What a brilliant & succinct way to put it. :thumbup:
Cornbread!
- Thread starter richiebalto
- Start date
I hung out for a few weeks during the time the 'Color of Money' was being filmed in Chicago, at the RACK in Detroit. Cornbread came in there several times a week and BUGS and GRADY "The Professor" were playing a lot of one pocket. Cornbread looked to me like he played close to Grady (especially for BIG money), but he was a solid ball under Bugs.
Cornbread played especially well on the super tight equipment and I liked how he played, except for his "slip stroke".....I used to kid him and say "Cornbread, if you ever play me 9 Ball I'll have you "slipping" and falling down"....I never could figure out how he used that slip stroke, I know it was common at one time.....but that was WAY before my time.
You were just a kid then.
Do you remember Red telling you "Just jump up and play me some one pocket...and after I get done shooting your nuts off if you guess which pant leg they fall out of, I'll give you half your money back"? :grin:
That was a heck of a deal for a young up and coming player. I don't know why you didn't take advantage of it.
Remember what you told me when you left? You said "I made more money here just taking the coins from under the rails and walking people to their cars than any road trip I've been on yet!" :thumbup:
The slip-stroke was a sonofa*****, especially when he'd open that bad boy up.
Peace bro :wink:
I hung out for a few weeks during the time the 'Color of Money' was being filmed in Chicago, at the RACK in Detroit. Cornbread came in there several times a week and BUGS and GRADY "The Professor" were playing a lot of one pocket. Cornbread looked to me like he played close to Grady (especially for BIG money), but he was a solid ball under Bugs.
Cornbread played especially well on the super tight equipment and I liked how he played, except for his "slip stroke".....I used to kid him and say "Cornbread, if you ever play me 9 Ball I'll have you "slipping" and falling down"....I never could figure out how he used that slip stroke, I know it was common at one time.....but that was WAY before my time.
At Grady's Legends tournament in So Philly Billiards, I watched Red slip-stroke a long, winning straight-back into the triple-shimmed pockets for $30,000 playing Cornflakes Hennigan last pocket 9-ball. Wade Crane, Buddy Hall and I were all betting $1800 apiece on CornPone. He slip-stroked it about a foot.
Beard
I loved Cornbread! Along with Fats, he was one of the most unique individuals I ever met. I even wrote a story about him for the Billiard News.
Alpha does not even begin to explain who Red was. In Vegas, when it was run by the mob, all the mobsters respected Red totally. Red did not back down from any man, and he would get in your face whoever you were. He loved to jaw with the big mob guys when they came to watch him play. They all knew him and he knew them. They loved Red! He played pool anywhere and everywhere he could get a money game. Rough redneck bars, in the black ghettos, in the Mexican joints of South Texas, ANYWHERE! Fearless does not even begin to describe this man.
Red wasn't that big, maybe 5'10 and 175 pounds, but he looked and talked like a hardened ex con (maybe he was), and had a hacked up hatchet face that looked like it had been through a few wars (and it probably had). He was funny and tough at the same time, not afraid to say anything that came to mind. Intimidating, Hell yes!
The only pool player that I saw him remain somewhat humble around was Harold Worst, the strong silent type. ALL the pool players had the utmost respect for Harold, a man's man! I was witness to their epic battles at the Detroit Fairgrounds in 1963, where they played in the finals of the 9-Ball, One Pocket and Snooker. Red won the One Pocket and Harold won the other two. All were fantastic matches!
I saw Red beat a young Johnny Archer playing Banks at the McDermott Masters in about 1990 in Troy, MI. On the last shot, he grabbed his crotch, which was perched just above the corner pocket, and said, "Straight back, right under here!" And he fired in that long rail bank at 100 MPH!
When Mizerak was the Straight Pool Champ for a few years, he came into the practice room at the Stardust and offered to play anyone 200 points for $200. Bad move! Red got all over him, challenging him to play 50 points for $1,000. Steve declined and Red ran him out of the room, calling him a Yankee and throwing a pocketful of change at him. Sorry, but it happened!
When Richie Florence was a world beater at 9-Ball, he came to the Rack looking for Red. They called Red and told him Richie wanted to play some for a $1,000 a set. Red asked them to find out how much money Richie had. When told he had $10,000, Red told them to tell Richie he would play him one game for the 10K. Richie left.
Red liked to fire in 9 balls to win games for emphasis. No one ever would slam in the 9 ball like him, even for big money. I saw him shoot diagonal table length shots at full speed, smiling before he shot it and laughing after it went in. Scary!
He was by far the most intimidating pool player I ever saw. He bet the highest and played the fastest. Along with Jew Paul and Al Sherman, he MADE the Rack legendary. They were often playing $10,000 a game One Pocket there 40 years ago! HELLO!!!
Red was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale world. There will never be another one like him. Hooray for Cornbread Red!
Alpha does not even begin to explain who Red was. In Vegas, when it was run by the mob, all the mobsters respected Red totally. Red did not back down from any man, and he would get in your face whoever you were. He loved to jaw with the big mob guys when they came to watch him play. They all knew him and he knew them. They loved Red! He played pool anywhere and everywhere he could get a money game. Rough redneck bars, in the black ghettos, in the Mexican joints of South Texas, ANYWHERE! Fearless does not even begin to describe this man.
Red wasn't that big, maybe 5'10 and 175 pounds, but he looked and talked like a hardened ex con (maybe he was), and had a hacked up hatchet face that looked like it had been through a few wars (and it probably had). He was funny and tough at the same time, not afraid to say anything that came to mind. Intimidating, Hell yes!
The only pool player that I saw him remain somewhat humble around was Harold Worst, the strong silent type. ALL the pool players had the utmost respect for Harold, a man's man! I was witness to their epic battles at the Detroit Fairgrounds in 1963, where they played in the finals of the 9-Ball, One Pocket and Snooker. Red won the One Pocket and Harold won the other two. All were fantastic matches!
I saw Red beat a young Johnny Archer playing Banks at the McDermott Masters in about 1990 in Troy, MI. On the last shot, he grabbed his crotch, which was perched just above the corner pocket, and said, "Straight back, right under here!" And he fired in that long rail bank at 100 MPH!
When Mizerak was the Straight Pool Champ for a few years, he came into the practice room at the Stardust and offered to play anyone 200 points for $200. Bad move! Red got all over him, challenging him to play 50 points for $1,000. Steve declined and Red ran him out of the room, calling him a Yankee and throwing a pocketful of change at him. Sorry, but it happened!
When Richie Florence was a world beater at 9-Ball, he came to the Rack looking for Red. They called Red and told him Richie wanted to play some for a $1,000 a set. Red asked them to find out how much money Richie had. When told he had $10,000, Red told them to tell Richie he would play him one game for the 10K. Richie left.
Red liked to fire in 9 balls to win games for emphasis. No one ever would slam in the 9 ball like him, even for big money. I saw him shoot diagonal table length shots at full speed, smiling before he shot it and laughing after it went in. Scary!
He was by far the most intimidating pool player I ever saw. He bet the highest and played the fastest. Along with Jew Paul and Al Sherman, he MADE the Rack legendary. They were often playing $10,000 a game One Pocket there 40 years ago! HELLO!!!
Red was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale world. There will never be another one like him. Hooray for Cornbread Red!
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