Norman Hitchcock, as far I can remember, never lost to anybody in OKC playing even 9 Ball, when he was in his prime. He and Buddy didn’t play because they had the same backers. Norman is an interesting man, never married, lived with his mother for years and just was a wonderful player. I don’t remember if he won a big One Pocket event or not.
I wasn’t in the best spot in OKC because Norman and Buddy wouldn’t play me snooker or One Pocket but I was expected to play them even 9 Ball, which I did but it was really tough. Norman played perfect on his pet table and that’s the only place he’d play so I didn’t mess with him much. Here’s one example of how tough it was for me: Buddy and I were playing a 6 ahead for everything I had, about $1,000. He had one game when I got a good shot and I ran the set out, 7 racks in a row. End of happy story for Grady, right?
Wrong!!! Eddie made me put up everything I had again if I wanted to continue playing. I always had a lot of gamble. So I did. We played a long time and he finally won the second set. Matches like that never seemed fair to me because if you’re out moneyed, in the long run, you’re just screwed. It’s three to one against you to win two sets in a row if you are equally matched with your opponent and 7 to one against winning three in a row.
OKC was not the safest place in the world back then. There were a couple of tough guys who’d steal all of a visiting pool player’s possessions from his room or car and then call him up and sell them back to him. Then there were the Heath brothers. I don’t remember how many there were, seems like 5 or 6. Vernon was the toughest, 6’ 6” and made of steel. When I lived there nobody ever came close to whipping him. Alan and Fuzzy were almost unwhippable, too. You couldn’t shoot one of them because the other brothers would be after you forthwith. And James, a tall lanky cowboy who was friends with my buddy Louis Goad. Nobody knew whether James could whip Vernon but they never mixed it up. I used to like to watch James take care of troublemakers who appeared to be much bigger and stronger.
Vernon taught his girlfriend how to fight. She was an even match for a 200 pound man. The men would always fight her if something came up because the alternative was to take an ass whipping from Vernon. She fought hard, too because if she lost she had to take her lumps, too.
I wasn’t in the best spot in OKC because Norman and Buddy wouldn’t play me snooker or One Pocket but I was expected to play them even 9 Ball, which I did but it was really tough. Norman played perfect on his pet table and that’s the only place he’d play so I didn’t mess with him much. Here’s one example of how tough it was for me: Buddy and I were playing a 6 ahead for everything I had, about $1,000. He had one game when I got a good shot and I ran the set out, 7 racks in a row. End of happy story for Grady, right?
Wrong!!! Eddie made me put up everything I had again if I wanted to continue playing. I always had a lot of gamble. So I did. We played a long time and he finally won the second set. Matches like that never seemed fair to me because if you’re out moneyed, in the long run, you’re just screwed. It’s three to one against you to win two sets in a row if you are equally matched with your opponent and 7 to one against winning three in a row.
OKC was not the safest place in the world back then. There were a couple of tough guys who’d steal all of a visiting pool player’s possessions from his room or car and then call him up and sell them back to him. Then there were the Heath brothers. I don’t remember how many there were, seems like 5 or 6. Vernon was the toughest, 6’ 6” and made of steel. When I lived there nobody ever came close to whipping him. Alan and Fuzzy were almost unwhippable, too. You couldn’t shoot one of them because the other brothers would be after you forthwith. And James, a tall lanky cowboy who was friends with my buddy Louis Goad. Nobody knew whether James could whip Vernon but they never mixed it up. I used to like to watch James take care of troublemakers who appeared to be much bigger and stronger.
Vernon taught his girlfriend how to fight. She was an even match for a 200 pound man. The men would always fight her if something came up because the alternative was to take an ass whipping from Vernon. She fought hard, too because if she lost she had to take her lumps, too.
