Well, I woke up today, and the first thing I read was David Matlock versus Keith McCready. Whoever that guy is continuing to drag my name in posts with David must be a pretty good friend of David's, but he doesn't know all the facts or have all the facts.
Just for your information, first of all, I have all the respect for David. I would never say anything to hurt his feelings or rag on his game -- in other words, take it in the mud.
For you to say I couldn't beat David and never did beat David is absurd. The last time me and David played, it was a 10-ahead set in Richmond, Kentucky, at The Maverick Club. We played a 10-ahead set. It lasted about 50 minutes to an hour, me winning.
Second of all, David's 4-1/2-by-9 play was not nearly as strong as his bar table play. For you to say that I couldn't beat him playing 9-ball on a big table or 10-ball or one-pocket, I just wish that you would have been there when I had some real money and was playing all the time. I would have put you back on your back porch, right where you belong, reading a book.
The time that I did play David in Texas was in Dallas. I was getting staked by Weldon Rogers and Will Willingham. We didn't pick the location. It was in a guy's house with a buzzer. Every time David broke the balls, 3 and 4 balls would fly in, and every time I broke them, I wouldn't make a ball. There was something funny going on. Come to find out later, Sonny Spring, the guy's house that we played at, told me all about the buzzer. I played him after that, was chomping at the bit to play on neutral equipment, and I finally got my chance and I dusted him off. And then we played one more time after that, and that was at The Maverick Club.
There's nothing wrong with being friends with somebody, and I get it. I guess just like the way Bobby is with me, but Bobby knows what time of day it is. He witnessed a lot of my beatings on a lot of people. They shipped bar table players in from all over, and I shipped them, out one by one, busted and broke. I was giving everybody back then the 7-ball and the 8-ball. With the big cueball, they wouldn't play me. They had to go to the little cueball on the bar tables to even have a chance.
Back in the '70s, there was a Mexican by the name of Canella, who everybody said was the best bar table player in Mexico. I never really got to see how good he was because he never shot. I beat him two sets so fast, 10-aheads, that it would make you swim. He didn't ask me for weight because he didn't want to lose getting weight. Pride, I guess.
I was playing Morro Paez, giving him the 7 on a 4-by-8 with a big cueball, Ernesto Dominguez the 7-ball. This was all on a bar table with a big cueball, and they had to switch the big cueball to the little cueball. There used to be a bar called Nutty Nero's. That's where everybody would come after hours and play for days. They all checked up short. Kim Davenport, I was giving him the 7-ball on a big table. I would win some, lose some. We had some pretty good battles ourselves. None of these players would ever play me even.
I sort of wish that we could go back in time, but we can't. I'm 57 now, just about, not in combat like I used to be. But if you think in your right mind that I was afraid of David playing on any table, you're crazy. I've seen this Clint guy rambling on, on this website, trying to belittle me or put me down, and I don't know why.
I won't post any more about this. I consider David my friend, not my enemy. I hope David is doing well, and I know he is.
Just as an FYI, the three toughest players I ever played on a bar table were Boston Joey and Vernon Elliott and David Matlock -- in that order.