What made him famous? I read a wiki about him but I'm not sure. Was it tv and a likeable personality? There seem to be many great players who did not become as much of a household name as him, I'm just curious what it was. He did put his name of bunch of stuff so maybe he was a strong promoter, had a strong marketing instinct to brand his name? Was he lucky, was his 'reign' during a heyday for pool?
Steve Mizerak secret
- Thread starter livemusic
- Start date
What made him famous was his talent.
I am not a fan of saying someone is the best (at anything) but I prefer to say top tier. In this case, the Miz is considered to be in the top tier of pool players.
His high gear was huge.
A good friend of mine watched him set up spot shots and make them over and over while not looking at the table, his head was turned and he was talking to the crowd.
I am not a fan of saying someone is the best (at anything) but I prefer to say top tier. In this case, the Miz is considered to be in the top tier of pool players.
His high gear was huge.
A good friend of mine watched him set up spot shots and make them over and over while not looking at the table, his head was turned and he was talking to the crowd.
In the beginning, he was a school teacher. Educated and spoke well on camera, a great representative for the game of pool or mankind for a sport, during Brunswick's prime years. But he then became a pool player and you know the rest of the story.
The Miller Lite ads made him big-time famous. Until then he was known only in the pool world.
I remember seeing him on the Miller Lite commercial first. I was around 10 at the time and didn't know who he was but quickly started to try those shots on the pool table in my avatar.
The problem was....we didn't have a VCR so when the commercial came on I tried to get everyone to watch the ad so they could help me with the ball set up.
It never happened.
10 years later in 88, I saw him in person at the U.S. Open in Norfolk, Va. He seemed to stand out in the room. He was the first person I recognized.
The problem was....we didn't have a VCR so when the commercial came on I tried to get everyone to watch the ad so they could help me with the ball set up.
It never happened.
10 years later in 88, I saw him in person at the U.S. Open in Norfolk, Va. He seemed to stand out in the room. He was the first person I recognized.
Making spot shots without looking, now, that sounds really cool. I've seen a guy do it on an easy straight in shot but not a spot shot. If he did several in a row, now that WOULD be pretty impressive.
I found Miller Lite commercial. Likeable, rotund, and talented...
I always thought it was interesting that he could make more money teaching than playing pool full time in tournaments, despite being the top player and Mosconi's protegee. Dyer's book says that it was Willie who got him the Miller Light deal (Willie turned it down).
"Even when you're just showing off"
Steve had unbelievable natural talent. The game came very easy to him. He was easily considered the best 14.1 player of his era - late 1960s into the early 1980s, until being surpassed by Mike Sigel, 9 years younger than the Miz. His talent allowed him to make the transition to 9-ball in the latter 1970s relatively easily, although virtually all of his major titles were in 14.1. Were it not for his obesity and health issues, he would have likely remained a top tier player in to his 50s. He passed at age 61.
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Miz's commercials info: http://www.billiardsforum.com/pool-players/steve-mizerak-miller-lite-beer-tv-commercial-1978
Middle 80’s Steve came through Seattle Tacoma. He was a terrific ambassador to the game. Played in our $5 eight ball tournament in Fife. I had the privilege of playing him, he didn’t miss a ball. Well he didn’t make any either as I broke and ran. We ended the evening playing darts (and socializing:wink
with him. His book that he signed for my wife says, “To Jackie,
Best Wishes
Maybe this book will help!
Steve Mizerak”
He would not let her pay for it!
with him. His book that he signed for my wife says, “To Jackie,Best Wishes
Maybe this book will help!
Steve Mizerak”
He would not let her pay for it!
This is correct. The first commercial for Miller Lite put him on the map. It was shown repeatedly for close to a year. There is nothing like repeated TV viewings to establish someone in the minds of people. He continued, making other similar beer commercials, with a group of famous athletes they recruited (Miller Lite All Stars?). All the pool titles in the world wouldn't have gotten him the notoriety he received from making those commercials.
Steve was actually kind of shy and didn't like speaking publicly, at first. After he saw how lucrative it was for him, he became far more talkative. He was a very intelligent man who spoke well, was well educated and had a good vocabulary. He leveraged his fame into a nice little fortune. Steve was highly opiniated about our sport and a proud man who did not like to lose. Steve was The Man in pool until a young Earl Strickland knocked him off his pedestal.
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Hi Jay. I'm sure Earl knocked him off the tournament pedestal - but I wouldn't say Earl has ever reached the level of national acclaim and recognition like Steve. He was a known quantity by NON pool players....because of his commercials, and books, and advertisements for billiards related videos on ESPN.
I think Steve had the prettiest stroke ever! Like someone else said - just a real natural talent. Like John Schmidt says...there are levels to this.
...and now a little different side of The Miz. It was 1987 and I was living in Bozeman MT. I had gone back to college to take a couple classes in order to be eligible to play in the ACUI tournament. I won the local, and moved on the regional tournament, being held in Tucson at U of A. The night before the tournament Mizerak was going to do an exhibition, which ended up being in the U of A arena. There were 2-300 people watching. Five people were selected from the audience (which included the 60+ ACUI participants)...me, three other guys and a girl. The girl played first and Miz demolished her, not even letting her shoot. He beat the next three guys pretty much the same way. Then it was my turn. I had my custom JossWest that Bill had built for my 30th BD. Mizerak noticed the cue, and said "You look like you can play a little." I said, "Yep, and I'm gonna run out on you!" He laughed and racked. I broke, made a ball and proceeded to start running the rack (8 ball). After making another couple of balls Mizerak stopped me and said, "Kid, take my advice and shoot this ball in that pocket right now." Keep in mine he was no more than 5 years older than me. I looked at him, looked at the shot, looked up at the audience and said "Nah, I'll pass!". I then ran the rest of the rack to thunderous applause, as nobody had been able to get any traction on The Miz. I went up to him to shake his hand, AND HE TURNED AWAY FROM ME, walking away. Then he began his trickshot show. I don't know if he was pissed because I beat him ONE FRICKING GAME of pool or what, but he wasn't very "on" doing his trick shots. Now every trickshot artist out there has bad days (I've had them too on occasion over the course of performing at 100's of schools for more than 20 years).
I was fuming at his poor behavior, and was venting to the person I thought was his liason for the school. He was making all kinds of excuses for Steve, calling it jet lag and other things. I said, "Mr. Mizerak is a professional poolplayer, and is responsible to act professionally for that short hour, regardless of how he felt!" He agreed, and apologized for Steve's actions in refusing to shake my hand. Turns out I was talking to the Miller rep. Not long after that Miller released Mizerak from their endorsements. I had no idea why, but I had heard some rumors unrelated to my story. Fast forward 10 years to 1997. I'm having dinner in Fort Collins CO with Jack White, his wife Mollie, and the Union Director and his wife (Jack was very tight friends with CSU's Union Director). So the conversation turned to ACUI and I told my Mizerak story. At the conclusion, the Union Director said to me, "I know the story...I was there at U of A watching. After seeing Mizerak refuse to shake your hand, I went to my office and called Miller Beer (at the time, Mizerak was being paid $3K for college exhibitions...half paid by the school and half by Miller Beer)." The Union Director told Miller what happened, and said he was not paying for Mizerak's bad behavior. Miller responded to him that they were going to decline payment as well, and let The Miz go a short time later. I never knew any of that until having dinner that night 10 years later. Just goes to show that even some highly regarded pro players sometimes act like complete assholes...and sometimes it COSTS them! It cost me the tournament, as I was so pissed off, even the next day, that I went two and out in the regional event (after winning it in 1975)! LOL
Scott Lee
2019 PBIA Instructor of the Year
Director, SPF National Pool School Tour
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The guy refused to shake your hand and you are mad 33yrs later? Wow
No, I was mad at the time. Certainly not mad now. I just wanted to point out that sometimes our "heros" are something less than heroic!
Scott Lee
2019 PBIA Instructor of the Year
Director, SPF National Pool School Tour
You should be so proud of this story. WTF? Do go to parties and tell people' Hey, i got Mizerak fired'?