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- Thread starter Grady
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The bar tab for that after party was $600 - on my credit card, big guy! I was kind of taken by surprise on that one, but I was so thrilled you won the tournament I just forgot about it. When you returned home, minus my Szamboti, that was when I really did get pissed. Not at you but at this Whale guy who I didn't even know. I wanted to hop the next plane and go looking for him. Fortunately Brooklyn Butch took care of all that. :smile:
Jay, What ever happened to the Szam???
Hey Keith which hall was the tournament held in?? Im pretty sure it was the pocket lounge in a strip mall parking lot in Binghamton right??
Im from Binghamton and I never heard of the BC Open pool tournament.. Of course I know of the Pro/AM BC Golf Tournament but I never heard of a pool tourney being held..
You should see the town nowadays :frown: Ever since EJ and IBM shutdown its a particaly a ghost town :boring:
Im from Binghamton and I never heard of the BC Open pool tournament.. Of course I know of the Pro/AM BC Golf Tournament but I never heard of a pool tourney being held..
You should see the town nowadays :frown: Ever since EJ and IBM shutdown its a particaly a ghost town :boring:
I sold it in New York about ten years later for 4K.
I knew Clem pretty well when he got out of jail and was really past his prime. He told me himself about making a game with a sucker and giving him a spot like the 8 ball when he could have spotted him the 5 out and the breaks. They played a short race to 7 for Clem's case money and the guy made a few 9's on the break, rode the money balls the rest of the time and got extremely lucky and won the set. Clem went out to his car, got his pistol and took the money from the sucker. As he told the story you could tell that he wholeheartedly believed he was entitled to the money because the sucker should have had no chance to win. I've heard rumors that it may have happened more than once, but I know from the horses mouth that it did happen once.
The Holiday Inn Arena, in the ball room. The Pocket Billiard Lounge is now Ball Busters Billiards. The BC Open was named for the BC comic strip by Johnnie Hart, as was the golf tournament. Wednesday night during the pool tournament week there was a Pro-Am with pool players, golfers, politicians and local celebrities. The first one was in '84 or '85, IIRC.
The first prize the first year was $25,000. After the first tournament, however, other promoters put pressure on Gary Pinkowski to lower the first prize money, claiming that they couldn't raise that kind of cash. Gary agreed but he didn't like it. There were 64 Men's spots and 32 Women.
Loree Jon Jones won all four of the Women's events. The other Men's winners besides Keith were Dave Bollman, Kim Davenport, and Mike Sigel.
I lived in Binghamton until 1997 when I moved to South Carolina. We were there for a week in March of this year.
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Don't know about the dog....
..but I remember Whitey coming to the Rack in Detroit with a bunch of
expensive cues..he was selling them at bargain prices.
Nobody would buy any 'cause it was thought that he stole them off players.
....lots of gamblers are honorable
Binghamton is the County Seat. The County is Broome County. I heard it referred to as the Broome County Open
You sure about that comic strip thing??
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now i have no 1st hand knowledge of whitey, but have heard stories from an old friend Tony(one legged guy who'd yell c@#$suck@# alot) that would be very hard to post on a public forum. even edited. if true that he was that bad do you grady, or jay, have any specific incidents you can mention?? i heard about this grungy dog he had..... pms would be held in the strictest confidence if not appropriate here.
Yes, I'm sure. Gary had Johnnie Hart at all the tournaments on Pro-Am night. Also, remember, I lived in Binghamton and knew Pinkowski well. You heard wrong. I've only heard it called that once and that by a forum member who didn't know. Easy assumption to make, however.
Also, BC, the comic character, was on the program cover. The whole thing was set up to go along with the BC Open Golf Tournament.
The character also appeared on the golf tournament programs and pairing sheets. I have pairing sheet from, I think, the first year of the golf tournament, autographed by Palmer, Nicklause, and Bob Hope, given to me by a friend when I started collecting autographs in the early '90s.
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dave...I will promise you that there is "fiction" in every road story book ever written. It's the nature of the beast! 
LOL
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
LOLScott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
The late Jimmy Cattrano who had a rm in Rego Park , New York told me that Steve wanted 3 or 4 Pts on 50 in 3-c but he would not give it to him.
Rogue List
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'Steve the whale'
So, I really don't know 'The Whale'. But I can work in the pool hall all day, covering tables or putting on tips, or cleaning toilets, or whatever, and come home and login and Mr. Mcready and Mr. Beard and Mr. Helfert are all here discussing him and all the other great characters of the game. How great is this?
So, I really don't know 'The Whale'. But I can work in the pool hall all day, covering tables or putting on tips, or cleaning toilets, or whatever, and come home and login and Mr. Mcready and Mr. Beard and Mr. Helfert are all here discussing him and all the other great characters of the game. How great is this?
My bad, I posted the wrong link. :embarrassed2: If you saw some of the websites I frequent during the day for my job, well, let's just say that I'm glad it was pool related.
Thanks for the kind words and the helpful assistance! :smile:
You are right, and so is Gary. It is the Broome County Open, e.g., "B.C. Open," and Gary is right about the comic strip writer Johnny Hart who wrote the long-running B.C. cartoon comic strip. He hailed from Binghamton, NY. Keith (and I) wrote an article for InsidePOOL magazine about this tournament, and I did a lot of research on the event to ensure its accuracy. This was one of the bits of trivia I uncovered.
For the young'ns who haven't heard of B.C. comics, here's a sample. :smile:
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![Gary_Pinkowski,_Keith_McCready_&_Mary_Lea_Jordan_-_'85_BC_Open,_Binghamton,_NY[1].jpg](/data/attachments/139/139450-f0eae4e70fc09b91b6f843cae696fd17.jpg?hash=8Ork5w_Am5)
How about this motley crew?! Richie Ambrose, Efren, and Keith at the 1992 Huebler Cup in Las Vegas. :smile:
I can take one look at Keith's face in this picture and see that he must have enjoyed his stay in Las Vegas to the fullest, aside from the pool tournament. :grin-square:
Mary Kenniston, BTW, was kind enough to send me these photos that had Keith in them. I don't have very many of these gems of Keith in his earlier life, so I really, really appreciate having them.
These photos as well as other cool pool pics are part of a collection she has accumulated from various pool entities, as well as her own personal collection, that she shares on her Facebook Page. This is a great pool archives of American pool history. Thank you, Mary, for making a record on the Internet for future pool historians and enthusiasts.
To see more cool pool pics, go to Mary Kenniston's Facebook page and check it out.
I can take one look at Keith's face in this picture and see that he must have enjoyed his stay in Las Vegas to the fullest, aside from the pool tournament. :grin-square:
Mary Kenniston, BTW, was kind enough to send me these photos that had Keith in them. I don't have very many of these gems of Keith in his earlier life, so I really, really appreciate having them.
These photos as well as other cool pool pics are part of a collection she has accumulated from various pool entities, as well as her own personal collection, that she shares on her Facebook Page. This is a great pool archives of American pool history. Thank you, Mary, for making a record on the Internet for future pool historians and enthusiasts.
To see more cool pool pics, go to Mary Kenniston's Facebook page and check it out.
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Tony actually did play pretty good around the time of the book...I was actually there when he beat L. Lemke in a ten ahead in two hours for 5K.
I think Louis's backer, Kamikazee Bob, had to put up 5500 vs 5000 because L.L. owed Tony 500 bucks, lol. How times change...
He got a lot of rolls and nine balls on the break, but still played well. BUCKETS on those Reno tables back then.
I think Louis's backer, Kamikazee Bob, had to put up 5500 vs 5000 because L.L. owed Tony 500 bucks, lol. How times change...
He got a lot of rolls and nine balls on the break, but still played well. BUCKETS on those Reno tables back then.