San Jose Dick at Johnston City

NH Steve

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Dick McMorran really did go to Johnston City :) making his first appearance in 1966 in at least the 9-ball division. 1966 was the first year that the three divisions did not run concurrently -- they held the Straight Pool first, then 9-ball and finished with the One Pocket, followed by the all-around final playoff. It looks like Dick skipped the Straight Pool, and a newspapers strike cut short the coverage of the One Pocket (in the articles I am reading), so I am not sure if he played in that -- yet -- but he definitely played in the 9-ball that year.

In case you are wondering, I'm working my way through some local newspaper articles.
 

NH Steve

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It looks like Dick lost his first 9-ball match on the hill 11-10 against Frank McGowan. Dick, Frank was a notoriously slow player I believe -- and that's not your style. Did you get sharked :) ?

It looks like you later got eliminated in 9-ball by Johnny Edwards of Bowling Green, KY.

...and Dick did play in the One Pocket in '66 -- beating Weenie Beenie, Marcel Camp & Hubert Cokes. He must have lost a couple too at some point because Ed Kelly went on to win the One Pocket division that year (over Ronnie Allen).
 

androd

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NH Steve said:
It looks like you later got eliminated in 9-ball by Johnny Edwards of Bowling Green, KY.

Johnny Edwards was virtually unbeatable in his own pool room in bowling green. Many "champs of the day" went there and didn't win playing 9 ball.
Rod.
PS; In Kentucky, you ask if any "you'uns" want to play some. Ask "any of "ya'll"
want to play some, and the only game you get was banks. :D
 

SJDinPHX

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Billy would know !

Billy would know !

I also went back in '63 or '64... Billy Stroud and I left Denver at the last minute and we had car trouble near KC. MO. Couple of days to get it fixed, and we missed the drawing.
Lots of back room action, but real tough to get a table at times. I remember getting knocked out of a few good games before a table freed up. We only stayed for a week or so.

You are right Rod, Edwards was almost unbeatable on his pet 4 X 8 in B.G., KY..Normally not near as stong on bigger stuff, but he could play some.

Back in the mid-'60's, I was still playing 9 ball style one pocket. The more I learned 1P, the worse my 9B became...slippery slope, eh ?
 
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fred bentivegna

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Beat Worst

Beat Worst

Johnny Edwards was one of the few people to beat Harold Worst a set of 9 ball in Johnston City. I know Wimpy beat him once too. Edwards played with coke bottle bottom glasses, and hit everything low. No surprise that he strummed the Hound.

Beard
 

androd

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SJDinPHX said:
Back in the mid-'60's, I was still playing 9 ball style one pocket. The more I learned 1P, the worse my 9B became...slippery slope, eh ?

I quit playing pool for some years also. When I began to play again it was one foul and everyone was jumping balls, This was all new to me and I didn't take to it, or try to. I played some where if you missed after the 1st ball was gone, the opponent got CB in hand. I liked that fine, but hardly anyone wanted to play that way. One pocket became my game of choice. Now 9/10 ball is out of the question. :mad:
Rod.
 

CaliRed

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fred bentivegna said:
No surprise that he strummed the Hound.

Beard

hehe.. another classic phrase among all the others from you, Dick, Dennis, Ghostie and Rod.

Right away, my musical mind put it to a song I remember by Roberta Flack.

Strumming the hound with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly
With his song...
 

SJDinPHX

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fred bentivegna said:
Johnny Edwards was one of the few people to beat Harold Worst a set of 9 ball in Johnston City. I know Wimpy beat him once too. Edwards played with coke bottle bottom glasses, and hit everything low. No surprise that he strummed the Hound.

Beard

That was what got me...those glasses. I went to B.G. 3-4 times, lost all but once...How many times did you go there Beardmonster ???.:rolleyes:

You guys were almost a tie, in the 4 eyes dept,...weren't you..Heh,heh.:D
 

fred bentivegna

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Only once.

