“Fast Eddie” dies at 69
Eddie Parker, a legendary money player and an inspiration for Walter Tevis’ book and subsequent film The Hustler, died at the U.S. Classic Billiards amateur 8-Ball Showdown in South Padre Island, Texas, on Friday, Feb. 2. Parker, 69, appeared at the amateur event to participate in an exhibition on Saturday, but was stricken while planning a fishing trip with friend and business partner Woody Woodworth on Friday night. He was pronounced dead at Brownsville Hospital.
Following a brief retirement from pool competition, Parker returned to the road in 1980, performing as many as 200 exhibitions per year. He also worked on a novel, wrote instructional texts, produced instructional videos and maintained other billiards-related ventures. He is survived by his wife of over 50 years, Peggy; a son, Steve; daughter, Susan; and seven grandchildren.
Daulton Master of the Table
Shannon “The Cannon” Daulton punctuated his claim as All-Around Champion at the Derby City Classic in Louisville, Ky., Saturday night by winning the multi-discipline tournament’s 9-ball division. The 28-year-old Kentuckian, who had already clinched the event’s all-around crown prior to the 9-ball division finale, defeated Finland’s Mika Immonen, 7-4, to earn the $8,000 top prize. With his $5,000 prize as All-Around Champion, and $1,675 earned in the 9-Ball Banks and One-Pocket divisions, Daulton’s weeklong stay at the Derby City Classic garnered him $14,675. Jose Parcia, winner of the 9-Ball Banks event, was second in the all-around race. Buddy Hall earned he $5,000 One-Pocket title.
Lee squares off with ESPN anchor
Pool fans normally accustomed to watching Jeanette Lee on ESPN wielding her cue against the game’s best will discover today that her ESPN appearances aren’t limited to the Women’s Professional Billiard Association Classic Tour.
The Black Widow is featured in the sports network’s newest “This is SportsCenter” spot, which showcases a fearsome showdown against anchor Bill Pidto. To see the debut of the commercial, visit espn.go.com/thisissportscenter/index.html.
Cannon blast
Shannon “The Cannon” Daulton tore through a deep field to earn his second Music City Classic championship at J.O.B.’s in Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 9-14. Daulton, who twice knocked off defending champion and recent Mosconi Cup teammate Johnny Archer to claim the top spot, collected $2,500 for his efforts.
On the women’s side, Swedish transplant Helena Thornfeldt edged Monica Webb in the final for first place worth $670. Thornfeldt, who finished the 2000 Classic Tour season ranked No. 3, closed out the season with five straight top-four finishes, including back-to-back runner-up honors in August and September.
Strickland’s holiday wish
By edging Efren Reyes, 13-9, in the final of the US-RP Challenge in Muntinlupa City, Philippines, American Earl Strickland may have already secured his biggest holiday wish. “Finally, I got what I wished for,” Strickland told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, “to beat Reyes on his own turf.” With the victory, Strickland earned $20,000, while Reyes took home $10,000 for second place.
After knocking off Francisco Bustamante in the semifinals, 13-9, Strickland held off all of Reyes’ comeback efforts in the final, including a brief run that cut Strickland’s 10-6 lead in half. Strickland added wins in three of he final four racks to claim the victory.
Snooker Champ Williams Leaves Trophy in Driveway
Snooker’s most important trophy went missing when the world champion accidentally left it in his driveway overnight. World number one Mark Williams left the Embassy World Championship trophy outside his home in Cwm, South Wales after taking it out of his car last Tuesday night. A neighbour spotted the 73-year-old trophy and took it indoors for safe-keeping before returning it to the grateful star. Williams’ manager Ian Doyle said today: “The trophy is unharmed. Mark had been to have some photographs taken with it at his local golf club. He was unpacking his car when he got home when he was interrupted by a telephone call and left the trophy by the car.” Keen to keep the trophy in his sight, football fan Williams will parade it at Old Trafford on Sunday before Manchester United’s home game. A spokesman for snooker’s governing body, The World Snooker Association, said it was insured for L15,000. The incident topped a difficult week for the 25-year-old Welshman. Earlier he was injured when his pet Rottweiler Megan bit his left hand as he was trying to feed her. It had been feared that the injury could force the left-hander to miss the start of the season. But his manager said today he would be back at the snooker table tomorrow. Mr Doyle said: “His hand is as right as rain now. He will be cueing tomorrow without any problems and will be playing in the Champions Cup in Brighton later this month.”
Irish eyes are smiling
Although the 2000 World Pool-Billiard Association World 9-Ball Championships in Quebec City, Quebec, Nov. 14-19, brought together the best women players in the world, the finals came down to the Women’s Professional Billiard Association’s two top Irish imports. After a difficult route to the final, Julie Kelly topped WPBA No. 2-ranked Karen Corr to capture first place and her first major tournament title since coming to the United States in 1999.
Kelly, currently ranked No. 18 on the WPBA’s Classic Tour, twice knocked off defending champion Shin-Mei Liu (9-8, 9-6), then Jeanette Lee (9-7), before defeating her countrymate, 9-8 in the final match. Corr reached the final match with a victory over Lee in the quarterfinals (9-5) and a convincing win over three-time World Champion and WPBA No. 1-ranked Allison Fisher (9-2).
All stars in Lexington
John Brumback, a consistent finisher on the Viking 9-Ball Tour, came up with an All-Star performance, holding off Alex Pagulayan, 11-5, in the final of the Lexington All-Stars Championship, in Lexington, Ky., Nov. 15-19. The victory earned Brumback $7,000, while Pagulayan left with $4,400.
Without a tournament victory to speak of this year, Brumback took down Troy Frank and George “Ginky” SanSouci before suffering his first loss of the tournament to Dee Adkins. On the one-loss side, Brumback defeated Jon Kucharo, SanSouci again and Adkins for a date with Pagulayan in the final. Two weeks after finishing second to Nick Varner in Grady Mathews’ “One Pocket Championship of the World,” Pagulayan once again fell in a championship match. Adkins finished third, worth $3,300, followed by SanSouci, who collected $2,300.
ESPN Delays Mosconi Cup Airing
Pool fans who tuned in to ESPN2 Sunday afternoon, Dec. 28, expecting to see six consecutive hours of the 2003 Mosconi Cup instead found a string of Trick Shot Magic reruns.
Blame it on Eminem.
ESPN public relations spokesman Nate Smeltz said that the 2003 Mosconi Cup, staged Dec. 18-21 at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas, had “production problems” that prevented it from airing in its assigned time slot. Smeltz went on to say that the Mosconi Cup would, indeed, air on ESPN2 in the near future, but that definitive dates have not been established.
According to Matchroom Sports, producers of the Mosconi Cup, the crux of the problem was music (including rapper Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”) that Matchroom’s United Kingdom television partner Sky Sport uses during player introductions and taped promotional segments.
“Sky Sports has copyright to run whatever music they want in the U.K.,” said Matchroom’s Luke Riches. “In the U.S., ESPN has to clear the rights to the music, or edit songs out of the program and replace them with music that they hold rights to.”
According to Riches, Sky Sport edited and produced four hours of programming from the 2002 Mosconi Cup, which aired on ESPN2 Dec. 29, 2002. In 2003, however, ESPN assumed the task of editing the footage into six one-hour shows. (All 20 matches of Team USA’s 11-9 win over Team Europe were aired live in the U.K. on Sky Sport.)
“Apparently,” said Riches, “ESPN couldn’t clear the music or re-edit the tapes in time.
“I guess this kind of thing can happen,” Riches added. “But it’s something of a disaster for our sponsors who bought commercial time and expected the commercials to air on Dec. 28.”
U.S. Surge, Regain Mosconi Cup
Unleashing its arsenal of high-powered talend, Team USA rebounded from an 8-6 deficit to win four of five matches on Sunday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to win the 2003 Mosconi Cup over Team Europe, 11-9. Cup-clinching 9 ball honors went to U.S. Open winner Jeremy Jones, whose 5-3 win over Sweden’s Marcus Chamat allowed the U.S. squad to recapture the Cup it had lost to the Euros in London last December.
After suffering through a five-match drought on Saturday, Team USA opened the final day’s action with four consecutive match wins. Cup debutante Rodney Morris opened the floodgates with a energizing 5-3 win over reigning world 9-ball champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany. Johnny Archer then tied the contest with a 5-2 thumping of Steve Davis, and Earl Strickland gave the U.S. a lead it would never relinquish with a thrilling, 5-4, win over 23-year-old Dutchman Nick Van den Berg.
The U.S. squad got perhaps its biggest boost in the next match, when Mosconi rookie Tony Robles, who had not played well through the four-day event, put together a near-perfect performance against Europe’s top player, Mika Immonen of Finland. Immonen had been unbeaten in three matches going into Sunday, and earned the MVP award as the player who scored the most match points. But Robles scored a 5-2 win to put the Americans on the hill, 10-8.
Germany’s Ralf Souquet kept Europe’s hopes alive with a 5-3 win over Charlie Williams, but Jones closed the door on Europe’s hopes against Chamat. It marks the eighth time in the 10-year history of the event that the U.S. squad came out on top.
For more Mosconi Cup highlights and photos, log on to www.mosconicup.com.