Minnesota Fats vs U J Puckett Legends of Pocket Billiards

if we play for crackers i don't care if your mother-in-law beats me but if we play for money anything from one thousand dollars on up then nobody's got a chance on earth well those are words from one of the participants in the legendary pocket billiards tournament hi everybody i'm irv brown working with allen hopkins and of course we're talking about minnesota fats the guy who says he's the best in anything world's greatest lover dated judy garland maywest he's been playing pretty good pool here this week yes he has what surprised me the most is he hasn't been talking as much as he usually does he's been playing pool and he's been running out a few times also he's made some good bank shots he's done his job yes he has he's been running out which is very important because fatty usually just goofs around he'll be going against you jay puckett 76 years young here's a guy who had 40 professional fights 132 of him he said if it didn't go past the second round he's all right because he's never been in shape the man has never had a job in his life he plays a pretty good game of pool he's playing great right now also he's breaking the ball as hard which which means a lot a lot of times his opponents don't even get to the table he's made the seven a couple times on the break kept his opponent in the chair a couple of damon running characters who's going to win this one allen boy that's a tough pick i don't know i have to go with you jay all right you heard it from alan hopkins i'll guarantee you one thing this one is going to be fun uj puckett minnesota fast all of the action coming up on espn stick with us baby minnesota bats legs will this could be a classic today we're going to see a lot of that fatty may have won the lag when uh fast wins the break let me bring up a point here the one ball's near the corner the greatest lagger in the world it's on the square this is known down in history i used to freeze it that's what you had to do to beat him when charlie said he introduced the two competitors minnesota fats led the clapping for himself i make a lot of noise and then i rob you how are you son game one seven ball breaker can't beat me doing nothing you jay puckett he's been looking forward to this one i need to hit the one he's right in the hunt for the ten thousand dollars he has got 50 points irving crane leads with 60. he's got to beat faster you shoot the one you got the far side he's going to tell him i've hit the one paddy's got a tough layout here he's got to get on the two ball gonna come around and play the two in the same pocket he played the one two ball you'd be close nice shot three ball in the corner talks a lot but he also does some shooting he goes in the corner he does most of the talking when he leaves the table when he's out there he's concentrating on it i'm over here six ball in the corner he will put his money where his mouth is too yes he will he'll gamble with you he doesn't need a backer everybody thinking he's just talking here he goes with his bank he loves you banking and shoving across corner banks he loves them that's been the most impressive part of his game in the tournament okay that didn't take long you talk about a run-out minnesota fats kept eugene tucker down now here comes the talk if he keeps doing that he'll be talking all day what a great shot he made he whacked it right in the hole that game took about 30 seconds minnesota fats uj pocket first game to fats second game when we come back stick with us dogs and then i hit a couple of balls you want this one yeah he ran out there he's been playing well game two he's hot he's got it rolling oh i'm trying to luck out on you junior i'll take this time take a hot stove if you want i don't know definite advantage where the seven ball is oh big advantage if we can get a shower to seven balls it's almost impossible for fats to win this game seven balls hanging in the corner pocket uj has that side that's what fat should do here is try and knock the seven out of there early what happened now now i'll make the i'll now make the seven and get out for the king that's his sides back oh that's his side i better not make it then i better not make it beat me king kong couldn't beat me and i make it please ugly get lucky nice shot this ain't gonna take very long in a row lucky pucky made a great shot there he's a kick he calls his companion ricardo you're a pretty good player young man you're one of my students i know you can play game three best of seven pockets been really breaking the balls hard you ready you jay will jive and kid a little bit with you but he also has 50 points and he's just 10 out of the lead we're going for ten thousand dollars he jumped that thing huh i'll tell you something else about him the only man in the world that bet even money runs out playing nine ball from the break ain't no other player i know him very picky this gentleman here well i used to bet that myself that he runs out i'm over here one ball daddy's making a mistake there go after correctly one thing about fatty that's not anything can't play a little green does not aim