Cole Dickson Story

[Cannon]

rep points.......dummy here

I've asked other places but no answer. How do you give rep points?

 

[ironman]

In a small town in Louisiana, they were having a tournament that night and Cole and Mike were pondering whether to play in the tourney or not. Cole says, "Naw, I'll just play the winner."

So they're sitting around for a few hours until the tournament is over and Cole challenges the guy who won. They're playing each game for $30-$50 and Cole wins EVERY game. Cole, would you let the guy win a game? It was ridiculous. Now Cole's position play was not that stellar, but he was such a straight shooter that he could get out from anywhere, and did, much to the town's chagrin. And that made it doubly embarrassing to the local hero. Cole is up around $400.

Now this is back when both Cole and Mike had hair longer than down to their shoulders. They were called longhairs. And longhairs weren't too popular in the south.

Mike had been standing back, off to the side, observing the crowd and particularly this guy's friends, drinking it up at the bar just like they had been doing all night, so they were pretty plastered. There was this lumberjack-looking guy - scruffy, with a beard and he said, "I'm gonna teach these youngsters a lesson!" With that, he took a beer can and tore it cleanly in half...no twisting it back and forth. "I'm gonna cut their hair with this beer can!"

Mike moseys over to Cole and whispers, "C'mon, we gotta leave, NOW! That guy wants to cut our hair with a beer can!"

The place had a screen door and they just ran through the screen door to their car. Mike looked over his shoulder to see about 15 guys with murderous intent chasing after them about 50 feet away.

The parking lot wasn't paved, but was made of small gravel. Cole and Mike get in the car, start it up, then floor the gas pedal, spraying rocks on their pursuers. Cole says, "F those guys!", did a circle around the parking lot, then sprayed more rocks in their faces. Mike and Cole went down the road, laughing all the way.

Thanks linda. These are always fun to here and get my blood pumping. Most, now, are pretty funny, but at the time they scare the hell out of ya.

I was a Longhair too and got plenty of grief about it. I thought I was a tough guy in those days and didn't worry too much about it. The South was different back then.

 

[Eric.]

I've asked other places but no answer. How do you give rep points?

On the bottom of the post, there is a button to click "Rep" which is next to "Bad". Click on "rep" to do your thing.


Eric

 

[rackmsuckr]

I've asked other places but no answer. How do you give rep points?

Thanks for asking this question, because I just found out that I could see all the reps for this thread, and it looks like I missed 7. It doesn't tell you who they were from though.

It depends on what skin you are using...if it is the Tech 2, then there are buttons on the bottom of every post's window, that says rep and bad.

If you use the old style skin, there are scales on the top right corner of the post's window. Clicking on it will give you a new window where you can approve or disapprove and write comments.

To find out more about rep points, you can do a search for rep or reputation points.

 

[Cannon]

Well I got an answer and I do appreciate it but I still don't see it. Funny, I don't remember riding the short bus.

Thanks, Bob

 

[Cannon]

Thanks for asking this question, because I just found out that I could see all the reps for this thread, and it looks like I missed 7. It doesn't tell you who they were from though.

It depends on what skin you are using...if it is the Tech 2, then there are buttons on the bottom of every post's window, that says rep and bad.

If you use the old style skin, there are scales on the top right corner of the post's window. Clicking on it will give you a new window where you can approve or disapprove and write comments.

To find out more about rep points, you can do a search for rep or reputation points.

Ok, thanks. I must be using the wrong skin............ok, now that I read all of what you said........the scales thingy will work for me........Thanks again, Bob

 

[sixpack]

Sizemore was living in Asheville when Billy Johnson had the poolroom. I rode to Augusta with him with the intention of him selling a machine gun. He told me he was going to have to start dealing to finance his girlfriends legal battles. she was a drugstore cowgirl & was facing serious time. Shortly thereafter David was given a hot load & left for dead in Augusta. He played Billy with the six & sometimes the seven & was happiest when he went home broke so he could work in his garden. Jerry Brock & Davis Sizemore were two of the most intimidating guys I scuffled with back in the day. When Brocks head was right he was capable of playing like Houdini.

I've heard so many stories about hot shots and killing people quietly around pool. Was anybody every arrested or convicted for this?

Cheers,
RC

 

[uwate]

This thread keeps getting more and more interesting. Thanks Linda and Mike for the Cole stories...

+rep

 

[Dead Money]

Cool stuff.

 

[ribdoner]

Cole stayed in the hotel around the corner with a local guy named Joey Lapidus.

FREDDY,

Is JOEY still kicken? As teenagers we gambled many times in the early sixties. At that time he was living around MAYWOOD( ROSE,DARNELL, etc.).

For a while JOEY and I saw a lot of each other and then went seperate ways in about 62 or 63. I think he still owes me $14 ....

 

[jay helfert]

David Sizemore played a nice game of 9ball, but he never played Cole's speed. He had a reputation of being wild and crazy. He did cut a friend of mine's throat (David Gadsden). He was murdered while still a young man. Once, while playing Hubert Cokes in J City he smashed his cue and was still carrying the jagged edge. He came within a inch of getting his head blown off,as Hubert thought Sizemore may have been threatening him. Lucky for him a local grifter cooled Hubert out, and said Sizemore was only mad at himself. Once Sizemore realized his mistake he dropped that broken cue like it was on fire and apologized to Hubert profusely.


the Beard

Sizemore was a maniac! His best game was Banks, but he would gamble with both hands at all games. The guy whose throat he cut was called "Carolina". He still came around even after that happened. Sizemore's problem was that he was totally fearless. He would go anywhere and play anyone, and bet sky high. A lot like Cornbread, but not as smart, or maybe as tough either. I never saw anyone that wanted to mess with Cornbread. He was scary when angered.

I heard Sizemore won something like 30K the day before they found him in his wrecked car, off the road. Of course, there was no money on his body. David probably played the 7 Ball under the best players. He may have been in his early to mid 30's when he got "offed", in the mid 1970's. He's one of those guys you never forget.

Other early demises include Mike Carella, only one of the best money players alive when he got killed by his "partners" in the drug trafficking biz.
Mike was also a pilot and got caught flying in the goods. They were afraid he would snitch on them, so they bailed him out and bumped him off. He was maybe in his late 30's.

Louie Roberts, the straightest shooter that ever lived, and also the most charismatic pool player ever. Handsome, humorous, and never one to back down from a bet, he died in 1990 in a Phoenix motel room. A hopeless alcoholic, he may have committed suicide, although circumstances surrounding his death are unclear. He was 40.

Steve Gumphrey died in his late 30's from a skin cancer left untreated too long. It became a melanoma and quickly killed him, within a few months. Known by everyone as The Gump, he was universally well liked. Always smiling and happy, kind of like Tommy Kennedy. He loved to play 9-Ball and may have been the 8 Ball under the top guns. The pool community took it hard when we lost him in the 1980's, he was so very popular.

Of course, the best of them all was Harold Worst who died at the age of 37 in 1967. He had just won the Stardust tournament a few months before his death, when he was already in the advanced stages of Leukemia. A man's man, he would play anyone at any game, and quietly dismantle them. There was no game on a pool, billiard or snooker table that he did not excel at. And given the chance to practice for a while, he would rise to the top of the heap. He is the one guy, who if he had decided to go to England to play Snooker, I would have bet that within a year he would be playing for the trophies.

 

[freddy the beard]

You will never collect that 14$

Cole stayed in the hotel around the corner with a local guy named Joey Lapidus.

FREDDY,

Is JOEY still kicken? As teenagers we gambled many times in the early sixties. At that time he was living around MAYWOOD( ROSE,DARNELL, etc.).

For a while JOEY and I saw a lot of each other and then went seperate ways in about 62 or 63. I think he still owes me $14 ....

Joey died of a heart attack in Canton Ohio when he was only 30 yrs old. He married a girl with the same last name as mine, Bentivegna! Unbelievablely, no relation whatsoever.


the Beard

 

[Island Drive]

Joey died of a heart attack in Canton Ohio when he was only 30 yrs old. He married a girl with the same last name as mine, Bentivegna! Unbelievablely, no relation whatsoever.


the Beard

Fred, do you have any storys on one of the legends from Chicago, J. Abruzzo from his earlier days. He seems to be one of the smarter players of the past generation who stuck close to home and worked most his life. I've always heard he matched up well and didn't ever hear about him losing much. Also was it true he traveled a little with Lassiter in his younger days?

