Wade crane killed in car wreck last night

[jay helfert]

One of the two most memorable shots I ever saw in tournament play was made by Wade Crane. It was late in a match with Jim Rempe I believe when Jimmy left Wade near one end rail and the nine ball near the other end rail. It was a good safety with the angle not being good for a bank or a cut shot. If you can imagine the cue ball an inch or so off the end rail just over a diamond out from the corner pocket. The nine ball at the opposite end of the table, also about an inch or so off the end rail, close to the middle diamond.

There's no where to go on this shot, except maybe to try for some kind of safe. To shoot and miss here is to lose the game. It was a critical point late in the match, and in the late stages of the tournament, where all the money is on the line. Billy/Wade took a good look at the shot, inspecting it from all angles. Then he got down low and leveled on his cue. I was right there and couldn't be sure what he had in mind. He stayed down a long time and finally fired hard with the cue ball. He hit the very edge of the nine ball and cut it in the top left corner pocket!

To this day, that is the best cut shot I ever saw in competition! :bow-down:

 

[JL in ATL]

Thanks to a mutual friend, I got to know Wade a few years back and even got lessons. He was a GREAT teacher! But, my favorite thing about Wade was hearing his stories - his dry sense of humor was absolutely hilarious! RIP Wade.
John Lee

 

[freddy the beard]

A tip from "Billy"

I was reminiscing with my son Dino about Billy, when he asked me if I remembered the tip Billy gave me about shooting a ball down the long rail on a tough pocket table. It was at the Legends tourn at South Philly Billiards in the 90s. I was grumbling about the shot I missed that cost me a match on those triple shimmed pockets. His advice to me was that shooting a ball that is close to the long rail, down the rail into the pocket is a type of optical illusion, and most players favor the ball to the inside of the pocket, where the rail ends and the pocket begins. Many times you catch the long rail and the ball bobbles and hangs up. He said instead to aim to shoot it into the full opening instead; the best target being the opposing pocket facing. He said this was especially strong when playing on tight pocket tables, like we were faced with at that tourn.
Up until now I had completely forgotten what he had said. Amazingly, my son had never forgotten and reminded me.

With the best wishes from BJ and my son Dino
Beard

 

[ajrack]

"Billy's" Humor

To Jay...I was there when Billy and Cornbread had their fling...wasn't it Great!
I lived in Vegas for many years. Billy hung out for a few months (70's). At the Cue Club, their number 1 table needed recovered quickly because someone tore the cloth. Only cloth available was a not very good quality cloth. It was put on only to be there for a couple of days.
Billy and I were sitting near that table and one of the young Hot Shot players came up and asked what did he think about about this terrible cloth they put on this table.
Billi looked at me, smiled, looked back at the player and stated " I prefer green cloth".

 

[mckturner502]

first of all pardon my computer skills. around 1995 a local atlanta businessman named john bell opened a world class gym and world class billiard room in the atlanta area, marietta to be exact. john bell and wade had known each other since the sixties and once had a pool room in galveston, texas. wade and dianne were living in dallas at the time, and john talked them into relocating to ga. wade became house pro he and dianne helped john get the place up and going. the place was called world class billiards and stayed open 24 hrs. a day.

well it didn't take long till everyone came to check out this beautiful new place which the best i recall was about a 25 table room.

legendary table mechanic mark gregory triple shimmed one of the gold crowns for the big action games, and they called it 'jaws', and as they say let the games and action begin, and boy did it ever. players are still talking about that table to this day.

some of the players that were there everyday were of course wade,cliff joyner, mark gregory, jack cooney, john hager sr., ron wiseman, paul turner, tony mougey, robby hudson, will bilbrey, and a very young monica webb. how's that for a list of players that were in about every day.

pretty soon all the highrollers from all points started to come in and this became like a mecca of pool especially with it being open 24 hours, and wade was instrumental in putting this together.

