The cue and the case can be seen by clicking here. ONe of AZB's members has hosted the photos since I had them taken.
STOLEN POW-MIA Cue
- Thread starter JoeyA
- Start date
The cue and the case can be seen by clicking here. ONe of AZB's members has hosted the photos since I had them taken.
Just FYI, I know one place that you can put a cue and walk away (to the restroom or counter) and never have to worry about someone "borrowing" it. I've done it (with an expensive cue) and seen a few others do it also. Stand at the far end of the table and slide your cue all the way under the table. It's very easy to do it in a couple of seconds, and it's now out of sight. Unless someone actually leans down to look under your table (they won't!), it WILL be there when you come back! I've done this at tournaments where there were hundreds of people milling around the pool room. More than a few times! I did this so I didn't have to either carry the cue with me or enlist someone to guard it.
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What a noble and difficult first job you had.
Your sentiments toward those returning and missing soldiers is the same as mine and the creation of the Bender POW-MIA cue was a tribute to the Prisoners of War, the Missing in Action soldiers and all of the men and women who serve our country's interests, regardless of how misguided our interests can sometimes be.
When I first returned from Vietnam, I started fishing with a World War II veteran who was a prisoner of the Japanese. He told me stories that humbled me and made me realize how lucky I have always been. I know that he was one of the ones who gave me the impetus to have the cue created. It took 3 1/2 years to complete it. I thought that Mike Bender was pulling my leg about the cue for a while but when I saw it, I knew that he put his heart and soul in to making it something to behold.
I've been thinking about asking my son to give it to the World War II museum here in New Orleans if they will honor the cue with a display case of its own.
I'm really glad to know about that part of your life Ed. Thank you for sharing that.
You probably just jinxed yourself now.
I wouldn't do it again.
it shows
Joey,
I'm well aware that it wasn't an inexpensive cue but every time I look at it I think that whatever you paid, you got a hell of a deal! I never tire of looking at that Justis case either. Both genuine works of art and it is impossible to put a value on art just looking at time and materials.
In your shoes I think I would have been physically ill to find that cue missing. I am very glad it was recovered unharmed.
Hu
Joey,
I'm well aware that it wasn't an inexpensive cue but every time I look at it I think that whatever you paid, you got a hell of a deal! I never tire of looking at that Justis case either. Both genuine works of art and it is impossible to put a value on art just looking at time and materials.
In your shoes I think I would have been physically ill to find that cue missing. I am very glad it was recovered unharmed.
Hu
MIA Cue
Glad things worked out, sounds like you did some good old fashioned detective work to get it back.
I hate it when I open up my case and the cue is missing.
I've been lucky, especially leaving jump-break cues laying around.
This thread has increased my awareness.
Glad things worked out, sounds like you did some good old fashioned detective work to get it back.
I hate it when I open up my case and the cue is missing.
I've been lucky, especially leaving jump-break cues laying around.
This thread has increased my awareness.
Joey, next time you are in town for a white diamonds tourney, remind me to slap you. When i read the title my heart sank... but i'm glad you hooked me in because the happy ending was worth it.
lol
lol
I was entertaining one of Buffalo's infrequent customers from Houston, Texas this afternoon. The guest and I were playing 10 ball and he was giving me some pointers about breaking 10 ball and having a good time. After about two hours, I excused myself and he went his way and I went mine.
I picked up the balls and brought them to the counter, which I don't normally do, just trying to save my new practice partner the trouble of picking up the balls. I went home to eat supper and came back later tonight to put in a little time on the table and when I opened my cue case, the POW-MIA cue was not in the case. :thud::shocked2:
it was then that I realized I had left my playing cue on the adjacent table when I picked up the balls earlier that evening. I am seldom careless with my cue or case, even taking the trouble of placing the case under the table I am playing on.
One of the local players who didn't know it was my cue apparently picked up a nice cue for his collection. As luck would have it, someone saw the person with the cue and when I started whining about "losing" my cue, they mentioned to the owner that they had seen someone with a cue that looked remarkably similar to my cue.
