David McCumber's "Off The Rail"

mrpool06 said:
Anyone else read this book? I recently finished it......loved it! Anyone know any of the characters? I did recognize alot of the names.
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Hi mrpool,

I read this book a few years ago when it first came out. I know most of the Wash DC and Baltimore players mentioned. I should go back and read it again now that I know even more players.

The end of chapter 9 about the tournament sounds very accurate to me. I know all 3 of these players but haven't asked them about it. "Goofy" is a very capable player and a race to 5 is short. I'm surprised none of these 3 players matched up with Tony. The description of Shorty is hilarious and he laughed when I told him about it.

Chapter 11 in Baltimore really happened. Junior Harris plays well. Larry Nuedecker was a top player in this area but just didn't play a lot. Danny's still got that "Lassiter" looking stroke. Even the chessboard incident at Jack & Jill's happened and the money amounts were all accurate.

I met Tony briefly at one of our tournaments 3 years ago. He was definitely very much changed from his "road days" in the book. He promotes pool quite a bit and was very complimentary of our tournament. He just happened to stop into our tournament on the way to an Atlantic City 10 ball tourney.

I just checked our chart of that event and here's a phenomenal coincidence that I just can't believe. Tony played all 3 of those players mentioned in the end of Chapter 9! Tony beat Shorty Henson, then lost to Jim McAdams and then lost to "Goofy" Alan Duty in the elimination bracket. What are the odds of that??? The chart is at:

http://www.planet-pool.com/Results2003/OpenEvent02.gif

Andy
 
I remember when Tony Annigoni played in the Akron open. At that time I was backing Jack Hynes and no one knew who Tony was. He placed high in the tournament, but he was not looking very hard for action because we asked him to play and he was more interested in the tournament then playing nine rocket with Jack. (not that I blame him)
 
freddy the beard said:
The part in the book about me playing a grueling slow match with pool stall expert, Paul Jones was very true. The part about me wanting "no part" of Antigoni's action in my own pool room was an exagerration of the highest order. I took pride in the fact that I ducked nobody for 30 years. I later came upon McCumber, demanded, and received an apology. He said it was just a little literary license.

the Beard

Bank on, brothers!
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Tony's my buddy but he has no out playing Banks with you. Or One Pocket.
Nine Ball or Straights and he's the favorite, Slim.
 
bud green said:
I was right there watching when Kamikaze Bob got drunk and went off for 23 grand. BoyGeorge from Sac kept winning $2K sets (10/11) so Bob was down $18K. Later, Louis Lemke got Bob to back him against Annigoni in a 10-ahead set for 5K and Tony drilled him in less than two hours. Tony got some crazy rolls and the nine kept going in on the break.

$23K is the most I've seen anyone lose, personally. Sweators dream; free heineken beer, drunk moron losing thousands, and I learned a lot from watching BoyGeorge hustle. He kept Bob laughing a little bit, didn't talk trash, and just kept pulling those benjamins off the light. George actually gave the guy a business card in case he wanted to match up again later. First time I'd ever seen that done.

Billy Incardona caught a scent of the blood in the air and made some side bets with Kamikaze Bob that night, too, so Kamikaze Bob almost definately lost even more.
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Hey Bud,
Dave R. "Boy George" called me today and he's heading up to Reno. I told him he could still get in.
You know Louie L. died a few years back. I was glad to hear his name. He was a helluva guy and a damn good musician (great on the mouth harp).
 
freddy the beard said:
The part in the book about me playing a grueling slow match with pool stall expert, Paul Jones was very true. The part about me wanting "no part" of Antigoni's action in my own pool room was an exagerration of the highest order. I took pride in the fact that I ducked nobody for 30 years. I later came upon McCumber, demanded, and received an apology. He said it was just a little literary license.

the Beard

Bank on, brothers!
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At the One pocket Hall of Fame dinner you said you ducked Truman Hogue and I believe the squirell....
 
alinco said:
I read this book a few years ago when it first came out. I know most of the Wash DC and Baltimore players mentioned. I should go back and read it again now that I know even more players.

Andy
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This has inspired me to do the same. When I first read the book, I didn't know anyone, now it will be really refreshing to read it again and put faces to the names.
 
freddie

lil brian said:
At the One pocket Hall of Fame dinner you said you ducked Truman Hogue and I believe the squirell....
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He also ducked some guy (can't remember his name now) that made 21 banks in a row at derby city a few years back...
 
I actually work on and off when i'm home from school at Jack and Jills in Maryland. It was definately very interesting reading about McCumbers perception of the room and the characters: Danny Green, Keith, and Geese (rip). Tony A should be very glad he didnt try and play Geese, cuz from what i've heard there were very few that could take him.

I liked the book overall, as a Junior in college, i proudly say that's the first book i've read cover-to-cover since 5th grade.
 
