One Pocket Hall of Fame
Celebrating the Legacy of Pool in Action
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4th Annual Hall of Fame Dinner
January 8th, 2008
It was another full house for the 2008 One Pocket Hall of Fame dinner held Tuesday night during the middle of the action at the Derby City Classic in Louisville, Kentucky. With special guests with names like Reyes, Varner, Bustamante and Corr, and veterans of the road like Di Liberto, LeBron and Rood, the room was chock full of veteran players and fans of pool action. This was truly an occasion of great players being honored by their peers. Like One Pocket inductee Billy Incardona said, “To be honored among all these great champions is really something special.”
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Grady with One Pocket inductee Jimmy Fusco |
One Pocket Hall of Fame
Bank Pool Hall of Fame
Lifetime Pool in Action
Memorial Pages
A Roll Call of notable
One Pocket players
who have passed away recently
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Earl Heisler |
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Peter 'Rabbit' Linhard |
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Gene Nagy |
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Co-Master of Ceremonies Grady Mathews and Freddy ‘The Beard’ Bentivegna led numerous other guest speakers in honoring each inductee in turn. Of course there were old road stories galore, and plenty of good-natured ribbing, but there were a few surprisingly touching stories as well. As much as these players have butted heads over the years, it is something special to see the genuine respect these guys have for each other when it comes time for Hall of Fame honors.
First up was this year’s Lifetime Pool in Action award that went to Jimmy Reid, the champion player who has been fighting a tough personal battle against esophageal cancer. Jimmy not only came to Louisville to receive his award, he valiantly entered all three divisions of the tournament, which is tough enough for those in good health to handle. When the banquet crowd was asked to “raise your hand if you’ve got Jimmy Reid stuck,” not a single hand went up in a room loaded with great players, past and present. The man is a definite fighter, with a very strong will to survive, and we all wish him the very best.
Turning our attention to the One Pocket inductees, Philadelphia’s Jimmy Fusco was honored, and good-naturedly harangued, as his cousin Pete Fusco and others described Jimmy’s unrestrained desire to tangle with the best, even if it meant going broke. Their entertaining narratives illustrated that to become the best, you have to compete against the best. Jimmy was clearly humbled to be considered one of the best, and in Freddy Bentivegna’s words, “One of the very select few that truly understand the right way to play the game.”
JoAnn (Jansco) McNeal graciously accepted induction for her father and uncle, the brothers George and Paulie Jansco, for their contribution to the legacy of the game as promoters. Between the Johnston City and Stardust tournaments, these two dressed up both the game and the players, got pool on TV, and into the history books for all time. Danny Di Liberto shared a few of his personal Johnston City stories, as he likened his own experience there to going to pool college – especially a college for pool gambling. In his rookie year at Johnston City, the veteran hustler Earl Schriver advised the young and admittedly square Di Liberto, “Kid, keep your mouth shut and your ears open and you’ll learn a lot.” It is hard to overestimate the significance of Johnston City to the legacy of ‘Pool in Action’, and the induction of George & Paulie Jansco is long overdue...
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'The Beard' congratulates 'Cardone
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JoAnn (Jansco) McNeal
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Jimmy Reid is congratulated by Grady & Billy
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Banking legend, Donny Anderson |
Freddie ‘The Beard’ introduced a dapper and dignified Billy Incardona, who clearly had a great time, equally ribbing his peers and basking in the recognition for an exemplary career as a great player, a savvy gambler, a wise and entertaining commentator, and a human being with a big heart. Player after player paid respects to Billy’s forty years of winning pool, and he’s not done yet, having been spotted several times in the action room at the Derby this year, with cue in hand and cash on the line. Pat Fleming spoke about the important role Billy played in turning Accustats from a statistical reporting concept for pool into the industry leader in pool videos.