just steps up and lets it go right here oh yeah a little bit that's mostly well as a background corner he's on the right hanging from banking he loves the bank he's playing good he got a tough break in game number two that seven was going down it hangs and pocket made a good shot left him safe he's left safe got one no she never watches pocket shoes i hate to hit the three there's willie moscone in the green sweater that's as quiet they're both quiet you just got a tough shot here he's gonna have to kick at the ball taking meaning going to another rail and trying to hit the three or making he's got a shot he can make this looks like i don't know if he can get enough english on the cue ball to make three you're talking about kicking oh he did great shot sensational great shot he didn't make a hell of a talk about kicking puckett leads he has 13 kicks he's made 13. look at this shot again is he uh does a great job so he feels safety patty don't play safe either very aggressive say fill out rudolph walter wander on junior used to call him new york fast and that's minnesota fans great one pocket player a lot of people forget that now he's poor ball got a really tough shot here cutting it down down table it's got a good safety dj puckett when he used to fight said the only time the other fighter's gloves touched him is when they touch gloves to start the fight these play the safety loud you left me my road shot i made this 100 000 times in the old days i hit the wrong ball get the six first playing the fall ball hmm well he did yes we're tied one game a piece symbol competition you know what i'd do here i'd come around two rails and try and knock the seven out in the whole table and he didn't try it he's been six in the corner good cause for problems yeah really good thank you there's my fire right yep it's good cross corner bank watch out for the kiss yep did it easy enough get out of the kiss nice should hit you jay great shot now do you come uh off the cushion first here or do you just play it's coming behind the ball yeah just made a good shot i like you jase taylor because he has shown us some great clothes a thread man oh wow good hitter oh really not really he likes a bank like this doesn't he yes it's one of fatty's favorite shots looks good shotgun that's a nice shot minnesota facts you heard uj that's a nice shot minnesota that's playing as well as he has in this tournament he'll talk to the crowd we'll take a look you know that's a great shot here cue ball gets out of the way and one pocket eight no right in the corner pocket you know how i used to play three cushions how many two eights in the nine and out there's the man who's taking a two game to one lead in the seven ball competition stick around we've got a lot coming up london a row nine ball a hundred a game and and salinas is giant what happened here hunted in a row you know what you know what you could do you could clown climb mount everest with no legs quicker than you can win a hundred in a row playing pool hit the one thank you three ball went in on a break hunted in a row mount holly coney look the was right there what happened it's a broad it's almost even you joe good thing right there i'll think uh i'll fix that side all right so puckett has the far side fatty barely lets charlier said to get out of the way one and a quarter well buckets got a shot at the one but get on the two balls not gonna be too easy come down and make the one and hit the four okay hit the four and come over on the right side nice shot kicking around bucket really isn't jumper high jumper uj is in the hunt for 10 grand he trails this competition two games one needs this one needs to win this game with fast four in the corner it does work cut out getting from the five to the six gonna make the four and come up for the five ball base it has to have an angle on the five five ball in the corner see if he gets his angle he does you jay your side is inside you're over here how will he play for shape here allen he'll come down right where he's five in the corner bottom part of the table he'll draw it bottom left-hand side there it is all right and his side of the table is where he's shooting from so he'll follow off the rail right up by the side pocket could tie this thing up but two this is you jay puckett fort worth texas 76 years of age he has just won game four to tie this competition to two u.j puckett minnesota fats they're both playing great yes they are we play seven ball four out of seven go to nine ball same format i had never seen the sun for 45. two two four breaks i hung and john you needed a gas mask and a fledge one to go in hi this is puckett he's tough on the brake alan yes he is he's been breaking really hard oh he's scattered that's one ball in the corner across the ball in the corner remember three are already down he sunk two on the break playing five ball that's about it we had one break i think it was jimmy karis i mean no it was jimmy moore there's only a couple of balls left three balling after he got done breaking it outstanding break this thing might be over quick yes i believe it's going to be he's gonna play the three in the side and he wants to leave himself an angle on the floor because he has to come over on the other side of the table to make the seven one that's right the seven now charlie will remind him the seven on the opposite side well please it's too hard where to my side over here if you believe this i don't believe it fats might get one shot and win the game look at the bridge excuse us right inside well you jay was playing woods and it wasn't going well he says i've had too much sleep so i'll never do this again he's got a tough shot here in the corner yeah he's going bankrupt you're banking too easy you jay you had it going all the way a little too easy that's first shot in game five and he's got he's lovely it is a tough shot he likes these the bank well not this one he doesn't like this one oh he's coming off the railway oh hit it perfect hit it perfect what a great shot by minnesota is he a gamer does he like the sro sign he made a great shot he'll perform for us now made a great shot there i forgot to tell you the rest i do ten things better first hit perfect outstanding shot ten things better than anybody i know you can write them down one more time outstanding i could let annie oakley and all the greatest in the world minnesota with that shot has moved to a three game to two advantage in seven ball we'll come back for game six it sure is if he ever wins this match you'll get real hot in a row well in between all the hygiene 80 in a row you jay you're my boy you're my baby boy we're making them shine huh i can't beat you well i let up on you little later he says he does 10 things better than anybody in the world you jay puckett down three games to two seven ball competition the crowd loves it well there's any reason why you better be loose and play you j better be careful fatty's able to win this fats is hot he has made some great shots go get him freddie i say you got me mad now you got this side here that'll make you mad puckett ran six balls and then fats got the seven that's the money one oh oh there's my five over here right yes said ball competition four out of seven pats can win this if he wins this game that's a tough pocket there boy they're really joe look at what you've done to your father that's an easy shot compared to them others left this claw this shade ain't that awful oh no you think these pockets ain't something you're unbelievable that's right right in the chain that's better than making it it is yeah obviously hug it is forced to shoot getting cue ball to the rail and try and make the one and he makes it yeah nice shot oh oh the greatest player i know he's looking i'm always gonna beat you ball in hand playing one ball in hand playing the one i can't move this guy two ball in the corner he sizes things up a little quicker than most people he takes no time hardly aims but uh right he's got a chance to win to win this oh he sure does he's got a great chance he is on a roll he's playing great beats pocket nice going fast he is playing terrific yes fats only has ten points in the competition he's in the basement but right now in the corner some guys when the crowd gets going a cheerleader over there get cooking he's played for kings maharaja oh please don't make the seven that's unbelievable but i didn't want it you made the frame straight at your side with the seven ball you know fatty missed it shot he put shot a little too fast i think five in the corner he had a chance to win the match sure did there's a combo combination right now that is pocket side this thing could be tied six in the corner seven ball in the corner well we are going to be tied that's my side right yep you jay puckett okay minnesota three all seven ball competition matt's missed that five ball boy that was it that's had a chance to win the match right there he missed a fairly easy shot in the corner but i think he shot a little too fast alan if puckett can win this game he will have tied irving crane for the lead in this tournament going for ten thousand dollars pocket has 50 points the leader was 60. well let's see what happens on the break here all this doesn't go on the break fatty have a chance here it goes there it goes it was a seven is it enough right there yeah i'll tell buckets got his work cut out now because fatty's got the seven ball hanging in the corner the four is right in front of it this is the two come on oh i mean that's what i just did he's able to try and combo it right here no he can't really can he's it's a good hit gotta get that seven out immediately or it's over if you're you j pucker don't you ready got his hands full fatty clean that patty i don't like it seven in his pocket you lose if you shoot to kick the seven out you lose your turn he'll get ball in hand if you shoot it in his pocket you'll lose it you lose the game right thank you he'd kick it away and put it on his side but then he gets fatty balling him he'll play his safety here go ahead and go in just like i played you well it is i imagine it's going in hell of a shot i wouldn't like it if that three ball hung up in the hole fatty would have had the three in the corner and come down making more seven combinations i saw you with that shot just goofing around a couple of days ago alan the strategy now pocket if you try and run out and then kick the seven out boy he's got a tough situation here he may be able to knock the seven out now i can't see how far off the rail the seven is looks like he's gonna play safe yes he is going to play his safety safety leaves him see the four he's going to be in trouble gosh all right let's see a pizza over here no fattier players like the four and the seven for you now you're gonna bank the four and play the seven at the same time i can't help it fatty all right let's see it came out this is the man with the charisma oh he didn't play the bank a four ball in the corner so he's gonna play a bank on the four he played to make it straight in me that's just talking about all the walking he did he went on a hike i'll tell you what it's a hike just to get to the tournament room here it continues to hang in there this thing isn't over got a chance to knock it out now yeah five isn't see that blur well everybody in the room has suddenly come to life they're taking a look at this shot be careful here oh good shot and it's over on his side oh do your fortunes change it looks like minnesota fats had to take a look allen this is a great shot he plays the five to the bottom rail and kicks the seven out great shot oh it's all advantage now to puck it make the six seven on his side six rolling pretty good are you kidding me is that a comeback yes that's my fight that's it fatty you played well seven ball in his side he's played good that ain't crazy i might be pretty good like that ball back about seven you got out come straight i can't believe it one more time made a great shot here hitting the five right into the point of the bottom pocket knocking the seven ball away from the pocket up table on his side of the table that was a great shot what a comeback by uj puckett he was down three games to two wins a seven ball competition four games to do he now has 60 points he's tied to the lead nine ball coming up can take the lead in this tournament if he wins this game he's tied with irving crane each has 60 points always breaking the balls hard ball went in on a break oh he's got a tricky little shot on the one has to come around for the two ball or three balls by the side pocket he's only got half a pocket if he wants to play the one on the side so he may be forced to go to the corner with it uj a three-time texas state champion i'm just going to play the either the three ball or the one ball one ball in the corner made a good shot keep in mind this guy is 76 years old please rightly what are you doing i always left himself tough talking to himself a little bit now i'm gonna play the two off the nine ball u j puckett going against minnesota fats tied at one nine ball competition two in the corner not an easy shot it's a combination just shy good shot he says oh that was a basketball player a professional boxer four in the corner see what kind of shape he gets here it's okay he's gonna have to cut the five out he wants to come around two rails for the sixth ball anyway trying to take the lead here in nine ball competition see what kind of shape he gets here allen he doesn't come down too hard to be okay he doesn't hide himself with a knife and he does hide himself he did hide himself six in the corner you can make it though it looks like yeah dog one two three not seven balls playing hard enough but he can still make the seven ball down table for the mine a little too hot come down here no further you're going in almost scratches or does he allen he does is that something yeah scratch is on seven seven seven and it will be spotted really fast what a refreeze huh ball in hand yeah it's like getting out of jail yeah nine lives you j puckett we saw that in seven ball dying in the corner how you win tournaments er things start rolling your way you get a lot of breaks oh he's tough he's played well in this tournament yes he has but he's also getting a lot of nice rolls games he's won the second game of the volleyball competition you know you played good really yeah but you played for not watching too sorry when you're playing these playing huh you got a lot of bad rolls i mean dipping into the diplomatic pouch the big guy bj pocket will lead to two games to one over minnesota fans already has won the seven ball competition has 50 points 60 points that big apartment that's what i was talking about earlier uj breaking the balls watch his cue ball oh you let it go back up you let it go that time is that something bucket now leads three games to one as the nine goes down unbelievable oh you heard fats rack them up let's take a look fat he knows he let his cue ball go that time he's lucky he didn't scratch but the nine ball never touched another ball just kept going toward the pocket right in the corner uj puckett leads this thing three games to one he also is tied for the tournament he can win it all after this crane for the lead in this tournament if he wins this game he will take the lead leading three games to one won the first set of seven ball let's see if he holds the white ball in the middle of taylor he's letting the white ball go he's scratching oh you finally made the white rock the old white ball steal all my girls now they'll see on the television robin hold on please family right balling hand behind the headstrings i promise not hi i promise behind the hedge strength gonna steal venom over there yeah that's a nice long way that is nice that is nice here's a guy who's got a fleet of cadillacs beautiful home they're doing all right they call him the king of the hustlers had a tough shot there i tried to get on the tube i was a little tough one in the corner ends up leaving eugene an easy shot on the one minnesota fats uh has admitted that he's played for a great deal of money many times what do you imagine was the most that was ever on the table either his or her backers he's told me he played 5000 a game he told me that would make you one time yeah that would make you concentrate 5000 game pretty sporty yes i like trevino's story that how'd you like to be playing for ten dollars a game in golf you don't have ten in your pocket that's pressure that's a lot of pressure and you're in a strange town bj puckett can wrap up the competition if he wins this game four in the corner uj you're gonna see some action on the cue ball now you just gotta bring the cue ball all the way back down table where the five ball is this is big strong there's the draw oh is that nice shot you jake good shot that is nice charlie you're setting not no good it's not any good that's no good straight down an easy shot on the five but i'll run a benefit for you i'll run a better play there send me a pint of blood he says let's run a little benefit from tonight in a big room oh daddy said run a benefit for you jay because he got straight in on the five this has been fun i tell ya my first time around full players it's a kick they have the ability to laugh at themselves you can come talk to us now explain sexy loud what do you think fatty to you guys is that right freddie come talk to me fatty junior this is you jay my long-lost son your son just missed he played the safe on you what'd you do he ducked again and i'll just bank it straight back no i can't even do that i had to cut it in the other corner so to be balling in hand you did one hand no hit on a five man no hits uh no fatty says tell everybody he made no i hit he was trying to cut that ball backwards he had hit so thin and if he'd hit it as thin as he was aiming at he might have made it uj an opportunity now to win this competition take the lead in the tournament he has been tough it really played good against lasseter good night hudley what are you doing it's two balls away from picking up another 10 points and winning the match with minnesota one ball away you like this set up here well he's got a little problem getting down table here the eight ball looks like it's frozen on the side rail and he's got to get down table for the nine it's going to come four rails left anguish there's one two come on hit them yeah beautiful three it would have been not hard i don't mind you talking to yourself but if you answer yourself i'm leaving okay he's left himself tight he didn't get the fourth gonna row a safety awful mean to me son please safety lab what are you trying no way to miss this if i miss it over here i'll make it down there right corner right gonna bank it gonna miss it there make it down there i miss it i hit it half good i couldn't miss it and man i make it down here but well you just got a blood test here it's a long about a nine an eight and a half foot shot could he scratch in the side pocket coming off the radio no well luckily you have dogged it again he was very thick one more time i don't must not want to win life is bad fatty's got a tough long straight shot he makes it and so the fat stays alive dies as a bullet cuts the lead three games to two you're gonna keep me here another hour are you gonna keep me here another hour minnesota fads has won the second game puck at least three games to do game six right after this best of seven competition minnesota fats needs two wins some people are just nothing square i made a dummy talk i made a dummy in washington dc never talked in his life i made a shot and he kicked the wall down what a shot i said i made a dummy talk and when michaelson's in washington in washington when you kill a hitter or driver knocking this earl knock the wall down hey this guy used to be terrific strong yeah i seen pictures of him yeah he'll hit earl fryer earl douglas the greek coffee house right ninth and g that was it i robbed every greek from here to zanzibar one ball in the corner he's got the wc fields oh definitely down didn't he i want to tell you boy i'm alive and drunk here it's a character puckett is kidding around a little bit but he needs this one or the next one to take the lead he's going for ten thousand dollars i was just going to mention that or if he's fooling around and stuff but he's thinking about that ten thousand he doesn't want to lose the fatty fats is out of it that's only has 10 points and it would take a a miracle to win the 10 grand this man can win 10. yes