Only once.

SJDinPHX said:
That was what got me...those glasses. I went to B.G. 3-4 times, lost all but once...How many times did you go there Beardmonster ???.:rolleyes:

You guys were almost a tie, in the 4 eyes dept,...weren't you..Heh,heh.:D

Just once, Hound. For your info there was another guy there that played a little under Edwards, Johnny Taylor. Truthfully, I dont remember anything that happened in there, whether I played or not, etc. I would have only played banks in the joint so I may not have gotten any action. Whatever happened there wasnt significant if I cant remember.

Beard
 

NH Steve

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fred bentivegna said:
Just once, Hound. For your info there was another guy there that played a little under Edwards, Johnny Taylor. Truthfully, I dont remember anything that happened in there, whether I played or not, etc. I would have only played banks in the joint so I may not have gotten any action. Whatever happened there wasnt significant if I cant remember.

Beard
Both Edwards and Johnny Taylor were at Johnston City...
 

SJDinPHX

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NH Steve said:
Both Edwards and Johnny Taylor were at Johnston City...

A dim ray of light came on. One of the times I played Edwards, and lost...A bookie type stakehorse came out of the woodwork, and staked me to play Taylor.
I remember we broke even the first night, but I got him the second play. Never did like 4 X 8 action, but hey...when in Rome..etc.

I had considerable 9 ball history, before I ever started playing one pocket...some good, some bad, but ALL fun..rolleyes:
 

P00lh0li0

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I'm just wondering if San Jose Dick was as well known, as say Ronnie Allen, Lassiter,etc, when he showed up at Johnston City or was he still a bit undercover and could sneak up on someone. Thanks.
 

NH Steve

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P00lh0li0 said:
I'm just wondering if San Jose Dick was as well known, as say Ronnie Allen, Lassiter,etc, when he showed up at Johnston City or was he still a bit undercover and could sneak up on someone. Thanks.
Well, his arrival was not greeted with the same kind of fanfare from the press that some players were -- but I am sure he was known well enough by the players themselves. In fact, it sounds from Dick's recollections that he was first at Johnston City for the action only, because due to car trouble, he had arrived too late to sign up for the tournament itself. That would mean by the next time he came, much of the back room crowd would have already been familiar with him. Fans and press are slower to grasp than players are :D
 

Terry Ardeno

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NH Steve said:
It looks like Dick lost his first 9-ball match on the hill 11-10 against Frank McGowan. Dick, Frank was a notoriously slow player I believe -- and that's not your style. Did you get sharked :) ?

Frank McGown was known to be slow at times, but more than that, he was always a total gentleman on and off the table. His style was deliberate but he would never 'shark" anyone, just not in him. I've talked to him a few times over the years and I will attest that he is a top shelf man.

In 1968, he won a version of the World 14.1 Championship. (Irving Crane won the other) His lifetime HR is 288. He originally played out of NY and later relocated to Montana where he had a chain of pool rooms. Super nice guy! Very strong all-around player.
 

SJDinPHX

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Terry Ardeno said:
Frank McGown was known to be slow at times, but more than that, he was always a total gentleman on and off the table. His style was deliberate but he would never 'shark" anyone, just not in him. I've talked to him a few times over the years and I will attest that he is a top shelf man.

In 1968, he won a version of the World 14.1 Championship. (Irving Crane won the other) His lifetime HR is 288. He originally played out of NY and later relocated to Montana where he had a chain of pool rooms. Super nice guy! Very strong all-around player.

Terry, (and Steve)

I did not know Frank McGowan real well, but I do know he was a nice guy, and a real gentleman. If I remember right, he was not too fond of One Hole. Even though I play at a pretty rapid pace, I don't remember anyone, really getting too me by slow play.

