10/14/2022
A long time pool league player passed away recently and it was a reminder that I still hadn’t brought myself to make a post about my dear friend Dan Patterson’s passing yet. I’m not sure when I would be ready so I guess now is as good of a time as any.
Dan Patterson was a guy I looked up to when I was a teenager. He was one of the older guys I would see talking in the circle of great pool players conversing in the pool halls. When you’re young, you just sit around those guys soaking up everything being said hanging on their every word. I didn’t see Dan shooting around all the time like the other guys so I asked Concrete John if Dan was a good player. John started staking me when I was just a teenager and treated me like I was one of his own kids so I always knew I could trust John to tell me the truth. He told me Dan was a good pool player but he didn’t play the pool games like 8-ball and 9-ball anywhere near the level he played bumper pool. I remember thinking that was neat being one of the better bumper pool players around town but then I realized it went way beyond that as John told me he was the best bumper pool player in the country. I enjoyed sitting back listening as John told me all the stories. Dan beat everybody playing bumper pool and there were only two players in the country that were touted to be in the ranks with Dan. As far as those two great players, Dan beat them both. One player was from New Orleans, I believe, and the other was from Evansville, IN. He beat the guy in New Orleans every time he ever played him. He beat the guy from Evansville on a table in Louisville but then got beat by the guy when he went to Evansville and played him on his home table. Dan ended up getting some good practice time to learn that table a little better before he played him again and Dan beat him in their third match up. Dan won 2 out of the 3 times he played the guy and Dan was the only player to ever beat that guy on that guy’s home table. That’s how you remove any doubt that you really are the best.
Dan was always kind to me even when I was young and a nobody. I’m not saying I ever became a somebody but you don’t get a lot of attention when you’re just a kid, but Dan still treated me great. At first I thought it was because I was the same age as one of his son’s Michael, who I became close friends with along with his wife, so I thought maybe I reminded him of his son. Then the more I was around Dan, I came to realize that he was just a truly genuine person and was simply a great guy in a pool world full of deadbeats and cutthroats.
As I continued progressing in my pool career, I would still talk with Dan every chance I could. When his sons started to take on more of their family business, this opened up a little more time for Dan. I was fortunate enough to get to spend some of that time with him whether it was at Ohio Valley racetrack or at a pool hall/bar. I became very close with Dan over those years and his friendship meant more to me than even his kids probably ever knew. Dan had an incredible presence and I could feel him pulling for me as he was always in my corner whether I was playing a tournament match or playing some guy betting high or simply trying to run my own business with the pool league. His kindness and support meant a great deal to both me and my wife over the years as he was one of our very favorite people ever!
I’ve never heard anyone have a single bad thing to say about Dan and that’s extremely rare. He was a lot of things to a lot of people, but to me, he was my dear friend and a man I always looked up to and admired. If you were looking to do things right, all you had to do was watch Dan and replicate how he did it. Life keeps us busy and gets in the way sometimes so we don’t get to spend as much time as we want with the people we care about. That still doesn’t change how you feel about people. I will always remember my friend for the great person he was and the impact he has had on me throughout decades of my life.
Rest easy, Papa Bear. 😢
