Having lived the better part of his middle and late childhood years, off and on, in a children’s home in Alliance OH, Jay Belnap played a whole lotta pool on a whole lotta green, a 4 ½ x 9 Brunswick. Everyday after school he would go down to the recreation room that housed his table, and hit balls. Jay said, “There were four hundred boys in that home and I played everyday. I used to run racks.” He believed that he was probably the best player there because while the other kids were out playing in the sunshine or swimming, Jay was hitting balls. Anyhow, this grooming schedule continued until his 8^th grade graduation from the home.

During the rest of his school days until he was 17 or 18, Jay pretty much laid off of pool. The only exceptions to this were when he was out of the children’s home for a while and living with his dad. Together they would go to College Bowl, Jay recollected, “and see Don Willis play all the time.” Jay’s dad played a little bit and would take him out just to shoot around.  Instead of concentrating on pool, Jay went to school, took college preparatory classes and got high marks - he was always smart in school. Favorite extracurricular activities during high school included wrestling and football and hanging out at the mall where he could play foosball. As a matter of fact, that is where he met his first wife whom he married a month after graduating from McKinley High School. Although he didn’t attend college right after graduation, Jay received a degree in accounting in 1984.

Jaybird recalled that his later teen years is the period he revisited pool – the time when a friend took him “to a bar and I see these little bar boxes…this is easy cuz I was raised up with that 4 ½ x 9 and I used to run racks on that big table.” This was also the time Jay experienced guys gambling up to $1500 a game, which at that time was a heck of a lot of money to a teen. Gambling wasn’t an area of familiarity to Jay, and nobody actually taught him how to play a money game. Instead he’d watch guys play for a buck or two and ask to play the winner. He figured that if he could win on the big tables, he surely ought a be able to win on the bar boxes. 

Places that Jay frequented included the old Harry O’s Disco, the Galaxy Night Club, and Piccadilly Club The Cue and Cushion as well as the Last Resort were other favorite spots. At that time there was more action to be found on the bar boxes and Jay ran with it. Even today he prefers the smaller tables, he said, because “ there’s still more action on a small table. And even the tournaments, they’re mostly on bar boxes.” As for having “more room to work”’ Jay prefers the big tables; he’s able to open up that well-oiled stroke. Admittedly “It’s a lot different game. Nine ball on a big table is a lot harder [while] 8-Ball can be a little tricky on a bar box.”  Whichever table he plays on, Jay’s “heart is in 9-Ball.”

Jay has a pretty good command of his 8-Ball game too. He remembered “Doc [Hixon] saying something about my 8-Ball that it was, from the way I was shooting at that point, going to be outstanding.” Jay never took lessons; mostly he watched others and learned. During his days at the Last Resort, good players such as Doc Hixon and Steve Szuter showed him quite a bit. It was there that Jay really cut his teeth. He plays hard and he plays with confidence. In his words “Being positive pays off. I try to always be positive no matter what I do and especially in pool. If you’re gonna go to a pool tournament and be negative, why show up?” Over the past year he had faired well in many tournaments, including a first place victory at Costas in Mansfield and at the Office in Mt. Vernon, 1^st place at Fiddlestix 8 and 9-Ball tournaments more than once each, first place at the Bulldog in Akron, and1^st place in a three person tournament at Fiddlestix with team members Wayne Minor and Scott Randall.

Team tournament play is another area where Jay has excelled over the years. His favorite memory regarding team play dates back to 1982 when his Last Resort team played in the National Team Open in Milwaukee, WI and placed ninth. Team league play has been a mainstay for Jaybird over the past 14 years or so where he has always played in the better divisions. In ninety eighty-seven his VNEA local league team finished first; in 1989 he won 2nd MVP in the Canton/Louisville “A” League as well as 2nd place with his team; in 1990 Jay finished 3^rd in the Clark and Son 9-Ball League.  Nineteen ninety-two left him with not one but two MVP awards – one from VNEA and one from the Canton/Louisville League.  Other area league play consisted of play out of Salem OH, team league play out of Mass., OH and play with the APA League system where he and his team won first place in 9-Ball. This past May, Jay and fellow teammates rolled their way to a 3^rd place VNEA Masters Division Title in Vegas. Members of this winning team included Troy Frank, Brian Halter, George Kieselat, Tim Krug, Tim Price and Randy Stewart.

Jay’s hobbies? Pool! In addition to pool? More pool! No really, in his down time he plays euchre, spades and poker. In his profession he is a Master Mechanic for the Ford Motor Company where, Jay said proudly, “I strive to be the best I can be at what I am.” Being a Master Mechanic is much more technical than this, however. Always having had employment opportunities related to automobiles and mechanics, Jay has, over the past twelve years, used a lot of elbow grease to work his way to the top echelon of mechanics. Many hours have been spent obtaining qualifications and then updating them as needed; it is an ongoing area of study…this is the cream of the crop!

It seems that Jay has passed his pool playing talent onto his sons Jonathon and Josh, ages 21 and 15. Recently in a handicapped tournament at Studio City Billiards (Massillon, OH) Jonathon showed off his talent by winning the game he and his dad played. Or should I say grandpa Jay because Jonathon also shows off Jay’s first grandchild, Lauren! Younger son Josh seems to be following in dad’s footsteps too in that he has not only taken a liking to billiards, but also he enjoys high school football and wrestling. Jaybird also has two stepchildren by his wife Elena. Her daughter is an RN while her son is continues on in college. Elena doesn’t play pool but supports Jay’s interest in it. She would much rather pass her time at Mountaineer. As of late however, both have agreed to take time off from their favorite pastimes so they can work on their newly purchased home. If there’s any advice Jay might give to pool players it is to “ find a [person] that loves the game as much as you do.”

It was funny – Jay always talked about a great player who has since passed on – Meredith Cobedesh who played at the Last Resort a great deal. Jay told how Cobey “ was the best $2 player around. For two bucks you couldn’t beat him. He played with Don Willis and Harry the Head.” At any rate, Jay was at a family reunion with Elena and was talking with her aunt who asked if he’d ever heard of a player named Meredith Cobedesh. Jay excitedly said “yes.” Much to his surprise, Mrs. Meredith Cobedesh introduced herself as Elena’s aunt! What a small world that Jay married the niece of one of Canton’s best players that he has admired for so long!

Jay has surely proven himself as a top player who can only get stronger from here thus accruing more titles locally, regionally and nationally. He loves the game so much that Elena says she knows when he wants to go shoot pool because she “can see pool balls in [his] eyes!” And so Jay goes off to shoot some pool…  and hopefully bring home another title. Best always Jaybird!