After we ID'ed the person who "found" my cue, we attempted to get in touch with him but his phone was disconnected for the evening. I got an address, well it wasn't exactly an address but instructions on how to get to the person's trailer where they lived. A friend and I took off to new territory to find my cue. We didn't find the cue but we did find the house but no one was home. After numerous phone calls we found a friend of the person who found my cue and the friend was able to locate the person (who was too drunk to return it) who found my cue and delivered it to Buffalo Billiards in good condition.
At first I wasn't too pleased with having the cue "found" but managed to pull a double saw-buck out of my wallet to at least pay for the other person's gas for bringing the cue back to the pool room.
The person who found the cue, had no idea that the POW-MIA had a computer micro chip imbedded into the cue nor that it was so well known. I'm sure this wasn't a matter of "stealing" my cue and it was simply a matter of someone having "found" my cue and really, there is a big difference. Anyway, all is well tonight and I am happy to go to bed knowing that I have my Bender cue back where it belongs..
I shouldn't have trouble sleeping tonight. :smile:
about a decade ago I was playing with a late 60s/early 70s joss. It was probably worth about 1k give or take. So im at a Florida tour event and i lose double hill. I had broken down my break cue and I was just breaking down the joss and a few people come up to discuss my match with me. We are going over the key shot of the last game and how I misplayed something or another. My cue is on the table and gets rolled up under the side rail. Then moments later i finish the conversation and leave.
TWO DAYS later im at my house and I go to hit some balls and I open my case and the Joss isnt there. Boy am I sick to my stomach. So the wife says, call the pool room. Im like, why bother? its gone. Im such an idiot. She says, Call the pool room, you never know. So I call up there.
Hello I was up there two days ago and left my cue on the table. Was a cue turned in?
Hold on...why yes a cue was found. Dennis Searing said he knew the owner and he has it.
Apparently the waitress was walking by the table and saw the cue. Picked it up, and said hey whose cue is this. Dennis is standing right there and says hey thats Dave's cue...ill take that and get it back to him. So i got the cue from Dennis later that week.
Nowadays, when I go take the bathroom...my cue goes with me.
TWO DAYS later im at my house and I go to hit some balls and I open my case and the Joss isnt there. Boy am I sick to my stomach. So the wife says, call the pool room. Im like, why bother? its gone. Im such an idiot. She says, Call the pool room, you never know. So I call up there.
Hello I was up there two days ago and left my cue on the table. Was a cue turned in?
Hold on...why yes a cue was found. Dennis Searing said he knew the owner and he has it.
Apparently the waitress was walking by the table and saw the cue. Picked it up, and said hey whose cue is this. Dennis is standing right there and says hey thats Dave's cue...ill take that and get it back to him. So i got the cue from Dennis later that week.
Nowadays, when I go take the bathroom...my cue goes with me.
Lafayette, Louisiana
When I write, I make sure to keep the readers hooked. :grin:
See you in October at THE BEST WEEKEND BAR TABLE TOURNAMENT IN THE WORLD.
Happy, Happy, Happy JoeyA
When I write, I make sure to keep the readers hooked. :grin:
See you in October at THE BEST WEEKEND BAR TABLE TOURNAMENT IN THE WORLD.
Happy, Happy, Happy JoeyA
Jay, you wouldn't believe how brazen some people are. I did what you did with a jump cue of mine when I was in a money match at the now closed South Bay Billiards. Sometime during the night, it went missing when we were doing our bathroom breaks. It wasn't much, but it rankled me nevertheless.
There is nothing worse than a thief. Bottom line. They should be shot.
The apology. All's well that ends well!
The fellow who "found" my cue came up to me and apologized last night.
He started off with a sincere apology for "picking up" my cue. He then told me about his cue being ripped off three months prior from some migratory workers hoping to establish some justification for his actions. He explained that he did not know that the cue was my cue (I actually believe him). The day he "found" my cue he saw some of the migratory workers playing near where my cue was "found" and figured it probably belonged to one of them. So.....
Anyway, he sincerely apologized again for picking up my cue but as he finished his apology he signed off by saying that he was glad it was him that picked up my cue instead of someone else. I had to chuckle out loud at that statement. I guess he never thought about someone else maybe turning the cue in so that the rightful owner could be found.
