maxeypad2007 said:
I own a creole freddy cue and can't find much out about the maker.
This honestly is the best playing sub 400 cue I've ever picked up in my entire life. I get tons of compliments on it when I bring it out. Beautiful curly maple and an ostrich leather wrap.
If it is the same Kreole Freddie I am thinking about, he used to be the editor of The Snap Magazine, one of my all-time favorite pool magazines. They are not in existence anymore, and the ones I own are truly cherished by me. They were given to me as a gift to work on a pool-related project, and I do appreciate every single one of them.
Each issue contains good historical pool information, like pictures of Archer, Coltrain, Daulton, and Hatch when they were young'ns winning junior tournaments, et cetera.
Benny "The Goose" Conway, Buddy "The Rifleman" Hall, Grady "The Professor" Mathews, Gene "The Mighty Glove" Caltron, Ray "Cool Cat" Martin, David "The Giant Killer" Howard, Mike Massey, just to name a few that I can remember, were contributing writers to the Snap magazine, with Kreole Freddie keeping it alive and well.
One of my favorite feature articles was entitled "Last of the Rare Breed," and every issue had a picture and bio of a famous legendary player. I would know even know about some of these players, other than their name's sake, if it were not for the Snap magazine.
Here's a snippet of "The Last of Texas' Rare Breed" by "Kreole" Freddie:
One player who's become a legend in a state full of legends is the remarkable U.J. Puckett. Forth Worth has been the home of this colorful player for so many years that the state adopted him as one of their own, but U.J. was born in Sheridan, Arkansas on April 17th, 1910. And he was born to do one thing -- play pool.
Pool and fishing were his great loves, and U.J. was never a man to bother with trivial things like what day it was. He became a legend among the great hustlers of the past. Just ask the old-time greats like Eddie Taylor, Junior Goff, Danny Jones, or Jersey Red, and they will each have a U.J. Puckett story for you.
Puckett readily admits he was born with an abundance of natural talent. And he's right. He became a top 9-ball and ONE-POCKET PLAYER and has played with the best the sport has to offer. Tournaments were never his cup of tea because "there just wasn't any money in those days," he says. The money was in traveling and beating some guy on his home court at his best game. That's why he got the reputation as a hustler when actually it was more a way of life. "I'm 80 years old, and all I've ever done is what I wanted to do," he says. What he wanted to do was play pool, and the fact that he spent a lifetime doing just that makes him a very rare breed indeed."
Selective memories forget what a great legendary player U.J. Puckett was. He's appeared on numerous World of Sports and ESPN TV shows, and he was a GREAT one-pocket player. Yet, his name is not even mentioned in one-pocket circles, for some reason.
Because of "Kreole" Freddie, I am able to learn a great deal about players like U.J. Puckett. When time allows, I try to create a record of American legendary players in my spare time. The future archivists won't have to worry much about remembering the American players of this era. There aren't as many today as there were 20, 30, and 40 years ago, sad to say. He may be gone, but he will never be forgotten by this reader. I'm sure there are quite a few pool enthusiasts today who don't even know who he is. What a shame.
"Kreole" Freddie's contribution to the sport is appreciated by this reader. Pool used to rock and roll in the South. Check out the top 12 names in the Southeastern 9-ball Circuit Florida Tour point standings, from 1 to 12, as one example: Dennis Hatch, Tom Kennedy, Mike Massey, Buddy Hall, Jose Parica, Dick Weaver, Billy Incardona, Steve Mizerak, Scotty Townsend, Jimmy Reid, Johnny Archer, and John Ditoro. That was then (April 1990), and this is now.
Thanks, Freddie!
