Cecil C. Messor, President [ACS] & Billiards

     Cecil Messer’s pool playing career began at the age of twelve; and immediately started traveling to local truck stops to play and gamble against the ‘over-the-road’ truck drivers.  Without any care for his opponent’s skill, he shot with no fear.  Cecil was compelled to enter tournaments held at the pool hall in which he often finished in the money, and many times even winning the entire event.  At the age of sixteen, he began playing in bar events with the over 21 crowd.  His new love for pool forced him to make adjustments in order to continue to participate in other sports like baseball, football, and basketball, without sacrificing any academics.

     The games of choice at the pool halls were straight pool and snooker; in the bars the game was 8-Ball because the tables were generally coin operated and any pocketed object balls stayed down behind the secured gate.  If a ball had to be retrieved, it would cost either a dime or a quarter, depending on the location, to get the ball back.  He had discovered that those with above average skill were playing snooker.  In addition, the high rollers seemed to be most interested in 9-Ball and straight pool.  Back then, ‘road players’ came through town looking for easy prey.  Usually late in the evening, after the road players had emptied the pockets of the local players, he found himself challenging them.  After recovering his friends’ losses, he would invite the road player to enjoy a friendly game on the snooker table.  It was soon a financial nightmare for his opponent.

     In the fall of 1969, the first bar leagues were formed in Gary, Indiana.  Since most of the bars had coin operated tables, playing pool became one of the favorite pastimes for locals during the cool months in the Midwest.  The league was a natural progression for the area, and soon more and more leagues developed within the area.  He joined the new dynamic in billiards and never looked back… participating every year since, never skipping a year.  Over the next twenty years, his teams won many championships.  He was also selected to represent the area as an All Star several times while participating at the National Pocket Billiard Association events.  Furthermore, he played against some of the top names in the sport at many open (pro/am) events.

In 1976, the Billiard Congress of America held the first BCA national event, singles play only.  It was a series of singles qualifiers with Dick Spitzer (VNEA) coming out on top with the best win/loss record.  He then had to play the runner-up qualifier, Tom Kilburn.  Tom, who hailed from the South Bend area, won the match.  Cecil later created the Greater Midwest Poolplayers Association (GMPA) of which Tom became a league member.  Cecil’s involvement in the pool community was instrumental in the expansion of the BCA and VNEA leagues in Northwest Indiana by becoming one of the state’s first Master Players (Valley, IAMOA) and in 1996, was one of the organizing founders of the Billiard Congress of America Indiana Association.  Privileged to have played against Tom Kilburn at the state level numerous times, “only a very few times was I lucky enough to beat Tom”.  Sadly Tom has since passed away.

“I will always remember Tom as being the consummate gentleman.  He had so much respect for the game all of the participants”.

     Cecil has directed many Indiana state events since its inception, and won a few state titles along the way.  In 1997, he created a National Officiating Referee Program to certify professionals in many different disciplines within the sport.  It is revered as the top billiard officiating certification in the game today.  There have been many variations and copies of the program, but none will ever top the original.  He has presided over many professional events around the country to include World 9-Ball Championships, World Straight Pool Championships, Sudden Death 7-Ball, and Trick Shot Magic, most of which were televised events.  In addition, he has officiated in over 200 amateur events spanning the United States. 

     Organizing the first casino event away from Las Vegas or Atlantic City, he held the Heartland Championships at the Empress casino located in Joliet, Illinois.  The tournament consisted of twenty-four hour play over four days featuring 9-Ball singles, (128 entries), 8-Ball Open singles (512 men), Women 8-Ball singles (128 entries), Sportsman singles (128 entries), and Scotch Doubles (64 teams).  All of this was played on only 40 tables.  A large percentage of those participants progressed on to professional status.  He also had a key role in the development of pool associations both Indiana and Illinois by being one of the founders of the BCA state associations.  Both Indiana and Illinois are now affiliated with the American CueSports Alliance.  The Illinois state event began in 1997 and Indiana in 1998 in which he has been the Tournament Director each year.

     In 2004, the BCA made a decision to sell the league system.  Today, it is called the BCAPL.  The GMPA league system supports and affiliates with the VNEA, ACS, and the BCAPL, and sends players to various state and national events held by these organizations each year.  As a founder of the ACS (2004), Cecil  served as president the first seven years, twelve years as Director of Referees, authored the referee portion of the official’s manual, and been an active board member.  Also serving as a National Referee for the VNEA, he has also served as Head Referee at many international events.

