Cecil Tugwell - Passes Away

[Island Drive]

Think its time to consider the Tug HOF One hole (unless he alread is), he truly epitomizes a great one Hole scuffler/player, almost a parallel breed to the depression era players, cept he partied. Tugwell probably had every trait, swagger, ass wiggle, look, and moves of all the great One holers from his era, he lived/breathed our environment for LIFE. Not many have this resiliency to their trade. Shannon Daulton seems his equal, Gabe is on his way.

 

[BillPorter]

Think its time to consider the Tug HOF One hole (unless he alread is), he truly epitomizes a great one Hole scuffler/player, almost a parallel breed to the depression era players, cept he partied. Tugwell probably had every trait, swagger, ass wiggle, look, and moves of all the great One holers from his era, he lived/breathed our environment for LIFE. Not many have this resiliency to their trade. Shannon Daulton seems his equal, Gabe is on his way.

I just checked and didn't see his name on the list for the One Pocket Hall of Fame.

 

[jay helfert]

I first met Cecil in 1967 on my first trip to Los Angeles. We were both kids then. I was an up and coming young shortstop and Cecil was already one of the top players in L.A. We hung out in the same poolrooms for the most part. His home court was Tournament Billiards in the ghetto and my home court was The Billiard Den in Hollywood. Believe it or not they were only few miles apart.

Cecil had been a champion athlete in high school, winning Los Angeles city championships in diving and gymnastics. He also got started in pool while in high school and quickly began moving up in the ranks. By the time he was 21, he was a noted player on the L.A. scene. Many still consider him the best all around black player ever. He had no weaknesses at any game, whether it be 9-Ball, One Pocket or even Straight Pool. Cecil was fully capable of running 100 balls, even at an early age.

Unfortunately Cecil could be his own worst enemy, with a hair trigger temper that cost him both friends and money (soft action) on many occasions. He was always ready to battle off the table as well as on, for whatever reason. That was to be his downfall all his adult life, and was the cause of the calamity that cost him the use of his right hand. He lost his temper in Detroit while gambling with local black gangsters. They let him know that he wasn't in California anymore, a broken arm and a mangled wrist (never surgically repaired by a doctor) his reward for getting out of line with them.

He came home to Los Angeles in the late 70's and set about learning to play pool with his left hand. One year of constant play and he was now deadly accurate again, but with nowhere near the gifts he had before. He was still a very knowledgeable player, but not anything like the brilliant champion he had been. He was still good enough to win statewide tournaments around California in the 1980's (I was his backer and traveling companion), and even finished in the top ten in several national competitions.

How good he could have been we will never know, but unquestionably he was at one time one of the best (top ten) One Pocket players in the country. He was "Cliff Joyner", before there was a Cliff Joyner, if you get my drift. As a young man, we called him the Serpent, and he was feared by road men and respected by the champions of that era. Let's just say that no one went out of their way to match up with him. Even the top young players like Jimmy Reid, Jimmy Marino and Cole Dickson would not give weight to Cecil. He had to play these guys even, and often did. Only the very best players of that era (Ed Kelly, Richie Florence, Ronnie Allen) were favorites over Cecil, when he was still in his 20's.

His transformation from right handed player to left handed player was one of the most amazing things I've seen in all my years in pool. It earned him a new name, "The Left Duke." Even my friend Brooklyn Butch, who was a noteworthy adversary of Cecil, gave him a grudging compliment when I informed him of his passing. He said, "Cecil had the heart of a champion and never gave up. He was one of the great players of his era." And that from a man who disliked him.

Cecil became a regular in my last poolroom, which conveniently was in South Central Los Angeles, near his home. Out of friendship I let him play (and eat) for free, his skills by now greatly diminished. It was sad for me to see this once great player struggle to make balls that were easy pickings for him once upon a time. In the end, Cecil (like so many others) fell victim to the drugs that consumed the last twenty years of his life. A sad ending for such a gifted athlete. RIP Serpent, you will be remembered.

 

[poolcuemaster]

Rest in piece Cecil and tell my friend Denny to rack'em, you can go back to shootin righty now.--Leonard

 

[JAM]

A friend of Keith's told him last night that Cecil suffered from diabetes. I think Cecil was in his seventies.

Here's another rare picture of Cecil in this link: http://www.billporter.smugmug.com/O...1411489_nea7w/2/71488043_hxnSB#71488043_hxnSB

Picture courtesy of Bill Porter and Michael Haines

 

[JAM]

This is a snippet of an article written by Leil "JR" Gay:

JR won the coveted US Open One-Pocket Championship, but the credit for his success he partially attributes to another player. "The other key was I played...Cecil Tugwell, he was a great player. I was just playing him $20 a game the first day of the tournament and he beats me like 15 games. I blow like $300 in one night, that's a lot of games." JR viewed the session with Tugwell as playing for experience. Thereafter, during each day of the US Open JR would play Tugwell one pocket. The next day JR took 5 games, the day after JR won 4 games, the day after that he won 3 games. On the last day of the tournament, JR approached Cecil to continue their play, but this time Cecil refused. He had had enough. "It just all came together."

Source: http://www.8ball.org/documents/Profiles/leil_gay.htm [Retrieved 23 April 2011]

 

[JAM]

I first met Cecil in 1967 on my first trip to Los Angeles. We were both kids then...RIP Serpent, you will be remembered.

The posts on this thread have all been truly heartwarming. Jay, your post is especially a good read to somebody who never met Cecil Tugwell before. Thanks, as always, for your great contributions. Pool's unsung heroes will not be forgotten as long as folks like you continue to create a record with your words of experience and wisdom. Thank you!

 

[jay helfert]

The posts on this thread have all been truly heartwarming. Jay, your post is especially a good read to somebody who never met Cecil Tugwell before. Thanks, as always, for your great contributions. Pool's unsung heroes will not be forgotten as long as folks like you continue to create a record with your words of experience and wisdom. Thank you!

Thanks Jam. I think Cecil was 67.

 

[RogerO]

My meeting with Cecil (painfully long, sorry, but it's the only way I know).

It was the early to mid-70s in downtown Norwich, CT. The room was “The Recreation Billiards” on the third floor in the heart of Franklin Square. The room had chicken wire over the plate glass windows to save them from errant cueballs. I was knocking balls around on table 1 when this black guy came in. He was wearing a pastel green leisure suit, white fedora and was wearing a digital watch. Digital watches had just come out and cost ~$200. I said to myself, if this guy wants to play pool, I can guess where he got his money.

The fellow woofed at me for awhile, complimenting shots and telling me he wanted to play some nine ball. I am more of a straight pool player so I directed him to Kenny, who was a much better nine ball player than me. The guy said, “No, I wanna play you. You the best in the house.” (very far from true.)

After a while, we finally agreed on a game. Straight nine, $5/rack. He picked up a house cue and we moved over to table 5. It wasn’t long after we started that I realized I was in way over my head. He was hiding his speed by trying to kill the 9 on almost every shot. That wasn’t lost on me. I also noticed that he was a left handed shooter. Before too long, I was down about $40.

A small crowd gathered and we spoke openly. Nobody had ever seen him before, yet he claimed that he was a local. He said that he was in the service (claiming first that he was in the Army, then changing to the Navy and finally the Air Force) and had been away.

A little later, Gus, a local black fellow, came in. In my youthful naiveté (all blacks must know each other) I asked Gus if he knew the player. The player said that he lived on Thames street. After awhile, Gus said, “Wait a minute. They ain’t no houses on Thames street. They tore ‘em all down for redevelopment.” The player said that there was still one house on Thames street…. There was: the Huns motorcycle club.

Our game continued. Kenny noted that I wasn’t playing well and wanted to pick up the game with me backing him and said we’d split the winnings. I told Kenny that there weren’t going to be any winnings because this guy was GOOD. Kenny responded that he wasn’t good, that I was just having an off day. All this talk, out in the open as the match continued. The player started woofing at Kenny. At this time, I was down about $60. I’d win one, lose 3 or 4, etc. I decided that if I lost 3 more in a row, I’d quit.

The player then asked if I wanted to play for $10 a rack. I told him I was fine at $5. All of a sudden, I started to get the better of him. I said to myself, “Good, he’s letting me off the hook.” He continued woofing at Kenny. I’m now $10 losers and again he asks me if I want to up the bet to $10. I said no. The player then said that he didn’t want to play me anymore. I happily paid my $10, figuring I just came out $60 winners.

The player made a game with Kenny. Straight pool to 75 points for $50. It was a thing to watch. Kenny never got past the mid-30s. The player didn’t run a lot of balls, but thirteened him to death, missing a shot and “getting poor position.” It was a thing of beauty. All the while, I keep telling Kenny that he can’t win against this guy, yet he’s convinced that the player isn’t a player. Game over. Kenny asked him if he wanted to play some nine ball. “Sure.” Kenny asks “$5 a rack?” Reply, “Oh no. The price just went up to $20.” Unbeknownst to us, Kenny only had another $20. He wins the first game, loses the next two and is tapped out. The player leaves.

The next day, the player came back to the room. With nobody else around, he came up to me and asked me if I wanted to play. I said, “where’s your partner?” He asked me what I meant. I told him, “Don’t you guys usually travel in pairs?” He looked around. Looked back at me and said, “You KNEW. They just wouldn’t believe you, but you KNEW.” I still didn’t know who he was, but I knew what he was and felt beyond vindicated. It was like he cracked open the door to let me know that he was someone to be reckoned with.

Talking to Kenny later, he still didn’t believe that the guy was a player and was only upset that he didn’t have enough money to continue to play.

Several months later, I was at the Gold Crown Billiard club in New London, CT. It was owned by Sy and Dolly Eckstadt and was a GREAT room. They had numerous big tournaments and the players of the day would show, because they knew that they would get paid. While at the GC, I saw this same fellow on one of the back tables, still shooting left handed. He was playing with a Meucci cue, somewhat of a novelty at the time. Didn’t see too many of them. I felt a little better knowing that he was from the Gold Crown as it was home for a lot of good local players.

Fast forward a few months and I meet up (the hard way) with another verrrry good player named Bobby at the Rec. We played two games of 75 points. After the first game, I knew that I didn’t have a chance, but this guy shot so good, I just wanted to see him play again. After he trounced me the second time with his Balabushka, running a 45 in a game to 75 and seemingly missing a shot that he should have made, we started to chat. He played mostly out of GC and had a high run of 236. I mentioned the black player from New London who shot left handed with a Meucci. He said, “black guy. Left handed, with a Meucci cue? He’s a right handed player. His name is Cecil the Serpent from Los Angeles. One of the best one pocket players in the country.” I asked how they would match up. Bobby went on to tell me that if Cecil played left handed, Bobby could beat him. If he played right handed, “I don’t have a chance.” I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing that this was before Cecil’s “accident.” He was even then, a strong off-handed player.

I told Kenny what I learned from Bobby. His reply, “Nah, that guy couldn’t shoot.”

Thanks for the memory, Cecil, and may you rest in peace. It reminds me of the closing of Duke Burton's tribute to Mosconi, "Then how proud I felt to know, I'd been beaten by the greatest player of all."

Roger

 

[JAM]

...Thanks for the memory, Cecil, and may you rest in peace. It reminds me of the closing of Duke Burton's tribute to Mosconi, "Then how proud I felt to know, I'd been beaten by the greatest player of all."

Made me cry. What a beautiful tribute to Cecil Tugwell.

 

[RogerO]

Made me cry. What a beautiful tribute to Cecil Tugwell.

Thanks for the kind words Jen. It was a "moment" in my pool life.
Roger

 

[Terry Ardeno]

The posts on this thread have all been truly heartwarming. Jay, your post is especially a good read to somebody who never met Cecil Tugwell before. Thanks, as always, for your great contributions. Pool's unsung heroes will not be forgotten as long as folks like you continue to create a record with your words of experience and wisdom. Thank you!

Yes indeed.

There are quite a few gifted writers on AZB, & this thread is a good example.

 

[john schmidt]

thanks cecil

when i first got into onehole at hardtimes in l.a. in the late nineties i played him a few times like 100 a game.
i learned alot playing him.
one time i played cooney .he gave me 10-8 9-8 .we played for thousands .i was betting my own and lost 6600 and was 1 game loser after 13 hours.
afterwards cecil told me a few shots i did not know etc and 2 days later i played cooney same way.
many people were telling me i had no chance etc but i came out 10 games winner in about 7 hours.i got 5000 of the money back .ill never forget cecil taking 30 minutes to teach me some things because he could see i was semi clueless how to play the game and he almost felt sorry for me lol.
rip cecil ill always remember you bud

 

["CaliRed".]

My meeting with Cecil (painfully long, sorry, but it's the only way I know).

Roger

Thanks for sharing your story with all of us Roger. I enjoy the long versions a lot!

 

[RogerO]

Thanks for sharing your story with all of us Roger. I enjoy the long versions a lot!

You're welcome Red.
Roger

 

[watchez]

Great post Jay - you posted many things that I knew but felt like I was just an acquaintance of Cecil in his time here in St Louis and certainly not close enough to him to speak about.

 

[Bankin-B]

when i first got into onehole at hardtimes in l.a. in the late nineties i played him a few times like 100 a game.
i learned alot playing him.
one time i played cooney .he gave me 10-8 9-8 .we played for thousands .i was betting my own and lost 6600 and was 1 game loser after 13 hours.
afterwards cecil told me a few shots i did not know etc and 2 days later i played cooney same way.
many people were telling me i had no chance etc but i came out 10 games winner in about 7 hours.i got 5000 of the money back .ill never forget cecil taking 30 minutes to teach me some things because he could see i was semi clueless how to play the game and he almost felt sorry for me lol.
rip cecil ill always remember you bud

I had the oppurtunity to play cecil in St Louis alternate one game of Bank and one game of one pocket and we broke even, i learned alot from Cecil and i hate to hear this, Cecil was a great person. RIP

 

[wayne]

quiet time

I had just busted Cecil's backer and Cecil was broke. I gave him a little bit of cash and then he asked me for a ride home from Hollywood Billiards. I said sure and then asked where he was going. Of course it was Florence and Broadway where the rioting had occurred in '92. He told me not to worry the neighborhood wasn't too safe but if they get me (the white guy) they get him too (that was reassuring).
I asked him during the drive about his match with Efren at Hard Times in 1993. At the time no West Coast player had beaten the great Reyes. It was $5000 to the winner. The format was one-pocket race to 4 sets with each set being a race to 3 games. They were the only ones playing and the place was packed to watch the match. Efren was the heavy favorite.

It was completely one-sided with Efren winning the first 2 sets by winning all 6 games. They took a break and a friend came up to Cecil and asked how he was doing. He told him "I've got him now". He said his friend looked shocked so he explained to him that his cueball was doing exactly what he wanted and he had never lost when he had that kind of control.

When he returned he said the crowd disappeared for him, he never heard any of the cheering or clapping. He said he was in "quiet time" and nothing bad can happen during this time. It was just him and the table, nothing existed except the shot in front of him. He won 4 consecutive sets and won the match. He said at one point he ran 22 consecutive balls, 8 and out, 8 and out, and then 6 more.

By this time I was parked in front of his place in South Central L.A. and he had finished his story. He told me to stick to the main streets and I should be safe getting out of there.

Wherever Cecil is now I hope he is in a better place.

 

[mr3cushion]

The REAL Detroit story and the "Serp"!

Just let me start out bt saying, when ever a "Old School" player dies it's tragic. In Cecil Tugwell's case, his whole life was tragic.

Now to the Detroit action scene concerning Cecil, In 77 or 78, my long time road partner, Harold Densen and I made it up to Detroit. The night we arrived Jew Paul was playing Calhoun, $4,000.00 a game one pocket on the infamaous front snooker table. The place was packed, most likely 100 to 150 sweater's. Paul had a bet with at least 80% of them ranging from, $50.00 to $500.00 a game. What amazed me is that he kept track of EVERY bet he made. Needless to say, Harold and I stuck our nose in and started betting $100.00 a game, after a 30 hr session, Paul lost total around $40,000.00, we wound up $3,500.00 winner. We had thought we'd found, "the land of milk n honey".

After a day of rest and few days of grinding, we had a nice $5,000.00 bankroll. I stayed undercover for those few days and decided to go the the "Rack" about 7:00 am, hoping no one would be there. The only people in the room were the owner, Gil Elias and a young Mike "Captain Hook" Segal. I grabbed the billiards balls and after a little stalling, Gil sent Mike over to ask me to play, Gil knew I had a BR. We started out 20 pts. for $250.00 a game, I stalled enough to make it close, but after 2 games, Gil didn't go any further with Mike. Gil said, "I'll play a couple the same way before the crowd starts coming in". The same result occcured, not bad $800.00 before noon!

In the coming days we got friendly with all the right people, and "Big Jones" was one of them. He was the "BIG" black action in the room, along with "RedFox". They both mainly staked the black players. Harold and I told Jones we had a fairly unkown black player from LA that could rob most the players up there. He said, "go ahead and send for him, I'll try to get him down with Jew Paul".

Harold and I flew Cecil in, put him up in the hotel, Sheraton Southfield. Every day for breakfast we went to the "Stage Deli" on nine mile, they had the cutest Jewish young girls working there. So, here's how EVERY mourning started out at the "Stage". Harold and I order first and then the "Serp", he turns to the waitress and says, "I want 2 boxes of cornflakes and 1 banana in a BIG bowl", the girl says, "we only have one size". When all th food comes tho the table, the first thing out of Cecil's mouth is, "I said, I wanted a BIG bowl, are you ignant"? The poor girl replys, "Sir, we only have one size bowl. He proceeds to take the bowl of cereal and bananas and dumped it out on the table, "Now get me a bigger bowl". After the new bowl doesn't arrive, he storms out of the restaurant and walks to the poolroom. This is how EVERY day started with the" Serp" for about a week, we ran out of breakfast spots!

Finally, Jones talks Paul into playing Cecil getting 9 to7, 5 ahead for $50,000.00 on the snooker table. Paul felt he had fair game knowing Cecil didn't play on one. Now, Harold and Cecil had been on the road a few times together before, and Harold was one of the VERY few people that could even talk to him, and make some sense. We all agreed to 25% of his end of the score and our front money for expenses. All is good, so we thought!

Cecil and Paul play, naturally the Serp wins. Now it's time to cut the money, Cecil has to meet Jones in the mourning to get paid, he gets up early to go meet him. We wait at the room for him to come back, a no show. We call the pool room, Harvey says, "he's here", we go over on the card room side to get paid, thats when the "shit hit the fan". He says, "I'm not giving him nothn", "I'm nobody's *****". Not only did he not want to give me my end, but didn't want to give me my fronts for supporting him for 12 days. Harold and I beef of course, to NO avail! This guy was "J Arthur Rank" in the 1st degree!

When black "Chicago" came into the room, we had him call Jones to let him know what had occured. Jones and Chicago were very found of me and Harold, they knew we were "with it"! Chicago, put Cecil on the phone and in 5 mins. I had my money. After that, Harold and I wouldn't any more to do with the "Serp".

Cecil made a big score at the rack with his right hand. I remember coming in after going around to the bars and he and Jew Paul had been playing one pocket a long time. He won $40K. I can't remember what the spot was. I heard he bought a Rolls Royce, but I never saw that.

Carla

After a week of gettn HIGH and f**kn whores the Serp went and bought a 1975 Mercedes, not a Rolles Royce. A few nights later he picks up a stripper in a joint on 8 mile, after gettn high, the Serp is lookn for some kind of dividend for sharing, the young lady in question objects, stating high moral standards. Well, I guess that answer was the wrong one. The Serp proceeds to plant a right hook on her chin, out she goes! He runs out of the hotel room and left her lying there. This is the 100% TRUTH about how he broke his right hand. What I will say, Cecil was such a defiant and dertermined person to show everyone he was as good, if not better than them, it's no surprise he became 90% efficient lefty as righty!

All the hearts and flowers is really making this guy sound like a Saint. No one in this rackett is always on their best behaviour, but my personal experience with this individual, was at the least, unberable!

Some are going to say, "why bring this up, the mans dead", true enough, but with all the niceness there has to be some truth, and alot a times the truth isn't what people want to hear!

Like Seargent Joe Friday used to say, "Just the facts Maa'm, just the facts".

Bill Smith "Mr3Cushion"
http://www.mr3cushion.com

 

[PoolBum]

After a week of gettn HIGH and f**kn whores the Serp went and bought a 1975 Mercedes, not a Rolles Royce. A few nights later he picks up a stripper in a joint on 8 mile, after gettn high, the Serp is lookn for some kind of dividend for sharing, the young lady in question objects, stating high moral standards. Well, I guess that answer was the wrong one. The Serp proceeds to plant a right hook on her chin, out she goes! He runs out of the hotel room and left her lying there. This is the 100% TRUTH about how he broke his right hand. What I will say, Cecil was such a defiant and dertermined person to show everyone he was as good, if not better than them, it's no surprise he became 90% efficient lefty as righty!

Are you saying that this is actually the reason why Cecil had to switch to lefty? If so, wow.