he's in good position to to win the 10 000. he's tied with irving crane right now for the leadership at 60. it's a great shot man well four and five are locked on on this side allen what are you doing he's looking ahead all right he's okay with the four and five if he can get on that side of the table he can make the board he may have a problem get staying on that side of the table though let's see what he does with this shot he's gonna bank it or bank it and draw the cue ball back or he's going after the nine ball isn't he trying to bank the three into the ninth he's taking a chance here if he hangs the nine up in the hole patio have a combination of the nine this should be interesting he's gotta roll him with him he didn't do it you okay he went for it what a bad shot pretty side i made a wish myself this is amazing thank you for gets a nine rolling on the rail and he hooked him and he's hooked him corner hooked him you've got me in corner he's got an easy kick though come off the ground hit the four he's been tough with kicks oh he almost put it down he hasn't missed a kick yet the whole tournament 13 out of 13 now our statistician pat fleming four ball no i mean nice shopping a position he'll play something he'll bank this ball ain't going nowhere anything's safe five and a quarter he's trying to run out but he's having a problem hit the ball well i did when i missed you how about that i thought i hit it good really i thought you meant five in a corner that shot in the corner he's gonna come down for the seven ball on the side out come down a little too far he's got a tough cut now over the ball i'm too good yes he does tough cut over the eight ball can't get the good grip that wasn't too good and i knew it too well let's see if you jake can take advantage he's got his bed well the ball came off the rail well he's it's easy to make the seven it looks like it's easy to make some you gotta worry about the scratch in the far corner before he's at put some left on it is two balls away from taking the lead in our tournament going for ten thousand dollars he will uh take a ten point lead over irving crane and the race for ten thousand dollars is our leader as he wins an eyeball competition hey listen i made some good shots william kayton the president a big fight congratulating you let's take a look at the positioning here al this is a nice shot he cuts the same ball and he has to be careful he doesn't need it too hard to come back down and scratch in the corner and hits at perfect speed slows down and gets a nice angle and come up table for the knife you might hear that's the best shot there's the new leader uj pocket beats minnesota fats and semval nine ball he's a leader in the tournament we'll come back right after this latte he made the best shot of the whole tournament when he knocked the seven ball away with the five ball that was probably the best shot in the whole tournament and he won the match against fatty in that game it was 3-3 then it was a very important game if he'd lost that match he could have lost the whole set up there you know his next match with the nine ball he would have been out of first place and now he's in first place i was really impressed because it's not easy when you're going against minnesota fats he talks to the crowd he fools around a lot puckett was able to get through all of that and he gets the job done well pucker himself is a talker so i think it doesn't bother him that much okay because he's used to fatty talking he talks a lot when he's playing too and he doesn't bother him at all two-thirds through looking at the competition and the standings we do have the new leaders we talked about and uh puckett on top crane has not lost yet now obviously puckett has played one more match but look at the log jam after that it's still anybody's ball game even though puckett has 70 points the other players still have a lot of matches to play yeah and lasseter is not out of it more and carry well they're still all in it you know it's anybody's ball game we'll have to just see what happens but puckett and crane playing each other that should be a great match you know we had a chance to to see woods and we'll get an opportunity to see woods going against crane coming up that could be interesting because jimmy cares just went out and destroyed woods in the last match we saw him in yes he did jimmy got his game together he played well on woods and woods was playing a little bit weaker though i haven't seen woods play as weak as i did in this last match with jimmy carris i was a little bit surprised he's gonna have to get his game back together and come on stronger if he wants to win this tournament all right so competition two-thirds of the way done we still got a lot of a lot of action left be sure and join us the next time for alan hopkins this is irv brown you

Channel: InsidePOOLmag

Views: 560,039

Rating: 4.5918369 out of 5

Keywords: pool, billiards, Minnesota Fats, U J Puckett, retro, classic, old time, golden age, Cue Sports (Sport), Rudolph Wanderone

Id: x8B61tX5ouI

Length: 44min 31sec (2671 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 08 2015