LoreeJon Ogonowski-Brown - Part 2 (Teenage World Champion and the Rise of a Legend)

Mike Gonzalez 0:15

So I want you to talk about uh this show that many of our younger listeners would have no idea what we're talking about, but there was a show on television called That's Incredible, which Mark, I know I know you'd remember quite well. It was hosted by John Davidson, Kathy Lee Crosby, and the former quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings Hall of Famer Fran Tarkington. So at age 15, you were asked to appear on That's Incredible, which I just watched on YouTube. What a hoot.

LoreeJon 0:46

I know. There's there's yeah, there's a few. But that was that was a lot of fun, you know. And it's it's you know, you know, the mouth shot, obviously. And I did it on Kathy Lee Gifford. And I mean, like, I do I even have a brain, like like I think about that today, you know, and I'm like, oh my god, can you imagine like if it didn't work and you know, you eat her or something? And but it was it was a lot of fun, it was a lot of fun. I did a lot of TV after, so when I was 15, I won the world championship in straight pool. And and Willie Muscone was 16 when he won the world championship, and he was and I beat him out of for the youngest at that point, and and it was it was a lot of fun, and then like my career at that point just went crazy because I was on the big blue marble and that's incredible, and all these shows, all these kids' shows. Kids are people too.

Mike Gonzalez 1:54

Yeah, I remember that one.

LoreeJon 1:56

And and yeah, and they they came, you know, to to to the house and they filmed us, and it was it was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun.

Mike Gonzalez 2:04

Well, let's go back to that first world championship you just mentioned. This was 1981, it was the world straight pool championship. You're 15 years old, and you set a new Guinness world record.

LoreeJon 2:17

Yeah. So it was it was being the it was being the youngest, you know, and I played actually I played Vicky Frecken in the final, and I was definitely, definitely nervous. And it we crack up. So Vicky and I show up in like the the same but not, okay. I have like my little, you know, it comes up to here, a little ruffles, you know. The Vicky's was lower, really, you know, really sexy gown dress that she had on, but the same color, the same, it was it was the weird, we like both looked at each other like, oh my god. I'm like, but it was that was a that was that was wonderful. And my dad back uh back a month prior to the tournament, my dad always told me, you know, he wasn't the greatest player in the world, but he played very well, very well, straight pool really well. And he told me, he says, when you legitimately beat me in a game of straight pool, you you you'll you'll be you'll be a world champion. You'll you'll win your first world championship. And I swear to you, that summer before that tournament in August, I beat him in a 150-point straight pool match. And he and he hugged me and he says, You're on your way. You're on your way. Wow, that's a lovely memory. So we both like, yeah. So that made me, you know, when I won and I he whispered in my ear and I cried, and you know, it was just it was good. It was, it was, it was good.

Allison Fisher 4:04

You had a special bond with your father, didn't you?

LoreeJon 4:07

Very much so.

Allison Fisher 4:08

Yeah.

Mark Wilson 4:09

My memory of John was that he was always at Lord John's side, and he was so proud and such a big supporter, and it was very endearing just looking on to see that he's nurtured her and and just stands by her, just you know, it's his whole heart, Lord John.

LoreeJon 4:26

Yeah, he did, he did. I have uh I have some photos of that people took of my dad watching my matches, you know. Just just so intense, you know, and I'm like, oh looking real happy there.

Mike Gonzalez 4:48

Well, for our for our listeners that want to watch this first world championship win, you can do that too on YouTube. I watched that match as well with Vicky. And what do you remember about it? I mean, other than being nervous, is there other vivid memories you have of that experience, that first experience?

LoreeJon 5:06

It kind of, you know, it it's kind I have to be honest, it's kind of a blur. It's just it was the most exciting thing that happened, and everything happened so fast afterwards, and it was it it became kind of like part of my life. It was weird. You know, it just I remember, you know, I remember Charlie giving me the trophy, and you know, and I I just, you know, Charlie Rossetti was like my my kind of like he he him and my dad worked hand in hand, you know, like to to mold me. And you know, my mom was my mom was so proud. And, you know, yeah, I mean, it was just one of those one of those things, one of those memories. It's probably one of the best things that I've ever won.

Mike Gonzalez 6:00

So at this early age, and I and maybe it's changed over the years, but what was sort of the motivation, the attraction of the game for you as a very young girl? And then as you progress through your career into your prime, and even now then, has that motivation and and and drive and and sort of attraction to the game changed for you at all?

LoreeJon 6:22

Pool, I don't know. I you know, why why does somebody pick up a tennis racket and start hitting tennis balls and you're like, oh that there's the new champion right there, you know? Like I I just loved the game. I love the fact that no matter no matter how well you know the game, every time you break the balls, it's different. Period. So so it's it's I I I it's hard to, you know, it in in in certain things, everything's the same, you know, everything's the same, everything might be the same. Even in golf, every time I hit a shot, there's it's different. It doesn't matter where where it lands, it it might land this this far over in the rough or this far, you know, and even though you hit the same shot every time, it's different. And that's what I that's probably what I love about that sport also. But like every time I break the balls, it's amazing that and it's like a little puzzle, you know, you play straight pool or eight ball or something, it's like a little, it's like a little puzzle, you know, and you have to, you know, and so it's challenging. So because the game is so challenging for me, I I think it's always kept, you know, it's always kept my interest and and always made me made me love it.

Mike Gonzalez 7:44

What about the applause, the acclaim, the accomplishment, uh any of those things kind of weigh in as well?

LoreeJon 7:51

Absolutely. Absolutely. I am a people person. So even when I'm playing in a pool room, if I'm playing, if I'm practicing, right? And I'm just kind of practicing, just you know, just doing things and everything, if people walk in and start watching, it's like it's like the game just goes to another level. And and I'm a showman again, you know what I mean? Like, so so I so my game, like if I'm practicing with someone, they're like, dear God, you you you you you were like nothing, and they walked in, and I'm like, yeah, because I got an audience. I'm like, you know, you know, so I love playing a lot of people, I won't say who, but like growing up, they used it, they oh man, on the practice table, they'd look like a goddess. They'd look like a goddess, and I'm like, they have no chance. Because I know because because it was like they freewheeled so badly on that on that on that practice table that by the time they got to the the the match, they they didn't play like that. Why? Because you save them, because you take that ability to freewheel away. And as soon as that happens, do they fall apart or do they hang in there? You know, so you know, get getting older for me is a little bit frustrating because my mind is not as sharp in the sense of concentration, and I don't care. I don't care what you co-cute damn, I don't care what you take or what you do or meditate, or you know, I mean, I do a lot of things to to improve, but boy, that squirrel is bad. The the squirrel can relate to that, yeah. You know, like like I will be like running out, running out, you know, and it's like squirrel.

Allison Fisher 10:05

I'm calling that a lot at home, a squirrel. Here she goes again.

LoreeJon 10:10

You know, I I wish I I will take a photo of it and show you on and on on on my wall downstairs at the thing. It is it is squirrel crossing. It's a big squirrel crossing thing. And my husband put that there, so I so I remember. He'll tell he always tells me, Carrie's like, no squirrels, no squirrels. And I'm like, okay, no squirrels. Yeah, something. But it's it's uh yeah, it's frustrating.

Mike Gonzalez 10:40

All right, maybe I'm the last guy to get it. Help me with the squirrel thing. Is this like the little person that's on your shoulder talking to you, or is this something else?

LoreeJon 10:46

It could be over the pump. Yeah, it could be a little bit, it could be a little bit of that, but it's like your my focus, uh, like my focus when I was younger was so intense, and it would last for hours and hours and hours. And my focus now is intense. Could be five minutes. I knew you were gonna say that. Five minutes.

Mike Gonzalez 11:20

I get that.

LoreeJon 11:21

You know, could be could be 30 minutes, could be, but at some point, it's like like something takes your the squirrel. It's distracted. It just takes your concentration away, and it drives me, it drives me crazy. It does. It it it's a little bit, you know, it's a little frustrating. But I do have, you know, as age comes, I give myself a break.