 

[hemicudas]

I've heard so many stories about hot shots and killing people quietly around pool. Was anybody every arrested or convicted for this?

Cheers,
RC

Yes, Richard Austin, from Memphis. Richard put a contract out on the Sheriff, was convicted in the mid 70s and today still resides on death row.

 

[ribdoner]

Yes, Richard Austin, from Memphis. Richard put a contract out on the Sheriff, was convicted in the mid 70s and today still resides on death row.

The guy AUSTIN had iced was undercover. AUSTIN gave a local thug (amateur) 5 hun for the work. After gettin paid the thug got drunk and ran his head in a bar. He was arrested very quickly and implicated AUSTIN without hesitation. Whethor or not AUSTIN was even the target of an undercover operation was debated for a while.....AUSTIN might have pissed his life away due to nothing more than paranoia.

At the time he was one of, if not the best, players in MEMPHIS. Didn't play FLYBOY's speed, who beat him out of 17k shortly before the "crazy sh!t" went down.

 

[Nostroke]

Other early demises include Mike Carella, only one of the best money players alive when he got killed by his "partners" in the drug trafficking biz.
Mike was also a pilot and got caught flying in the goods. They were afraid he would snitch on them, so they bailed him out and bumped him off. He was maybe in his late 30's.

Louie Roberts, the straightest shooter that ever lived, and also the most charismatic pool player ever. Handsome, humorous, and never one to back down from a bet, he died in 1990 in a Phoenix motel room. A hopeless alcoholic, he may have committed suicide, although circumstances surrounding his death are unclear. He was 40.

Steve Gumphrey died in his late 30's from a skin cancer left untreated too long. It became a melanoma and quickly killed him, within a few months. Known by everyone as The Gump, he was universally well liked. Always smiling and happy, kind of like Tommy Kennedy. He loved to play 9-Ball and may have been the 8 Ball under the top guns. The pool community took it hard when we lost him in the 1980's, he was so very popular.

Of course, the best of them all was Harold Worst who died at the age of 37 in 1967. He had just won the Stardust tournament a few months before his death, when he was already in the advanced stages of Leukemia. A man's man, he would play anyone at any game, and quietly dismantle them. There was no game on a pool, billiard or snooker table that he did not excel at. And given the chance to practice for a while, he would rise to the top of the heap. He is the one guy, who if he had decided to go to England to play Snooker, I would have bet that within a year he would be playing for the trophies.

On the East Coast, Sammy Guzman and Nick Vlahos had very early exits.

Sammy was NYC's best in his time in the opinion of many- I think he was murdered in the mid/late 80's. Nicky had brain cancer and went around 2000 or so id guess- a health nut too. So sad.

PS_According to Flatlands Freddie, Cole couldnt get the cash from Chinese Mickey on Mickeys Table in his room in Chinatown around 70 0r so. Anywhere else he could give Mickey a ball Im told.

 

[rackmsuckr]

Thanks everyone for all the crazy stories about the gambling days of the past. Here's another Cole/Mike tale. We have several inches of snow on the ground and sheets of ice on the road, with more expected tonight, and we live on a steep hill, so Mike is going stir-crazy - he can't go to his favorite casino, so he is coming in and relaying more stories today.

Cole and Mike are hanging out at Cochran's, the biggest gambling joint on the west coast before Bellflower...wall to wall pool players. Read Ronnie Allen's description here: http://www.onepocket.org/RonnieAllenInterview.htm. (I also like how he describes his learning method - by missing!)

(Freddie, they played a lot on the 5x10's, lol, Big Bertha!)

Anyway, Cole starts talking to Jerry Brock, who had been all over the country, was a top player from Napa and liked the way the boys played. Cole had just won $800. Jerry decided to take them on the road. Cole was 16 and Mike had just turned 18.

They headed to L.A. Cole and Mike are following JB in Cole's junker car, with no rear window in the winter. They stopped somewhere near Stockton or Lodi at someone's house and spent the night, messed around the next day, then left the next night.

