lifetime in action award

lll

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i hear so many stories about mega high dollar action from jew paul
would he be a worthy candidate?
and if anyone cares to tell alittle about him or some stories thanks.
 

JAM

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I hate his name. For some reason, it feels offensive, but if he doesn't mind the moniker, I guess I shouldn't either. :p

The way I hear it, he used to gamble plenty, and he was the prey for many a player who hunted him down, hoping to get a game because, if they did, they had a chance to win big.

Today he's a little more selective on who he players and picks his games more wisely, I think, but he still is a notorious action man for sure. :D

I saw him with his nostrils wide open one time in Norfolk rolling the Keno ball. Everybody was there. It ended up that he and Tony Watson from North Carolina started betting it high as the Georgia Pine. I never did like that Keno game. I mean, you might as well flip a coin. Is there any skill involved in Keno? :eek:

I didn't know Jew Paul during his action heydays, but there's not a shortage of stories circulating about him. He was eye candy for every road warrior. When my other half wakes up, I'll see if I can get a Jew Paul action story to post on this thread. He's definitely a worthy candidate for the Lifetime in Action Award, IMO! :)
 

JAM

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Jew Paul is an excellent candidate.

After a conversation last evening with a fellow pool aficionado, I would like to nominate Larry Lisciotti. He may be gone, but he's certainly not forgotten.

Here's a great Larry Lisciotti action story. I think I clipped it from The Snap magazine in an '80s edition. It truly, I think, captures Larry's tableside demeanor. :D

Lisciotti had eaten up the local action before he graduated from high school, but as soon as he obtained a high school diploma, he hit the road. He remembered it as the best time of his life, as there were times when he spent only US$6 on a motel room, but won thousands of dollars in a local tavern.

As a road player in the early 1970s in Charlotte, North Carolina, Lisciotti was playing nine-ball with an unknown entity for $15,000 for six-ahead (meaning one player had to score six games ahead, instead of a race to six) in order to win the money.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a black, shiny object pointing directly at his head as he was getting ready to shoot the nine-ball in the pocket. He missed the shot, as the bullet flew over his head. It happened five more times, each time Lisciotti was getting ready to shoot a game-winning shot.

After missing six consecutive nine-ball shots in a row, Lisciotti had had enough and said, "If he's going to kill me, let him!" He fired the last nine-ball in the pocket with authority, but thankfully only heard a clicking sound as the gunman ran out of bullets.


This is Larry's Wikipedia page: Larry Lisciotti. [retrieved 4 November 2010]

The picture below as well as the picture in the Wikipedia article of Larry were sent to me by Diana Hoppe of Poolpics by Hoppe with the understanding that I would use them to help create an archival memory of the legendary player, Larry Lisciotti. :)
 

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JAM

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Terry Ardeno found this great tribute to Larry Lisciotti and shared it on Azbilliards, but I think it's a good thing to have in this thread.

This is a really good read if you love pool and action. Click here: Remembering the Dugout and Larry Lisciotti.

I especially loved this description of Larry Lisciotti:

He was a slim young man with a great sense of humor who enjoyed a good laugh with his friends. He had intelligent eyes and a wonderful smile with lips that turned up at the end, lending him a type of Cheshire cat grin...

...I can close my eyes and see Larry now, and watch that Cheshire cat smile morphing into the eyes of a feral cat on the hunt. He was young and handsome in the Dugout days, and so very talented. There was such a mixture of power and possibility in the raw beauty of how he played the game back then, the way he held a cue, how he looked at the table, in the fluidity and grace of his movements.

There are also the hidden words I see shining through the obituary, and they are the words I want to use to describe Larry Lisciotti. He was a pool player and people loved him; he was more than a pool player.

He was beautiful.


Keith spoke to Larry several times right before he passed. They were very good friends, and he loved Larry like family. RIP, Larry Lisciotti. I'm sure he's up in heaven keeping the rail entertained. :D

Credits for the photo go to the above-referenced article.
 

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NH Steve

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The Lifetime Pool in Action honor was conceived as an award intended for recognition during one's lifetime. Larry Lisciotti certainly was one of those players that epitomize the qualities we are looking for -- huge talent and loved action and created excitement for the whole action side of pool during his lifetime.

At some point a legacy category for this award would be good to add -- for players like Lisciotti, Don Willis & Louie Roberts, for example -- but for now we want to focus on players that might otherwise not get this kind of recognition in their lifetimes, yet they brought so much excitement to the game.

Paul Brusloff is a real good choice. He's older, too, which is a point in his favor for this award.
 

P00lh0li0

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The couple of times I met him when he was out here, I, and several others, always pronounced it Liss-scotty too without him correcting us.
 

NH Steve

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Some other candidates among the living might be

Cole Dickson
-- standout player of the 60's-70's generation of young upstarts that turned the pool world upside down with their aggressive style of play -- but like McCready, he's still young
Bunny Rogoff -- about 80 now, and a life-long player/road man
'Country' -- also around 80, and has the reputation of being in on as much action over a lifetime as anyone, but avoided publicity kind of like Jack Cooney
 

JAM

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I realize the selection is made by a committee of players and others with expertise in the pool world, but I do have one question that I should have asked several years ago. Is the requirement for selection into the Hall of Fame that one must be a certain age?

Though some are inducted after they have been deceased in other categories, it is now my understanding that this category of Lifetime Action does not apply to those who are dead after reading this thread. I did not know about the requirement, so I apologize for suggesting Larry Lisciotti.

I do understand that there are many deserving unsung heroes in pool, and this Hall of Fame certainly helps to make things better, so please do not misinterpret my inquiry as being critical. I just would like to understand the requirements, so that I don't contribute posts to this forum with bad selections for players that are deemd as too young, already dead and not alive to accept the award and/or not deemed as a one-pocket player. :)

TIA!
 

fred bentivegna

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One pocket is not a requirement...

One pocket is not a requirement...

JAM said:
I realize the selection is made by a committee of players and others with expertise in the pool world, but I do have one question that I should have asked several years ago. Is the requirement for selection into the Hall of Fame that one must be a certain age?

Though some are inducted after they have been deceased in other categories, it is now my understanding that this category of Lifetime Action does not apply to those who are dead after reading this thread. I did not know about the requirement, so I apologize for suggesting Larry Lisciotti.

I do understand that there are many deserving unsung heroes in pool, and this Hall of Fame certainly helps to make things better, so please do not misinterpret my inquiry as being critical. I just would like to understand the requirements, so that I don't contribute posts to this forum with bad selections for players that are deemd as too young, already dead and not alive to accept the award and/or not deemed as a one-pocket player. :)

TIA!

...just after hours action over a long period of time. George Rood was not a one pocket player.

Beard
 

NH Steve

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fred bentivegna said:
...just after hours action over a long period of time. George Rood was not a one pocket player.

Beard
The idea of this award was prompted by Greg Sullivan's desire to see us recognize other disciplines, not just One Pocket. The way we came up with it, to keep it as consistent as possible with the original concept of a One Pocket Hall of Fame, was to keep our focus on the action side of pool, but broaden the scope beyond One Pocket itself. This was how Bank Pool was originally added as its own category, too, then the Lifetime Pool in Action honor. We did conceive the award as something to try to honor the living initially anyway -- the whole point being to recognize players in the action side of pool, most of whom were going to be overlooked by the BCA HOF because they fell too much in the action side of the game.

Since the beginning of Pool/Billiards time, the cue games have always had two faces -- the clean gentleman's "wholesome recreation" and establishment tournaments characterized by the BCA objectives (and before that, Brunswick's objectives), and the gambling, hustling, action side of the game. Certain games, like One Pocket, Banks (and for many years, 9-ball) originated essentially as gambling games, so it makes sense that they would be under-represented in the BCA HOF (obviously, 9-ball became accepted as an establishment game too, but this did not happen until the 60's (George Jansco, again). Likewise, black players were barred for years from tournaments, so their pool culture always revolved around gambling, until the color barrier was broken in the early 60's (again, George Jansco). The BCA HOF obviously represents one side of pool, we represent the other. There is no specific age requirement for this award, but there is a strong interest in recognizing players while they are still living -- but not exclusively old. JAM, Keith certainly epitomizes the kind of player we would like to recognize.
 

JAM

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NH Steve said:
The idea of this award was prompted by Greg Sullivan's desire to see us recognize other disciplines, not just One Pocket. The way we came up with it, to keep it as consistent as possible with the original concept of a One Pocket Hall of Fame, was to keep our focus on the action side of pool, but broaden the scope beyond One Pocket itself. This was how Bank Pool was originally added as its own category, too, then the Lifetime Pool in Action honor. We did conceive the award as something to try to honor the living initially anyway -- the whole point being to recognize players in the action side of pool, most of whom were going to be overlooked by the BCA HOF because they fell too much in the action side of the game.