Allison Fisher 11:47

You know, I'm just I think you're playing to enjoy it more, aren't you? And it's like going into a room and forgetting why you're there, you know, a lot of that.

LoreeJon 11:56

Exactly. So I'll share a quick story at at this this this la the last world, this past world tournament. Terry got to see me play for the first time in a real tournament. And I was so excited that he came because that's my husband. So so I was so excited that he got to see what pool should be. I it was in a great arena. It was, you know, the audience was fabulous. It was, you know, it was not in a pool room, it was it was just it was a great tournament overall. And I was playing my first match, and uh concentration was completely not there from the get-go. Couldn't get it either, was very frustrated. And I I was playing very poorly, and I absolutely I don't know if I I could have won the match. I know I could have. I I had I had I think I was up at the table like when you're at that table every match, every single game almost, and you can't do something with it, just you know, just shoot me. I just uh it it was it was just not good. And so after the match, I was just I I I was not happy. And I and certain things like today, like I I I handle, yeah, I don't I mean no one likes to lose, but I handle loss much better. Not that one. I was like, I'm breaking down and I'm feeling I'm feeling the heat and the the the tears. I'm just like, I'm like, oh God, don't do it. And so I I so Terry already saw that, so he's like, go ahead, honey. Goes, uh, I got the rest of the stuff. So I'm like, all right. So we we're walking out. I'm trying, I'm not even looking at anybody. Like, don't ask me for uh to sign anything, don't anything because I'm not doing good. And so we walk out of the the thing and he goes, bathroom's over there, and I'm like, okay. So I go, I go to the bathroom and I'm like, I just ball. I just ball. I'm like, what am I doing here? What am I doing here? Oh my god, why am I here? You know, and I'm so I come out of the bathroom, and there was like a little nook in the in the side where you could like go in the it didn't go anywhere, but it was like a little, you know, where you could hide. So Terry pulls me in there and he and he grabs my face and he says, he's so good, he's just like not a pool player or anything, you know. So he says, if you could watch yourself on film on your attitude during that match, he said he said, It's what you teach not to do. He says, You teach all of those kids, don't show your cards. He goes, You not only showed your cards, you laid them out. He said they were all over the he goes, and I'm and and and I couldn't I couldn't like be mad at him or push him away or anything because I knew it was true. And he just looked at me and he said, You're here because of your wonderful sponsors, you're here because people still love you, and you're here because you are an inspiration. He says, So the next match, no matter what happens, have fun. And I was like, and it just resonated, you know, just it did, it resonated. So next match comes. I'm playing the girl from Poland, and she's playing like lights out, lights out. I've seen her play before, never missing a ball. Like it was just, I was like, oh boy. So running out the first first game, and the cloth skids, I have the 13 ball and the eight ball left. And the I I'm cutting the 13, and as soon as I hit it, and I didn't even, I didn't slow hit it, I didn't fat, it was just, you know, it just twisted a hair, just enough to miss. And I'm like, okay, it's starting again. So I I go, I know, I go back to my seat and I turn around to my husband and I go, I'm still having fun. That's it. So I just so I so the game, anyway. The game, it's it's a race to seven. She has me five to zero, alternating breaks.

Allison Fisher 16:43

Wow.

LoreeJon 16:43

Five to zero. I come back, focus. Here's the here's Lori John, old Lori John, focused, never missing, never making a mistake. Six five. I go ahead of her. I'm breaking at six to five, and the side pocket ball that was going every single time gets kissed out and doesn't go, you know, and so she runs out, and then the the last game she she runs out. And so I I lose on the yeah, I lose unfortunately on the hill, you know, seven, seven to six. But it was it was a great match. There was a woman watching, and there was a woman watching who was rooting for me. I don't, I didn't know her. And she right before my match, she says to me, she says, Oh, how how's your day? How's your day going? And I looked at her and I said, I went, my day's great. I said, you know why? She goes, Why? I said, because I woke up this morning and I said, and I'm breathing. I said, couldn't ask for much more than that. So she smiles and she like looks at me, and I didn't understand. It was, it was a it was a good look, but it was a like, oh my God, I can't believe she just said that look, you know, and but the match was starting, so I didn't have time to talk to her. So after the match, she says, My God, she said, if that ball went in, she goes, You would have won. I know you would have. And so she's talking to me, and she said, the the thing that you said in the beginning, she said, I had a heart attack with major surgery three weeks ago. She said, So I understand when you said I woke up, she said, it really resonated with me. Then she went on to tell me how I was an inspiration, it's just the whole nine yards. She's crying, I'm crying, Terry's tearing up, Dan Bourget from Oldhausen, the the my sponsor, he's crying. I'm like, oh my god. And and I and I just, you know, and and that that's why I that's why I go to tournaments.

Allison Fisher 18:50

Yeah. You never know how you're affecting people, do you? You never know. You never know what the story is.

LoreeJon 18:56

You don't. And and and and I affected this one woman in a fabulous way, and that's all that mattered. So that's great.

Allison Fisher 19:05

And it sounds like Terry's a great guy. I wish I'd met him, actually. Yeah, it seems really nice. What a nice he he's like having your father back in a way, isn't he? Somebody who's on your side, completely on your side, and says the right things, knows how to get you going. And that's a really wonderful support. Very much so. Very much so.

Mike Gonzalez 19:28

So Lloyd John, uh, as we go, we'll take you back to 1981 again, the year of your first uh World Straight Pool Championship at age 15. And as I look at the WPBA list of winners for the year, I see five events. Event number one, Gene Beluchas. Event number two, your world championship, Lori John Jones. Then there was a tournament called the Eastern States Championship, won by Laurie Champeau. Win number two for Laurie John Jones that year at the New Jersey State Championship, and then the final was the MPCA National Classic Cup, won by Pamela Miller. So here you are, uh year one on the tour, five five events, and you win two of them.

LoreeJon 20:16

Yeah. Which was which was pretty incredible. And and Lori, yeah, Gene Belukas and Lori Champeau. Lori Champeau was was a phenomenal, she was a phenomenal player. Also played with the guys, against the guys, you know. She just she was she was a real she was a real piece of work, but she was really nice. So and Jean, you know, Jean, like you had to beat Gene Belukas in order to in order to accomplish anything, you know, in in in your career. So yeah, so it was good.

Mike Gonzalez 20:55

So so 1981, you also won the Ruth McGuinness Challenge Cup, which uh wasn't listed as an official event here, at least on this WPBA listing I've got, but so for the year, billiards digest player of the year. Whoa.

LoreeJon 21:12

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, and just everything. Like, yeah, I you know, I mean it it's it's hard. It's also hard difficult when you start somewhere high like that. You know what I mean? Because you, you know, you're gonna you're you know you're gonna stay up there maybe, but you you know, the only place you can go is kind of down. So, you know, but I really I think the WPBA as it grew, and Allison, you know this. I mean, the the camaraderie with the girls were just was just fabulous, you know.

Allison Fisher 21:56

Yeah.

LoreeJon 21:57

Uh Mary Keniston. You know, she took care, she took me to the tournaments that my parents couldn't go to. And, you know, and we I always laugh. I'm like, can you imagine like my parents trusting me with you, Mary?

Allison Fisher 22:14

I was just I was thinking the same thing about because I know Mary pretty well over the years.

LoreeJon 22:19

And I'm like, wow. But she was so good. She was very, she was very like motherly like when she, you know, when that's interesting. She took, you know, she definitely took it serious. And but you know, she definitely watched me. I I will say that she definitely watched me. She was actually very good, right up until I turned 17, and we were going somewhere, and she was like, put gas in the tank. Well, you have to understand, in New Jersey, you don't fill your tank to today. Somebody else fills your tank for you.

Mike Gonzalez 22:53

Isn't that crazy?

LoreeJon 22:53

So, yeah. I mean, I had no idea how to fill my tank. And she was just she was ripping me apart, and I'm like, I'm sorry, I don't do my own gas.

Allison Fisher 23:10

Don't do my own princess. Yeah, exactly.

LoreeJon 23:14

That's what she that's what she was, yeah. She yelled at me.

Mike Gonzalez 23:17

So well, let's let's fast forward to age, the ripe old age of 19. You win your second world championship, this time in the nine ball discipline in Philadelphia, beating Jean Beluchas.

LoreeJon 23:31

That was very exciting. Now that was now that was that was that was a tournament to where to today I can set up the last nine ball that I made.

Allison Fisher 23:44

Oh no.

LoreeJon 23:45

I usually do not remember like things like that. But that that nine ball was such a thin little cut in that side pocket. It was not the easiest shot. And and it was like one of those where you hit and you look and you see it's going in, you're like, yes. Um, yeah, it was it was very exciting. Very exciting.

Mike Gonzalez 24:09

That's big time. I mean, beating her in anything, I guess, back then, but at that age and went for a world championship, big deal. It was easy to really big deal.

LoreeJon 24:17

Huge deal. You know, it was a huge deal. You know, back then too, like it, it's funny. And and I like I was talking to Ava back when and and and some of the other girls, you know, before the WPA came, there were a lot of tournaments that were considered world tight, world world tournaments. And you know, that's why I keep my I kept all of them. I'm gonna keep I prove where it says world, I'm keeping it, you know?

Mike Gonzalez 24:46

Like so when you were when you were learning, uh-huh, and Mark can relate to this because it was certainly true when he started playing, uh, straight pool was the game, wasn't it?

LoreeJon 24:57

Absolutely, absolutely, and and I think that if I took anyone under my wing today, I would absolutely teach them straight pool because straight pool it just teaches you a little bit of everything. Everything, you know, to where it helps your game in eight ball, it helps your game in nine ball, it helps you just it, I think it's an all-around game, you know, that that if you don't know it, you should know it, you should play it, you know, just like I wasn't a fan of One Pocket, but yeah, I learned how to play One Pocket because and and has it helped my my game? Absolutely, because there's like a funky bank or something at the end, you know, and I'm like, oh my god, I know I know how to hit this, I can make this nine ball, you know, and and I get so excited with it, you know. So, so yeah, I mean, learn learning the discipline, but I think I will say, and this might be controversial, and I really don't care. I think that people who ran balls back when I was young, I don't think it compares to today. And the reason why people are like, you know, Willie had five inch pockets, four and three-quarter inch pockets and five inch pockets. And I'm like, yeah, on mud cloth, on mud cloth, do you know that when I learned straight pull, when I learned from I and I learned from Willie Muscone, Willie told Willie taught me how to break the balls three different times. You didn't break the balls like today and have nothing touching all over the table. Are you kidding me? So uh sorry guys who yeah, who have these high runs and everything, do it on mud cloth. Do it on do it on nap thick cloth on on what what I ran. You know, I ran a hundred balls on uh thick cloth. You know, that was that.

Mike Gonzalez 27:04

You're a golfer. So for a for a golfer, I guess the comparison would be, right? You you you play these fast uh 12 and 13 stemp greens. Try playing on a on a felt cloth that stems at six or seven.

LoreeJon 27:16

Exactly. You know, exactly, you know. So yes, I do think that, you know, that's why players I hate comparing, you know, because people always say, Well, do you think you know, Federer Ghost or this one or this one or this one would be, you know, how would they compare to, you know, Earl Strickland and Mike Siegel, and you, you know, and I'm like, and I'm like, depends on the equipment to me.

Allison Fisher 27:43

Yeah, you can't compare ears, can you?

LoreeJon 27:46

You can't, because the era of today, you know, the the cloth is so fast and everything's so fast and breaks up so easily that that's why I think they started tightening the pockets a little bit.

Allison Fisher 28:04

You know, what do you think about that, Mark? What do you think about that?

Mark Wilson 28:08

When you compare eras, yeah, it's it's just like she's saying, night and day. But in this era, there's racking templates that make the balls freeze when Lori John ran a hundred. A lot of times there's gaps in the rack. So that's why you'd have to go into the stack three times. That's why you'd have to have an insurance ball. You cannot count on getting anything, and it's a much more crafty style of play. Yeah, and then you know, the players of yesteryear would have been top players today, even though the top players of today are better because we didn't have video technology to study, and we didn't have all these other tome chalk that doesn't skid and sundry other things. So, because the players of yesteryear, they were top players, they would be top players today, too. They're not going to want to be number two. So I I don't think it's fair. And then also when you look at the high runs, the one thing that's a little bit skewed is that it's not the same thing. When Willie Muscone set that run, he wasn't trying to set a run, but he played to win the game, so he had to get much flatter on the brake shot, so he didn't risk missing a brake shot because that very well may be your last turn. Where guys today that are setting these high runs, they go very thin on the brake shot to shatter the rack, and if they miss, they just start over. So it was it's a different thing. I'm not discounting how great the runs are. 600 plus is fantastic, no doubt. But it's not quite the same thing either.

LoreeJon 29:33

It isn't, you know, and it and and that's why I I don't like comparing. I mean, I think that with each era, I think that I hope the game goes up. I mean, I hope, you know, I we've got three little whipper snappers right now, four on our tour, you know, that that my god, I can't even imagine what they're gonna be shooting like when they're in their 20s. I just, you know, whippersnappers, I love it. Yeah, little whippersnappers they are.

Mike Gonzalez 30:06

You want to use any names for our listeners?

LoreeJon 30:09

Yes, we've got Sophia Mast and so and Savannah Easton and Jordan Jordan, yeah. Elfrey, Elfree.

Allison Fisher 30:19

And uh who you think I'm trying to think.

Mike Gonzalez 30:23

Well, Christina's pretty young, right? Uh 20s.

Allison Fisher 30:26

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

LoreeJon 30:27

She's she's old.

Allison Fisher 30:28

They're they're old now. We consider them old.

LoreeJon 30:31

We're talking the little whippersnappers.

Allison Fisher 30:33

Yeah, the tiny ones, the under 21s.

LoreeJon 30:36

Exactly, the under under 21s. Yeah, but no, even even Christina, even the young 20s coming up. I mean, the play is is is is is pretty phenomenal. It's it really is phenomenal. It really is. I will never take anything away from whatever what anybody does, you know what I mean? But it's but it's a different, yeah, it's like a different game today.

Allison Fisher 31:00

It's it's it's the world is smaller. Yeah. The information is better. So they know they all came over to America to compete on this tour and play world tours, of course, like WPA world events and predator world events. But the WPBA has a lot to do with all of this too, from the you know, the old videos that they watched of people like you and me playing, and and Ava and Jeanette and Vivian, the old school. Yeah. And uh, you know, so that you know, they have had a lot to aspire to, I think. Women being strong and women being leaders and women out there competing. Absolutely. So it was yeah, so it's all been helpful over time, I think.

LoreeJon 31:45

So you pave, you know, you pave the way. You know, I I I really believe when I have a a young student, I always teach them about the old players because I tell them that if you don't know who the old players are, you know, UJ Puckett's and you know, all of them, they paved the way for, they paved the way for Siegel Earl and everybody. And then they paved the way for the players of today, the little Shane Van Boning. He was a little whipper snapper when he was young, and now look at him, you know. Amazing. Yeah, it's just it is amazing, you know. So when I look at the the people that are, I I love the fact that today, when I when we grew up, there wasn't there wasn't a junior league, there wasn't a junior anything. You know, you played with, you were thrown in there. I don't care how young you were, you were thrown in there with with all the adults. And, you know, today, thank God that there's you know wonderful junior leagues and and clinics and all sorts of things. I'm doing something in in Anderson, South Carolina. A lady asked me if I would come on August 30th to to to like at from 12, you know, would you would you come, you know, for the for the we're doing something with the kids? And I'm like, absolutely, you know, absolutely. Because that's that's that's our next, that's our next step. And as long as they know where that that their I don't mean this meanly, but like as long as they know where their chance has come from and respect that, then it's a great thing.

Allison Fisher 33:32

Thank you for listening to another episode of Legends of the Queen. If you like what you hear, wherever you listen to your podcast, including Apple and Spotify, please follow, subscribe, and spread the word. Give our podcast a five-star rating and share your thoughts. Visit our website and support our Paul History project. Until our next golden break with more Legends of the Cube, so long, everybody.