Rick said "go ask them if we can buy their shovel, plead if you have to"
Tom Ferry did put a move on me, but until you brought it up I had completely forgot. He was a clever man, I do remember never trusting him after we played, just couldn't remember why. He played pretty well, but even at 17 I could have shot him full of holes....I recall just wishing he would gamble with me, I wanted to shoot that "sh*& eating grin" off his face.......and hope his hat fell off with it.
That snow storm must have been one of the worst in St. Louis history. We were snowed in the Grand/Ollive place (I'm not sure why "sportscenter" is stuck in my head) for an entire day, which didn't bother us, as a matter of fact we were glad everyone was trapped, this assured there would be gambling. It would be like shooting ducks out of a barrel.
When we finally were able to leave I had to rush back to go to school (I was a junior in high school). I was with another good player named Rick Thompson from St. Joseph and had to drop him off in Columbia Mo (the columbia billiard center). When we pulled onto I-70 we hit a bank of snow and got stuck with all four wheels completely of the ground. We were helplessly stuck right in the middle of the interstate, it wasn't really dangerous, it's not like there was much traffic. We set there for 15 minutes smoking and drinking (what else do you do when you're 16 and on the road)
About 30 minutes went by and a old pickup truck got stuck just 30-40 ft. ahead of us. A couple guys jumped out of the truck, shovel in hand. They quickly dug their way out and started to get back in their truck.
Rick said "go ask them if we can buy their shovel, plead if you have to" - I immediately jumped out and hurried, snow up to my waste, to the truck up ahead.
"Hi there, we're in a dangerous situation, any way we can use your shovel?" - the guys had us in a very vulnerable position and it was apparent. They settled for $25, I grabbed the shovel and before long we were on our way.....back on the road, and on the road there's never a dull moment......the road was actually our teacher in more ways than one. Merry Christmas Watchez, enjoy the holidays and tell "the St. Louis" boys we're coming for them in February.
Tom Ferry did put a move on me, but until you brought it up I had completely forgot. He was a clever man, I do remember never trusting him after we played, just couldn't remember why. He played pretty well, but even at 17 I could have shot him full of holes....I recall just wishing he would gamble with me, I wanted to shoot that "sh*& eating grin" off his face.......and hope his hat fell off with it.
That snow storm must have been one of the worst in St. Louis history. We were snowed in the Grand/Ollive place (I'm not sure why "sportscenter" is stuck in my head) for an entire day, which didn't bother us, as a matter of fact we were glad everyone was trapped, this assured there would be gambling. It would be like shooting ducks out of a barrel.
When we finally were able to leave I had to rush back to go to school (I was a junior in high school). I was with another good player named Rick Thompson from St. Joseph and had to drop him off in Columbia Mo (the columbia billiard center). When we pulled onto I-70 we hit a bank of snow and got stuck with all four wheels completely of the ground. We were helplessly stuck right in the middle of the interstate, it wasn't really dangerous, it's not like there was much traffic. We set there for 15 minutes smoking and drinking (what else do you do when you're 16 and on the road)
About 30 minutes went by and a old pickup truck got stuck just 30-40 ft. ahead of us. A couple guys jumped out of the truck, shovel in hand. They quickly dug their way out and started to get back in their truck.
Rick said "go ask them if we can buy their shovel, plead if you have to" - I immediately jumped out and hurried, snow up to my waste, to the truck up ahead.
"Hi there, we're in a dangerous situation, any way we can use your shovel?" - the guys had us in a very vulnerable position and it was apparent. They settled for $25, I grabbed the shovel and before long we were on our way.....back on the road, and on the road there's never a dull moment......the road was actually our teacher in more ways than one.
Merry Christmas Watchez, enjoy the holidays and tell "the St. Louis" boys we're coming for them in February. From my previous post --- Louie's main hang outs in St Louis in the early years were Affton Billiards, Grand and Olive Billiards (the big pool room that Manwon mentioned) and Saratoga Bowling lanes (also mentioned). Later on he was the house pro at both what is now The Break in Cahokia Il and the Sportscenter in South County. So CJ you probably played him at the Grand and Olive room. I do know that one year, during a huge snow, many players were stuck inside Afton Billiards for over a day.
I didn't correct CJ in his earlier post cause I am always correcting him.
Another correction -- Louie was found dead in the house (dining room I believe) in the house he was living in Arizona. The story was the wife came home and found him there.
Also CJ - I have heard this story about Tom Ferry playing you in the finals of the Missouri State Championships. Before the finals started, Tom came up to you and said "Don't worry, just play your normal game, it's all setup". He was wanting you to believe that he was going to dump off the set and had gotten thru other parties side bets for you to win, even though you were the favorite, thus taking your guard down and lowering your game. Then in a race to 6, before you knew it, you were down 4 to nothing (or some score like that) and realized that Tom had put a double move on you. Tom went on to win cause it was too late for you to catch up.
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