco (no relation to Jimmy or Pete), owner and operator of the Boulevard Billiard Club in Philadelphia, Pa. which recently closed its doors.
Hosting a women’s tournament for the WPBA meant giving up your pool room all day Saturday and Sunday, and therefore your weekend revenue, with little hope of an audience willing to pay an admission fee. And the room owner had to hope there were at least 12 women who showed up to play in the event. As WPBA President, I worked hard to fill the 16 player field. I also pushed out a blast of public relations material to the local press. Since a room owner was not going to make a profit from a women’s tournament, at least his room would get some publicity.
Not only did Mike Fusco and his wife, Renee, host our event, they donated money to our prize fund out of pocket and paid a qualifying fee that went into our major yearend event.
In a show of support for women’s pocket billiards, Jimmy and Mike were some of the first to congratulate Dorothy Wise, five time US Open winner, on her entry into the Professional Pool Players Association’s 1983 Hall of Fame.
Love him or hate him, Mike was quite a guy. And a heck of a pool player.
