How good was Mike Carella

[stevelomako]

Mike was a cheap guy...to say the least...but he wasn't the creep you make him out to be. He paid when he lost, he died not owing anyone that I know, and when he played he played like a gentleman and a gambler. And I also think that he should be on the ballot for the next Hall Of Fame induction.

Billy I.

I agree with you Billy. I always thought Mike was alright.


When someone is legendary at a place like "The Rack" it means something and Mike definately was.

[stevelomako]

I always bring up Carella to Superfly aka Gangster Mike aka Mafia Mike about Carella giving him 35-5 and he gets pissed and says it was 35-8 and he robbed him!

I remember when the balls were all gone from the table they would be spot up all at once in a line and he would pick them off from the bottom to the top.

[wincardona]

Carella and Artie never played. Carella's power was running balls and shooting in long shots. I wasnt particularly impressed with his 1pkt knowledge. You did see where he lost getting 9 to 7 from RA right? That was at the top of his game.
He had the nuts of course, but he shit all over himself.

Beard

You say you weren't impressed with his one pocket knowledge Mike was a champion 9 ball player along with being a champion straight pool player, plus he played golf as good as anyone on the 6x12 snooker table. Wouldn't you think that a player as savvy as Carella with the imagination he had should be an excellent one pocket player? Knowledge that's what he's about, plus he can execute with the best of them. When Mike was at the table he was as efficient as anyone playing one pocket... He made tough shots...he was a ball running machine...he was an excellent banker... he applied pressure better than anyone...and he was smart..... Am I missing something Oh yea, he took his act on the road and won too.

Billy I.

[wincardona]

You say you weren't impressed with his one pocket knowledge Mike was a champion 9 ball player along with being a champion straight pool player, plus he played golf as good as anyone on the 6x12 snooker table. Wouldn't you think that a player as savvy as Carella with the imagination he had should be an excellent one pocket player? Knowledge that's what he's about, plus he can execute with the best of them. When Mike was at the table he was as efficient as anyone playing one pocket... He made tough shots...he was a ball running machine...he was an excellent banker... he applied pressure better than anyone...and he was smart..... Am I missing something Oh yea, he took his act on the road and won too.

Billy I.

You say you weren't impressed with his one pocket knowledge Mike was a champion 9 ball player along with being a champion straight pool player, plus he played golf as good as anyone on the 6x12 snooker table. Wouldn't you think that a player as savvy as Carella with the imagination he had should be an excellent one pocket player?Knowledge that's what he's about, plus he can execute with the best of them. When Mike was at the table he was as efficient as anyone playing one pocket... He made tough shots...he was a ball running machine...he was an excellent banker... he applied pressure better than anyone...and he was smart..... Am I missing something, Oh yea, he took his act on the road and won too.

Duplicate post, sorry the green was tough to see.
Billy I.

[stevelomako]

Hey its OK, it just looks like you're posting for Artie. LOL


For a guy so young when he died (wasn't 29 yet) he played like a MFer.

[wincardona]

Hey its OK, it just looks like you're posting for Artie. LOL


For a guy so young when he died (wasn't 29 yet) he played like a MFer.

How you doin Steve? No i'm not posting for Artie, i'm posting for Carella. I love Freddie but when he has an agenda he's as fierce as they come. Do you think Freddie liked Carella? Plus Carella's Italian, and he still talks the way he does about him.

Billy I.

[lll]

could the hacker be carrellas incarnation????......................

[stevelomako]

How you doin Steve? No i'm not posting for Artie, i'm posting for Carella. I love Freddie but when he has an agenda he's as fierce as they come. Do you think Freddie liked Carella? Plus Carella's Italian, and he still talks the way he does about him.

Billy I.

LOL I meant the duplicate post.

Its just cause he didn't throw too many gappers around. Not everybody was good to everyone.


This had me thinking about back then.....how the hell did everybody play good wearing tight ass dress pants and lizard skin dress shoes and tight polyester shirts??????

[stevelomako]

I need to add that I know someone that has one of Carellas' Balabushkas.

The damn thing has a butt so big around it feels like shit. I don't know how he could play with it but different strokes for different folks.

[wincardona]

LOL I meant the duplicate post.

Its just cause he didn't throw too many gappers around. Not everybody was good to everyone.


This had me thinking about back then.....how the hell did everybody play good wearing tight ass dress pants and lizard skin dress shoes and tight polyester shirts??????

I knew what you meant, I was being facetious. I guess Carella liked showing off his package with the tight pants, but they were stupid looking. How do you remember stuff like that, I just remember things like, character flaws, gambling habits, and how well players played.

Billy I.

[Fast Lenny]

Very interesting thread, its funny how one guy can say one thing and another something different. We all know people differently and the stories we hear about a guy losing as Freddy told and of Billys winning story go to show you that you cannot base something on one session or one persons opinion of another. If Billy did not chime in we might think Carella was not as good as he was and marked him up as getting 9-7 from Ronnie and getting robbed along with being a cheap creep.

[stevelomako]

I knew what you meant, I was being facetious. I guess Carella liked showing off his package with the tight pants, but they were stupid looking. How do you remember stuff like that, I just remember things like, character flaws, gambling habits, and how well players played.

Billy I.

You remembered after your memory was jogged.

Hey, I remember when I went on my first road trip out west. I thought everywhere in the country was like "The Rack" LOL. It was an eye-opener to say the least. I was only 20, so what the hell did I know. I knew quick that I was in a good spot compared to anywhere else at that time.

It seemed like when someone made a score there you could tell, cause it looked like they came back from a pimp convention.

[Ken_4fun]

Well

He couldnt be that great ... hell he wasnt from Chicago.

ken

[fred bentivegna]

What is the argument?

How you doin Steve? No i'm not posting for Artie, i'm posting for Carella. I love Freddie but when he has an agenda he's as fierce as they come. Do you think Freddie liked Carella? Plus Carella's Italian, and he still talks the way he does about him.

Billy I.

I didnt not like him, I despised him. Especially cause he was an Italian. Being a cheap and low class Italian earned him extra minus points with me.
Lomako didnt mind him so much? Like to bet my bankroll, Steve L had zero dealings with him. Billy liked him because he made money with him. Would anybody want to take a popularity poll out on this bird?

Excuse me, didnt I give him enough credit as a player? It is illegal for me to say I was not impressed with his 1pkt knowledge? I aint impressed with hardly anybody's 1pkt knowledge. Him losing getting 9 to 7 to RA with a 100k in his pocket and after putting on the greatest 1pkt offensive barrage in history at the Rack just proves my point. He got sharked? How terrible.
Plus no real knowledgeable 1pkt player (or real Italian) would have went to that Motel alone to meet with the Cartel after already getting busted in So. America.

Does anybody know what chance they would have had to get to me alone?
I myself once had a problem with Columbians. I would not appear on the street unless I had my pistol in my hand under my coat. Ditto for my partner, Wayne who checked doorways, corners, etc. Getting captured was not a possibility.

Beard

[Jimmy B]

I didnt not like him, I despised him. Especially cause he was an Italian. Being a cheap and low class Italian earned him extra minus points with me.
Lomako didnt mind him so much? Like to bet my bankroll, Steve L had zero dealings with him. Billy liked him because he made money with him. Would anybody want to take a popularity poll out on this bird?

Excuse me, didnt I give him enough credit as a player? It is illegal for me to say I was not impressed with his 1pkt knowledge? I aint impressed with hardly anybody's 1pkt knowledge. Him losing getting 9 to 7 to RA with a 100k in his pocket and after putting on the greatest 1pkt offensive barrage in history at the Rack just proves my point. He got sharked? How terrible.
Plus no real knowledgeable 1pkt player (or real Italian) would have went to that Motel alone to meet with the Cartel after already getting busted in So. America.

Does anybody know what chance they would have had to get to me alone?
I myself once had a problem with Columbians. I would not appear on the street unless I had my pistol in my hand under my coat. Ditto for my partner, Wayne who checked doorways, corners, etc. Getting captured was not a possibility.

Beard

That's right. And it was horrible about the way he did Bugs, tool. Bugs was not just some dude hanging around for a handout. He was on the job. If I had been gamekeeper for 24 hrs. and watched him make a score like that, and then told me to go collect some debt from some other guy, I would have gotten a crew to relieve him of his whole roll and give him a beatdown to boot. I call bullshit on that. That's like saying all black people are together and the same. You can't swap a debt like that anyway. What if you had been racking for Rosy for 24 hrs and he lost tens of k and they told you well go collect this old debt from so and so. Would you go for that? No way. Also when you get popped down there in SA you pay and negotiate your way out of trouble. I thought when you got bailed out, that's it, you are free. Why kill a good pilot for getting jailed 'down there'. Wasn't there more to it?? Freddie knows what time it is. He was born into the darkness, but it wasn't last night.........................