George Ashby - Part 1 (From Jacksonville’s Drexel Billiards to the Art of Three-Cushion)

Mike Panozzo - Part 2 (Minnesota Fats, Buddy Hall and The Color of Money Boom)

In Part 2 of our interview with Mike Panozzo, Legends of the Cue steps into the pool world of the early 1980s — a time when the billiard industry was struggling, professional pool was still searching for stability, and a young journalist from Chicago was learning the game one tournament, one poolroom and one unforgettable character at a time. Mike describes what Billiards Digest Magazine looked like in 1980: a small, mostly black-and-white, bi-monthly publication covering tournaments, players, room owners, retailers and manufacturers. He recalls how the industry operated, how closely bowling and billiards were once connected, and how the magazine became a window into every corner of cue sports. This episode features Mike’s memories of legendary players including Mike Sigel, Buddy Hall, Irving Crane, Willie Mosconi, Luther Lassiter, Joe Balsis, Jimmy Caras, Lou Butera, Jim Rempe, Jimmy Mataya and Minnesota Fats. His story about traveling to interview Fats in southern Illinois is classic pool history — funny, revealing and slightly exhausting. Mike also shares his first impressions of Buddy Hall’s effortless cue ball control, Mike Sigel’s flair and star quality, and the early tournament rooms where regional and national talent collided. Mark Wilson adds perspective from inside that same era, recalling the Illinois Billiard Club and the deep fields of elite American players. The episode then turns to the seismic impact of The Color of Money, Martin Scorsese’s 1986 film starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. Mike explains how the movie created a national pool boom, sparked new room openings, boosted manufacturers, lifted magazines, and changed the commercial landscape of billiards for more than a decade. Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/support] Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on: Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com [https://www.legendsofthecue.com] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1 [https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1] Music by Lyrium. About "Legends of the Cue" is a cue sports history podcast featuring interviews with Hall of Fame members, world champions, and influential figures from across the world of cue sports—including pocket billiards, snooker, and carom disciplines such as three-cushion billiards. We highlight the people, places, and moments that have shaped the game—celebrating iconic players, memorable events, historic venues, and the brands that helped define generations of play. With a focus on the positive spirit of the sport, our goal is to create a rich, engaging, and timeless archive of stories that fans can enjoy now and for years to come. Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher and Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, Legends of the Cue brings these stories to life—told in the voices of the game’s greatest figures.  Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

Mike Panozzo - Part 1 (From Chicago Sports Pages to Billiards Digest)

In Part 1 of our conversation with Mike Panozzo, longtime Owner and Publisher of Billiards Digest Magazine, Legends of the Cue goes back to the beginning of one of cue sports’ most important storytellers. Mike grew up on the South Side of Chicago in a close-knit Italian-American family, surrounded by relatives, neighborhood traditions, Catholic school discipline and the unmistakable rhythm of Chicago sports culture. Long before he became one of pool’s most trusted voices, Mike was a kid racing his brothers to the morning sports page, reading every word of Sports Illustrated, and dreaming of becoming a sportswriter. In this episode, Mike reflects on his early love of writing, the fifth-grade teacher who encouraged him, his boarding school years in Wisconsin, and his path to Marquette University’s journalism program. He shares how his father’s work ethic, his family’s values and his own curiosity about people shaped the journalist he would become. The story then turns toward the unexpected opportunity that changed his life: a job interview with Mort Luby Jr. at Luby Publishing, home of Bowlers Journal and the young billiards publication that would become Mike’s professional home for more than four decades — Billiards Digest. Listeners will hear how Mike entered the pool world without being a player, how he learned the billiard industry from the inside out, and how Mort Luby became a mentor not through lectures, but through example. This opening chapter sets the stage for a larger story about pool, journalism, magazines, players, promoters, and the evolution of cue sports in America. Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/support] Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on: Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com [https://www.legendsofthecue.com] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1 [https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1] Music by Lyrium. About "Legends of the Cue" is a cue sports history podcast featuring interviews with Hall of Fame members, world champions, and influential figures from across the world of cue sports—including pocket billiards, snooker, and carom disciplines such as three-cushion billiards. We highlight the people, places, and moments that have shaped the game—celebrating iconic players, memorable events, historic venues, and the brands that helped define generations of play. With a focus on the positive spirit of the sport, our goal is to create a rich, engaging, and timeless archive of stories that fans can enjoy now and for years to come. Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher and Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, Legends of the Cue brings these stories to life—told in the voices of the game’s greatest figures.  Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

George Ashby - Part 4 (Still Playing, Still Remembering, Still George Ashby)

