who is the best in TX?

[frankncali]

Great story Frank. Good point about Dean because he usually had the heads-up on everybody. That is a testament to the knowledge you have always had about peoples speed.

Trust me.... their are ALOT of players out here that people do not know about! That is why road players tend to stay clear of Texas, especially Houston. All of the money seems to stay IN state most of the time!

Dean has made me laugh many times. Once was when he sent a player back to OK that he had brought down there. He told him he was sending him back and that he was going to buy him a Bus ticket. The player shot back that
he did not come on a bus. Dean told him that was exactly right that he came in a Caddy but had played just good enough for a bus ticket to get home.
He asked me once who was smarted the girl waitress we were standing with or a rack. I said the girl. He said "do you want to bet $20?"
I said sure just waiting to hear this one.
He took the girl and stood her between 2 tables and then threw a rack down on the floor beside her and walked back to me. He then said "come here and motioned over with his hand". The girl started walking over and he
said he rested his case. I handed him a twenty and started laughing.
The girl just stood there not knowing what to do saying "what did I do?"
Dean just looked at her and said that he was talking to the rack.
It was a had to be there moment but it was funny as hell.

That event was bitter sweet as that was the last one Mike Johnson
got to go to before his death. RIP

 

[DEATHTRON]

Yup, as well as open up a new business (not focused around pool). He still owns a pool hall, just doesn't compete anymore.

Whats his other busniness? I know about CJ's which is more than a pool hall (I think) but ya...Im interested to know....I knew a guy that worked at CJ's and he said CJ himself was never there much, only to pay bills.

Zach

 

[APAgeek6]

Somebody mentioned Smokey Bartlett earlier. Is he still around Austin? Very entertaining guy. Great storyteller and a pretty darn good player. What about Ignatio "Nacho" Chavez? Is he still around there? Very good bar table player.

 

[Snapshot9]

Chavez ...

Somebody mentioned Smokey Bartlett earlier. Is he still around Austin? Very entertaining guy. Great storyteller and a pretty darn good player. What about Ignatio "Nacho" Chavez? Is he still around there? Very good bar table player.

Is Chavez from Texas or perhaps is he from Denver originally? 10-12 years
ago I played a little Hispanic guy from Denver a $100 set, race to 5, 9 ball
on a bar table in a bar (normal 7', not oversized), and I had him 4-1. He
came back and beat me 5-4. I later heard that he was just passing
through, and that he was the 2nd best player in Denver, and supposedly
had a rep. (Medina had long since left Denver - this is after Medina, besides
I have played Medina before, and he did not really impress me.)
This guy only 5' or 5'1" tall, kind of quiet, played real good with a real good
eye for shots.

I have always wondered who this guy was, as I know the first name he
gave me was not probably true.

As far as Texas players, I lived in Houston from '70 thru '73 (graduated
from Univ. of Houston), and they had a lot of great players down there.
Jersey Red, Boston Shorty hung out downtown, Squirrel was around,
The Taylor brothers (all 3 of them), and several others. Thought it was
kind of funny, I ran into M.J. Fink from here in Wichita down there, and
my big brother, Knute, used to shoot his big brother, Gary, for money
here in Wichita, years before. M.J. and I played some until he quit playing
me.

 

[bud green]

It's hard to compare players who specialize in certain games, but Dick Lane is a major talent. I've heard he'll gamble 80 or no count at 14.1. He's one of the best in the world, even perhaps past his prime. I don't recall him doing much in nine ball or even entering one pocket though.

Overall, my vote is for JJ. Charlie played better nine ball recently but Jeremy is a strong one pocket player and a top notch nine baller as well.

CJ Wiley was much more than a "very good" nine ball player. When he used to play and was "on", he was phenomenal. He shot so fast and so accurately on one accustat tape I have, Buddy Hall and Dave Bollman were laughing at how he could two stroke length of table shots and run out in 50 seconds. He's at 10-10 (hill-hill) on one tape and has a medium difficulty runout and he takes all of 45 seconds to run 'em out. Even Earl used to shake his head at how fast CJ played. Shame he didn't continue to play, he had as much natural talent as anyone.

 

[Voodoo Daddy]

Cant believe I didnt see...

Roger Griffis beat everyone for years...David Henson, uh didnt he win the South Padre` tournament one year??
Wow, you guys gotta get your Pool Detectives manuals back out, especially you Texans...

 

[vagabond]

I've heard players state that they won't go to TX. The state is so big and there's so many high calibur unknown players.

That is why u find signs posted on Texas highways saying ` Don`t mess with Texas`

 

[1pRoscoe]

Roger Griffis beat everyone for years...David Henson, uh didnt he win the South Padre` tournament one year??
Wow, you guys gotta get your Pool Detectives manuals back out, especially you Texans...

Umm... we have mentioned those names on more than one occassion.

 

[hemicudas]

Andy Oguine

In his book, Rags To Rifleman, Buddy Hall admits losing to two players, playing even, in the 70s and you guys have overlooked him entirely. Mr. Andy Oguine, from Texas.

 

[Voodoo Daddy]

Show me

Umm... we have mentioned those names on more than one occassion.

Maybe...but not in this thread, ya know the one we're in now?

 

[1pRoscoe]

Maybe...but not in this thread, ya know the one we're in now?

I didn't say they were mentioned in this thread, but have been mentioned many times....

 

[coastydad]

Man, what a loaded question. So many different games, so many different names. I'll throw a few proven ones into the hat.
Bob Vanover
Dick Lane
Paul Guernsey
Chen
Lil David
Bastrop
Rene Rendon
Javier Franco
Erman Bullard
Coy Lee
Gabby

And that's just for starters......randyg

Yeah, that's a good list Randy. How many times did Bob Vanover win the Texas Open?, six or seven?. Think Gilbert Martinez won it three times. Gilbert used to look like Fred Astaire moving around a table. Dick Lane is a great player, but it's like watching grass grow when he plays. Watched a match between Javier and Jeremy many years ago at the Texas Open and Javier was just sharking the crap out of Jeremy. Smokey Bartlett was always a treat to watch. He could always come up with some sort of matchup.

 

[Koop]

Another off-topic but, Roscoe, that Akita is awesome.
I love those dogs and they may very well be the most loyal dogs on the planet.

My buddy from Florida had one and told me a story about an Akita that was enshrined in a Tokyo subway.
I guess everyday this Akita would follow a businessman from his house to the subway and would wait for him to return from work and walk him home.
One day the man died and the Akita waited in the subway for weeks for the guy to come home. They actually built a monument in the subway for the dog.

I can't say for sure that the story is true but it's one I will never forget.

Regards,
Koop

 

[1pRoscoe]

Another off-topic but, Roscoe, that Akita is awesome.
I love those dogs and they may very well be the most loyal dogs on the planet.

My buddy from Florida had one and told me a story about an Akita that was enshrined in a Tokyo subway.
I guess everyday this Akita would follow a businessman from his house to the subway and would wait for him to return from work and walk him home.
One day the man died and the Akita waited in the subway for weeks for the guy to come home. They actually built a monument in the subway for the dog.

I can't say for sure that the story is true but it's one I will never forget.

Regards,
Koop

She is an incredible dog.... stubborn beyond belief, but a great dog nonetheless....

I'd believe it! No matter what room I am in, if I am not playing with her or if she is not playing with my other dog, she will sit "guard" at the entrance to whatever room I am in. If I get up to leave, she will see where I am going.

Their loyalty is amazing....

 

[Koop]

She is an incredible dog.... stubborn beyond belief, but a great dog nonetheless....

I'd believe it! No matter what room I am in, if I am not playing with her or if she is not playing with my other dog, she will sit "guard" at the entrance to whatever room I am in. If I get up to leave, she will see where I am going.

Their loyalty is amazing....

That is great man.
I just love those dogs. Boxers are another of my favorites.

 

[Snapshot9]

I love dogs ...

so you can post all the dogs pics you got ... lol

Akitas are a great dog. I had an ex-girlfriend that
had 2 of them, but man, they do poop a lot ...

 

[catscradle]

That is great man.
I just love those dogs. Boxers are another of my favorites.

Way off topic, but ... brings to mind my family dog when I was a kid. The bitch was a purebred boxer, the father something off the street, we speculate it had a lot of german shepard in it. Bruno was his name, had a massive chest the kind of porportions and musculature a boxer has, but everything was bigger. Protective as hell and unbelievable with us kids. He used to watch my younger brother in the yard, if he wandered towards the street, the mutt would grab him by the seat of his pants and pull him back. Went to school with my older brother (small town) and sat peacefully under his desk all day.
Used to have some horrendous fights with the German Shepard up the street, nobody would ever dare try to separate them but a couple of buckets of ice cold water usually did the trick.
All our spouses make fun of us when we talk about Bruno the wonder dog (not resemblance to Fast Larry's wonder dog).

 

[lacey6783]

Here is a pic of one of my dogs.

 

[StoneCold]

That is a true story. I have two males so ive read alot about them. Here is my story you wont believe. My younger akita, Bear, is an outside dog, my older one Dakota is an inside dog. My air conditioner broke and my wife stayed home one day so the repairman could come fix it. When he was inside looking at the thermostat Dakota started taking his tools out of the guys toolbelt, and my wife thought it was funny, so did the repairman. The guy proceeds to the outside of the house to look at the unit and Bear, "All 155 pounds" takes the last of his tools out of his toolbelt. The guy still thinks its funny. My wife opens the back door to tell Bear to leave him alone and Dakota runs outside and they both pin this guy on the ground and won't let him up. My wife calls me and I have to come home to get them off the guy. They never once tried to bite the guy but they made sure he had nothing to use as a weapon"the guys tools" It was the most unbelievable act ive ever seen from an animal

Another off-topic but, Roscoe, that Akita is awesome.
I love those dogs and they may very well be the most loyal dogs on the planet.

My buddy from Florida had one and told me a story about an Akita that was enshrined in a Tokyo subway.
I guess everyday this Akita would follow a businessman from his house to the subway and would wait for him to return from work and walk him home.
One day the man died and the Akita waited in the subway for weeks for the guy to come home. They actually built a monument in the subway for the dog.

I can't say for sure that the story is true but it's one I will never forget.

Regards,
Koop

 

[Koop]

That is a true story. I have two males so ive read alot about them. Here is my story you wont believe. My younger akita, Bear, is an outside dog, my older one Dakota is an inside dog. My air conditioner broke and my wife stayed home one day so the repairman could come fix it. When he was inside looking at the thermostat Dakota started taking his tools out of the guys toolbelt, and my wife thought it was funny, so did the repairman. The guy proceeds to the outside of the house to look at the unit and Bear, "All 155 pounds" takes the last of his tools out of his toolbelt. The guy still thinks its funny. My wife opens the back door to tell Bear to leave him alone and Dakota runs outside and they both pin this guy on the ground and won't let him up. My wife calls me and I have to come home to get them off the guy. They never once tried to bite the guy but they made sure he had nothing to use as a weapon"the guys tools" It was the most unbelievable act ive ever seen from an animal

That is an awesome story and just goes to show how ingenious they are.