Some players I miss....
- Thread starter Terry Ardeno
- Start date
Memories..
I played in the US OPEN one pocket championships in Kalamazoo MI. The one where Efren wins...anyway, Gary Spaeth was there and he was giving my friend the famous Harry Platis a banking lesson....I asked if it was ok to watch and listen and he said that would be fine...
I knew he was someone special and found out why for sure...what a great guy and nice as they come...
also, I remember talking with Johnny Ervolino when he would call from New York to give advice about pool. He was calling to give advice to my girlfriend and touring pro at the time Kerry Hartsfield...We had met him when he was up here in the Northwest for a bit...
He was a very good person to us and I will always remember that voice of his forever...
Mr. J.
I played in the US OPEN one pocket championships in Kalamazoo MI. The one where Efren wins...anyway, Gary Spaeth was there and he was giving my friend the famous Harry Platis a banking lesson....I asked if it was ok to watch and listen and he said that would be fine...
I knew he was someone special and found out why for sure...what a great guy and nice as they come...
also, I remember talking with Johnny Ervolino when he would call from New York to give advice about pool. He was calling to give advice to my girlfriend and touring pro at the time Kerry Hartsfield...We had met him when he was up here in the Northwest for a bit...
He was a very good person to us and I will always remember that voice of his forever...
Mr. J.
So. Side
Louie Lemke, Dick Henry, Ronnie Allen in his prime........................
Louie Lemke, Dick Henry, Ronnie Allen in his prime........................
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Terry Ardeno said:
Yeah I miss Johnny Ervolino too, and yes he did have a soft heart if he liked you. I just have to correct the high run though, it was 336 balls that he ran in his late sixties. He did run 361 balls but that was when he was about 30 years old, he told me it was playing against Teddy Elias for big money in a 1000 point match. I've never heard of anyone running anything like that for the cash. He used to practice all day at Amsterdam billiards on a tight table, just running racks all day by himself. He didn't keep count but I sometimes would and he'd be running 100s and not even know it. I would sometimes say "Johnny, you're on 159!" and he would say "Oh" and keep running like he didn't care about the run.
I also miss watching Tony Ellin play, I loved the way he would roll balls in the pocket.
Mike Templeton said:
Like you Mike I grew up playing Red. He was one heck of a guy. He forced me to win 1200 on side action once, really it was hilarious.
Eddie was just a different kind of distant person.
Larry Lisciotti for sure. Here is a quick little Larry story. about 4 years or so after I quit playing pool I ran into Larry at Foxwoods. He said he was living in a nice hotel room in cT not too far from the Mohegan Sun for like 30 or 40 a night, spring hill suites it was called. At the time they had a sweet 20/40 hold em and stud games every night so when he offered to let me live with him I said for sure. The next day I packed my bags and moved down there. Anyways we stayed their for like almost a year or so before he started complaining of pain in his neck, yall know what that was. Anyways we part ways and next thing I hear is the bad news. So I go down and see em in the hospital and first thing he says he is well Mike they got me snookered real good, doc says about 6 months, Larry says I like the over... he says if the under comes they can't get paid anyways 
He was a great guy and a great friend kinda like a second Dad and that was his attitude even when he knew it wasn't good. that was the last time I spoke with him.
Mike Rinella
He was a great guy and a great friend kinda like a second Dad and that was his attitude even when he knew it wasn't good. that was the last time I spoke with him.
Mike Rinella
do you play anymore.sydbarret said:Larry Lisciotti for sure. Here is a quick little Larry story. about 4 years or so after I quit playing pool I ran into Larry at Foxwoods. He said he was living in a nice hotel room in cT not too far from the Mohegan Sun for like 30 or 40 a night, spring hill suites it was called. At the time they had a sweet 20/40 hold em and stud games every night so when he offered to let me live with him I said for sure. The next day I packed my bags and moved down there. Anyways we stayed their for like almost a year or so before he started complaining of pain in his neck, yall know what that was. Anyways we part ways and next thing I hear is the bad news. So I go down and see em in the hospital and first thing he says he is well Mike they got me snookered real good, doc says about 6 months, Larry says I like the over... he says if the under comes they can't get paid anyways
He was a great guy and a great friend kinda like a second Dad and that was his attitude even when he knew it wasn't good. that was the last time I spoke with him.
Mike Rinella
i here you could play .
thanks gl to you in what ever you do.sydbarret said:
I'll never forget the after hours in '71 at the Stardust when Beanie glided into the room with a white suit on and long white hair flowing. Toof bet him he couldn't run 8 three consecutive racks of 1p. Beanie easily did it, whereupon Toof loudly accused him of being a locksmith. Hearing that, Beanie exploded and threw down on the table the biggest wad of cecils this side of Fatboy, ending all further discussion. But what impressed me the most was the persona that Beanie projected, like he owned the room and he knew he was the coolest thing since sliced bread.Terry Ardeno said:
Island Drive said:
Dick Henry,,,,,, was a bute. He kept me in stitches for endless hours and hours.
