There were other ways to earn money as pool was a popular wagering sport, although Carpenter’s reputation eventually caused those opportunities to dwindle. “The tournaments then didn’t pay all that well, although if you won a big one, you might win a thousand dollars and that was a lot of money in those days.” That’s partly because you can play and not look so good while you win, so you can keep getting games. “He won some big tournaments, especially 9-ball, but he just fell in love with one-pocket pool. Whenever he made a little money, he’d give it to his parents to make sure they were OK. “It got to the point where he was best around here and no one would play him, so he started moving around in order to make a living. “He and his older brother, Junior, built their first little pool table themselves and played with marbles.”Īs Carpenter grew to be a young man, he became a master player, finally going on the road in search of competition. “He was actually born in Pickens County, just outside of Reform, in 1928 and then moved to Tuscaloosa in the Depression,” said his son, Carpenter, Jr. He was inducted into the National One-Pocket Hall of Fame in 2005. While he was proficient at many billiards games and was a two-time winner of a national 9-ball tournament, his specialty was one-pocket pool, a more strategic variation - Minnesota Fats once compared it to playing chess because of the defensive strategy involved - often played for high stakes. He was a resident of Tuscaloosa for most of his life, although he played pool all over the country, mainly in the South and Midwest, for most of his first 40 years. He was one of the last of a golden era of pool players like Minnesota Fats and Willie Mosconi. Marshall Carpenter, Sr., the “Tuscaloosa Squirrel,” passed away last Sunday at the age of 92 after a long illness. But that’s how we got the nickname ‘Squirrel.’ It just sort of stuck.” One time, he ran right into the arms of another policeman who was waiting back there. “Then, if the police came in the front door, the guy would yell, “You squirrels get out of here!” and they’d head out the back. “He got to be friends with the old guy who ran the Shamrock, so the guy would let him and a couple of others who weren’t legal age come in, sell peanuts and play if there was an empty table,” Carpenter’s son, Marshall Carpenter, Jr., said earlier this week. still loved to watch the players or learn the game in the back tables of The Shamrock, one of the many billiards parlors that dotted the Tuscaloosa area in a time before television, much less televised sports. As a teenager, still well under the age at which it was permissible to be in a pool hall, Marshall Carpenter Sr.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |