A few more tall tales...
A few more tall tales...
Okay. Portuguese sounds good. I never asked him nore even spoke to him. But I had seen him once before and he was pointed out to me the first time so I knew who he was.
This was "Little Squirrel," Keith Thompson. I read in a post that he really came out of St. Louis. But he left a big and lasting impression on everyone in Houston. And this is where he and Cole got together. And this is when they came back to Fremont.
I was loaned a book called, "Winning One Pocket," by Eddie Robbin. I'm sure you all heard of it. Well I scanned every page cover to cover and the covers, too. In that book there is a picture of Keith Thompson and in the caption it confirms what I was told a year or two after I met him, that he had won in Johnson City. There's also a picture of Cole in there.
If no one else posts these pics here I might in a few days.
Like taking candy from a baby, eh? By the way, when you were sending Cole home busted he would have been about what, 14 or maybe just 15? I was told that when he was 16 that nobody in the San Francisco Bay Area could beat him. How old was he then?
And when I first met Cole he couldn't have been older than 19 and he was a seasoned road player by then and famous.
The last time I saw Cole was at Ceasar's Palace in Lake Tahoe at the 9-ball tournament around '76 or '77. I can remember reading the tournament program. His picture was blank so I guess he may not have wanted it in there. But anyway, there were descriptions of all the players. I had no idea Cole was 6' tall. Hah hah. I swear that is what it said. Cole had this attitude that I interpreted as he was a big kidder and this was typical as far I thought. He was standing out in the casino outside the doors to the tournament room. There were at least 5 guy fans standing around him. They all impressed me as if they were little puppies with their tails wagging vigorously. Cole had great fans. They seemed to all really love him.
That was the year that Buddy "The Rifleman" Hall came back to pool. I remember the announcer saying this. Apparently Buddy had been in a bad car accident and he had just recovered. You could feel the love for Buddy in that room when the tournament started. Buddy won that tournament. So some of you might be able to pin down the year for us.
I remember seeing Mike "Tarzan" Massey there, too. What a kick. I used to like watching those Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller and as you know Mike looked like his son. Incredible. I seen him make a shot on the practice table where he had to shoot the length of the table but the cue ball had to jump over about 25% of a blocker ball to get to the object ball. But the blocker ball was at the fifth diamond and the cue ball was at the first diamond and the object ball was at the 7th diamond.
Mike had a sidekick with him. He says, "Hey. Come. Come over here. I figured out how to make this shot. I can do it. Watch." Man he was excited. I think he had never made the shot before but he had just figured it out in his mind and he was excited to try it. So he quickly sets the shot up. He raises the cue stick up and hits down on the ball. The shot happened so fast I'm not sure if the cue ball flys through the air past at least 5 diamonds or if it hits just before the blocker and then bounces and jumps over the blocker but anyway the cue ball smacks the object ball and makes it straight in and the cue ball draws back all the way back to the first diamond where he executed the shot. WOW!
As you know Cole could make 11 foot draw shots. I saw him shoot an 8 footer with the cue ball about 2 inches off the rail. He shot the object ball that was about 8 feet away and a foot from the pocket straight in and that cue ball drew back to the head rail and came out 3 feet. It was probably better than 11 feet since the shot was more or less diagonal across the table.
Efren is great. Efren does not have a super stroke like Mike or Cole as far as I know. But he certainly don't need it, either. Many of us have seen Efren run 15 ball racks in rotation repeatedly in a row. I watched him run 5 15 ball rotation racks in a row once. He shoots the thirteen and rolls up with shape on the 14 near the rack outline. The 15 ball is about an inch off the rail about a foot from the corner pocket. Efren shoots the 14 and goes around the table three rails and kicks the 15 straight in! There were at least 10 others sitting in the stands as he gave this demonstration.
Cecil told me that he could draw even better than Cole, maybe about a foot better. He said he and Cole would practice those shots.
Here's a funny story. Cecil told me that he would bet a guy that if they passed on the sidewalk that the other guy couldn't touch him. He described the bet to me. He said he and a guy would stand on the sidewalk. They would face each other and be several feet apart. The object of the bet was that either the guy couldn't pass him on the sidewalk or that Cecil could pass him on the sidewalk but in either case the guy couldn't touch him. Cecil tells me he could win that bet. Yes, it's Cecil Tugwell. Have any of you seen Cecil make this bet?
JM
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ANAFLAVORLATIN LIVE
A few more tall tales...
SJDinPHX said:JM, Sax del Porta is of Portuguese descent. Marshall Carpenter was Tusc. Squirrell's name. I don't think he became a preacher but I could be wrong. Cole used to stop in the Circus and 4th St. Bowl (in San Jose) in the early 60's. Pros Lopez, Chuck Bailey, and I used to send him home busted. Thankfully I moved to Texas before he became a world beater at 9 ball.
