![]() ![]() Playing in six cities in four days, he helped raise $10,000 for the Casa Colina Wheelchair Sports Program while also resurrecting some priceless memories for himself. He insists that he now spends his free time playing golf, another game in which the object is to put a ball into a hole with a stick.īut anyone who saw him tour California earlier this month-and there were many who did-would dispute that Mosconi has left the game completely behind. Some folks simply ask him to touch their pool sticks so that maybe, magically, it will make them better players. Adults begin throwing down $25 for an opportunity to play against him for charity. As the 15-time world pocket billiards champion enters, the room becomes silent.Īfter applause breaks the silence, children run over for autographs and/or photographs. Willie won every set, but the television network was intrigued and Willie and Wanderone, as Minnesota Fats, would have more televised matches.Willie Mosconi walks into the Billiards and Barstools Store in San Bernardino, where 300 people have been awaiting his arrival in a room not built to hold 300 people. Their match would eventually take place on television on February 14, 1978. Wanderone did not show up for the match, though Willie was there and played others and put on exhibition of trick shots. An ad was placed in the newspaper reading "MINNESOTA FATS challenged by MOSCONI - 'Show Up or Shut Up'". The pot eventually became one hundred thousand dollars. He sent Wanderone a registered letter, but receiving no response, he increased the spot to 500 points and agreed to play any game. Willie challenged Wanderone to a two-thousand point game, spotting him 250 points for twenty thousand dollars. ![]() Willie felt that Wanderone was promoting himself, rather than the game of pool. Willie filed a suit asking for damages at one point, but dropped the suit later when he understood that damages were hard to prove and that probably only his lawyer would benefit. Wanderone repeatedly said that he had beat Willie many times. As for the other possible answers, both Jimmy Caras and Irving Crane were frequent opponents for Willie. Walter Tevis was the author of "The Hustler" and "The Color of Money", and vehemently denied that the character that he created had been based on Rudolf Wanderone. Willie said he was a cocky youngster and learned, at a steep price, to not be careless. He missed the shot when the ball jawed in the pocket, and Rudolf ran the 42 balls need to win the match. Willie had the lead 124-83 with one shot to win. ![]() Willie would come in fifth in his first tournament, but learned a life-long lesson from one missed shot. It wasn't until he reached Chicago, after several qualifying rounds, that he had a cue made by Herman Rambow. Willie did not even have his own cue at this point. The entry fee had already been paid when Izzie Goodman, the owner of Fox Billiard Academy, approached Willie. Eddie Brown was sponsored by Fox Billiard Academy for the tournament, but died from peritonitis. One couldn't just enter this tournament, players had to be sponsored. These games generally were played until one player reached 125 points. When the first 14 balls of the rack are potted and only one ball remains, it stays in that position and the other fourteen are re-racked and shooting continues. The ball and pocket must be called before the shot. For those not familiar, each time a ball is potted the player earns one point. Though the game was developed in 1889 and then improved on in 1910, it did not become the official championship game until 1912.
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