Introducting PoolSynergy: an online collection of pool writing

Check out the first edition of PoolSynergy, contemplated as a monthly collection of great pool writing from the web. Poolsynergy the brainchild of John Biddle, host of the www.poolstudent.com website. This month's theme is "Strategy,” and it features contributions from eight writers, including myself. Here's a brief description of these first contributions, with links to where you can find them.

*Samm Diep, well known for her blog The Tip Jar, talks about how she improved her game when she took another look at using the side pockets instead of the corners in her peice Corner vs. Side.

*Approaching the topic of strategy from a different perspective, Mike Fieldhammer, a BCA Certified Instructor,challenges conventional wisdom in Strategy: Should it Change Based on Your Opponent? Mike’s piece shows you how to gain an advantage at the table and win more often by taking your opponent’s abilities and style into account.

*In Offensive Safeties in 8 Ball (works only in IE), Joe Waldron makes clear that safeties aren’t just defensive shots when you have nothing else, but can play a strong offensive role as well. Waldron is the host of Pocket Billiards Review, which is always filled with insightful articles about the mental game.

*Also about strategy at the table, John Biddle’s article Thinking Your Way to More Pool Victories can help you raise your winning percentage. John is the man behind the PoolSynergy project.

*"FastMikie” McCafferty’s wise and insightful post The Impossible Dream talks about the role pool plays in your life strategy. Mike writes at Diary of a Pool Shooter, the longest continually running blog about pool.

*Gail Glazebrook’s post, The Deliberate Attack, gets you to think “How will I beat you” and then gives you an approach to follow that works for her. Gail’s blog is confessions of g squared.

*Mark Finkelstein, a BCA Certified Instructor and instruction columnist at the hot new pool website NYC Grind, helps you take an objective look at your game in his piece, Assessing Ability … On the Road to Effective Strategy.

*Melinda, in A Strategy to Manage the Mental Side of Your Game, helps us to keep our head in the game from the very beginning and recognize issues that need attention before it’s too late. Melinda, who calls herself a wanna-be pool player, lives and blogs in Texas at Pool is a Journey.

*I round out this month’s edition with my contribution, Minnesota Fats: The Quiet Thrashing. It's a story about several gambling sessions between Fats and Richie Florence, during several weeks in Johnston City back in 1970. That's an old picture of Fats at the top of this post.

Great Story about the Knoxville Bear

Chris Wohlwend, writing for Like the Dew: A Journal of Southern Culture and Politics, has penned a great story about Eddie Taylor, the famous Knoxville Bear. Remembered as one of the greatest bank pool players ever, Taylor is a member of both the One Pocket Hall of Fame (2004 inductee) and the BCA Hall of Fame (1993 inductee). He was also the winner of the all-around title in Johnston City in 1964 and the Stardust Open in 1967.

Wohlwend draws upon some old conversations with Taylor for his story. For instance,the story quotes Taylor describing some of his technique for road hustling:

“A guy in Lexington, Kentucky, showed me how to lose games on purpose. How to talk a big game until the money got big, then start really playing. I’d go on about how good I was, how I’d played Ralph Greenfield the week before and they’d all be laughing at me. They knew I meant Ralph Greenleaf, and thought I was too stupid to know his real name. I’d lose and then I’d say, ‘Well, I can’t really play unless we’re playing for big money.’"

Pool & Billiards Magazine editor Thomas Shaw has noted in a separate article that Taylor was born in the mountains of Anderson County, about twenty miles from Knoxville, on October 1, 1918.

"When I was about eight years old my Daddy bought me a little toy table," Taylor told Shaw. "Later on we lived near the amusement park where the fella who owned the batting cage bought a 2 1/2 x 5 foot table and I got to playing on that. Then we moved downtown near the YMCA and I played on the table there. It just seemed that everything came natural. This boy and I used to go across the street from the school and the guy would let us play one game of rotation for a nickel. Then I started laying out from school and playing. My mother finally caught me and threatened to blow up the poolroom but I just found another place until she caught me again."

Taylor died of cancer on Sept. 5, 2005, at his home in Bossier City, outside Shreveport, Louisiana. Want to read more? Billiards Digest ran an interview with the Bear back in 2005. Onepocket.org also ran a long interview in 2004.

Get Your Tickets to the 2009 Hall of Fame

For the first time ever, the annual BCA Hall of Fame Banquet will be held in conjunction with the game’s longest-running pro tournament, the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship. This year's inductees are Allison Fischer, winner of 53 WPBA Classic Tour Titles, and Johnny Archer, a four-time World 9-Ball Champion. You can be a part of history and attend the official induction ceremony and banquet, held Oct. 22 at the Marriott Chesapeake Hotel, in Chesapeake, VA. To buy tickets or for more information, click here. I'll be there for sure.

Two stories about Greenleaf's marital problems.

Here are two stories about Ralph Greenleaf's marital problems. They include references to a missing tooth, a hurled ashtray, Greenleaf surrendering all his money to one his wives and "barbarous treatment." Both articles are from the Chicago Tribune. The first article identifies Greenleaf's wife as "Beatrice." It's from Dec. 24, 1924. The second is from December 20, 1933 -- almost exactly 9 years later -- and references the more well known of Greenleaf's wives, Amelia Ruth Parker, also known as the Princess Nai Tai Tai. She was a Vaudeville performer. I've referenced the hurled ashtray incident in an earlier post. You can also see a picture of Greenleaf with the Princess in that earlier post. Despite the divorce papers, Amelia Ruth Parker and Greenleaf remained together until his death in 1950.

Pool History Now on Twitter!

The old meets the new: pool history meets the Twitter network. I'm trying to keep my tweeting pretty narrowly focused on pool history. That means no recounting of what I had for dinner, or whether I'll make it home in time for The Daily Show. So if you're not already subscribing to the pool history blog, you can now keep up with the latest posts by following @PoolHistoryBlog on Twitter.

America's Best Ever Pool Player? You Decide

Who is America's best ever pool player? The poll on the top right of the pool history blog lists some all-time favorites, including recent Hall of Fame inductee Johnny Archer. I've left Willie Hoppe off the list because he was known as one of the best-ever billiards players, as opposed to one of the best-ever pool players. Neither have I included one of my personal favorites, Efren "Bata" Reyes. As he's from the Philippines, I figured I'd save him for a future poll of the greatest international players. I've also tried to get a good mix of players from different eras. (Van Boening vs. Greenleaf?!) Vote early. Vote often. I'll leave the poll up for awhile. Also, if you have a write-in candidate, feel free to comment at the bottom of this post. I'll tally up the write-ins later, along with those listed on the ballot.

Although he was one of the most recognizable sports figures of the Jazz Age, the great Ralph Greenleaf nonetheless would inexplicably vanish from time to time during his later years. In one of my recent columns, I wrote about Greenleaf going AWOL in 1946. He showed up later. He was probably on an extended bender. I've reproduced here a small portion of another article from the Chicago Tribune that references "a nation-wide search" for Greenleaf in 1936. According to the article, Greenleaf showed up inexplicably in a neighborhood pool hall, where he introduced himself as the "former world's champion billiards player." The patrons said he amazed the crowd with a number of "fancy shots" before vanishing once again.