We became good friends in his adult years. Yes he loved to party, maybe a little too much.
Dick
Okay. Portuguese sounds good. I never asked him nore even spoke to him. But I had seen him once before and he was pointed out to me the first time so I knew who he was.
This was "Little Squirrel," Keith Thompson. I read in a post that he really came out of St. Louis. But he left a big and lasting impression on everyone in Houston. And this is where he and Cole got together. And this is when they came back to Fremont.
I was loaned a book called, "Winning One Pocket," by Eddie Robbin. I'm sure you all heard of it. Well I scanned every page cover to cover and the covers, too. In that book there is a picture of Keith Thompson and in the caption it confirms what I was told a year or two after I met him, that he had won in Johnson City. There's also a picture of Cole in there.
If no one else posts these pics here I might in a few days.
Like taking candy from a baby, eh? By the way, when you were sending Cole home busted he would have been about what, 14 or maybe just 15? I was told that when he was 16 that nobody in the San Francisco Bay Area could beat him. How old was he then?
And when I first met Cole he couldn't have been older than 19 and he was a seasoned road player by then and famous.
The last time I saw Cole was at Ceasar's Palace in Lake Tahoe at the 9-ball tournament around '76 or '77. I can remember reading the tournament program. His picture was blank so I guess he may not have wanted it in there. But anyway, there were descriptions of all the players. I had no idea Cole was 6' tall. Hah hah. I swear that is what it said. Cole had this attitude that I interpreted as he was a big kidder and this was typical as far I thought. He was standing out in the casino outside the doors to the tournament room. There were at least 5 guy fans standing around him. They all impressed me as if they were little puppies with their tails wagging vigorously. Cole had great fans. They seemed to all really love him.
That was the year that Buddy "The Rifleman" Hall came back to pool. I remember the announcer saying this. Apparently Buddy had been in a bad car accident and he had just recovered. You could feel the love for Buddy in that room when the tournament started. Buddy won that tournament. So some of you might be able to pin down the year for us.
I remember seeing Mike "Tarzan" Massey there, too. What a kick. I used to like watching those Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller and as you know Mike looked like his son. Incredible. I seen him make a shot on the practice table where he had to shoot the length of the table but the cue ball had to jump over about 25% of a blocker ball to get to the object ball. But the blocker ball was at the fifth diamond and the cue ball was at the first diamond and the object ball was at the 7th diamond.
Mike had a sidekick with him. He says, "Hey. Come. Come over here. I figured out how to make this shot. I can do it. Watch." Man he was excited. I think he had never made the shot before but he had just figured it out in his mind and he was excited to try it. So he quickly sets the shot up. He raises the cue stick up and hits down on the ball. The shot happened so fast I'm not sure if the cue ball flys through the air past at least 5 diamonds or if it hits just before the blocker and then bounces and jumps over the blocker but anyway the cue ball smacks the object ball and makes it straight in and the cue ball draws back all the way back to the first diamond where he executed the shot. WOW!
As you know Cole could make 11 foot draw shots. I saw him shoot an 8 footer with the cue ball about 2 inches off the rail. He shot the object ball that was about 8 feet away and a foot from the pocket straight in and that cue ball drew back to the head rail and came out 3 feet. It was probably better than 11 feet since the shot was more or less diagonal across the table.
Efren is great. Efren does not have a super stroke like Mike or Cole as far as I know. But he certainly don't need it, either. Many of us have seen Efren run 15 ball racks in rotation repeatedly in a row. I watched him run 5 15 ball rotation racks in a row once. He shoots the thirteen and rolls up with shape on the 14 near the rack outline. The 15 ball is about an inch off the rail about a foot from the corner pocket. Efren shoots the 14 and goes around the table three rails and kicks the 15 straight in! There were at least 10 others sitting in the stands as he gave this demonstration.
Cecil told me that he could draw even better than Cole, maybe about a foot better. He said he and Cole would practice those shots.
Here's a funny story. Cecil told me that he would bet a guy that if they passed on the sidewalk that the other guy couldn't touch him. He described the bet to me. He said he and a guy would stand on the sidewalk. They would face each other and be several feet apart. The object of the bet was that either the guy couldn't pass him on the sidewalk or that Cecil could pass him on the sidewalk but in either case the guy couldn't touch him. Cecil tells me he could win that bet. Yes, it's Cecil Tugwell. Have any of you seen Cecil make this bet?
JM
________
ANAFLAVORLATIN LIVE
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