I LOVE IT! Finally got Keith's side of the story. I knew Ronnie well and not only idolized him, but traveled with him extensively on the West Coast. That was one of his favorite moves, playing one handed One Pocket to the other player's two hands. If they were particularly good he would ask for and often get the break. Then he had them locked up. Keith got it right that Ronnie told people you were a good shortstop that got hot in that tournament. He never liked to talk about losing in the finals to you. I did know he and his crew (Lenny Moore etc.) lost a bunch of cash that day. That's about all I knew for sure since I wasn't there. Sounds like he tried to shark you too but it didn't work.
I still don't know exactly why you quit pool soon after. I kind of remember stories about you having a family to support and going to work. My memory is vague on that now, since it's been so long ago. I think you were there in Houston when I played in the Super Senior event a few years back, but we never really talked. I was trying to win a match and was playing for sh-t. I got lucky by buying Bob Ogburn in the calcutta and he got me even for the trip when he won the tourney. I did hear that you made a good life for yourself, so congrats on that.
Later on someone (I don't remember who) told me that you played like Cole's speed back then or even ran around with Cole out
West. Something like that. You can elaborate if you want. Cole was ferocious when he was a teen also, flying around the country, taking on local champions and coming home with the cheese.
The first time I ever saw Cole was at the Brass Rail in Durham, NC, in the Spring of 1970. Back then the only serious shortstop in Durham was a redheaded kid named Mike Wynn, who was a hell of a player but with a higher opinion of his game than his game really warranted. He took his game up to Jack 'n' Jill one time and got busted by Beanie's partner Charles De Valliere.
Anyway, I wandered into the Brass Rail that day and saw a visually agitated Mike Wynn matching up against a stringy haired skinny little hippie (Cole), didn't look a day over 16, who was just
torturing him. Ran out from everywhere, with one of those pockmarked featherweight cue balls that were barely bigger than a snooker ball, and after a while he had Mike missing shots that the proverbial two year old would've made. Since I always thought Mike was kind of a creepy sort, I was secretly rooting for the road player to take down our local champ. And what made it even better was that I matched up later with Cole's partner and beat him out of a little chump change. Obviously that other player wasn't Keith Thompson.
Earlier I see mention was made of players who died too young, and the one I'd always think of in that category was the late Nick Vlahos, AKA "Little Nicky" when he was a teenage phenomenon in the Washington, DC area in the late 1960's / early 70's. In terms of sheer all-around talent I'd be hard pressed to think of anyone much better, but especially in one pocket and straight pool. His family moved to New England and he never strayed much out of that area, but from what I've heard he won a small fortune in backroom action and invested his winnings in real estate, passing on the property to his mother. AFAIK the only video we have of him is an Accu-Stats DVD where he easily beat Earl in a straight pool match somewhere up in Maine. He died of a brain tumor at some point in the late 90's, but if he'd lived and decided to go "national" with his game, I think he'd be in the conversation today as being in the top 25 or 50 of all time. If Tom-Tom (Tom Wirth) sees this, I'm sure he'd back me up, as he saw "Little Nicky" up close many times when they were both in high school.