can you imagine late night pool stories with wade, jack cooney, john hager, and mark gregory. i left many a night with my side hurting from laughing so hard

during this time wade, dianne, and my wife libby became very good friends hanging out both in the pool room and away from it. these are times we will treasure forever. wade and i remained close friends right up until the time of this terrible tragedy, and even rode out to conyers about a month ago to sweat a pool game.

i hope wade starts to get some of the recognition in the pool world that that i think is long overdue. his high gear in both pool and life might of been higher than anyone else's.

thank's
mack turner

 

[SissyNago]

Here is what is happening, David. The body is still in Knoxville as of yesterday and will not be transported to Robbinsville, North Carolina, until the Tennessee law about doing so is adhered to. This is why there is a "hold-up," for lack of a better word. Each State has their own laws that must be carried out.

We are sending a check today to Wade's sister, Kay Nuchols, with a note in the "Memo" section that says the funds are to go for "Wade Crane's memorial expense." I am not sure if he will be buried or cremated.

According to an interview Wade Crane gave to Mike Panozzo of Billiards Digest in the 1985, his father was also killed in an automobile accident right after he was born. He was the youngest of four and raised by his grandmother.

Without that October 1985 Billiards Digest article, I would not have known nearly what I do today about Wade Crane, the person, coming from a small town in the western-most part of North Carolina with a population of 700.

Wade Crane got out of pool several times in his life, first when he moved to Chicago and worked at Brach's candy factory and second after he got married to his first wife, Linda, not shooting a ball for over three and a half years.

It was the tournament purses that allured Wade back to pool in the '80s. The transformation from road agent to tournament soldier for Wade was an interesting one. Here is a snippet from that article:

For six years, "Billy Johnson" dug his bunker in Atlanta and withstood one charge after another. Ronnie Allen, Richie Florence, Eddie Kelly -- the glamour boys of the '60s -- all felt Johnson's sting.

"At that time," the slightly balding Crane admitted, "I was a lot like Earl Strickland in a sense. I was young, determined, and hungry for action. I dodged no one. If the smart thing was to bypass a certain town, I'd drive straight to it. I was on an ego kick. I was always ready for a challenge. I won a lot of matches and lost a lot of matches, but over the years, my record speaks for itself. The players know. I just kept a low profile."

The transformation for Wayne's shooting style required adjustment:

At first, adapting to the restrictions of tournament play was difficult. "The crowds really bothered me at first," Crane said. "You seem to be more aware of the crowd at tournaments. There were always people around watching during money matches, but you don't seem to notice that they're there. Tournament matches are in a quieter setting. The referees are a little distracting when you first start playing tournaments, too."

Crane has also had to change his approach to matches now. "I'm normally a slow starter," he confided. "That probably comes from all those years playing money matches. Back then, we played 10-ahead. You don't worry as much about getting a little behind. Even if I was seven or eight games behind, I knew there was still plenty of time to come back. In tournaments, you don't have that luxury. You have to be fast out of the gate."

Every good pool player has a streak, a good run, and for Wade Crane, this was the year 1985.

RIP to one of America's great players, Wade Crane. :smile:

The above information was shared with me by our own Terry Ardeno. Thank you so much, Terry! Without your help, I would never have known as much as I do today about this great pool player. Thank you also to Mike Panozzo of Billiards Digest for creating this historical pool archive with the interview.

For a good read, the BD issue with this three-page article is October 1985, pages 48 through 50.

Bravo to Billiards Digest for doing it and to Terry Ardeno for passing it forward.

Yes, Wade was the youngest of four from his father and then his mother married and along came 3 more children. The city of Robbinsville is a little more than that now, but it is the only town in the whole county of Graham County. The county has a little over 8,000 and most of the county is forest service land. We are along the Tennessee border just across the mountain from Knoxville.

Wade's first wife was Rose, who is the mother of his daughter, Laura (which has finally decided to release Wade's body to the family). Linda was the third wife and she had a daughter from her first marriage that was Wade's stepdaughter (Melissa or Lisa).

So hopefully Saturday morning Wade will be brought from Knoxville to Robbinsville and brought through town to where his friends that he went to schoo with will be lined up along the street in front of the last place that he had a pool room here and they will say their farewells. Wade will then be taken to be cremated (as was his wish) and then we'll set up a memorial here.

Thanks to everyone that has shared stories about Wade and all your prayers they are greatly appreciated. And thanks from Boom-Boom for any monies that have been given.

 

[perfectpocketz]

Wade and I met 1985 at the Akron open pool tournament, I knew who is was, he was the player of the year, well we play one another in the final 16 and I run him over in the match, playing safe on him every chance I get and running out. I win the match and go over the shake his hand. Man he grabs my hand, puts the vice on me....looks me in the eyes and says...you know I gamble. I did every thing I could to get away from him...finally he let's go, and I was gone. The next pro event was Lexington Ky. You got it...we draw each other again...and I'm ready for his ass....buddy he put a horse beaten on my ass.....so I jump out of my chair after the match, grab his hand as hard as I could and say you know I gamble....he looks at me and gives that Wade
Laugh and says you goofy m/f. Wade and I became great friends from the day forward. We had some of the best times in life together. We talked on the phone aleast one a month for years. I will really deeply miss his friendship and all the laughs we had all the time.....and oh yeah, from that day back in 85, everytime I would see
him, he would say Gregory as I walked to him, he would have that bear paw out for me to shake....no I didn't shake.....I would say forget about that shit, he would just start laughing. I will always miss and love my friend.

Trust me wade was more than just a great player.

Mark Gregory

 

[JAM]

Yes, Wade was the youngest of four from his father and then his mother married and along came 3 more children. The city of Robbinsville is a little more than that now, but it is the only town in the whole county of Graham County. The county has a little over 8,000 and most of the county is forest service land. We are along the Tennessee border just across the mountain from Knoxville.

Wade's first wife was Rose, who is the mother of his daughter, Laura (which has finally decided to release Wade's body to the family). Linda was the third wife and she had a daughter from her first marriage that was Wade's stepdaughter (Melissa or Lisa).

So hopefully Saturday morning Wade will be brought from Knoxville to Robbinsville and brought through town to where his friends that he went to schoo with will be lined up along the street in front of the last place that he had a pool room here and they will say their farewells. Wade will then be taken to be cremated (as was his wish) and then we'll set up a memorial here.

Thanks to everyone that has shared stories about Wade and all your prayers they are greatly appreciated. And thanks from Boom-Boom for any monies that have been given.

Thank you for the update. I mailed our check yesterday for $100 to the address you so kindly provided. I hope it helps.

I love the way Robbinsville looks in the pictures. It must have been a wonderful place to grow up. I can see why Wade always returned to Robbinsville throughout his adventures. The scenery there is absolutely breathtaking.

It is kind of nice to know that he will rest in peace in such a beautiful place.

 

[JAM]

Wade and I met 1985 at the Akron open pool tournament, I knew who is was, he was the player of the year, well we play one another in the final 16 and I run him over in the match, playing safe on him every chance I get and running out. I win the match and go over the shake his hand. Man he grabs my hand, puts the vice on me....looks me in the eyes and says...you know I gamble. I did every thing I could to get away from him...finally he let's go, and I was gone. The next pro event was Lexington Ky. You got it...we draw each other again...and I'm ready for his ass....buddy he put a horse beaten on my ass.....so I jump out of my chair after the match, grab his hand as hard as I could and say you know I gamble....he looks at me and gives that Wade
Laugh and says you goofy m/f. Wade and I became great friends from the day forward. We had some of the best times in life together. We talked on the phone aleast one a month for years. I will really deeply miss his friendship and all the laughs we had all the time.....and oh yeah, from that day back in 85, everytime I would see
him, he would say Gregory as I walked to him, he would have that bear paw out for me to shake....no I didn't shake.....I would say forget about that shit, he would just start laughing. I will always miss and love my friend.

Trust me wade was more than just a great player.

Mark Gregory

Mark, that is so funny, the incident you shared. Keith told me the same thing happened to him when he was in a tournament with Wade. After the match, Keith stuck out his hand, and Wade gave him this extremely firm shake. When I say firm, I mean it was just like the vice grip you described, according to Keith.

He said that he and Wade used to enjoy betting in the calcuttas on the players, since they had knowledge of who's who in the pool world. They used to cut up and jaw jack on the rail, telling jokes and funny stories. According to Keith, whoever was on the snappers, they'd only bet on them.

 

[houmatroy]

R I P Wade !

Wow is all I can say...been @ the hunting camp for a week..so this is the first I hear of this...Got alot of fond memories & stories from when we ran around together...Now when I hear thunder I will be thinking that It might be Wade breaking a rack of 9 ball or He's snoring...Man could he snore...You will be missed old Buddy !!!

 

[mckturner502]

Wade told me over the years that he had many matches with the Great Buddy Hall, and they played all over the country both in tournaments and gambling. He said they each won their share of matches, and Wade had the ultimate respect for the great man.

One of the successes Wade said he had against Buddy was when he had his Pool Room in Asheville N.C, He saidthe played 2 ten ahead sets, one 9 ball and one 10 ball. Wade said he thought he might have been a little favorite in the 9 ball because of his break and playing on his homecourt, and Buddy was the favorite in the 10 ball. these 2 sets went on for about a week and Wade said he was fortunate to win both sets.

Wade said a few days after that, Mike Sigel came through on the way home from a road trip through Florida. Wade said Sigel ask him to play, and wanted to play a race to 21. Wade replied that he would play a 10 ahead set and they could bet what they wanted, because he said he had some strong backers at the time. Wade said Sigel was reluctant to play 10 ahead but his road partner finally talked him into it. Wade said little did they know he had been playing Buddy for a week and as he put it was in fine tune. Wade said he won the set in about 45 minutes.

Now folks, I don't know about y'all, but to beat these 2 great champions 30 ahead within a period of a few days of each other to me ranks as one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of pool.

Jay Helfert, Wade introduced me to you over breakfast one morning at the Executive West, and told this story to you and me if you remember, and I remember he said he never dodged anyone and he had beat them all and they had all beaten him. Just wondering where you think this accomplishment ranks.

Mack Turner

 

[ibuycues]

My deepest sympathy goes to everyone who knew and cared for this giant stalwart of the pool community. You will be in my thoughts and prayers.

And a special thanks for the great stories. Wade, you will be missed.

RIP.

Will Prout

 

[mckturner502]

Does anyone know the day and date they will be giving Wade's tribute and award at DCC.

Thanks

 

[JAM]

Does anyone know the day and date they will be giving Wade's tribute and award at DCC.

Thanks

Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at the One-Pocket Hall of Fame Dinner. You can read all about it at the OnePocket.org website: OnePocket.org.

Click here for reservations. It fills up fast: http://www.onepocket.org/HOFbanquet.htm

 

[freddy the beard]

Everybody's invited

Originally Posted by mckturner502
Does anyone know the day and date they will be giving Wade's tribute and award at DCC.

Thanks

Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at the One-Pocket Hall of Fame Dinner. You can read all about it at the OnePocket.org website: OnePocket.org.

Click here for reservations. It fills up fast: http://www.onepocket.org/HOFbanquet.htm

Myself and Grady Mathews will be the MC's. Truman Hogue will definitely be there and give words. We will also have a few other players come up to the podium and pay tribute to Billy.

Beard

 

[jay helfert]

Wade told me over the years that he had many matches with the Great Buddy Hall, and they played all over the country both in tournaments and gambling. He said they each won their share of matches, and Wade had the ultimate respect for the great man.

One of the successes Wade said he had against Buddy was when he had his Pool Room in Asheville N.C, He saidthe played 2 ten ahead sets, one 9 ball and one 10 ball. Wade said he thought he might have been a little favorite in the 9 ball because of his break and playing on his homecourt, and Buddy was the favorite in the 10 ball. these 2 sets went on for about a week and Wade said he was fortunate to win both sets.

Wade said a few days after that, Mike Sigel came through on the way home from a road trip through Florida. Wade said Sigel ask him to play, and wanted to play a race to 21. Wade replied that he would play a 10 ahead set and they could bet what they wanted, because he said he had some strong backers at the time. Wade said Sigel was reluctant to play 10 ahead but his road partner finally talked him into it. Wade said little did they know he had been playing Buddy for a week and as he put it was in fine tune. Wade said he won the set in about 45 minutes.

Now folks, I don't know about y'all, but to beat these 2 great champions 30 ahead within a period of a few days of each other to me ranks as one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of pool.

Jay Helfert, Wade introduced me to you over breakfast one morning at the Executive West, and told this story to you and me if you remember, and I remember he said he never dodged anyone and he had beat them all and they had all beaten him. Just wondering where you think this accomplishment ranks.

Mack Turner

Hey Mack, How are you? For the cash, Billy was right up there with the best of 'em. No question about that. He had about 15 years where he was right at or near the top of the game (in the early 70's to mid 80's). After his divorce, I never thought he played quite as good for whatever reason.

I always liked Billy's style, he didn't back down from anyone. If he heard about a good player, he wanted to find that guy. By the way, he was one of the very few who beat Richie and Cole out here, when they were both in their prime. Playing even too! I would put his high gear gambling right there with Parica and Buddy and Cardone.

 

[mckturner502]

you're right Jay, I think Wade lost his desire and love for the game somewhat in the late 80's and was never the same player. He still had a wealth of knowledge of the game buy never practiced. His good friend Mike Danner said he had seen him go for weeks and never hit a ball and still get a game and play amazingly well.

The best pool I ever saw Wade play believe it or not was a match he lost.In the late 70's, Ithink it was about the time he had closed the pool room in Asheville, they had a big tournament in Birmingham and all the top players were there. I think Sigel won the tournament. About 2 days after the tournament started, Denny Searcy showed up with highrolling stakehorse looking to match up with anyone there. You guessed it the only one who would step up and play him was Wade. It was a monumental match that lasted along time with some of the greatest shotmaking I have ever seen in my 40 something years of being around this game. two great players playing at the top of their games and it was a shame that someone had to lose.

Mack Turner

[/I]

 

[nightmare]

Thought people might enjoy this...this was the cover of the June '87 issue of Billiards Digest...courtesy of Mike Panozzzo, Publisher.

 

[mckturner502]

I just spoke with Wade's sister, Kay Nuchols in Robbinsville N.C., and here is the latest:

Wade's daughter in Texas has still not signed the release for Wade's brothers and sisters to carry him to Robbinsville to finally have closure. His daughter's husband had spoken to Wade's neice and had led them to believe she was going to sign the release but so far that has'nt happened.The family is still making every effort to get her to do this without getting into a possible long legal battle. Miss Nuchols seems like a very nice and humble person whose family doesn't deserve to be put through this. Wade's body remains at the U.T. medical center.

Miss Nuchols told me that her daughter had spoken to officer Shaw of the Knoxville police Dep't who was first on the scene of the accident, and he said the death was caused from the accident due to blunt trauma to the head, from hitting the concrete barrier. He also told them Wade was not wearing a seat belt.

As for the money for Wade's burial fund she said she had received one check for 100 dollars and one for 25 dollars. I will be putting her a check in the mail tomorrow and I hope that some others on here will chip in whatever you can afford and let's get this thing done for this good and humble family.

Miss Nuchols said for me to thank everyone for her for all the nice things that people have said about Wade and the family would never forget it.

Here is her address, and be sure to put on the memo on the check for Wade Crane burial fund.

Kay Nuchols
Wade Crane burial fund
P.O. box 1539
Robbinsville,N.C. 28771

Thanks everyone
Mack Turner

 

[rorywayne]

In his day, in the early 80's, he shot many great matches, on that was perfect, which is very rare.

The only thing I ever did perfect, was pay off and leave early.

Pancho