Waterdog

Just ran across a feature article from 2006 published in the Chicago Reader about the late great Waterdog alias Don Edwards. Its an interesting read about an interesting pool room character. I got to know Waterdog when I was a regular at Chris's Billiards in Chicago years back and remember his well. This link is http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/shark-out-of-water/Content?oid=904307.

Errol Jacobson said:

Just ran across a feature article from 2006 published in the Chicago Reader about the late great Waterdog alias Don Edwards. Its an interesting read about an interesting pool room character. I got to know Waterdog when I was a regular at Chris's Billiards in Chicago years back and remember his well. This link is http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/shark-out-of-water/Content?oid=904307.

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Thanks for the link. I met Waterdog at Verne Petersons room in Bellflower in the 70's. He still played well but couldn't get much action.

I still see Billy Teeter every month or so. He has a small monthly one pocket tournament at one of his places, Str8 Shooters in Vacaville, CA.

When Don was right, he ran the balls in straight pool as smooth as anyone. He played Verne cheap a time to two, but i do not remember who won. Verne was a very good player.

Thanks, good read!

jrhendy said:

Thanks for the link. I met Waterdog at Verne Petersons room in Bellflower in the 70's. He still played well but couldn't get much action.

I still see Billy Teeter every month or so. He has a small monthly one pocket tournament at one of his places, Str8 Shooters in Vacaville, CA.

When Don was right, he ran the balls in straight pool as smooth as anyone. He played Verne cheap a time to two, but i do not remember who won. Verne was a very good player.

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When I saw him regularly at Chris's in the 90s he always played with a Wallabushka because (the rumors went) his own cue was always in hock to fund getting his "mix right". He played as well with a house cue as most do with their regular player.

pj
chgo

Great player

Great player

I remember Waterdog back in the late 70's , early 80's . He came thru Palace Billiards in San Francisco a few times . He didn't get to many games as I recall.
Then in the Late 80's he came thru Hollywood Billiards , the old Cochrans in San Francisco .Back then the USPPA , owned by the late Gene Stary . I knew who he was as soon as he walked in the door. At the time they were getting ready to have one of their large added handicapped Tournaments. I guess you can figure the rest out. Because nobody new him , they put him at a not so high rating. He stole the show ! Everybody kept wondering who this guy was. I never was a knocker . Well make a long story short he won it. , that night he was passing out at the bar. Then, Gene Ventura clued me in.

Waterdog passed away August 9, 2006. He told me how he got his name was that he was originally from Waterbury, Connecticut, and so they started to call him "Waterdog." He's definitely one of America's original road warriors.

I remember meeting him years ago in Rockville, MD, back in the mid '80s. He told me that he was en route to Chicago at that time, hoping to get a role as a stand-in pool player in "The Color of Money," which paid a whopping 65 bucks a day.

Keith said Waterdog used to live with a friend of his named Don Percy (sp) in California. When Waterdog and Keith were both 16 and 17 years old, they used to play against each other, shooting pool, and he said Waterdog and him were about even at that time. This would have been 1972 or 1973 time period. That was the era when Waterdog and Steve Gumphreys were running around together.

Waterdog used to be heralded as a straight pool champion, running hundreds at the snap of the fingers.

Sadly, Waterdog suffered from substance abuse, like many, many people during the Woodstock era when it happened to be a societal norm to alter one's state of consciouesness at will. Many people got high back then on a variety of substances, from marijuana, hash, mushrooms, PCP, LSD, all the way to cocaine and heroin.

Rumor has it that Don suffered from a leg injury when he was being chased by the cops during a drug bust. He had just paid off his drug dealer the money he owed him, so he could get some more drugs, and right at this time, the cops busted the joint. The drug dealer dropped the money and drugs. Don picked up his dough and ran with it. Cop chased him down and stepped on his ankle, resulting in permanent injury for the rest of his life.

Though Don was an addict, he had a reputation of being a kind, unassuming-type person. He didn't have a mean bone in his body. I remember him as being very sweet and soft spoken. RIP, Waterdog.

Does anybody have a picture of him?

Errol Jacobson said:

Just ran across a feature article from 2006 published in the Chicago Reader about the late great Waterdog alias Don Edwards. Its an interesting read about an interesting pool room character. I got to know Waterdog when I was a regular at Chris's Billiards in Chicago years back and remember his well. This link is http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/shark-out-of-water/Content?oid=904307.

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Hey Errol --

I think you were on my APA league team in about 1995. You had what was then a 20 year old Joss West cue that I really loved, and a pretty strong game too.

Cory

Hi Cory....that was years ago and I did and do have a Joss West cue. I don't play too much these days but the cue still hits good. Had one of the first Craig Petersen cues that I bought from him when he had a little shop in the old Howard and Paulina billiards, I sold it to a collector a few years back.

I knew him from Bellflower Ca. back in the early 70's along with Cole and Keith it was quite a combination of youngsters who could play nine ball very well. Lots of whoofing back then and if you couldn't handle being ragged on then get out of the pool hall. Waterdog roomed with Popcorn and a bunch of others back then and he would go on binges and not be seen for extended periods of time. He was quiet by his personality and would smile a bit while playing. He couldn't keep any money and stayed broke. Some years later I ran into him in Tulsa OK and he didn't look to well and I thought he might be strung out. I gave him twenty dollars and didn't see him again until the mid 90's. He had a stiff leg by then and I don't know anything else. Would like to hear any stories about him if anyone has any to tell.

jerry matchin said:

I knew him from Bellflower Ca. back in the early 70's along with Cole and Keith it was quite a combination of youngsters who could play nine ball very well. Lots of whoofing back then and if you couldn't handle being ragged on then get out of the pool hall. Waterdog roomed with Popcorn and a bunch of others back then and he would go on binges and not be seen for extended periods of time. He was quiet by his personality and would smile a bit while playing. He couldn't keep any money and stayed broke. Some years later I ran into him in Tulsa OK and he didn't look to well and I thought he might be strung out. I gave him twenty dollars and didn't see him again until the mid 90's. He had a stiff leg by then and I don't know anything else. Would like to hear any stories about him if anyone has any to tell.

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Jerry, I played him in Bellflower about the time that you mentioned. I always thought that he had a few years on Keith. Maybe he just looked older. If he was still a teenager then he really had a good game for his age.

I did see him in Vegas around the mid nineties and I would have not recognized him if he had not come to me to say hi. Had a limp, very little hair, but was as pleasant as always. Nice guy that was dealt a bad hand in life.