Since the beginning of Pool/Billiards time, the cue games have always had two faces -- the clean gentleman's "wholesome recreation" and establishment tournaments characterized by the BCA objectives (and before that, Brunswick's objectives), and the gambling, hustling, action side of the game. Certain games, like One Pocket, Banks (and for many years, 9-ball) originated essentially as gambling games, so it makes sense that they would be under-represented in the BCA HOF (obviously, 9-ball became accepted as an establishment game too, but this did not happen until the 60's (George Jansco, again). Likewise, black players were barred for years from tournaments, so their pool culture always revolved around gambling, until the color barrier was broken in the early 60's (again, George Jansco). The BCA HOF obviously represents one side of pool, we represent the other. There is no specific age requirement for this award, but there is a strong interest in recognizing players while they are still living -- but not exclusively old. JAM, Keith certainly epitomizes the kind of player we would like to recognize.

Thanks for the explanation. Let me say at the outset that *you*, Steve, are certainly a credit to pool. Someday they'll be inducting you in the HOF, I surmise. ;)

I do not visit this forum very often, but I must say for the record that the Main Page of this forum with all of the interviews and data gathered over the years is a godsend. I have referenced it numerous times when writing about various pool-related topics.

Keith will get his due someday in pocket billiards, though I fear that it will, in fact, be word-of-mouth pool tales after he's gone. I am not writing this to have him inducted in this year's Lifetime Action Award. I know he's not eligible at this time because of his age. I continue to remind myself of what Keith used to always say to me when I was down in the duldrums, "Don't ever forget *who* you are." He's right, you know. It truly doesn't matter what others think, as long as you know *who* you are. :D

Keith, unlike me, does know *who* he is. I envy him.
 

gulfportdoc

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The Lifetime/Action award is much more subjective than are the One-Pocket and Banks distinctions, which are influenced to a certain degree by votes from the membership.

If there is no age requirement for the Lifetime/Action award, and there is no particular emphasis on one-pocket, then it must come down to who the "committee" favors, with Steve making the final choice.

That being said, Keith certainly qualifies for recognition. I wouldn't know who was known for being an action player more so than was Keith. The only detraction might be that he hasn't played during the past few years. However I gather he's started back playing some one-pocket.

There are several deserving players. It'll be interesting to see who gets the nod.

Doc
 

fred bentivegna

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Don't fret, Jammy...

Don't fret, Jammy...

JAM said:
Thanks for the explanation. Let me say at the outset that *you*, Steve, are certainly a credit to pool. Someday they'll be inducting you in the HOF, I surmise. ;)

I do not visit this forum very often, but I must say for the record that the Main Page of this forum with all of the interviews and data gathered over the years is a godsend. I have referenced it numerous times when writing about various pool-related topics.

Keith will get his due someday in pocket billiards, though I fear that it will, in fact, be word-of-mouth pool tales after he's gone. I am not writing this to have him inducted in this year's Lifetime Action Award. I know he's not eligible at this time because of his age. I continue to remind myself of what Keith used to always say to me when I was down in the duldrums, "Don't ever forget *who* you are." He's right, you know. It truly doesn't matter what others think, as long as you know *who* you are. :D

Keith, unlike me, does know *who* he is. I envy him.

I'll make sure I keep the skinny little creep alive, and in the public eye whenever I can. I know who he is. First hand.

Beard
 

laudizen

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Larry Lisciotti

Larry Lisciotti

I wrote 'Remembering the Dugout and Larry Lisciotti' that JAM referenced earlier in this thread, and I want to thank her for mentioning the story and quoting from it. It pleases me that this simple story about discovering the game of pool as a teenager and meeting Larry Lisciotti resonates with so many people who knew Larry.

The Beard is correct, Larry pronounced his name: liss-scotty.
 

SJDinPHX

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laudizen said:
I wrote 'Remembering the Dugout and Larry Lisciotti' that JAM referenced earlier in this thread, and I want to thank her for mentioning the story and quoting from it. It pleases me that this simple story about discovering the game of pool as a teenager and meeting Larry Lisciotti resonates with so many people who knew Larry.

The Beard is correct, Larry pronounced his name: liss-scotty.

Great work Laudizen,

You have the gift of painting a picture with words, and the insight into pool, that made for a very enjoyable read. Hats off to you (and Jam) for sharing it with us.
 
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