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Wade Arlyn Crane (February 20, 1944 – December 26, 2010) was an American professional pool player, nicknamed "Boom-Boom" because of the cannonball sound that emanated from his powerful break. Crane also played under the alias of "Billy Johnson."〔("Efren's Arrival as Cesar Morales Causes Stir" ), ''BilliardsDigest.com'', Billiards Digest.〕〔("AKA: Nicknames, Monikers & Also Known As" ), ''OnePocket.org'', Onepocket.org〕 A former World 8-Ball and 9-Ball champion, Crane was a dominant player in the 1980s. He was voted by his peers to have the best 9-ball break in history.〔("Wade Crane Killed in Car Crash" ), ''AzBilliards.com'', AzBilliards〕 ==Early Days== Wade Arlyn Crane grew up in Robbinsville, a small town with a population of 700 located in the westernmost part of North Carolina in the Smokey Mountains. He was the youngest of four children. His father was killed in an automobile accident shortly after he was born, which necessitated him being raised by his grandmother. Coming from a modest background, he sought employment at the age of 12 and landed a job in a small five-table pool room named Cooper's. It was here where he initially developed his passion for playing pool. He did odd jobs, keeping the pool room clean, sweeping floors, and even had a shoe shine stand. The owner would direct the customers to play pool with young Wade if the pool room was empty. Crane was a self-taught pool player. He soon began to enjoy the competitive spirit. In high school, he was a fullback on the football team, the Robbinsville squad, and made it to the state playoffs two years straight. After high school, Crane decided to leave Robbinsville and live with his older brother in Chicago, where he got a job at Brach's Confections, a candy company. He worked there for three years, earning $150 a week, and initially had little interest in playing pool. Sometimes, though, his older brother, Bill, would call on Wade to meet him at the local pool hall on Cicero Avenue. Bill would make bad games and find himself overmatched. He would then call on his little brother, Wade, to bail him by having him play the same pool players that he lost to. Thereafter, Bill began to match up Wade with the local players. At this time, both Bill and Wade became active in Chicago's pool scene. Soon Wade was competing at Bensinger's pool room in Chicago against tough opponents in the area, like Mexican Johnny, John Abruzzo, and George Walker. In 1965, Crane was making more money playing pool than working at Brach's Confections, so he decided to leave the Windy City and move to Atlanta, Georgia. It was at this time that he assumed the alias of "Billy Johnson," a moniker he would hang onto for 20 more years. He changed his name because he wanted to engage in money matches down South and feared some might recognize the name "Wade Crane" from his earlier days of gambling throughout that region. "While me and a friend were driving along the interstate to this pool room, we passed a Howard Johnson's," said Crane. He decided to just add on "Johnson" to "Bill" and came up with the road name of "Billy Johnson." It was a good name for him because he had been using his brother's fake ID to get into the Chicago taverns and pool rooms, so he was used to answering to "Bill." In the early '70s, Crane returned to North Carolina and opened his own pool room in Asheville, which was an attraction for many of the top players in the country, i.e., Buddy Hall, Jim Rempe, Mike Sigel, and Allen Hopkins. Now the 25-year-old Crane was ranked second to Luther Lassiter, who was the 9-Ball Champion of the South.〔("Wimpy Tackles an Ex-Tiger" ), ''Sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault'', Sportsillustrated.com〕 The money matches began to dwindle, so he decided to move to Knoxville, Tennessee, for a change. It is here where he met his third wife, Linda, who was a waitress at a steak and seafood restaurant. They dated for 18 months before he proposed. After they were married, the couple moved back to Crane's hometown of Robbinsville, where he operated a small video arcade and quit playing pool. It was three and a half years before his wife saw him shoot a game of pool. In 1983, pool became attractive to Crane once more, due to the large money payouts in pocket billiard competitions. Crane returned to the pool scene, but this time, he would be shooting pool in a new environment, competing in short race-type matches on pristine equipment at tournament venues instead of gambling long ahead sets on inferior equipment in various pool rooms around the country.〔"The Practical Champion," by Mike Panazzo, pages 48-50, Billiards Digest, October 1985〕〔("Wade Crane Player Profile" ), ''InternationalPoolTour.com'', International Pool Tour〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wade Crane」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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