You may remember the joint ID back in the 70's on S Santa Fe in Littleton Co call Cenntennial Billiards? I staked Stevens to play Dick some 1-pocket.
The bet was only like $40-50 a game and both were wired for Sound. They played with reckless abandon and anything went. What impressed me most at the time was that I had never seen such good players scratch so much. But, they were both sos jacked up that if he didn't run 8 and out, they felt as though they had lost the game.
Anyway Greg won about 10 games and finished around 9 AM. We split the money and Dick just sat there as quietly as a church house mouse.
Out of nowhere Dick takes of his shoes and socks and then starts to remove those Big Smith overalls when I asked him what the hell he was doing. He just continued to undress until naked and then walked out of the pool room and onto a very busySanta Fe Drive and stood directly under the stop light in that 9:00AM traffic.
Greg grabbed a jacket and ran towards Dick when the police arrived. Dick stopped quickly came back in and asked if we could get the hell out of there as he knew things were going to get goofy.
As we drove off, they had gotten him off the street, but, he was still naked and it was a sight I would like to forget. This must have happened around 72 or 73.
What ever happened to Louie?
i
I liked Larry a lot. He was about the same age as me and I always told him I was glad I didn't meet him when I was younger. Usually there would be adult beverages involved and lots of laughing.
Nick Vlahos...a very nice guy but he would cut your heart out on the table. I watched him taunt Earl Strickland into making some very bad decisions at Kerry Heberts straight pool "Maine" event. I think they taped that match for accustats. They used to call him the best unknown player in the country. The New England guys will have many more stories. I had a great picture of Nick, Johnny E and Cicero Murphy. Nick was at the table and Johnny and Cicero were giving him tips on shots and english.
As crochity as he was Larry "Boston Shorty" Johnson. He and I had the big C at the same time. And although he never seemed to know my name right away, he knew we were fighting the same battle. We would have some great conversations about the past and the future. I was thrilled that I was able to attend his BCA Hall of Fame induction.
And I also noticed Mike Rinella posts here. Mike, you had a great talent. I watched you come up in the All About Pool Tour. You finished second to Mike Zuglan at my room. You might have even won the event the next year. Who knew those were the "good old days" for New England pool. All those rooms are closed and very few people that played then even pick up a cue anymore.
Nick Vlahos...a very nice guy but he would cut your heart out on the table. I watched him taunt Earl Strickland into making some very bad decisions at Kerry Heberts straight pool "Maine" event. I think they taped that match for accustats. They used to call him the best unknown player in the country. The New England guys will have many more stories. I had a great picture of Nick, Johnny E and Cicero Murphy. Nick was at the table and Johnny and Cicero were giving him tips on shots and english.
As crochity as he was Larry "Boston Shorty" Johnson. He and I had the big C at the same time. And although he never seemed to know my name right away, he knew we were fighting the same battle. We would have some great conversations about the past and the future. I was thrilled that I was able to attend his BCA Hall of Fame induction.
And I also noticed Mike Rinella posts here. Mike, you had a great talent. I watched you come up in the All About Pool Tour. You finished second to Mike Zuglan at my room. You might have even won the event the next year. Who knew those were the "good old days" for New England pool. All those rooms are closed and very few people that played then even pick up a cue anymore.
Terry Ardeno said:
I never met Gary Spaeth and barely got to know Weenie Beanie.
I definitely miss the very colorful Larry Lisciotti, even though he trounced me in nine-ball competition in each of our only two matches. He was always humorous and entertaining and popular most everywhere he went. He was very supportive of women in pool, and if memory serves, he was an early influence on future BCA hall-of-famer Robin Bell Dodson.
Though I did not get to know him very well , John Ervolino was a player who had my respect. I don't miss Johnny the player as much as Johnny the story teller. For my money, Jimmy Fusco was right when he called Johnny "the man who knows everything about pool."
I also miss Boston Shorty, a fine player and a fine man with a ton of personality, but there is no pool player I miss more than Irving Crane, and I doubt there ever will be.
ironman said:
Louie died a few years back of Pancreatic Cancer...he was always the light in the darkness of a pool room...before he passed I ran into him down at the Jazz Festival in New Orleans...he was tripping around with his new gal, singing/guitar? and playing pool and living out of a VW bus...I miss em.
Yes. Bradford. Now that the room has been closed for about 5 years, the bad memories seem to be erased. Had some great players play there. This was the weekend I always had my All About Pool event.
I liked Gary. He was truly a great bank player, and I'm glad I got to meet him, and watch him play a few matches. Played against him in a few team matches. very nice guy.
Also, Pauly Campbell from Michigan. I watched him bust up a couple of ring games on the bar tables. And played pretty sporty on the big tables too.
Also, Pauly Campbell from Michigan. I watched him bust up a couple of ring games on the bar tables. And played pretty sporty on the big tables too.
They buried my friend yesterday. He wasn't a great player, he just loved to play. I will miss him.