The last in 1972 featured one-pocket, nine-ball and straight pool - and so much gambling that federal agents shut it down. The first of them took place in 1961 and featured one-pocket only. As mentioned previously, the brothers Jansco organized their tournaments in the 1960s. But before we get started, let me first provide the Cliff Notes explanation as to why you should care about all this. It left me with a good story to tell.From left, George Jansco, Eddy “Knoxville Bear” Taylor and Paulie Jansco.įor this post I have decided to reproduce excerpts from a few of these eyewitness letters. So what if my meager pool prowess suffered a humiliation. I never discovered why he happened in that day. When the applause died, Willie waved and walked out the door. He popped the cue ball into the air and over to the next table and sunk the waiting ball in a corner pocket. Willie set a cue ball on the table, set the bridge on the salmon-colored felt (Yech!), rested his cue on the bridge and aimed. He yanked a bridge out of his mouth…Just kidding! It was about a billiards bridge, a long stick with a metal doodad on the end one used to rest the cue when it’s hard to stretch across the table to take a shot. Mosconi did a few tricks and finished with one where he had a ball set on the neighboring lengthwise table in the second row. The employee racked the balls and Willie ran the table again. I missed the next one and it was all over for me. Now I was nervous, thinking I should have kept my mouth shut. Willie took the cue ball from the nearest first row table and rolled it to check the level, then asked an employee to rack the balls. I was stunned for a moment, but thought, what the hey. “How about it?” he said to the guy next to me who put up his hands and shook his head. He looked left then right at the assembled group. “Anybody want to shoot some eight-ball?” asked Mosconi. “Willie Mosconi!” I said.Ī couple of other players noticed Mosconi and moved toward him. As I was preparing to take my shot, I saw a silver-haired man in a light blue suit walk in the door. ![]() We were playing at a table in the second row. ![]() This place just wasn’t the same as my regular haunt new, with brightly-colored walls, overhead neon lights, tile floors and pool tables covered with salmon-colored felt. Close up trick shots were made by Willie.Īnyway, late one afternoon I was shooting pool with a friend from my rock band at a pool hall somewhere in Roseland in Chicago. Speaking of The Hustler movie, Willie Mosconi was the consultant on the film and even appeared racking the balls in the match between Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. This emporium would have been a perfect place for hustler Fast Eddie. The owner sat by a cash register that rested on top of a dark, mostly empty display counter. The whole place smelled of stale cigarette smoke. The wooden floors were worn and joyously creaked when stepped on. The only lights in the place were the two shaded bulbs hanging over each of the well-used green pool tables. Inside, the rippled plaster walls were dark green on the bottom, mint green on top. It was old, with the bottom two-thirds of the street-side display windows painted black. That joint had perfect pool hall attributes. Mosconi and Minnesota Fats were the grand poobahs of the pool world.ĭuring my formative teen years I got pretty good at earning some gas money by defeating challengers at the local pool hall. Many wouldn’t consider pool a sport, or know who Willie was, but hey, that’s all I got. In my last contribution to The Voice about the late, great Dick Butkus, I was reminded of my own measly venture into the wide world of sports through pocket billiards and a celebrity from the sport, the late, great, Willie Mosconi. Notice how everything Trump gets involved in turns to road apples and meadow muffins? I’m sure this all will precipitate mass quantities of whining from Voice contributor and Trump worshiper Wild Bill Suyhada. With all the talk from Trump and the GOP about a stolen election, it looks as if it truly was nearly stolen, but by Trump and the GOP. Wait ‘til they take the stand and the events perpetrated by Trump to overturn the 2020 election will be spewed out of the horses’ mouths. Donald Trump cronies are flipping on him like pancakes on an overheated IHOP griddle. Congressional GOP nut job Gym Jordan is out as potential Speaker of the House. I have a very wide grin on my face (where else would I have it?) as I put this to paper.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |