Posted on: Friday, October 31, 2003

OUT & ABOUT
Honolulu pool whiz wins title

Advertiser Staff

Honolulu's Rodney "The Rocket" Morris, 32, one of the top pool players in the country, won the StanJames.com World Pool League title in Warsaw, Poland, last week.

Morris defeated World Champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany in 9-ball by an 8-3 score.

Morris, a 1988 Pearl City High School graduate, earned $15,000.

"It's been two years since I won anything. Lots of second places, lot of thirds. I was getting discouraged with myself," said Morris, ranked No. 3 in the United States and a member of the United Poolplayers Association.

Morris is in Florida, where he will compete in a tour event. He leaves Monday for tournaments in Tokyo, Taiwan, Osaka and the Philippines. He returns to his Kapahulu home in December.

Morris said invitations are "based on my ranking in the United States. I think I'm ranked No. 3 in the U.S. I was No. 1 last month."

He gets assistance from his "cue stick sponsor," Fury Cues, which is based in Charlotte, N.C.

Morris got his nickname because "I just play real fast, faster than the other guys. I've slowed down over the years."

Morris began playing in 1986 when he was 15. "I just walked into Hawaiian Brian's, where Ross is on Keeaumoku Street. I just fell in love with the game."

Now, he spends much of time touring. When told that Pearl City had a good football team this year, Morris was surprised, and happy.

"I gotta really acknowledge I graduated from there. I usually say I'm from Leeward side," he joked.

AUTO RACING

• Pflueger's a winner: Honolulu's Alan Pflueger, 36, drove his Chevy Silverado Protruck and the Pflueger racing team to victory in the Protruck class at the Las Vegas Primm 300 Sept. 13.

The victory earned Pflueger, son of retired car dealer and car racer Jimmy, the 2003 SCORE Desert Series Protruck championship title.

Pflueger, who was born and raised in Hawai'i, but attended in high school in New York, will compete in the Baja 1000 Nov. 21.

He's been racing in the Protruck series for two years, winning the last two races and earning Rookie of the Year honors in 2002.

This year, he's won three of five races.

"Basically, (we're) very pleased to have achieved our goal. Our motto in racing is: We don't show up to race, we show up to win. My competition loves that one."

Protrucks are high-performance off-road vehicles that are raced on a track.

SWIMMING

• Six cross channel: Six swimmers crossed the 9-mile Auau Channel from Maui to Lana'i Oct. 11, according to a press release.

They were: Carl Kawauchi, 60; Alton Motobu, 52; John Nielsen, 48; Bill Costello, 46; Jim Emmons, 29, and Billy Brown, 25.

Independent observers on two escort boats certified the swim.

Brown was the first to finish at 6 1/2 hours. The last swimmers came in at 8 1/2 hours.

If you know of any accomplishments by Hawai'i residents, e-mail us at sports@honoluluadvertiser.com.