Bobby, who is this player from NYC in the mid-90s? I came to the city in the late 90s so I guess I missed him...
Hope all is well,
Steve
Hope all is well,
Steve
What ever happened to------?
- Thread starter DoubleA
- Start date
Hi Steve, I hope you're also well. The player I was referring to was Jake Radford. I know he never quite got good enough to be a known player but what struck me about him was when he came here from California he was about a C+ player (roughly my speed at the time), this must have been 1997 and he just improved so quickly in such a short time.
What happened to him?
Ken Fujisawa
My friend Ken Fujisawa was going to be a promising player. He was from Tokyo and he came to the United States for college. He fell in love with pool and unfortunately dropped out of college by his sophmore year. He played well and went home to Tokyo for a summer and came back playing better than anybody. He beat several regional players and even beat a few pros in a mini tournament when they had the pro tournament in Owensboro, Kentucky. This was back when it was still the PBA.
My friend Ken Fujisawa was going to be a promising player. He was from Tokyo and he came to the United States for college. He fell in love with pool and unfortunately dropped out of college by his sophmore year. He played well and went home to Tokyo for a summer and came back playing better than anybody. He beat several regional players and even beat a few pros in a mini tournament when they had the pro tournament in Owensboro, Kentucky. This was back when it was still the PBA.
I was more referring to the guy who is threat to win a regional tour event. A 100 ball runnner but not a contender for the World 14.1 Championships.
I agree I don't think you can sit at a desk for 5 days and then snap off the US Open the following week. But you can certainly become good enough to play at a very high level while working a 9-5 job, provided you play consistently around it.
Didn't Steve Mizerak win all of those U.S. open 14.1 titles int he 70's while still working as a school teacher?
IIRC Miz was a substitute teacher...not full time. This gave him more table hours. Also, I don't think any champion since has had a "real job" and still able to play at the level needed to reach the very top.
...Mark Beilfus?
Yes, Miz was a seventh grade English teacher in Perth Amboy New Jersey while he was winning four straight US Open 14.1 titles from 1970-73.
Another New Jersey educator, Middlesex County College math professor Tom Jennings won two US Open 14.1 titles in the mid 1970's.
A key consideration in each case was that they got summers off, and the major 14.1 championships in the seventies tended to be in the late summer, affording them both a chance to prepare.
Bottom line, Bobby ---- if you gamble at 14.1 with a New Jersey educator, ask for weight!
Too many to start a list. None quit I think they all just are on a long break.
Whenever this topic comes up, I think of one person...Jon Kucharo. It truly saddens me that he never fully realized his greatness. He had the complete game, he just needed a little more hardening to break through to the top and become a household name. The way he chiseled up racks of bartable 8B was magical.
I agree... I played with him in Juniors and on... he was good.
Whatever happened to Michael Coltrain? Have not heard anything about him in a while...
I have known quite a few. They eventually channel their time and efforts into something more fruitful. Pool is just to demanding and unrewarding.