Official 2013 HOF comments thread

onepocket

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This is the place to advocate for your preferred Hall of Fame candidates representing this year's class of One Pocket & Bank Pool players.

Please be respectful, because all of the candidates are worthy candidates.

Remember, when you cast your vote, you can select more than one candidate, but you must make all of your selections before you "vote now". Once you have voted, you cannot go back and change or add to your selections, so make sure you have made your final and complete choices before you vote.

This year we especially encourage you to consider both a living and at least one or more deceased player on your ballot -- we have made a point of not adding any new living players to this year's ballot in order to cast a little extra spotlight on the deceased players. Every year that passes, the deceased players fade a little further into obscurity; your votes can help them be memorialized for years to come!

If you have been fortunate to witness or hear reliable stories of these great deceased players, then please share your knowledge with other voters.

Thank you!
Steve Booth, One Pocket Hall of Fame administrator
 

gulfportdoc

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I sense that Johnny "Irish" Lineen will never make it into the HOF, which is unfortunate. He was probably starting to wind down his career just as Johnston City was getting fired up. Everything I've ever read about him, including the piece in Fred's Encyclopedia, indicates that he was a fearsome player who no one was really eager to tangle with. Reportedly he was a real booze warrior, but then there were so many others in that era.

Seems to me there was a feature on him years back in the "Billiards Digest" series, but I could be mistaken. I bet he had an interesting career, although probably not with a happy ending. Maybe someone someday will put together a biography of his.

Doc
 

fred bentivegna

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I sense that Johnny "Irish" Lineen will never make it into the HOF, which is unfortunate. He was probably starting to wind down his career just as Johnston City was getting fired up. Everything I've ever read about him, including the piece in Fred's Encyclopedia, indicates that he was a fearsome player who no one was really eager to tangle with. Reportedly he was a real booze warrior, but then there were so many others in that era.

Seems to me there was a feature on him years back in the "Billiards Digest" series, but I could be mistaken. I bet he had an interesting career, although probably not with a happy ending. Maybe someone someday will put together a biography of his.

Doc

Irish could rob 80% of the guys already in the Hall, and the other 20% couldnt spot him the paint off of the ball.

Beard
 

BackPocket9Ball

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Seems to me there was a feature on him years back in the "Billiards Digest" series, but I could be mistaken. I bet he had an interesting career, although probably not with a happy ending. Maybe someone someday will put together a biography of his.

Doc

Tom Shaw definitely did a long article on him in Pool & billiard mag back in late 90s. Those were good reads. It would be cool if we could access them and put them on this site (with his permission of course). Steve, is that possible?
 

Island Drive

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Jersey Red thought he was the best.
Rod.

In my youth/janscos 68-70 Red was definitely not Top Notch compared to a few others. I always picture his wife removing his cue stick from the car trunk and warming it up with her hands before play. And Eddie Bellamore, looked like Toby Sweet with full dress up Bell Bottoms/jacket and shirt, like a Liscotti hippie....:eek:
 

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Cowboy Dennis

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fred bentivegna

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I could be wrong but I think Rod was saying that Jack Breit thought Johnny Lineen was the best, not himself.

Dennis

I knew Jersey Red real well. He was talking about Johnny Irish being the best. I heard Red (and many more New York champions) brag about Irish often enough to know who he was referring to.

Beard

Red played Ronnie Allen 9 to 8 and 8 to 7. He would lose with 9 to 8 and win with 8 to 7.
 

Island Drive

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I knew Jersey Red real well. He was talking about Johnny Irish being the best. I heard Red (and many more New York champions) brag about Irish often enough to know who he was referring to.