Yeah, I've met many of the characters in this book...But the one that sticks out is Dave Rodden, aka Boy George...I was in the room when he was losing a set to 10 to a local player here in Modesto and he grabbed all the stake money off the light, 2k a man, 4 thousand dollars. He was down 9 - 2 at the time, grabbed the money, yelled that he had a gun and who wanted to die...He made it out of town and has NEVER been back since. I have since seen the guy in Sac and in Reno and I can't believe he got away with it, other than never being allowed back in this town. Beware if you play this guy!! I saw this with my own eyes..........Marc
 
Proviso verified

jay helfert said:
Tony's my buddy but he has no out playing Banks with you. Or One Pocket.
Nine Ball or Straights and he's the favorite, Slim.
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Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder were the favorite against me playing Nine Ball or Straight pool. If you had over 4 digits in your social security number you would get no straight-in action from me (save for Eight ball. I would play Eight Rock). Tony is my pal too, so I will also do a retraction, as McCumber did for me.---- I couldn't beat Tony playing Straight pool or Nine Ball.

the Beard
Retract on, brother!
 
Proviso, proviso

lil brian said:
At the One pocket Hall of Fame dinner you said you ducked Truman Hogue and I believe the squirell....
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The unmentioned proviso to the statement was, I ducked nobody that came into Bensingers Billiard Academy. I took defending home-court very seriously. On the road, I also ducked Corn-Bread and Eddie Taylor, besides Truman and "Squirrel" Carpenter.

the Beard
Duck on, brother!
 
BigRed said:
I actually work on and off when i'm home from school at Jack and Jills in Maryland. It was definately very interesting reading about McCumbers perception of the room and the characters: Danny Green, Keith, and Geese (rip). Tony A should be very glad he didnt try and play Geese, cuz from what i've heard there were very few that could take him.

I liked the book overall, as a Junior in college, i proudly say that's the first book i've read cover-to-cover since 5th grade.
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Little fat Geese died. I didn't know that. It must have been not to long ago. He was young, not even 40. Good little action player and yes, he could take it off.
 
That aint so

justnick said:
He also ducked some guy (can't remember his name now) that made 21 banks in a row at derby city a few years back...
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As far as I can remember, no one has made 21 banks in a row in the history of Derby City. Truman banked (I am not exactly sure) between 14 and 16 against Shannon Daulton. That is the most that I know of.

the Beard
 
Playsome said:
Yeah, I've met many of the characters in this book...But the one that sticks out is Dave Rodden, aka Boy George...I was in the room when he was losing a set to 10 to a local player here in Modesto and he grabbed all the stake money off the light, 2k a man, 4 thousand dollars. He was down 9 - 2 at the time, grabbed the money, yelled that he had a gun and who wanted to die...He made it out of town and has NEVER been back since. I have since seen the guy in Sac and in Reno and I can't believe he got away with it, other than never being allowed back in this town. Beware if you play this guy!! I saw this with my own eyes..........Marc
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"Rotten" Rodden strikes again. I guess he earned that name. Lucky for him he doesn't live in the South or back east for that matter. His life expectancy would be minutes.
 
Truman banked 13 in a row against Shannon Daulton. Jason Miller made 10 in a row when he wiped out Piggy in 10 minutes in 2003.

justnick thinks you ducked Brian Gregg, I would guess, Freddie. Tony A. said on the tape of the ring bank game that Gregg had banked 22 in a row in warm-ups the first year he won it. You sounded sceptical of the feat on the tape because the first bank ring game started slow and you didn't like the way the guys were playing; playing safe, not trying to make a ball and break up clusters for runs,etc...

I have no idea why he thinks you ducked him, though.
 
jay helfert said:
Little fat Geese died. I didn't know that. It must have been not to long ago. He was young, not even 40. Good little action player and yes, he could take it off.
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Yea, that was probably within the last 6 months or so, last summer at the latest.
 
Of course I ducked Brian Gregg

bud green said:
Truman banked 13 in a row against Shannon Daulton. Jason Miller made 10 in a row when he wiped out Piggy in 10 minutes in 2003.

justnick thinks you ducked Brian Gregg, I would guess, Freddie. Tony A. said on the tape of the ring bank game that Gregg had banked 22 in a row in warm-ups the first year he won it. You sounded sceptical of the feat on the tape because the first bank ring game started slow and you didn't like the way the guys were playing; playing safe, not trying to make a ball and break up clusters for runs,etc...

I have no idea why he thinks you ducked him, though.
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I'm sixty five years old, I'm ducking a lot of people. At sixty five I'm even ducking sex. Brian Gregg is a bank pool monster. My days of playing guys his speed is long over.
the Beard
 
freddy the beard said:
I'm sixty five years old, I'm ducking a lot of people. At sixty five I'm even ducking sex. Brian Gregg is a bank pool monster. My days of playing guys his speed is long over.
the Beard
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In the heat of the moment, you inadvertently forgot to add your trademark xxxxx on, brother! At the risk of being presumptious, I throw this out for your consideration: Abstain on, brother!
 
It's been over a decade since I've read the book, so I should probably go back to it. But the book affected a friend of mine whose husband was mentioned in the book. He was mentioned on a gambling story and showing up with a woman. Only that wasn't the current wife and when she was reminded "that she was in the book", during a tournament she was playing in at the time, and she became petrified and dumped her last match to go home to the cheating husband because they had "made up" for a while.

Sorry, but I probably will still always have a little animosity towards the author for allowing that "discovery" in his book. I really wish I had written him a note when that incident happened. She knew he was cheating on her, but didn't want it in print. I just knew I felt so bad about the way she exited the tournament and the pool scene after that. She just up and quit.

Barbara
 
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