Cecil Tugwell

[jjohnson]

I was talking with Cecil at Hard Times Bellflower. He was telling me how he would bet guys $50 that they could stand on the sidewalk and he could get past them while remaining on the sidewalk himself and they couldn't touch him.

I tried to imagine how this would work but couldn't do it. I was baffled. I am still baffled.

Can anyone tell me exactly how this could work? I mean, is it simply that he would fake a move and get his opponent to commit then he was so fast that in the blink of an eye change direction get around the other side perhaps with some super-human contortion as well?

Wow. I'd sure like to see that because I cannot even imagine...

 

[alphadog]

I was talking with Cecil at Hard Times Bellflower. He was telling me how he would bet guys $50 that they could stand on the sidewalk and he could get past them while remaining on the sidewalk himself and they couldn't touch him.

I tried to imagine how this would work but couldn't do it. I was baffled. I am still baffled.

Can anyone tell me exactly how this could work? I mean, is it simply that he would fake a move and get his opponent to commit then he was so fast that in the blink of an eye change direction get around the other side perhaps with some super-human contortion as well?

Wow. I'd sure like to see that because I cannot even imagine...

Did he run around the block?

 

[Korsakoff]

Did he run around the block?

Brilliant! Simple solution I totally missed. And I’m usually good at these sorts of propositions.

 

[Hungarian]

Did he run around the block?

Cool story but if we are being purely technical this would be going around him the long way, not past him.

 

[jjohnson]

Did he run around the block?

Surely the wisdom of Ulysses. I had never thought of that.

At first I immediately thought it must have been some sort of scam, too.

But at the time, Cecil had impressed upon me that he was a natural athlete. And also, I just read an interview he gave. Growing up, he was into baseball, basketball, football, gymnastics, etc. because by law you couldn't get into pool halls unless you were 18.

I was hoping someone actually had firsthand knowledge of this aforementioned claim.

 

[straightline]

Cool story but if we are being purely technical this would be going around him the long way, not past him.

He will pass on the other side of the building - I think this is topologically identical to going past; not sure.

 

[book collector]

I was talking with Cecil at Hard Times Bellflower. He was telling me how he would bet guys $50 that they could stand on the sidewalk and he could get past them while remaining on the sidewalk himself and they couldn't touch him.

I tried to imagine how this would work but couldn't do it. I was baffled. I am still baffled.

Can anyone tell me exactly how this could work? I mean, is it simply that he would fake a move and get his opponent to commit then he was so fast that in the blink of an eye change direction get around the other side perhaps with some super-human contortion as well?

Wow. I'd sure like to see that because I cannot even imagine...

Bet him 10 dollars he can't and you will know how.

 

[Pacecar]

Maybe he's carrying his python pet snake as he walk by.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Did he run around the block?

Like the old prop bet: You put the bridge across the table any way you like and I'll bet I can roll the cue ball under it.

After checking for bridges, coats, boxes, and ball trays, roll the cue ball on the floor under the table and the bridge.

 

[mnorwood]

Betting large sums of money in a parking lot foot race was done some at the White Diamonds tournament in Lafayette.

 

[lfigueroa]

Like the old prop bet: You put the bridge across the table any way you like and I'll bet I can roll the cue ball under it.

After checking for bridges, coats, boxes, and ball trays, roll the cue ball on the floor under the table and the bridge.

Or the I’ll bet I can tell where you got your shoes bet.

Lou Figueroa
on your feet

 

[lfigueroa]

In this vein, one of the best ones I’ve seen was at a resteraunt with a bunch of AF buddies.

Waiter came over after we’d had a few bottles of wine and offered to bet that if he shoved a wine cork into an empty bottle he could get it out without breaking the bottle. We all said we’d pay to see that and threw a bunch of dollar bills on the table.

The waiter then took a cloth napkin and, after the cork was in, put it into the bottle making sure a corner of the napkin went in first. Twisting the napkin he got the corner of it to the bottom of the bottle and maneuvered it until the cork was cradled in the corner of the napkin. Then he twisted it a bit more to secure the cork and yanked it out.

Totally worth it.

Lou Figueroa