     Today, Cecil resides in Portage, Indiana; his pool schedule has become increasingly full through organizing leagues, directing tournaments, officiating, training referees, and negotiating contracts for billiard events all while competing in weekly leagues and occasional tournaments.  In the past eight years, his actual playing time has decreased.  However, his team managed to win the ACS Midwest Championship two out of three times.

Cecil relishes the enjoyment from organizing pool leagues and watching them grow.  The Safford Arizona area became one of the many as the Graham Champion 8-Ball League was formed in the fall of 2015.  They will umbrella under the Greater Southwest Poolplayers Association, [GSPA] aligning with the GMPA sanctioning, American CueSports Alliance, and BCAPL.  Cecil offers the services of over 200 referees, a tournament staff large enough to direct three events at once throughout the world, and is a Level II pool instructor for private or group lessons.  He has served on the WPA Rules Committee in ratifying the World Standard Rules.  The Greater Midwest Poolplayers Association has members throughout the U.S. and leagues in Indiana, Illinois, and Arizona.  All members are allowed to participate in GMPA events.  The GMPA has also affiliated with various billiard distributors and has saved its members thousands of dollars when securing billiard products.  The GMPA is a sponsor of the Chinese Exposition and Billiard Association.

                                                                                                               NOTES:

     Shortly after The Hustler movie was released, Cecil once shot Minnesota (New York) Fats in an exhibition at Montgomery Wards and won!  “I don’t know if he missed the last shot before the 8-Ball on purpose or not.  It was a tough cut shot that rattled in and out of the narrow shimmed pockets.  Nonetheless, since he didn’t complete the Break ‘N Run, I saw my opportunity and masterfully (luckily, because I was scared and nervous as Hell) ran the group of seven balls … sunk the eight for the win.”

All the while a few hundred people were watching.  They applauded louder with each pocketed ball, and Fats (microphone in hand) chirping noisily along the way, until Cecil pocketed the money ball for the win.

More Notes:

     After the new millennium began, a friend and colleague of mine secured a tournament in southern Texas for the GMPA.  She was a great organizer.  She sold vendor spots, advertised, secured the players, and Eddie Parker for a special appearance.  I had to supply tournament direction and referees.  We had about 250 players with a terrific 100% payout and Calcutta return.  I got to meet Fast Eddie just once.  For those that do not know of Eddie Parker, his name was changed to Eddie Felson for the movies ‘The Hustler’ and ‘The Color of Money’.  He was a great talker and ‘down to Earth’.  He told me the story of how the book had gotten written, and how he knew the author who actually was his roommate in college.  He also informed me of some of his ‘road name’ aliases.  After learning a little about me, he asked if I would like to perform with him at 2 PM the next day (Saturday).  I, of course, excitedly agreed.  I couldn’t believe that I was not only hanging out with the 'Fast Eddie', but I was going to be a part of his show!  I suggested to him that he should sign some cue balls while he was there.  As he signed a couple he modestly said, “No one is going to buy them.”  He left me at the tournament control center and went out of the arena to the hall entrance where the vendors were stationed.  He talked to a lot of friends that knew him; he had always made new friends along the way.  He got tired and sat down in a chair inside one of the vendor booths.  He said he was tired as he closed his eyes… he never opened them again.  A crowd of people came to get me screaming to come quick because Eddie had collapsed.  By the time I got to him, the damage was done, and he never recovered.

     The next day we auctioned off the cue balls; my friend from Michigan bought both of them.  The money collected went to Eddie’s widow.  It was a very sad day, but joyous at the same time.  His wonderful caring and charismatic presence left everyone in a better place.  I’m sure somewhere in Heaven is a pool hall with Eddie in it still telling stories of his life experiences.  In just a short time, he touched mine.

     A few months later, and without any advance notice, a friend walked in with a manila envelope and said, “Merry Christmas.”  I opened it and pulled out the contents.  It was an old typed copy of the movie script ‘The Hustler’.  I was speechless!  A month later, I was given a copy of ‘The Color of Money’. Unfortunately they were not signed by an actor.  But, who cares, I have them and they offer me one of the greatest memories I will ever have... —remembering someone very special'.


Love