Beard

Red played Ronnie Allen 9 to 8 and 8 to 7. He would lose with 9 to 8 and win with 8 to 7.[/QUOTE
As a college student, I sure enjoyed red raiders style of play when gambling, very entertaining an the way he spoke and interacted with others was very engaging, Very.
 

androd

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I watched Red and Ronnie play four times, they always played even, they won two apiece.
Ronnie was always sharking and putting on a show. He had a stake horse with an airplane and was always trying to raise the bet. Red always had a stake horse for about 2 or 3 games 2/3 hundred a game. Red never said a word about Ronnie's antics. A lotta class.
This was in Houston in the seventy's.
Rod.
 

onepockethacker

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Is there any video of Harold Worst playing one pocket? There is a 6 minute clip on Youtube of Harold and Boston Shorty playing a 9 ball match.. race to 11 and the video starts with harold leading 9 to 5.. Shorty runs out and hangs the 9 ball and Harold gets up and breaks the 9 ball in to win the match LMFAO. If thats the only video of Harold Worst playing that is a tragedy
 

Jimmy B

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Is there any video of Harold Worst playing one pocket? There is a 6 minute clip on Youtube of Harold and Boston Shorty playing a 9 ball match.. race to 11 and the video starts with harold leading 9 to 5.. Shorty runs out and hangs the 9 ball and Harold gets up and breaks the 9 ball in to win the match LMFAO. If thats the only video of Harold Worst playing that is a tragedy


If you ever see any, please let me know. I've always been in wonder of this incredible person. I am now voting for your man, John E and also Daddy Warbucks along with Cliff. Remember that you can vote for all the ones that you think are deserving. It will not hurt your main selection to vote for more people. Remember how no deceased players made the threshold for entry. That was absurd imo. Last year. This is not connected to the Lifetime Pool In Action selection, which is, of course selected by the Special SS Illluminati Board Of Directors...
 

tylerdurden

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Is there any video of Harold Worst playing one pocket? There is a 6 minute clip on Youtube of Harold and Boston Shorty playing a 9 ball match.. race to 11 and the video starts with harold leading 9 to 5.. Shorty runs out and hangs the 9 ball and Harold gets up and breaks the 9 ball in to win the match LMFAO. If thats the only video of Harold Worst playing that is a tragedy

I think worst should be in. Only heard stories. One thing stopping him may be the fact that he wasn't a one hole player. I voted Worst and Ervelino for deceased players. I don't have anything against Cliff, but I know he'll be in one year soon and hope one of the above 2 guys gets the nod. But for living players it is hard to have anything against Cliff going in of course. I just think players should go in when they are nearing the end of their careers, or after. So, I voted for him anyway... but if I had my drothers I would put him in in the next few years or so.

The great stories I heard about Worst via Grady was 1) he used to practice straight pool every day until he ran 200 (WTF!!!) 2) I think it was cornbread tried to trap Worst. Cornbread went on the road with him and sat in the car, and he would tell Worst "go in and give this guy the 7, you'll rob him etc", but Worst really had the worst of every game Cornbread put him in. Well, the way grady told the story, Worst ended up winning all the games anyway.

Anyway, I will let the real voting on the deceased players to much higher and more knowledgeable players than me, but those 2 seem to get so much acclaim from so many of the best players.

Little Al rounded out my 4th vote. I hope he goes in one day, as he doesn't seek the attention, has never stopped playing pool (to this day) and is probably the greatest guy I ever met playing in all my years. A truly genuine good guy.
 
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fred bentivegna

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Fred, for all these years I've heard that comment I thought it was about Eddie Kelly and RA... Go figure.;)

Doc

That actually was the way Kelly played with Ronnie. Although there were times when Kelly beat Ronnie even. Just like Jersey Red, and just like me, who beat-- when the mixture, or the planets were in order -- top players playing even, like Grady, Cardone, Bugs,Artie, and when the moon was in the wrong lunar phase, got strummed with a spot! ie., when I went from beating Grady about 12 games playing even 1 pkt to 6 months later when he ended up giving me 11 to 7, to 3 months later when I beat him getting only 9 to 8 on his break.

Beard

Red was great, but not quite Ronnie.

(Incidentally, for those who read my Encyclopedia should have noted that Bugs ended up giving Red 9 to 7 and beating him.)
 

mr3cushion

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In the early 70's, Red came to Bensingers, He and Artie made a game to be played on table 24 in the tournament room. Red gave Artie 10-8, and He took ALL the breaks, Red didn't have a chance at the game!

Artie was probably one of the BEST players to get out of his opponents break, within, one or two innings He would turn it around so it would look like He had broken the balls.

I watched Artie one day practice for 3 or 4 hours trying to perfect a "backwards" cut shot leave from an opponents break, He would apply various forms of English on the cue ball, depending on what ball he wanted to contact in the stack. This is the kind of, "work ethic" he had when it came to just about any endeavor he pursued.

Bill Smith "Mr3Cushion"
 

gulfportdoc

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I never got to see Harold Worst play, but by all reports he was one of the most impressive cue talents of all time. This white hot flame of a player switched from 3C to pool, where he quickly became a dominant player. Unfortunately that flame was snuffed out in 1966-- very early in his pool career.

However, as a one-pocket player he simply didn’t play long enough. A few have questioned his qualifications for the 1P HOF, and I agree. Happily he was inducted into the BCA HOF in 1970, and that was well deserved. But to place someone in the 1P HOF based on the fact that he most likely would have continued to be a 1P force had he lived is both presumptuous and a poor criterion.

Think of it this way: Efren is a decent 3C player, who even looked pretty good in an exhibition against Bloomdahl or one of the better players. But if the USBA or the world association has a HOF, would you expect Efren to be included? And would the reason he ought to be included is that had he stuck with it, he could have been a top 3C player for some time?

As great a pool force as Worst was becoming, his short pool career did not permit him to acquire the qualifications for the 1P HOF.

~Doc
 

fred bentivegna

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I never got to see Harold Worst play, but by all reports he was one of the most impressive cue talents of all time. This white hot flame of a player switched from 3C to pool, where he quickly became a dominant player. Unfortunately that flame was snuffed out in 1966-- very early in his pool career.

However, as a one-pocket player he simply didn’t play long enough. A few have questioned his qualifications for the 1P HOF, and I agree. Happily he was inducted into the BCA HOF in 1970, and that was well deserved. But to place someone in the 1P HOF based on the fact that he most likely would have continued to be a 1P force had he lived is both presumptuous and a poor criterion.

Think of it this way: Efren is a decent 3C player, who even looked pretty good in an exhibition against Bloomdahl or one of the better players. But if the USBA or the world association has a HOF, would you expect Efren to be included? And would the reason he ought to be included is that had he stuck with it, he could have been a top 3C player for some time?

As great a pool force as Worst was becoming, his short pool career did not permit him to acquire the qualifications for the 1P HOF.

~Doc

Does the fact that he beat everybody he played playing one pocket and Eddie Taylor and Ronnie Allen wouldnt play him that game mean anything? Some people, and rightly so, think Danny Jones should be in the 1pkt HOF. Harold gave him a ball.

Beard
 

NH Steve

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I never got to see Harold Worst play, but by all reports he was one of the most impressive cue talents of all time. This white hot flame of a player switched from 3C to pool, where he quickly became a dominant player. Unfortunately that flame was snuffed out in 1966-- very early in his pool career.

However, as a one-pocket player he simply didn’t play long enough. A few have questioned his qualifications for the 1P HOF, and I agree. Happily he was inducted into the BCA HOF in 1970, and that was well deserved. But to place someone in the 1P HOF based on the fact that he most likely would have continued to be a 1P force had he lived is both presumptuous and a poor criterion.

Think of it this way: Efren is a decent 3C player, who even looked pretty good in an exhibition against Bloomdahl or one of the better players. But if the USBA or the world association has a HOF, would you expect Efren to be included? And would the reason he ought to be included is that had he stuck with it, he could have been a top 3C player for some time?

As great a pool force as Worst was becoming, his short pool career did not permit him to acquire the qualifications for the 1P HOF.

~Doc

I agree 100% Doc.
 
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