The truth is that he didn't do anything to help me get the cue back so I don't owe him any thanks and I would feel really strange thanking the person who stole my cue for returning it. Poolrooms will always contain opportunists who will make an effort to "pick up" a cue that was left unattended and this person spends money in the pool room, buying drinks, pool time and even a little gambling (although not with me) and I figure the pool room owner doesn't need to lose another customer, especially in these economic times. This person seldom wins and money and never wins a pool tournament so he is there spending money keeping the pool room open. The fellow never argues with anyone and isn't the sort to threaten anyone and I just find it hard to find any fire and brimestone to send his way.
I'm counting my lucky stars and will try to keep up with my cue more carefully in the future and just consider this a wake-up call. Even if you know who stole your cue, if he sold it to another person who was traveling, it is unlikely that you would track the cue down unless it were advertised on a medium like this site or worse yet, they could destroy the cue because of fear of getting caught.
I don't see any benefit to having the guy arrested, beaten up or admonished any more than he already has been.
Am I being too lenient or tolerant of this situation?
The fellow who "found" my cue came up to me and apologized last night.
He started off with a sincere apology for "picking up" my cue. He then told me about his cue being ripped off three months prior from some migratory workers hoping to establish some justification for his actions. He explained that he did not know that the cue was my cue (I actually believe him). The day he "found" my cue he saw some of the migratory workers playing near where my cue was "found" and figured it probably belonged to one of them. So.....
Anyway, he sincerely apologized again for picking up my cue but as he finished his apology he signed off by saying that he was glad it was him that picked up my cue instead of someone else. I had to chuckle out loud at that statement. I guess he never thought about someone else maybe turning the cue in so that the rightful owner could be found.
The truth is that he didn't do anything to help me get the cue back so I don't owe him any thanks and I would feel really strange thanking the person who stole my cue for returning it. Poolrooms will always contain opportunists who will make an effort to "pick up" a cue that was left unattended and this person spends money in the pool room, buying drinks, pool time and even a little gambling (although not with me) and I figure the pool room owner doesn't need to lose another customer, especially in these economic times. This person seldom wins and money and never wins a pool tournament so he is there spending money keeping the pool room open. The fellow never argues with anyone and isn't the sort to threaten anyone and I just find it hard to find any fire and brimestone to send his way.
I'm counting my lucky stars and will try to keep up with my cue more carefully in the future and just consider this a wake-up call. Even if you know who stole your cue, if he sold it to another person who was traveling, it is unlikely that you would track the cue down unless it were advertised on a medium like this site or worse yet, they could destroy the cue because of fear of getting caught.
I don't see any benefit to having the guy arrested, beaten up or admonished any more than he already has been.
Am I being too lenient or tolerant of this situation?
surprisingly reasonable
Joey,
I know you are that kind of guy but even for you, you are being surprisingly reasonable, understanding, and considerate of others. Difficult to believe that a regular didn't connect that cue and matching case to you. Even if they didn't stealing my cue because they thought they were stealing somebody else's would be very hard for me to accept.
I think what you are doing along with a warning to Buff and all of the other regulars there is probably the best thing to do in this case. I have to admit it probably takes a better man than I am to handle it in this manner.
If I saw him so much as touch anything of mine ever again I'd still call Vito. :grin:
Hu
Joey,
I know you are that kind of guy but even for you, you are being surprisingly reasonable, understanding, and considerate of others. Difficult to believe that a regular didn't connect that cue and matching case to you. Even if they didn't stealing my cue because they thought they were stealing somebody else's would be very hard for me to accept.
I think what you are doing along with a warning to Buff and all of the other regulars there is probably the best thing to do in this case. I have to admit it probably takes a better man than I am to handle it in this manner.
If I saw him so much as touch anything of mine ever again I'd still call Vito. :grin:
Hu
JoeyA's Stolen Cue
Glad you got your cue back Joey, I have left my sneeky pete at the bar a couple of times after playing, but the next day it would be in the rack! got lucky !
We must have radar, just yesterday I was thinking about putting a chip in my cue in the bumper, or in a clear plastic dot in the cue.
anyway hope your Blood Pressure is now back to normal!.......hehe:grin-square:
David Harcrow
I was entertaining one of Buffalo's infrequent customers from Houston, Texas this afternoon. The guest and I were playing 10 ball and he was giving me some pointers about breaking 10 ball and having a good time. After about two hours, I excused myself and he went his way and I went mine.
I picked up the balls and brought them to the counter, which I don't normally do, just trying to save my new practice partner the trouble of picking up the balls. I went home to eat supper and came back later tonight to put in a little time on the table and when I opened my cue case, the POW-MIA cue was not in the case. :thud::shocked2:
it was then that I realized I had left my playing cue on the adjacent table when I picked up the balls earlier that evening. I am seldom careless with my cue or case, even taking the trouble of placing the case under the table I am playing on.
One of the local players who didn't know it was my cue apparently picked up a nice cue for his collection. As luck would have it, someone saw the person with the cue and when I started whining about "losing" my cue, they mentioned to the owner that they had seen someone with a cue that looked remarkably similar to my cue.
After we ID'ed the person who "found" my cue, we attempted to get in touch with him but his phone was disconnected for the evening. I got an address, well it wasn't exactly an address but instructions on how to get to the person's trailer where they lived. A friend and I took off to new territory to find my cue. We didn't find the cue but we did find the house but no one was home. After numerous phone calls we found a friend of the person who found my cue and the friend was able to locate the person (who was too drunk to return it) who found my cue and delivered it to Buffalo Billiards in good condition.
At first I wasn't too pleased with having the cue "found" but managed to pull a double saw-buck out of my wallet to at least pay for the other person's gas for bringing the cue back to the pool room.
The person who found the cue, had no idea that the POW-MIA had a computer micro chip imbedded into the cue nor that it was so well known. I'm sure this wasn't a matter of "stealing" my cue and it was simply a matter of someone having "found" my cue and really, there is a big difference. Anyway, all is well tonight and I am happy to go to bed knowing that I have my Bender cue back where it belongs..
I shouldn't have trouble sleeping tonight. :smile:
Glad you got your cue back Joey, I have left my sneeky pete at the bar a couple of times after playing, but the next day it would be in the rack! got lucky !
We must have radar, just yesterday I was thinking about putting a chip in my cue in the bumper, or in a clear plastic dot in the cue.
anyway hope your Blood Pressure is now back to normal!.......hehe:grin-square:
David Harcrow
Under the table
Yes that's a good idea Jay, I always put my case under the table I'm playing on, it's just easier to keep up with that way.
David Harcrow
Yes that's a good idea Jay, I always put my case under the table I'm playing on, it's just easier to keep up with that way.
David Harcrow
Joey-
Holy sh#t. That is a sic setup. So glad you got it back-thanks to your own immediate efforts.
I have had that terrible 'Ohhh Nooooo' floating stomach feeling before too. I hope to never have it again.
I was lucky- a local young gun, prankster broke mine down and put it down his pant leg during a local tournament while I was paying the waitress for a soft drink there at the table. He stood there while I panicked and looked frantically around the room and hustled outside to see if I could see anybody looking guilty on the way to their car.
When I got back, he pulled it out of his baggy pants leg -and said 'here it is'.
He laughed. I didn't. We laugh about it now-but not then.
I was lucky. I was reminded that it doesn't take much inattention to get ripped off. It was a wake up call that I needed.
Mine would have been the loss of a nice cue/money-yours would have been a much more meaningful loss-I am glad you got it back. That's good karma at work, Joey.
Take care
I have two stories in Pool Wars about recovering cues that were stolen. I mean these cues were gone! But with a little detective work and a lot of cunning we got both of them back. It's a lesson on how to recover a stolen cue. It can be done if you act quickly. One belonged to Ming Ng and one belonged to Tang Hoa.
P.S. Our own JoeyA wrote the Foreword for the book too! What a guy! :thumbup:
P.S. Our own JoeyA wrote the Foreword for the book too! What a guy! :thumbup: