Log into Facebook
Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.
www.facebook.com
Quote
"
DANNY DILIBERTO
I have been sad all morning. He was a grandfather and hero to me and we went back over 50 years in pool together.
I knew that he was going to pass away soon and unusually I awoke just before 4 a.m. today and just sensed that he was gone. When I got up a few hours later I told my wife about what I had felt and I then soon discovered it was true.
He spent his life playing against the very best, Joe Balsis, Irving Crane, Luther Lassiter, Nick Varner, Efren Reyes, Jersey Red, Buddy Hall, Earl Strickland, Mike Sigel, Steve Mizerak, Willie Mosconi, Jim Rempe, and Efren Reyes, along with anyone else that you have ever heard of. Imagine the hardships of making a living traveling and playing tough games against great players…you had better be a tough guy.
I first encountered Danny in 1973 at the U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship in Chicago. He played with an uncommon tenacity and grit which was always his calling card in life. Danny is just a tough guy that is unafraid.
When he played he always had an energy, a bounce in his step, the spirit and enthusiasm to take on and accomplish what was necessary for victory.
The details of his game were interesting as he kept his cue fractionally more level than all of the other top tier players to gain an extra fragment or percent of accuracy. He would willfully take an intentional foul before ever giving anyone a chance to shoot an open tough shot. Danny won due to his willingness to work harder than his opponent. I was always and forever inspired by his examples and I so admired Danny.
He was justifiably a very proud guy and had unexpected qualities beyond a regular pool player. He loved creating a large Sunday gathering and cooking a high quality Italian pasta dinner for however many people were present.
If you insulted or physically challenged Danny, you could either apologize or get a “shot at the title”.
He never used one word of profanity which is unheard of in my professional life.
Danny and I became broadcast partners and commentated more than 300 matches together covering a couple of decades.
Billy Incardona, Danny Diliberto, and Grady Mathews, are my favorites and all taught me so much pool with their insights and broadcasting styles. We all became brothers that had traveled the globe together at various times over many years.
Sometimes during our broadcasts Danny would recall an incident from long ago or before my time and offer it to the audience. I also genuinely loved hearing these stories from the past that I had never heard before. They often caught me off guard with a factual recollection and despite not trying to be funny, they would have little humorous twists that caused me to burst out in laughter for the unexpected direction things had turned and the fact that he was being serious and not attempting comedy.
Time went by and despite Danny being 20 years older than me, we aged together. We would be preparing in the broadcast booth pre match and he would be speaking about physical fitness for pool and he might look over and sternly say, “I can still out run you”…I had no doubt.
Danny was a tough guy with a kind heart that lived pool. Pool was his life and during our final broadcasting days he dearly loved still being around the sport. Pool was his identity and just being near it was invigorating for him, gave him a sense of purpose, and some greatly deserved attention.
Danny knew that our time was coming closer to the end and when we would complete a major tournament he always signed off with the most gracious and heartfelt speech to the audience as if this might be the final time. I would feel the emotion and sincerity of his words in my headset and my respect and pride would grow even greater for knowing Danny, as a tear would form in my eye.
Thank you for adding so much to my life Danny, I love you.
POOL'S STRAIGHTEST SHOOTER AND NUMBER 1 SCOUNDREL
During a terrific pool match at the Derby City Classic that I was broadcasting with pool legend Danny Diliberto, I learned some history. Danny goes back two generations earlier than I do, and back to the days of Johnston City and the pool greats prior to my era. I am always interested to hear and draw out Danny's opinions and experiences from back in those days.
If someone is unaware, Danny Diliberto was a top professional pool player for his entire adult life, winning and losing against elite players like Willie Mosconi, Irving Crane, Luther Lassiter, Joe Balsis, and then the next generation of stars including Mike Sigel, Buddy Hall, Steve Mizerak, Nick Varner, and Jim Rempe.
Opinionated and confident would describe Danny's explanations of pool.
This time we were commentating on a match taking place on a 5'x10' pool table with 4.5" pockets and considered as a special elite tournament.
Jayson Shaw was playing remarkably well and once again executing with an uncommon accuracy that I have never witnessed in my life. Both Danny and myself were enthusiastically describing the tremendous firepower on display by Shaw, as it was truly unbelievable.
During the match the players took a short time out and while we had a few minutes, I said to Danny that I am confident that nobody in my life in pool has ever played with such uncanny accuracy and that I have never seen anyone shoot so straight. I then said, "Danny have you ever seen anyone else pocket balls like Jayson is here tonight?"
Danny thinks back over more than 50 years of pool and announces that the one guy that he remembers that shot as straight as Shaw was Detroit Whitey.
While I had heard of this name he was before my time, but what I do know is that he was not a tremendous household name in pool and had very few titles, if any, in the few major tournaments of that era.
I would not dispute Danny's pronouncement, but was a little uncertain about the complete validity and followed up with, "tell us about Detroit Whitey?"
Danny began talking about big money games around Detroit and that Whitey could win from anywhere against anybody when he had his best game. Whitey was primarily a gambler and had often won vast sums of cash, but invariably he would find himself broke from the traditional pool player vices like horse betting and other bad decisions, with the easily acquired money. He regularly competed on Snooker tables also where shot accuracy was even more essential. Danny elaborated with a few more details that sounded very credible and then said that Whitey also held the distinction of being number one on Danny's list of the top five scoundrels in pool of all time.
I could not help but to begin laughing because Danny did not say this to be comical, and he confidently said this factually. This was clearly something that he had sincerely considered way in the past, and it just happened to come forth from my pressing him to talk about Detroit Whitey.
I have personally known many pool scoundrels, but not nearly as many as Danny, which forced me to ask him, while I was chuckling, what does it take to be number one on the pool scoundrels list.
Danny was not laughing at all and recalled that Whitey had a significant criminal felony history from selling narcotics along with other petty crimes on his records.
Once again, Whitey had been arrested for drug sales and due to his past criminal history was facing a 20 year prison sentence.
He then pled with his wife for her to confess and take the rap for the crime, because she did not have an extensive criminal record and would likely only get a very short sentence compared to what Whitey was facing.
Danny stated that she agreed to do this for him, and after she went away to prison, Whitey needed gambling money and he sold the kids.
I burst out laughing from such an unexpected conclusion, and I have never even considered selling the kids to generate a little cash flow, yet Danny was not joking or even smiling.
While I never knew Whitey, I completely agree with Danny, that this would be how you could earn number one on the all time pool scoundrels list. "
Last edited:
