......I recall a story about a 14.1 National Championship in California way back in the '70s when an earthquake hit while the players were at the tables. Does anyone remember the details? I remember hearing that some players went straight to their rooms, packed their bags and took off. Some stuck it out and decided to play through. I think the Miz wanted to keep playing if I wasn't mistaken. Anyone?
Speaking of Earthquakes.......
- Thread starter FranCrimi
- Start date
Hi Turkey,
That was me Ray Martin the Miz was not there in the first place.
How are you doing?
Ray
Here in California, we pray for an earthquake to hit right after hanging up the game ball in the jaws. :smile:
And that's why he's called Cool Cat Martin.
..the ground shook, but he didn't.
got a little emotional for his HOF induction though ..and endeared himself to
everyone there
Hey Turkey yourself.... so that was you who wanted to keep playing? Is that where you got your nickname?
I'm great, thanks, and now that I know you're coming back to your old stomping ground, I'm going to have to show up to cheer you on. Congrats on the 14.1 Hall of Fame.
Tell us more about that earthquake tournament. What happened?
When we held the World 9 Ball Championship in Taipei a few years ago we arrived in a typhoon and left during a cyclone. The club where we played the qualifying tournament was on the 10th floor and half way through the week there was a massive tremor that lasted nearly two minutes. You could see the balls on the tables vibrating.
It was pretty scary in a building that high
It was pretty scary in a building that high
I think that was one of Fred Whalen's tournaments, so it was not technically a national championship. It may have been billed as a world invitational.
As I remember the story, Dallas West was leading the field and right after the earthquake he packed up and went back to Rockford. When New Madrid lets loose again -- and it's due -- he may have to revise his safety rating for Illinois.
Speaking of earthquakes...
How did Keith get his nickname?
How did Keith get his nickname?
Congrats again Mr. Martin on the HOF induction. Well deserved and a long time coming.
Speaking of crazy timing for 14.1 championships and natural weather phenomena. This years 14.1 Championship is currently on track to have at best a strong to tropical storm or at worst, a category 2 hurricane named Irene coming through NJ which I believe hasn't happened in quite a while. Hopefully the national weather service got it wrong and it'll be a quiet sunny day with the only cracking sounds being the opening of consecutive racks.
Speaking of crazy timing for 14.1 championships and natural weather phenomena. This years 14.1 Championship is currently on track to have at best a strong to tropical storm or at worst, a category 2 hurricane named Irene coming through NJ which I believe hasn't happened in quite a while. Hopefully the national weather service got it wrong and it'll be a quiet sunny day with the only cracking sounds being the opening of consecutive racks.
The WPBA is no stranger to mother nature as well. I remember playing at a tour stop in North Carolina when Hurricane Fran came through (no pun intended). I remember a tour stop at a riverboat casino in the midwest where we were swarmed by mayflies. You couldn't see the windows or the ground. It was like a scene from a horror movie walking from the hotel to the casino. Then at that same place we were quickly ushered to a "secure" room because a tornado was coming through. That room didn't feel so secure to me. I was ready to tie myself to a pipe in the ladies room but luckily the tornado missed us by a several blocks.
At a WPBA event in San Francisco, we had a 5.0 earthquake. At another WPBA event --- I think Mississippi --- a bat got into the arena and was dive-bombing the players. We had to postpone play there for a bit until they could chase the bat out.
Fran If you read DiLiberto's book the earthquake story is in it..... I'll try and dig it out and see if I can get you more details......
It was Fred Whalen's "3-in-1" tournament at the Elk's Building in Los Angeles, January 29th through February 21st (yes, three weeks) in 1971. The results were covered in the March 1971 issue of The National Billiard News. The 14.1 part of the tournament was recognized by the BCA as the World Championship. Ray Martin won in the 14.1 and Joe Balsis finished second. Ed Kelly won the all-around.
The earthquake in question was the San Fernando Quake which happened at 6AM on the morning of February 9th. It was a magnitude 6.6 and was centered about 20 miles from the Elk's Building. There were surface ruptures along 10 miles of fault with relative movement of about 3 feet across the fault and/or up and down.
Judging from the scores listed, at the time of the quake Dallas West was unbeaten in the straight pool with a record of 4-0 in a 10-man round robin. When he left, all his matches were marked as losses.
From that issue of NBN about a telephoned report from Don Willis:
[...] he was in a downtown Los Angeles hotel sleeping in his bed when the earthquake started and was so violent it bounced Willis out of bed onto the floor and Don first thought was to dress quickly and get out of the hotel, and he would be clear of falling debris, while in a hurry there was another second tremble and as Don was putting his trousers on having one leg in one of his pant legs and while getting the second leg in his trouser and the room was shaking so violently, that throwing Willis completely across the room, he got back on his feet quickly and while buckling his belt and grabbing his topcoat with his other hand, out the fire exit and descended the eleven floors in record time.
(For those not familiar with that era of NBN publication, I did not make any errors in typing the text of that part of a sentence. Actually, the style kind of gives you the discombobulated feeling you may get from a quake.)
And just to prove that there is almost nothing new under the sun, this is an editor's note:
To all our Readers:-
There was a rumor going around that the boys who played at the $40,000 3-in-1 Tournament, January 29th to February 20th would not get paid. On February 21st all of the players who had won prizes and had money coming to them were asked to meet Fred Whalen at this bank in downtown Los Angeles. Fred paid off each and every one to make a total of $40,000. Fred Whalen is truly a champion promoter. ...
There was a rumor going around that the boys who played at the $40,000 3-in-1 Tournament, January 29th to February 20th would not get paid. On February 21st all of the players who had won prizes and had money coming to them were asked to meet Fred Whalen at this bank in downtown Los Angeles. Fred paid off each and every one to make a total of $40,000. Fred Whalen is truly a champion promoter. ...
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I was there
That night after the quake, there were after shocks. The big chandelier above the main stairs which go up to the tournament room, was swinging from one side of the stairs to the other. About 15 - 20 feet. Jack Breits wife came running down the stairs and said she would not return to the building. As far as I know ...she did not return. There was a small cafe across the street and we saw her there many times.
That night after the quake, there were after shocks. The big chandelier above the main stairs which go up to the tournament room, was swinging from one side of the stairs to the other. About 15 - 20 feet. Jack Breits wife came running down the stairs and said she would not return to the building. As far as I know ...she did not return. There was a small cafe across the street and we saw her there many times.
The NBN issue also noted that there were aftershocks during the final round and the audience vacated but the players continued. I guess Martin deserves the "Cool Cat" nickname.
Does this mean you've moved to hurricane territory?