If you could play with Frank Rodriguez (Banana's) which I did a lot in my younger days,...you could play with anyone. And we were the best of friends. His pace was maddening. For some reason, It bothered me more when I was in with him, than when I played him.
I ALMOST used to hate to trap him though, cause that meant you could go have lunch, and take a nap...and when you woke up, he'd still be in his fourth table survey, and his fifth series of 50-100 warm-up strokes..;)

PS..Someone else we all know, may be a little "deliberate"... It took 14 1/2 hours for John H. and AB to play 12 games, at the DCC...And John plays faster than I do...:eek:
 
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NH Steve

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Terry Ardeno said:
Frank McGown was known to be slow at times, but more than that, he was always a total gentleman on and off the table. His style was deliberate but he would never 'shark" anyone, just not in him. I've talked to him a few times over the years and I will attest that he is a top shelf man.

In 1968, he won a version of the World 14.1 Championship. (Irving Crane won the other) His lifetime HR is 288. He originally played out of NY and later relocated to Montana where he had a chain of pool rooms. Super nice guy! Very strong all-around player.
I didn't mean the shark comment as something intentional -- my apologies to Mr. McGown if I came across that way. In anycase, it sounds like slow play wouldn't have bothered Dick -- maybe it was being up all night in the back room...
 

fred bentivegna

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McGowan, slow?

McGowan, slow?

SJDinPHX said:
Terry, (and Steve)

I did not know Frank McGowan real well, but I do know he was a nice guy, and a real gentleman. If I remember right, he was not too fond of One Hole. Even though I play at a pretty rapid pace, I don't remember anyone, really getting too me by slow play.

If you could play with Frank Rodriguez (Banana's) which I did a lot in my younger days,...you could play with anyone. And we were the best of friends. His pace was maddening. For some reason, It bothered me more when I was in with him, than when I played him.
I ALMOST used to hate to trap him though, cause that meant you could go have lunch, and take a nap...and when you woke up, he'd still be in his fourth table survey, and his fifth series of 50-100 warm-up strokes..;)

PS..Someone else we all know, may be a little "deliberate"... It took 14 1/2 hours for John H. and AB to play 12 games, at the DCC...And John plays faster than I do...:eek:

Unlike the SandHound, I dispatched Frank McGowan in tourn play. Fred Whalen's tourn. One pocket, 4 games to 2. 4 1/2 hrs, even tho I ran 2 eight and outs, out of the 4 games. Very slow man. Played Bananas one game of bank pool at Congress Bowl, I won, he quit, and I declined his business from then on. Couldnt beat him playing 1pkt at that time anyway, and the 1 game we did play was ample warning of the water torture that lay ahead if I made the mistake of playing him 1 pockee. I mentioned before, I watched him beat Bobby Strauss 58 games of 1pkt at $30 a game. His excruxiating tempo never increased the whole time, and he still took a jillion warm up strokes on every shot. I wisely tapped into his 1 pkt knowledge instead, as a willing subject, along with classes with Marcel Camp -- among other champions. Now you all know why I bristle when the Hound of the Desert demeans my 1 pkt creds. ...Covering over the slight with a very meager concession to my bank pool brain. My brain is a whole unit, and multi-functional, pal. My body, and my friend Mr Johnson, is the only thing in disrepair.

Beard
 

SJDinPHX

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fred bentivegna said:
Unlike the SandHound, I dispatched Frank McGowan in tourn play. Fred Whalen's tourn. One pocket, 4 games to 2. 4 1/2 hrs, even tho I ran 2 eight and outs, out of the 4 games. Very slow man. Played Bananas one game of bank pool at Congress Bowl, I won, he quit, and I declined his business from then on. Couldnt beat him playing 1pkt at that time anyway, and the 1 game we did play was ample warning of the water torture that lay ahead if I made the mistake of playing him 1 pockee. I mentioned before, I watched him beat Bobby Strauss 58 games of 1pkt at $30 a game. His excruxiating tempo never increased the whole time, and he still took a jillion warm up strokes on every shot. I wisely tapped into his 1 pkt knowledge instead, as a willing subject, along with classes with Marcel Camp -- among other champions. Now you all know why I bristle when the Hound of the Desert demeans my 1 pkt creds. ...Covering over the slight with a very meager concession to my bank pool brain. My brain is a whole unit, and multi-functional, pal. My body, and my friend Mr Johnson, is the only thing in disrepair.

