For me, I have several. Starting with Cisero Murphy, who took the time to teach me things that I would have never figured out by myself. He was a great person and a great man, and he taught me just as many lessons about life as he did about pool.
Players
Buddy Hall has had such a big influence on me.
Back in the early 80's I would watch Buddy shoot for hours and hours and hours. I watched everything he did with the cue ball and tried to emulate his cue ball movements when I was at the table. IMO, Buddy Hall was the "John Wayne" of all pool players. When he walked through the door everybody stopped and you could actually feel the respect that everybody had for "The Man".
Harry Sexton was one of the most incredible people that I ever met. He helped me through some really tough times in my life and I will always be grateful that the man upstairs placed him in my life.
Tony Ellin - If it was not for Tony's suggestion of - "That's pretty good man, you should write this down... you should write a book!" - then I wouldn't be teaching pool today. That is the thing about life, you never know where these forks in the road are, or where you have to turn, but we do get direction and guidance along the way.
Also -
Tony Robles - If we want to have pool hit the mainstream, we need more people like Tony Robles. He is the consummate gentleman and the model for professionalism in our game. I have immeasurable respect for Tony as a player, as a person, and as a friend.
Danny Harriman - Danny is a champion on and off the table. He has been through so much and he has shown me that you can fight your way back to the top of the ladder as long as you believe in yourself and in God. I am so proud of what Danny has done in the past 3 years to reestablish himself as one of the best players in the game. It humbles me to know that I played a small role in that, and I am proud to call Danny one of my best friends.
Teaching & Coaching
Hal Mix once told me that there is no such things as good or bad knowledge. He taught me that knowledge is either useful or useless - depending upon the individual that is trying to apply it. He was a kind and generous man who loved to help pool players. He was just an incredible person and he has had a major influence on the way that I view teaching.
Randy Goettlicher - I met Randy through my friend Gilbert Griego back in 1987 when Randy was helping us set up the Southwest Eight Ball League. We met in a conference room of a hospital in El Paso to discuss how to start the league. As a "new" room owner, I decided to show up that night at Gilbert's request. How was I to know that I would meet somebody that night that would change the way I looked at the game of pool?
Randy, you have no idea how much those conversations that we had changed the way I looked at the game of pool in every aspect. I know you were looking at me the whole time wondering... what the hell is this kid doing owning and running a pool hall at his age??? LOL...
You have always been there with words of wisdom at some of the best and worst of times (like the comment you made to me about having drawn Cowboy Jimmy Moore in the first round) - The College of Pool Knowledge - I want you to know that I consider you a major influence on the way that I teach the game of pool and the game of life. The high quality of instruction in our game is what it is today because of your hard work and dedication. If we had everybody working half as hard as you do, there would be no limit to how far we could go. IMO, you're the best there is. Plain and simple.
