History
Written by Administrator on 17 September 2008.
The Fall '90 Captains' Registration Meeting establishes the "John E. Isakson Memorial Award." The trophy is awarded to a league sponsor for their support and dedication to the Los Angeles Pool League. Mr. Harry Wiles, the proprietor of Mr. Mike's was honored with the first presentation at the Fall 1990 Pool Party held at the Connection. The Captains also voted during the Fall '90 meeting to increase league dues to $120, effective with the Spring '91 season. Al Ballesteros took over the production of the "GUIDE" for the Spring '91 and Fall '91 seasons. A major change in our "Rules of Play" was voted in by the Captains in Fall '91. Slop-Shot was out and Call-Shot (Pocket) was in. The seasonal Awards Banquet was delayed to coincide with the playing of the Twenty-fifth West Coast Challenge, where Paul Bussiere was to win his second top individuals trophy.
Spring 1991: The Board voted to temporarily resurrect and present the Mike LaVoie Perseverance Award at the Spring banquet as a special tribute to League Treasurer, Tony Lobene. It was expected that an honorary delegation composed of his Captain, Vern Addison; 1983 LaVoie winner and five time President, Bill Dehn; six term President and twice winner of the LaVoie Award, Marvin Beisel AND Mike LaVoie himself, would gather to personally bestow the honor to Tony. Tragically, Tony passed away the morning of the ceremony. His gentlemanly manner and good cheer will become a part of our fondest memories.
Fall 1991: Our thirty-sixth season sees the loss of three of the long time sponsors: Lela Burns (Connection), "Curley" (Little Joy) and "Buzzy (Eagle). Al Ballesteros (Little Joy), Publisher of the Guide, takes a seat for his first term on the Board of Governors serving as Treasurer. David Terrazas (Gold 9) assumes the role of Secretary. Carlos Navarrete (Bunkhouse), winner of the Fall 1976 LaVoie Award continues as Playoff Chair. Dee Anker (Hollywood Billiards) handles the Playoffs. The Isakson Memorial Award was presented to the Spike. Accepting on behalf of the Spike was partner, Manager and player, Vince Gioielli.
In Spring 1992, the production of the "GUIDE" returned to Marvin Beisel, and Jeffrey Hersh served an unprecedented seventh term as President of our league. The Spring '92 season featured more pool seminars conducted by Don Carrier and Don Lee, and another "first" entered into our records. Winners of our seasonal Hi/Lo tournament would for the first time play against their counterparts from the other cities at the West Coast Challenge. The Challenge was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on July 9, 1992, and led to a victory by our Lodge team (Bussiere, Holecek, Calderone, Dreibus, and Kelly). At that time, the John E. Isakson Memorial Award honored the Bunkhouse for their thirty-seven seasons of solid support to our League. Accepting for the Bunkhouse was Richard Griffin, owner and long-time League supporter. That same evening, Special Recognition Awards were presented to Donald Cerf, Joe Dreibus and Jeffrey Hersh. Fall '92 started with a change of pace. The Captains' Meeting was held at the Rawhide on a Monday night instead of the traditional Tuesday. Jeffrey Hersh passed the "CUES/NUES" pen to then President Bill Hoover. Jeffrey's first "CUES/NUES" column, was March 28, 1985. With very few exceptions, this informative column kept us and the community advised of all league happenings for seven years. At the W.C.C. in San Francisco, Dan Klapp fought back after an early round defeat in Individuals play to win it all!
Spring '93 marked an end to an era for the L.A. Pool League. Marvin Beisel said goodbye to the League he had served so well since 1977, and moved east to Las Vegas. Over his tenure with us he had variably served as a six-term President (actually "Secretary" at the time), League Historian and the first and long time-thereafter publisher of our "GUIDE" (Spring'82), in addition to pleasing us with his humorous accounts of League activities in many issues of "CHALK TALK" and "Cues/News". Don Carrier and Bob Ames began work on designing and producing several AIDS quilts to honor and remember former League members who had been taken from us. The season ended on a positive note at the summer West Coast Challenge in San Diego where Paul Bussiere took the Individual Challenge Trophy (his third).
We celebrated the start of our fortieth Season in the Fall of 1993, with a healthy thirty-eight teams from nineteen participating bars. Although losing teams from the Rawhide, Hyperion and the Boulevard, we added teams from the Pub, the Motherlode, Gauntlet II, and Detour. Such changes symbolized the evolution of a healthy organization. Glenda Davis, pinch-hitting for Marvin, put together a special anniversary issue of the "GUIDE," the first to appear in an eight-and-one-half by eleven inch format. The highlight of the season was our fabulous Twentieth Anniversary banquet at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown L.A.! Amidst a glorious decor orchestrated by John Cochran we celebrated forty seasons of League accomplishments. Special events of that evening were the awarding of the Beisel Award to Doug Heaney, the "Sportsmanship Award" to Frank Bustamante, and the presentation to the League by Don Carrier of two memorial quilts in honor of those former members with us only in spirit. Joe Dreibus and Don Lee, our Hi-Lo team, placed first at the Long Beach-held West Coast Challenge.
Spring 1994 started with a BANG! The magnitude six-point-eight Northridge earthquake on January 17th shook us all awake early (four-thirty-one) in the morning, and left behind a condemned Hollywood Billiards building and a severely damaged Club 22. Griffs and the Driveshaft joined the Hollywood Billiards in leaving us, but we were joined by the new bars Oasis and Catch One. We hosted the Forty-First West Coast Challenge in July. The event, held at the Burbank Hilton, was a great success, and was made even more so by the first place victory of our In Touch East team: Don Carrier, Don Lee, Dan Klapp, Frank Bustamante, Rick Ayres, and Jack Frohman. Club participation remained the same in the Fall of '94, but for the first time after seven seasons of Jeffrey Hersh and Bill Hoover presidencies, we had a new President, Dale Correll. This season was also the first when members of the League walked as a group in the Tenth Annual AIDS WALK. Seventeen League members raised over $3,500 for APLA in completing their ten kilometer hike. Fall season brought an interesting first in League history: two women, Doreen Federoff and Chris Yamagata, won the first place finish in a special tournament doubles competition "Lucky Draw." Lauren Ward, newly migrated from arch-rival San Francisco, took first place Individual honors at the West Coast Challenge held, appropriately enough, in San Francisco. Scott Holecek and Paul Bussiere presented to us the first of several complimentary League banners that were hung in the Challenge hall.
Spring '95 brought the Hyperion back into our fold, filling in at the last minute when Mr. Mike's left us unexpectedly. The club once known as Griffs, reopened as the Faultline and has also rejoined us. In an effort to better inform League members of League activities, the Board under returning President Bill Hoover initiated a phone "Hotline" telling of future events. Our League's performance at the W.C.C., held in San Diego, was superb with League members capturing eight of the fourteen trophies! Scott Holecek won first place in the Individuals, and our Hi/Lo team of Gary Schaaf and Tony Moya also took the first place trophy. Following Spring season of '95, the Bunkhouse, the last of the eight founding bars and the only one to maintain sponsorship for more than twenty years, was sold and lost as a League sponsor.
Fall '95 was the start of Bill Hoover's sixth-season stint as Editor of the "GUIDE", which he adorned with handsome graphics and his trademark witty photo captions of unsuspecting League members. Late in the season came the very sad news from Las Vegas of the passing of Marvin Beisel, who began this League's history many years before. It would be hard to find any single person in the League's history who shaped and contributed more to the success of the League than Marvin. The Fall banquet tributes to Marvin by Don Carrier, Mike Calderone, Bill Dehn, and Bill Hoover were appropriately elegant and moving. It was eminently fitting that at the same banquet Dale Correll became the eighth recipient of the Beisel Award, the League's most prestigious honor for "unusual dedication" to its well-being. Dale thus joined Wayne Babin, John Cochran, Austin Griffin, Doug Heaney, Jeffrey Hersh, Bill Hoover, and John Isakson as the only winners of this honor in its first forty-four seasons. At the Thirty-Second W.C.C. in Long Beach, John Wu won first place Individuals and the Escapades team of Lauren Ward, Stevan Bailey, Frank Bustamante, Joe Nealon, and Joe Pacchanelli stunned their other city rivals by never losing a match.
Spring season of 1996 ended on an auspicious note. During the season, Stevan Bailey had purchased the vacant Rawhide bar in North Hollywood and renamed it Rawhide-Shooters. The newly refurbished bar and its six tables became the venue for the League-hosted Thirty-Third W.C.C. with major funding for the event coming from Miller Lite thanks to Stevan's efforts. Still playing under the Escapades banner, Lauren, Stevan, Frank, and team newcomers Jack Frohman and Richard P., once again took first place honors after Stevan ran the table in an eight-to-eight playoff tie with San Diego.
Fall '96 began with the closure and loss to the League of Club 22, the victim of earthquake damage from the Northridge earthquake many months before. That loss of one of the League's most supportive sponsors was compensated for by the addition of new sponsor Rawhide-Shooters with its superb playing conditions and eight teams, a record number from any single bar. Still more changes in club sponsorships marked Spring '97.
Spring 1997: Rafters joined the League and Mr. Mikes and Spike returned to us. The biggest news for the season, under the new leadership of long-time Board member Michael Pfannenstiel, was the sponsorship of the League by "Bud Light" of Anheuser-Busch, a sponsorship made possible through Stevan Bailey's introduction of the League to Anheuser-Busch. Unfortunately, after a gift of several thousand dollars to the League treasury, "Bud Light" lost interest in being our sponsor and was never heard from again. At the Spring Awards' Party, Jeffrey Hersh was the witty, silver-tongued citationist for longtime League friend and friendly rival Bill Hoover. Bill became only the sixth League member to receive its Sportsmanship Award, and the last since Frank Bustamante received it at the twentieth Anniversary party. At the time of the award, Bill had served as President a record nine terms and had been a Board member for twenty-seven of the preceding thirty seasons. Lauren Ward's team, now at Shooters, with Stevan Bailey, Frank Bustamante, David Boyd, and Jack Frohman, took up where they had left off after their preceding W.C.C. miss, and once again proved L.A. the best!
Fall '97 ended on a happy note at the Lodge where Steve and Skeeter hosted us to a superb Awards party dinner and Trunks & Rafters owner Bill Holland received the John E. Isakson Award for his extraordinary service and support to the League. The League's performance in W.C.C. competition was one of its best in years as the League dominated the tournament! Lauren Ward (captain), Stevan Bailey, Frank Bustamante, and David Boyd and Roy Benavidez of Rawhide-Shooters retained the team trophy they'd won at the Challenge before. Mele De Victoria won a down-to-the-wire first place Women's trophy, the first such finish for an L.A. woman since the summer of 1991. Terry Irwin, who went to the Challenge as a fill-in alternate with only one day's notice, came within several shots of ending up as number-one, and finished a remarkable number-two. Paul Bussiere and Ron Jopp at sixth and seventh place rounded out the spectacular L.A. showing.
Spring 1998 started with another new president, Glenda Davis. Glenda wasn't the first League president to wear a dress (at least on occasion), but she does it more than most! League history was also made by the make-up of the Board of Governors (and we are not referring to Glenda's make-up). The Spring Season Board set a record in having one President and four (!) ex-Presidents (Pfannenstiel, Hoover, Correll, and Cochran) among its seven members. At the Spring '98 Captains' Meeting, the Captains approved unanimously a Board-recommended special $10 per player assessment for the Fall '98 season only to help finance the League's Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration in December. The Captains also approved unanimously the Fall season adoption on a trial basis for the W.C.C. Rules of Play, with the exception of "touching ball fouls" and "jump ball" rules.
L.A. hosted the summer W.C.C., with play once again at Rawhide-Shooters. Sponsor Stevan Bailey provided six tables for play and generously made arrangements with Miller Genuine Draft for its sponsorship of trophies and T-shirts. The surprise of the tournament was not Lauren Ward's Rawhide-Shooters team (Ward, Bailey, Bustamante, and Ron Jopp) again besting the best of the other Leagues, which they did, but Jack Frohman's winning First Place Individuals for the first time since he did the same in January of 1986!
Fall '98 brought the League into its fiftieth season of play, twenty-five years of good friendships, spirited competition, and fine sportsmanship. At the August Captains' Meeting, the League assessed its financial health in light of the season's end special Awards' Party and post-season W.C.C. travel to San Francisco. Faced with expenses exceeding seasonal income (team dues had not been raised since Spring of '92), the Spring and Fall Boards recommended a change in the League's underwriting of Challenge hotel costs. Rather than continuing to pay one night's single lodging for League competitors, League members could gain a hotel subsidy by participating in special tournaments or by making in-season donations to the treasury. For each special tournament participation, or each $10 donation, the League would support twenty percent of one night's lodging. This change in League policy for tournaments in San Francisco, San Diego, and Long Beach was approved unanimously by the Captains.
Our twenty-fifth year and fiftieth season ended on Sunday, December 14th with a gala Anniversary Brunch and Awards Party held at the Sportsman's Lodge in Studio City. Jeffrey Hersh led a committee of past and present presidents (John Cochran, Dale Correll, Glenda Davis, Bill Dehn, and Bill Hoover) in planning an extremely well-attended event that focused on League history from the standpoint of its members from the five founders, to those too many whom we have lost from illness over the years, to the current membership. Jeffrey provided loop-running digital visuals of current League members and friends. Jay Belleville recounted the beginning of the League in 1974 with teams from only eight sponsoring bars. Since that time, in its first twenty-five years, the League fielded 1,970 different teams with more than eight-thousand participants from one-hundred and fifteen (!) different sponsoring bars. Bill Dehn narrated a historical slide show and received very special accolades (a plaque) for his unique status as the one and only player in the history of the League to have played in each and every one of our first fifty seasons! Bill Hoover, with Historian Glenda's assistance, prepared a celebratory program entitled "L. A. Pool League: Twenty-Five Years." Don Carrier paid tribute to members no longer with us by discussing and displaying the League's AID's quilts. Two League stalwarts were honored for their efforts on our behalf. Michael Pfannenstiel received a well-deserved Special Recognition Award for his two-season service as League President. Butch Gottlieb, long-time owner of the Four Star and the Palms (first Lesbian bar in Los Angeles), took home the John E. Isakson Award for his years of League support.
Newly refurbished perpetual trophies for the Mike LaVoie and Marvin Beisel Awards were displayed with most of the former award winners in attendance and called to the stage for the official re-presentation. This was the last occasion at which all five Founders of the League were present at a League function including Mike LaVoie who had retired from play many years before. For the first time, the entire event was videotaped and photographed for the archives.
The entertainment highlight of the event was the appearance of Margaret Cho, a nationally known stand-up comic, actress, and television star, who preceded the more formal program with appropriately ribald humor and helped make our celebration a truly memorable event!
The official end of our fiftieth season came at the January San Francisco W.C.C. with a one-to-two finish in the Open Individuals by Lauren Ward and Stevan Bailey. Spring of 1999 represented the proverbial "pause after the storm."
Spring 1999: With so much energy (and$) expended by Jeffrey Hersh and the Board for the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary bash, our fifty-first season started with an unusual departure from tradition. The "GUIDE" did not appear, and as a cost-saving effort the League published only a "Players Information" handout. Dale Correll, for the first time in many seasons of Board and League service, decided to retire from the Board for health reasons. There were changes in team membership as well, with the Oxwood Inn dropping out, Little Joy returning to the League, and Mavericks joining us. At our Awards Dinner, Jeffrey Hersh was awarded the League's Special Recognition Award for his dedicated efforts at making the Fiftieth Season Anniversary the success that it was. At season's end, two teams, Lauren Ward's Shooters and Charles Brown's Motherlode tied for League best with impressive one-hundred, twenty-five to thirty-five (seventy-eight percent) records! The Shooters team (Ward, Bustamante, Bailey, Bruce Joseph, and Ron Jopp) went on to capture (once again!) the team championship at the Summer W.C.C., a success mirrored by Mele De Victoria who placed first in Women's competition.
In Fall, 1999, our "GUIDE" returned with its title "Last Season of the Millennium." Glenda Davis retired from the Presidency and Bill Hoover, who had resurrected the "GUIDE," returned (once again) to the Prez's chair. League additions in the Fall included the election of Lauren Ward to the Board and Bananas and Spike to League membership. First place finishes by League members in the end-of-season W.C.C. included Stevan Bailey in the Open Individuals and Frank Bustamante and Olive McLaughlin in Hi/Lo.
Written by Administrator on 17 September 2008.
In the Spring of 1980, the new and still-used score sheets were welcomed by everyone. The League has always voted to elect its members to the Board of Governors. Prior to Spring 1980, however, members would submit their friends' names for consideration. All too often those members receiving the most votes declined to serve. The policy was changed in Spring 1980. The "BOARD RUNNERS CLUB" was then established when League members willing and able to serve could nominate themselves.
In the Summer of 1980, to aid all future Boards in scheduling play for a season, Lee Petrovich prepared schedules for as few as fourteen teams and as many as sixty. The hardest League task, scheduling, was now made much easier. The Inter-City Challenge, now to include San Diego as well as San Francisco and Los Angeles, became known, via a conference of Board members from each city, as the West Coast Challenge (W.C.C.). The first W.C.C. was held in Los Angeles in 1980. Fund raising events were now needed to augment our treasury. For many seasons Don Carrier held pool seminars donating all fees collected to the League treasury. Roy Hutchison introduced the popular Broomstick Tournament in the Fall of 1980 to generate still more funds. Up to this point, the League had operated with a four division structure but it became necessary that Fall to schedule six divisions when our team total reached forty-eight. In keeping with that growth, Board Secretary Keith Clements designed and introduced the Division Certificates which are awarded to the top team and top individual in each Division. Also that Fall, the Captains voted to increase the eight-week Fall season to ten-weeks, thus matching the Spring season.
In Spring 1981, a new base was added to our Team Perpetual Trophy. The new base, now containing our logo, gave us another eight years of usage. This same season a new plate was made for the Mike LaVoie Award and our logo was added to this award as well. Still another important policy change took place. Dues, which had been originally collected on a weekly basis, were now to be collected in full in advance of play. At a mid-season meeting, the Captains agreed that dues should be collected at the time of the registering of teams in a season-beginning Captains' Meeting. Consequently, in the Fall of '81 the Captains' Registration Meeting became policy. Our first W.C.C. Open Individuals First Place trophy was won by Frank Bustamante. During the Fall of 1981, Roy Hutchison encouraged Don Carrier and Jim Taube to build and provide the League with two two-foot by six-foot pool tables to be used at events such as Pioneer Days, Christopher Street West and other fund-raising events. This carny-type attraction was a productive contributor to our Fundraising Committee. Roy, continuing to be our Chief Fundraiser, introduced several new things to the League in the Fall of 1981, including the purchase of League T-shirts and jackets. That same season saw the birth of the first "Alternates Tournament." What better way to disseminate our history and seasonal data than a seasonal "GUIDE"?
The Spring 1982 "GUIDE," the first of its kind, was introduced by Marvin Beisel at a time when League teams had reached a record high number of fifty-eight! Wanting to be prepared in case the League grew beyond the sixty-team schedule already on hand, Lee Petrovich went to work and extended our scheduling file. The League was now prepared to schedule up to and including seventy teams, although that number was never to be reached. "CHALK TALK" came into use during this Spring 1982 season, when Secretary Bill Dehn used it as a weekly newsletter to accompany the weekly standings. Marvin Beisel used the "CHALK TALK" (later changed and called "CUES/NUES") as a vehicle in DATA BOY magazine to write about pool-in-general and the Pool League in particular. His first column appeared in the March 4, 1982 issue. Spring 1982 was the start of still another fund-raising event to be called The Bar Owners/Managers Tournament.
In the Summer of 1982, Bob Holden and Roy Hutchison organized the first Nine-Ball League. This was a five week season with eleven teams participating. The bars represented were: Bunkhouse, Four Star, Greg's Blue Dot, Griff's, "1", Pits, Nail, Spike, Westside and Woody's. Since its founding, the Nine-Ball organization operates financially independent of the regular Eight-Ball League. Its logo was devised at this time. Eight-Ball League Captains, eager as they were to watch the Alternates and the Bar Owners/Managers Tournaments, felt left out. By popular demand, Fall 1982 saw the beginning of the Captains' Cartel.
Prior to the Fall 1982 season, Secretary Bill Dehn had completely rewritten our Organization/Playing Rules which had become extremely wordy through the years. That same season, our fundraisers introduced the first League pin which contained our logo and the words "Since Spring '74." And, for the third time in our history a mid-season vote by the Captains became necessary. The Recording Secretary Steve McGuire, with assistance from Don Carrier, Bill Dehn and Wayne Babin, was determined to change the play-off eligibility number for individual players. The Captains quickly approved the change allowing the top thirty-two players to compete in the final rounds of the season. Paul Bussiere went on to win the W.C.C. top individual trophy. The League jumped from forty-six teams in the season before to fifty-eight teams in Spring of 1982. That number was reached again in Fall of '83 both seasons coming during Bill Dehn's service as Secretary.
Team participation stayed above fifty teams for eight seasons (Spring '82 - Fall '85), but except for the two 1988 seasons never again exceeded that number. Just prior to the Spring 1983 season, a Long Beach Pool Team challenged our top team and top individuals (winners of the Fall '82 season). In a best of three matches, our Pits team won the first and second matches with nine-to-four victories. Paul Bussiere, Pits member and West Coast Challenge Individuals champion, protected his title by repeating his recent victory in San Diego. Other Individual trophies went to Doug Hedland (Four Star), second place: Dwight from Long Beach; third place: Frank Bustamante (Greg's) placing fourth. At the W.C.C. following the Fall '83 season, Dan O'Neill placed first in the Individual Tourney.
An important event happened for the first time immediately following the Spring '83 Pool Party, the first CSW Festival Games which included Tennis, Swimming, Billiards, and Bowling. The Games, scheduled one week prior to Gay Pride Weekend, found many League members entering the Billiards competition. Regulation tables were used for the Eight-Ball and Nine-Ball events which were won by Jeffrey Hersh and Paul Bussiere respectively. Once again, an L.A. player, Wally Sutherland, won the Individuals competition at the W.C.C. We celebrated our Tenth Anniversary (and twentieth season of play) in the Fall of 1983 by renting Trouper's Hall in Hollywood for our Anniversary party. Caps were given to all that attended bearing our League logo. Entertainment was provided by Jo Ann Deering and the highlight of the evening came from Wayne Babin and George O'Hara as they presented the representative from AID for A.I.D.S a check from our League in the amount of $4,793.
Spring 1984, the League's twenty-first season, began with a change of title of League Secretary to League President. This was done to be in agreement with the other West Coast Challenge leagues. Since the beginning of League competition, the top four teams and top four individuals had received trophy "Plates" for their efforts. That policy ended at the Fall 1983 pool party. Beginning with the Spring 1984 season the "Plates" were discontinued and stand up trophies were presented. Fall 1984 introduced yet another new fund raising event with the addition of the "Old Timers Tournament," open to League members having attained the ancient age of forty or older. It was our turn to host the West Coast Challenge. The Four Star team of Bob Holden, Jack Frohman, David Popma, Frank Bustamante, Ken Taylor and Steve Montgomery represented our League and won the championship.
"CUES/NUES" by Jeffrey Hersh first appeared in the March 28, 1985 issue of "Data-Boy."During the Spring 1985 season, the Fund Raisers offered two new tournaments designed to widen League participation. A two person team, based upon seeding players according to their win/loss records was introduced and called the HI/LO. A TOPS/BOTTOMS tourney pitted higher performing players at mid-season against each other for cash prizes while the Bottoms group competed amongst themselves for trophies. That same season President Wayne Babin helped rewrite the duties of the members of the Board of Governors giving broadened and more specific responsibilities to each. Also in Spring '85, the Captains, in their infinite wisdom, established a new award for dedication to the League: the Marvin Beisel Award. A two time winner of the Mike LaVoie Award for distinguished service to the League, Marvin then held the record for terms as Secretary amongst numerous other contributions. The first recipient was Wayne L. Babin. Also, during this Spring '85 season, the first double elimination policy for both individual and team competition was instituted. Jeffrey Hersh accepted the responsibility of producing the Fall '85 "GUIDE."
Fall '85 also introduced Saturday sessions for Individual Play-Offs relieving League members from the rigors of tournament play on four successive week nights. Dues were raised for the first time in two years. Two new sponsors joined us: Boulevard and Little Joy. In addition, the Board of Governors began to investigate the idea of converting the weekly statistics to a computerized format. The Captains voted at their August meeting to pay for double occupancy hotel rooms rather than single rooms for our West Coast Challenge delegation. Judges were also eliminated until the trophy rounds and protests were virtually eliminated this season due to newly written and approved By-Laws outlining the handling of judgement call disputes. Jack Frohman took top individual honors at the W.C.C.
Spring 1986 brought a celebration of twenty-five seasons of play with a big party at the Westside featuring music and the usual awards banquet. The commitment to a computer program was made beginning with the Nine-Ball season. This gave our Statistician, Rick Switzer, the opportunity to ease into the Eight-Ball season. John Cochran would be the last Statistican to produce the weekly results on a manual typewriter. A complete rewrite of the "Rules of Play" was undertaken by Bill Hoover and his committee in an effort to help understand the intent of our rules and to locate sections within them easier. A new Publisher of the "GUIDE," Vic Taylor, replaced Jeffrey Hersh who was elected League President beginning with the Fall 1986 season. Los Angeles hosted the West Coast Challenge at the Four Star where Mynor Alvarez (Little Joy) won the individual title.
Beginning with the Fall 1986 season, an Election Night was created. This involved a committee of alternates who visited every participating bar during League play. Ballots were distributed to all players and alternates present. Voting was conducted on the spot. The League computer was introduced at the Captains' Meeting and the ten week schedule was made available the same night. Our Awards Banquet was held in the valley at the Rawhide. The attendance, higher than ever before, was perhaps due to the direct mailing of invitations to all League members and special guests. It was San Francisco's turn to host the West Coast Challenge and they selected a location in Reno that proved highly agreeable to all.
Most everyone would agree that the highlight of the Spring 1987 season was the evening of instruction and exhibition with Lou Butera held at the Four Star. A former world champion and member of the Billiard Congress Hall of Fame, Lou demonstrated the right way to approach our game. During the Fall 1987 season, the League applied for and received Federal tax exempt status 501(c)(7) from the Internal Revenue Service. In an experiment, the first Women's Tournament was held by our League with the top four finalists heading for Long Beach to compete against their counterparts from the three other participating West Coast Challenge (W.C.C.) Leagues. The Long Beach League hosted the Challenge for the first time. Angela Costa, winning the Los Angeles Women's Tournament, went forward to win the West Coast Challenge Women's Tournament as well. Angie was destined to win the top women's prize in the summers of 1990 and 1991 as well.
Fall 1987: Our twenty-eighth season jumps off to a great start with forty-eighty teams. Vic Taylor publishes the Guide. The popular Broomstick Tournament is held for the fifteenth season at both the Four Star and Palms and won by E. Gary Bailer. Frank Bustamante shines as a member of the Championship Team (Four Star), top Open Individual; the "40 and over" finalist held at the Westside and J.J.'s Pub; and 9-Ball ploy chap at the Awards Banquet. Steve Terradot (Boulevard) takes the "TOPS" tourney title. John Isakson is presented with the Marvin Beisel Award by none other than Marvin!! JoAnn Clark continues her term on the Board as Rules & Protest Chairperson. Our sponsors and managers turn out in force as the Four Star hosts the Awards Banquet. Randy Biggs (Boulevard), Jack Frohman (Four Star), Richard Griffin (Bunkhouse/Griff's), George"Buzzy" Heisserman (Eagle), Mike Kinnon (Bunkhouse), Harry Morse (Griff's), Bob Gunther (former owner of the "Sling") and Dan Collette (Rawhide) pose for the group Sponsor picture which eventually appears in the Spring 1988 Guide.
A Sponsors' Appreciation Dinner was hosted by the Board of Governors during the Spring '88 season. This special event was held at the New York Company Bar & Grill. Along with the Board of Governors, special League members and press affiliates, there were over one-hundred attendees representing our sponsors. Winding down the Spring '88 season was West Coast Challenge XVII . One of the highlights of this tourney, held at Trouper's Hall, was an exciting and highly entertaining exhibition again by Lou "Machine Gun" Butera. The other highlight, of course, was L.A.'s Four Star team of Frohman, Holden, Bustamante, Hersh, and Lusiak again winning the W.C.C. team trophy. In Fall '88, Austin Griffin, was the first League member to computerize schedules of play and the weekly standings. Fall '88 was also the League's fifteenth Anniversary season. A special Pool Party was held on Saturday, December 17th, at Trouper's Hall, in Hollywood. Along with the regular trophies presentation there was entertainment by Rudy de la Mor and presentation of our Special Recognition Award to Austin Griffin! Approximately two-hundred people attended the event. Why so many, you might ask? Well, it was an Anniversary party, but attendance at the season's end pool parties has increased since the Fall '86 event at the Rawhide in apparent response to the use of personalized invitations as sent out by the Board of Governors.
In Spring '89, the League received the Thomas Waddell Sports Achievement Award from Christopher Street West. As the League closed out the Fall '89 season, Jeffrey Hersh ended the season by relinquishing his post as communicator for the League. He had been writing the "CUES/NUES" articles for Nightlife since March '85. His writings were always timely, informative, and good-natured. "CUES/NUES" was passed on in the Spring of '90, to Mark Hartzell and Nyla Lyons before later reverting to an assortment of writers, mostly from the Board Members. At the season end W.C.C., once again, an L.A. team took the first place trophy. The Santa Fe team included Carlos Navarrete, Stevan Bailey, David Boyd, Jack Frohman, Frank Bustamante, and Frank Ingalls.
This past Sunday we had our first fundraiser of the season at the Eagle LA.
A big thank you to Charlie and Marcus for opening up early and keeping us all hydrated.
In memory of long time League member and former President of the Board, John Cochran, we held our Greased Lightning 8 ball tournament. It was a quick moving competition on a 15 second shot clock. With only a handful of players showing up, it was by majority vote, switched to a money tournament. A portion of the registration fees going towards the League and the rest going to the 1st and 2nd place winners.
Our 3rd Place honorable mention was Vu Tran. Winning 2nd Place was Mark Lewis. Our King of the Hill and undefeated 1st Place winner was Ken Lee.
Thanks to a donation by an anonymous patron at the bar who enjoyed watching our players race against the stop watch, $105 was made by the League.
Next week, November 5th is an off night for all teams due to the Presidential election. November 12th is our 5th week of play and our Spring 2024 Awards Party. All teams will have their matches at Jerry’s. From 6:30 to 8pm we will have food, drinks and a raffle for all members, past and current who attend. Each player will receive 1 free drink ticket and 3 free raffle tickets.
All Captains from last season donate 2- $20 prizes. Additional raffle tickets can be purchased at the start of the Awards Party for a chance at winning over $400 in prizes.
Come early on November 12th, eat, drink and win some prizes. Awards will also be given out to last season’s 1st and 2nd Place teams, West Coast Challenge qualifying winners and any fundraiser winners who requested a trophy. At 8pm, all 5th week matches will be played by the 8 teams who do not have Byes. A table will be available for the team that has a BYE that night to practice on.
Shoot Well. Play Fair. Have fun.
Steve Duckman
LAPL President
Results are in for our 50TH Anniversary Tournaments which were held this past weekend at Jerry's Billiards in Pasadena. These tournaments were handicapped according to the Fargo ranking of the players. This meant that the higher ranked players had to win more games than a lower ranked player, thus creating a "level playing field" for all those competing. 
Our Scotch Doubles event was held Saturday, December 7th and 26 players represented 13 teams. This was an exciting event and the results were as follows:
1st Place: Chris Taganas & Baj Khatao (1,136)
2nd Place: Lori Perry & Frankie Galvez (809)
3rd Place: Fabian Martinez & Eduardo LOBO Rangel (1,121)
4th Place: Matthew Bradbury & Brenden Quigley (976)
These winning teams played great with lots of strategy and communication amongst the partners. We want to congratulate Chris and Baj for a great first place win. We also call out the exceptional effort made by team Lori and Frankie taking second and team Matthew and Brenden taking fourth especially because they were ranked in the middle of the pact behind higher ranked teams. This means that they had to play exceptional pool. Congratulations to Fabian and Lobo on their third place finish.
Our Singles event was held on Sunday, December 8th and 41 players competed for seven top spots. This tournament brought in a range of player levels with the top Fargo ranked player Juan Cajina at 627 and the lowest ranked Fargo player being Tod Davenport at 309. In fact, there were 18 players ranked above 500; 12 players ranked in the 400s; and 11 players ranked in the 300s. The winners were as follows:
1st Place: Roberto Valenzuela (562)
2nd Place: DJ Kinne (567)
3rd Place: RHINO Lay (619)
4th Place: Yuri Cortes (475)
5th Place: Lori Perry (411)
6th Place: Ray Cruz (619)
7th Place: Jesse CRASH Palomares (501)
Prize money and trophies were provided to those that placed. Great Job Roberto, Baj and Rhino our top three spots.
We want to call out the exceptional efforts of Lori Perry who with Partner Frankie Galvez, took second in the Scotch Doubles and fifth in the Singles was quite an accomplishment.
The tournaments ran smoothly and it was a great day of sportsmanship and competition. Los Angeles Pool League brass came out to play including Vern Addison, top women's player from the 1980s, 1990s and her nephew Michael. Pat Bingham also a long time LAPL player also came out to visit.
We are especially thankful to players who came from Lake Forest, Long Beach, Simi Valley and Palm Springs to play in the singles event.
Tod Davenport designed and produced our 50th anniversary T-Shirts and Steve Duckman, LAPL President choose the trophies for both tournaments. Thank you to Jose Torres, Lori Perry, Steve Duckman, Tod Davenport and Jon Bourgault for helping organize the event. We appreciate the support of Jerry's Billiards and its owner Frank for supporting our league. Finally, we appreciate Natalie and Elio of Jerry's who were a great help during the event and are always helpful to our league and our members.
Al Ballesteros
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Team
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Individual
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Sponsor
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Women
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Sponsor
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Hi-Lo
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Fall 2023 (Non-WCC Season)Eagle LA
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1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
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Arnold Castellanos Bryan Haneiwich Gee Al Ballesteros Julian Auzenne Ray Brewer Tod Davenport Jim Prather |
Goldfish Eagle LA Eagle LA Eagle LA Eagle LA Eagle LA Brickyard Brickyard |
1st
2nd 3rd 4th |
Laurie Jow Kathy Kim Saeromi Kim Melinda Huang |
Brickyard Brickyard Eagle LA Brickyard |
Bryan Haneiwich and Tod Davenport |
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Team
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Individual
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Sponsor
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Women
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Sponsor
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Hi-Lo
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Spring 2023Jerry's
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1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
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Ran Refael Gabriel Rodriguez Ray Brewer Bryan Haneiwich Marvin Amador Jon Bourgalt Christian Rodriguez Patrick Yaucob *Robert Trucios (*WCC 8th place, winner of the last chance tournament) |
Jerry's Jerry's Eagle LA Eagle LA Brickyard NOHO Jerry's Jerry's Jerry's GoldFish |
1st
2nd 3rd 4th |
Jen Tamindzija Saeromi Kim Kathy Kim Laurie Jow |
GoldFish Eagle LA Brickyard NOHO Brickyard |
Patrick Yaucob and John Clark |
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Team
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Individual
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Sponsor
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Women
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Sponsor
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Hi-Lo
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Fall 2022 (Non-WCC Season)Jerry's
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1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
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Patrick Yacoub Arturo Carrillo Ray Brewer Ken Lee Steve Duckman Laurie Jow Tod Davenport Phil Sanchez
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Jerry's Eagle LA Eagle LA Jerry's Brickyard Brickyard Brickyard Brickyard NOHO |
1st
2nd 3rd 4th |
Not Held Due to Attendance. | Jose Torres and John Clark |
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Team
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Individual
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Sponsor
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Women
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Sponsor
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Hi-Lo
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Spring 2022Jerry's
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1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
8th* |
Tommy Nguyen Arnold Castellanos Gee Bryan Haneiwich Marvin Amador Ken Lee Jefferson Javier Ben Gimay *Patrick Yacoub (*WCC 8th place, winner of the last chance tournament)
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Eagle LA Brickyard Brickyard NOHO Eagle LA Eagle LA Brickyard Eagle LA Jerry's Brickyard NOHO |
1st
2nd 3rd 4th |
Karyn Suggs Laurie Jow Jen Tamindzja Angie Castellanos |
Jerry's Brickyard Brickyard NOHO Brickyard |
Jose Torres and Steve Duckman (Julian Auzenne played at WCC in Place of Steve Duckman, and Ray Brewer played in place of Jose Torres) |
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Team
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Individual
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Sponsor
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Women
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Sponsor
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Hi-Lo
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Fall 2021 (Non-WCC Season)Jerry's
*Ran Refael |
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
8th* |
Bryan Haneiwich Brenden Quigley Arnell Ferry Ezra Huber Jefferson Javier Steve Duckman John Clark Ken Lee (*WCC 8th place, winner of the last chance tournament)
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Eagle LA Jerry's Jerry's Koray Eagle LA Brickyard Golden Gopher Koray |
1st
2nd 3rd 4th |
Karyn Suggs Laurie Jow |
Jerry's Golden Gopher |
Bryan Haneiwich and Tod Davenport |