Beard

Unlike the Beardmonster, I was not playng Mr. McGowan one pocket, (pay attention Fred)... Also you must have missed this quote in my post;.."If I remember right, he (McGowan)...was not too fond of One Hole", he considered it his weakest game.

If you want to tout your "1 Pkt creds"...(at my expense) I suggest you set your "bragging" sights a little higher..;) :D

Sand Hound <---still wuv's Freddy's sharp [sic] barbs, from his intact, perfect recall [sick] brain ! :eek:...oops, misspelled "sic".

PS. I suggest you let your "paper trail", of 1P tournament finishes, (of which you played in many more than I did)...speak for themselves ! Not to mention your sterling Accustat record...heh,heh..:p ;)
 
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Terry Ardeno

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THAT wasn't bad....THIS is bad!

THAT wasn't bad....THIS is bad!

NH Steve said:
I didn't mean the shark comment as something intentional -- my apologies to Mr. McGown if I came across that way. In anycase, it sounds like slow play wouldn't have bothered Dick -- maybe it was being up all night in the back room...

Steve,
I knew you didn't mean that as an insult, especially with the icon. It was a legit question re: if that style got under his skin, so to speak. I think we all know you better than to think you would ever disparage a pool player!

***However :)cool: ) while we're talking about "sharking" or "moves"....the only time I ever felt like you "Roscoed" or "Squirreled" any champion player is that you keep making SHANNON DAULTON wait MORE than 20+ years to get on your H.O.F. ballots! He's been in action since he was 5 years old!!! :eek: He won a "Legends of 1 Pocket" while he still had homework due at school! :D
He'll be 38 in April....he's been "eligible" for 33 years!

I'll be writing more on this as the days leading up to November keep dwindling.
:)

PS-Love the site!:D
 

Terry Ardeno

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SJDinPHX said:
Unlike the Beardmonster, I was not playng Mr. McGowan one pocket, (pay attention Fred)... Also you must have missed this quote in my post;.."If I remember right, he (McGowan)...was not too fond of One Hole", he considered it his weakest game.

If you want to tout your "1 Pkt creds"...(at my expense) I suggest you set your "bragging" sights a little higher..;) :D

Sand Hound <---still wuv's Freddy's sharp [sic] barbs, from his intact, perfect recall [sick] brain ! :eek:...oops, misspelled "sic".

PS. I suggest you let your "paper trail", of 1P tournament finishes, (of which you played in many more than I did)...speak for themselves ! Not to mention your sterling Accustat record...heh,heh..:p ;)


SJDi,

You must have gotten A+'s in debating classes back in the day! I see Freddy as throwing Molotov Chicagtales, spewing facts every which way and burning anything in his way. But I see you as one of them Fencers who ALWAYS gets the last STAB in! No matter what, it's the immovable Johnson, er, uh, I mean "rock" (NO pun intended) Freddy vs the irresistable force of an intellect ALMOST as smart as them super computers down at Area 51 in the desert back yard of San Jose Dick! In any debate, he most assuredly ain't no duck out of water!

I would pay BIG bucks (I'll go as high as $50.00 PayPal!) to see a modern day "All-Around" between SJD & The Beard. One Pocket, Banks, and, sitting at a table, opposite of each other, with one of them Presidential debate moderators moderating, letting their jaws loose at one another. Both dressed in them bee-keeper suits to help cushion the stings!

Both of you guys deserve lots of praise and back-slapping for keeping it so funny and always fresh!

Thank you both for the way you guys do business here! Hilarious stuff!
 
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