Last, but not least, was the induction of banking legend Donny Anderson in the Legends of Bank Pool category. His long-time rival and fellow Hall of Fame member, Truman Hogue, joined ‘The Beard’ in introducing ‘The Cincinnati Kid’. For years and years Donny was a banking terror in a town that had some terrors. Truman acknowledged that he never could beat Donny, and hated competing against him all those years, until finally he became a fan himself, admitting, “I guess he beat me so much I began to like him.” Despite his physical frailty, Donny was determined to stand out of his wheel chair and be helped up to the podium, where he brought the evening to a rousing conclusion with a surprisingly strong voice.
Meanwhile, Ed Kelly, who has been unable to attend the annual HOF dinner since his 2005 election into the One Pocket Hall of Fame, was able to slip over to Louisville on the Sunday after the Derby City Classic ended to receive his belated induction. In a small private gathering of legends of pool action assembled by photographer Diana Hoppe, Grady Mathews surprised Kelly with his HOF plaque.
Click here for a gallery of photos from the 2008 HOF dinner
January 9, 2007
3rd Annual
2007 Hall of Fame Dinner
It was somewhat of a family night as a full house gathered in Louisville for the third annual One Pocket Hall of Fame dinner held Tuesday during the Derby City Classic. With Strawberry's recent death, all three One Pocket inductions were posthumous, but aside from the elusive Hayden Lingo were all well represented by immediate family...
Click here for 4 pages of photos and highlights from our 2007 Dinner
January 10, 2006
Congratulations to our 2006 Hall of Fame inductees
One Pocket Inductees
* Artie Bodendorfer * Marshall 'Squirrel' Carpenter * Steve Cook * Ed 'Champagne Eddie' Kelly *
Bank Pool Inductees
* Freddy 'The Beard' Bentivegna * Truman Hogue * Leonard ‘Bugs’ Rucker * Billy ‘Cornbread Red’ Burge *
* Gary Spaeth * Eddie 'The Knoxville Bear' Taylor *
Cick here for a 3 minute YouTube slide show with audio highlights from the 2006 dinner
Click here for a photo gallery from our 2006 Hall of Fame dinner
One Pocket inductee Ed 'Champagne Eddie' Kelly was unable to attend our event in Louisville, so plans are underway for a local event for him in Las Vegas later this year.
On the Road with the
One Pocket Hall of Fame
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September 7 , 2005
Nick Varner was inducted into the One Pocket Hall of Fame at a special ceremony held at Fast Eddie’s Sports Bar and Grill during a break from the Carolina’s Open tournament action on Wednesday night. Grady Mathews acted as master of ceremonies, and the owners and staff of Fast Eddie’s bent over backwards to make the evening memorable for Nick, as they pitched in with hard work, good humor and great hospitality.
Click here for two pages of photos from Nick's induction |
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April 28, 2005
The crowd filled Dave Egdal’s Brighton Billiards Thursday evening for a special local One Pocket Hall of Fame event honoring the late Larry ‘Boston Shorty’ Johnson. Many of Shorty’s old friends and companions on the road came out to exchange stories and remember the legendary pool and billiards star. Though barely more than five feet tall, he was a giant of a player, one of a very select few cue stars to win major championships on both pocket and pocket-less tables.
Click here for two pages of photos from this event |
Grady Mathews' appearance at Brighton Billiards was his third as Master of Cermonies for these special local events on behalf of the One Pocket Hall of Fame. All the reviews have been in agreement that he has done a fantastic job at all of these events, and OnePocket.org would like to extend the utmost thanks to Grady for the dignity, knowledge, sincerity and of course entertainment that he has brought to every one. Thanks, Grady!!
Jack's widow, Dottie Breit
accepted Red's plaque |
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April 4, 2005
Jack 'Jersey Red' Breit was inducted into the One Pocket Hall of Fame at a special event at the the Cue & Cushion in Houston, Texas monday night. Jimmy 'Flyboy' Spears was the host for this special gathering of Red's family, friends and fans. Grady Mathews acted as Master of Ceremonies, but he had plenty of help as several joined him in talking about Red's legacy and influence. Included among the notables were such top players as Jeremy Jones, Gabe Owen and Charlie Bryant, as well as local legends like 'Duke' Dowell.
Click here for photos from this event |
Eddie Taylor in the
One Pocket Hall of Fame |
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April 2, 2005
Eddie Taylor, the Knoxville Bear, was inducted into the One Pocket Hall of Fame today at a special event in his honor at Sidepocket Billiards in Shreveport, Louisiana. Hosts Brett and Debbie Sempter pulled out all the stops to make sure Eddie and the crowd had a great time. Grady Mathews acted as Master of Ceremonies, and demonstrated his own special talent at the table in performing an exhibition before the induction.
At 86 years young, Eddie even took a moment to demonstrate one of his impossible looking bank shots and he speared it on his second try. |
According to guest Diane Garrard, "There were a lot of folks that came just for Eddie; he is so revered and loved! Eddie was very touched by this and became emotional on more than one occasion. Grady also displayed an emotional moment during his presentation to Eddie when he told of how Bugs Rucker looked upon Eddie as his mentor. Of course Eddie's modesty wouldn't allow him to take credit for this and said Bugs was a natural born player. Eddie boasted of some of his mighty feats such as running 37 banks in a row. He also ran all 15 banks off at least 4 times that he can distinctly remember, and there were probably a couple more times he couldn't remember. The first time he did this he was only 12 or 13 years old."
Click here for three pages of photos from this event
January 18, 2005
One Pocket Hall of Fame Banquet
The first ever One Pocket Hall of Fame banquet featured six of the recently elected members of the One Pocket Hall of Fame gathered together to receive their plaques and share their stories. The event filled the room to overflowing as one after another great player entertained the crowd with tales of their own adventures in One Pocket, and acknowledgement of the many other well-deserving players that they traveled with, matched up with or learned from. |
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Click here for the full story and a photo gallery
from the 2005 One Pocket HOF Banquet |
| Grady
'Professor' Mathews
the
first inductee into the One Pocket Hall of Fame
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OnePocket.org
is pleased to announce that Grady 'Professor'
Mathews is the first inductee into the One
Pocket Hall of Fame. This presentation took
place appropriately, at the recently held Gulf Coast
Classic event, the latest of many events featuring
the game of One Pocket that have been promoted
by Grady over the last twenty years.
Click here for more on Grady's induction
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Grady
receives his One Pocket Hall of Fame plaque from
OnePocket.org's Steve Booth |
The One
Pocket Hall of Fame
is the creation of OnePocket.org, established
for the purpose of recognizing those players, promoters
and teachers that have contributed the most to the legacy
of the game of One Pocket. Some of these great
players for years made a career choice to avoid tournament
play, shying away from the establishment spotlight, yet
knowledgeable fans recognize them as among the best ever;
thus the need for an independent hall of fame. The One
Pocket Hall of Fame offers an opportunity
to celebrate the game of One Pocket in particular, and the players that have dedicated themselves to One Pocket in particular,
rather than pool and billiards in general. |
Although
several of the finest One Pocket players of all
time have already been honored by election to the Billiard
Congress Hall of Fame, fans of the game recognize
that One Pocket has always featured a little different
cast of characters than the mainstream of pool and billiards.
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There
have been so many great One Pocket players over the years,
including legends like Johnny Ervolino,
Earl Heisler and
Steve Cook, all three of whom have recently left
us. There are also many other legendary players still with us,
but who are in the later stage of their playing careers, like
Jose Parica and
Jack Cooney , that would make excellent
candidates for the One Pocket
Hall of Fame.
And these few names are only the tip of the iceberg
– there are many other good candidates still active, retired
or deceased that have won tournaments, invented shots, taught
other players, or otherwise promoted the game of One Pocket
to the extent that they really deserve special recognition. We
want this to be more than a popularity contest – we want
the most deserving candidates to have their day, even if their
entire career was played out under the radar, or before
our time!
If you would like to help honor some of those
others who have contributed so much to One Pocket, yet
might be less well known outside the game, head on over to the
message
board or contact us if you
have any suggestions, stories or old photos to offer to this effort!
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All content ©2004-2007 Steve Booth OnePocket.org
