fred bentivegna said:
... And Freddy, I think you're a little off on that story about the Chicago tourney where Gary beat you. I believe you were tied up at about 16 or 17 but I don't remember you scoring
much past that. And do you think Gary just got lucky and put you in that trap? Really? You played well in that tourney but what you did best was shark Gary when he was shooting! lol I know you call it "gamesmanship" but you took it to the limit! ...
Sherm, I remember exactly most of what happened in that tourn.
I certainly cannot dispute your claim of me sharking. I dont remember doing anything as overt as you say, but that type of gamesmanship was certainly not out of my wheelhouse.
Did you remember that I beat Donnie Anderson 23 to 4 to get into the finals with Gary? Donnie had beaten me the first match I played and I came up all the way thru the losers bracket.
The score was 21 all and Gary was on the back rail and he swung at a straight back. He missed and the cue ball somehow wedged in between two balls and I had to shoot the cue ball out of there and he ran 2 and out. One of the shots was a long cross corner. I dont remember if that was the game ball or not. I have been telling this story this way for 20 years and this is the first objection. I dont know who the hell else to ask about that. Most of the guys that were there are now dead.
And yes, he did get lucky to put me in that death trap. He certainly wasnt trying to freeze me between two balls from 7 ft away. You must think I am trying to take something away from Gary. You are wrong. Gary played better than me then, but I was in a real zone that day, as was he, and neither one of us was going to miss anything. What upset me was that I didnt get a chance to win from that spot. I knew whomever got the first shot was going to take it down.
Beard
.[/QUOTE]
Freddy, First off let me explain something, I like you. I like your stories, your books & DVD's and most of all I like when you talk at the HOF Banquet at the Derby each year. I also really like your commentaries. You have a very amusing way of telling
stories and one-liners that make listening to you a lot of fun. I feel if we lived close and frequented the same poolrooms we'd probably be good friends. But I gotta stick up for my old road partner when I think he's taking the worse of a situation. I'm not
stalking you or trying to knock you, just sticking up for the guy who was besides being my road partner, he was my best friend. When he found out he had leukemia, it was me he came to and we both cried. I can still remember him saying "I'm too young
to die" and me telling him" don't worry about it, you've been in worse traps in the pool room and got away from it", but I was wrong. In the years after that tournament Gary and I went through a lot together and I can honestly say I've never had a better
friend. He matured a lot after that tournament and as I said in an earlier post his game matured a lot also. He was getting better all the time and playing smarter all the time. His cueball control was phenomenal, maybe even better than his banking ability.
That's why I think you could be wrong about that "death trap" as you put it. He put Shannon Daulton in a couple of those when he beat him 7-1 in the 9-ball at the Derby, 1999, his last year there. He had a winning record playing Buddy hall in both banks
and 9-ball tournaments. Bugs quit trying to play him banks and made a one pocket game with him spotting him a ball but never won at it even though he tried 3 different times. Bugs learned a lot of his one pocket game from Joey and Gary learned more
from Bugs than he did from Joey. I do remember you bar-b-cueing Donnie at that tournament. I didn't remember the score but I'll take your word for it. Frankly we expected it to be Gary and Donnie in the finals but you stopped that. The night before Gary
played Piggy and robbed him, giving him 8-7 and winning 9 straight games. Piggy told his stake horse when he pulled up "He can't beat me at this game, he's spell banking" His stake horse said " you know what, I believe you, problem is we don't know how
long this spell is going to last"! Didn't mean to get you stirred up Freddy, just wanted to stick up for my buddy!