Part 4 brings our remarkable conversation with George Ashby to a thoughtful and deeply satisfying close. In this final episode, George reflects on the later chapters of his billiard life: returning to the game, staying connected to three-cushion, remembering the great players and rooms of the past, and considering what it all meant. There is something especially moving in hearing a master look back. George speaks with humility, humor, and honesty about still playing, still thinking about the game, and still carrying with him the lessons learned from a lifetime in cue sports. He shares memories of legendary players, unforgettable matches, and the extraordinary personalities who shaped the carom world in America and beyond. These recollections are more than anecdotes — they are oral history, preserved in exactly the spirit Legends of the Cue was created to honor. This episode also reveals the character behind the champion. George’s warmth comes through in every answer. He is reflective without being sentimental, proud without ever sounding boastful, and generous in the way he credits others who influenced his life and game. As the conversation winds down, what remains is a portrait of a man who helped carry American three-cushion from one era into another while never losing sight of the joy, beauty, and mystery that drew him to the game in the first place. If the earlier episodes tell us how George Ashby became a great player, this final chapter tells us why his story matters. It is about memory, legacy, and the enduring value of hearing these stories while the voices are still here to tell them.  Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/support] Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on: Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com [https://www.legendsofthecue.com] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1 [https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1] Music by Lyrium. About "Legends of the Cue" is a cue sports history podcast featuring interviews with Hall of Fame members, world champions, and influential figures from across the world of cue sports—including pocket billiards, snooker, and carom disciplines such as three-cushion billiards. We highlight the people, places, and moments that have shaped the game—celebrating iconic players, memorable events, historic venues, and the brands that helped define generations of play. With a focus on the positive spirit of the sport, our goal is to create a rich, engaging, and timeless archive of stories that fans can enjoy now and for years to come. Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher and Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, Legends of the Cue brings these stories to life—told in the voices of the game’s greatest figures.  Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

George Ashby - Part 3 (World Championships, Life Changes, and the Cost of Greatness)

In Part 3, George Ashby takes us deeper into the realities of life at the top of three-cushion billiards — and the very human struggles that can come with it. This chapter of his story spans world championships, national titles, international travel, equipment changes, and the demands of balancing billiards with the responsibilities of owning and operating a family business. George recalls the shock of his first world championship appearances, where the conditions, equipment, lighting, pace of play, and level of competition were unlike anything he had known in the Midwest. He talks about adapting on the fly, learning from the great international players, and returning home determined to rebuild his game for true world-class conditions. For students of cue sports history, these stories are gold: a firsthand account of how American players matched themselves against the European and Asian powers of the carom world. But this episode also turns toward the personal. George reflects on what happened when downtown Jacksonville changed, Drexel Billiards could no longer survive, and the place that had shaped both his livelihood and his practice life was gone. He speaks openly about the difficult period that followed, including how losing the room affected his game and his life away from the table. What emerges here is not just the story of a champion, but the story of resilience. George’s honesty gives this part of the conversation real weight. Greatness in cue sports is never only about titles and trophies — it is also about sacrifice, adaptation, heartbreak, and the ability to keep coming back when the game, and life, take away the familiar ground beneath your feet.  Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/support] Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on: Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com [https://www.legendsofthecue.com] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1 [https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1] Music by Lyrium. About "Legends of the Cue" is a cue sports history podcast featuring interviews with Hall of Fame members, world champions, and influential figures from across the world of cue sports—including pocket billiards, snooker, and carom disciplines such as three-cushion billiards. We highlight the people, places, and moments that have shaped the game—celebrating iconic players, memorable events, historic venues, and the brands that helped define generations of play. With a focus on the positive spirit of the sport, our goal is to create a rich, engaging, and timeless archive of stories that fans can enjoy now and for years to come. Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher and Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, Legends of the Cue brings these stories to life—told in the voices of the game’s greatest figures.  Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

George Ashby - Part 2 (High Runs, Hard Lessons, and Chasing the World’s Best)

Part 2 of our conversation with George Ashby moves from the room to the arena, as George takes us inside the thought process, discipline, and competitive fire required to become a world-class three-cushion player. This is the episode where the game opens up. George explains the importance of scoring average, position play, shot selection, and concentration, giving listeners a rare window into what elite three-cushion really looks like from the player’s chair. Along the way, he reflects on high runs, the satisfaction of controlled scoring, and the moment he realized that offense — not merely defense — would be the future of the game. He speaks candidly about studying his own matches, identifying weak spots in his concentration, and developing a more aggressive, television-friendly style built around scoring in bunches. It is a fascinating portrait of a player thinking several shots ahead while also thinking years ahead about where the sport itself needed to go. George also shares the enormous influence of the European masters, including Raymond Ceulemans, Ludo Dielis, Nobuaki Kobayashi, and the systems and stroke variations that transformed his understanding of three-cushion. What he learned from international play forced him to rethink everything: equipment, tempo, speed control, and even how a champion should approach offense. This episode captures the stretch where talent becomes craft. George is no longer simply a gifted young player from Illinois — he is becoming a student of the world game, measuring himself against the very best, and building the style that would define his championship years. For anyone who loves the deeper strategy of cue sports, this is a master class wrapped inside a life story. Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/support] Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on: Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com [https://www.legendsofthecue.com] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1 [https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1] Music by Lyrium. About "Legends of the Cue" is a cue sports history podcast featuring interviews with Hall of Fame members, world champions, and influential figures from across the world of cue sports—including pocket billiards, snooker, and carom disciplines such as three-cushion billiards. We highlight the people, places, and moments that have shaped the game—celebrating iconic players, memorable events, historic venues, and the brands that helped define generations of play. With a focus on the positive spirit of the sport, our goal is to create a rich, engaging, and timeless archive of stories that fans can enjoy now and for years to come. Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher and Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, Legends of the Cue brings these stories to life—told in the voices of the game’s greatest figures.  Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”