Near Fresno, the boys are still following Jerry, but a cop turns on the red lights and gets between their car and Jerry's and pulls JB over. The boys follow suit. Now, all Cole's and Mike's clothes, their cuesticks, and a couple guns are in Jerry's trunk. Not only that, but he has their whole bankroll. Mike's not sure how he convinced Cole to let him hang onto it.

All the clothes in the car were from Samario Brothers, a very exclusive men's shop in Walnut Creek where Cole and Mike were from - gangster pimp clothes, Mike says. The finest threads a pool player in the Bay area could get.

Turns out, there is a warrant out for good ole' Jerry, and he is hauled off to jail. Cole and Mike drive up to the police station around 10 or 11 at night and then wait for hours. Finally, they fall asleep on benches inside the jail.

Jerry bails out, walks right past them and drives off with everything!! They wake up, ask how Jerry's doing and then are told that he left hours ago.

Mike has $10 in his pocket, so they go get gas, get as far as Bakersfield and with $1 left, go find a poolroom. Cole and Mike play for a $1/game partners on air and won $20 - enough to gas up and get to L.A. to find Jerry Brock.

A few days after arriving, they go out and about, a guy stakes Cole, making $50-$200 here and there. Well then, just as they are getting healthy, Cole's car breaks down. They get a motel and now the stakehorse is shuttling them back and forth to different poolrooms and some bars they were able to get into looking for action.

He matches Cole up with the best bar table player from Kansas. They played 5 ahead for $500. Cole wins the flip and proceeds to break and run out the set. In the 2nd set, Cole breaks and runs the first game, then comes up dry on the next break. The opponent doesn't get out, and Cole runs out that set too...all with a borrowed cuestick, mind you. The guy got one shot in 2 sets!

So all the while, Cole and Mike are looking for Jerry Brock. They're asking everywhere and everyone that might know. Finally, they get word that JB is in Phoenix and was hanging out at the Golden 8 Ball. Naturally, they immediately got bus tickets and went to Phoenix.

Upon arrival, they get a room at a Motel 6, the closest one to the Golden 8 Ball. With no other mode of transportation, they start walking to the poolroom the next morning.

A cop pulls up alongside the boys and asks, "Why aren't you in school?" to which Cole gives the intelligent answer, "We're professional gambling pool players and we don't go to school." The cop then asks where they are from, and they tell him they are from the Bay area.

"Well, get in the car then. I am arresting you for vagrancy."

When they get to the jail, Mike is put in a jail cell and hears over the loudspeaker, "Yeah, he escaped!" and a lot of commotion outside the cell. "Which way was he headed?" and a lot of pandemonium. Cole broke out and was running away. They found him hiding under the water in a big water fountain by the police station.

Because he was only 16, Cole was flown home - care of the tax payers. But Mike, after spending 12 days in jail, had to hitchhike all the way home from Phoenix. Cole had all of Mike's money on him except for about $5.

Mike heard that Cole caught up with Jerry some time later, but is not sure what happened after that. Mike figures Jerry still owes him some clothes and a cuestick!

Tomorrow - searching for Bobby Fisher.

 

[rackmsuckr]

Fred, do you have any storys on one of the legends from Chicago, J. Abruzzo from his earlier days. He seems to be one of the smarter players of the past generation who stuck close to home and worked most his life. I've always heard he matched up well and didn't ever hear about him losing much. Also was it true he traveled a little with Lassiter in his younger days?

I love John Abruzzo, but never heard any old stories. I would love to hear some. This pic was taken at a WPBA event in his poolroom, where I first got to meet Jean Balukas.

 

[Russ Chewning]

But Mike, after spending 12 days in jail, had to hitchhike all the way home from Phoenix. Cole had all of Mike's money on him except for about $5.

Hah hah.. Priceless..

Russ

 

[Russ Chewning]

Hey Linda,

When you ask Mike if he remembers me, also ask him if he remembers giving me some advice on how to improve and not get the yips against the top regional players.

He says, and I quote, "I don't know.. Yah just gotta hit a million balls."

Gee Mike... Thanks...

Russ