Dieckman Sayzzzzzzzzzzzz
Here is the spot to post your opinions about my game, and me. Thank you!
Having spent 3 1/2 months this winter on the road with The Jaybird this winter [mostly in So-Cal where I abandoned him and his luggage on the means streets of that town the middle of March] I feel I have some insight into this fine young man.
First of all I must say he saved my life. I was a stone cold drunk and did not know it and he cured me on our trip. As such my opinion may be somewhat biased. Also let me say in my sixty two years of life I have never physically struck anyone, man, woman or child, [Now I have killed a few people but that was in Viet Nam and they tried to do me first, but hit with my hand or kicked, NEVER !!] but twice on our trip I did have to smack The Jaybird on the head to get his attention. So if the things he says and does bring out the beast in you, don't feel like the Lone Ranger.
As to his game, such as it is, here is just one man's opinion, such as it is.
MASSE SHOTS: NONE BETTER IN THE WORLD, especially when his mouth is working as his entertainment value is out of site. Ask Mike Massey [Hi Mike, U 2 Francine!! Howzz the pooches ??] about this if you doubt me.
He is not a pool player in this area but a PERFORMANCE ARTIST. Several years ago I was a fly on the wall watching Jamison and Charlie Ursetti [I doubt that any of you young punks know who HE is either] negotiating with Samih Sayginar [sp?] to do a trick shot show with The Jaybird during The Sang Lee Memorial. Samih, after seeing The Jaybird shoot a few shoots, WITH OUT SILICON, which Samih uses a lot of, said very emphatically and loudly: NO WAY !!! HE WILL SHOW ME UP!!
HORIZONTAL SKILL SHOTS: with his stroke these are child's play, but the number of shots he knows is limited as he has not been exposed to this style to much. Out in El-Lay we went to a number of Hispanic pool halls and after being shown a new shot of this variety usually mastered it in about 5 tries. He is on a rapid learning curve in this area.
TRICK SHOTS: while some skill is involved these are mostly set up shots, that is put all the balls in their proper places and even I could make it.
The Jaybird knows all the standards but chooses to eschew shooting them unless you really beg him. 'TOO EASY !" he says.
CAROM BILLIARDS: thinks he is better than he is. Has trouble beating me, even if I am using my 15 ounce cue that he hates. However I must say that players I have introduced him to [such as Pedro Piedrabuena, Mazin Shooni, Hugo Patino, Miguel Torres, all US Champions at one time or another] have drooled over his stroke and want to take him on as a student. They think they can make him a great player and who am I to argue with such names ??
POCKET BILLIARDS: Jay's problem with this game is that he thinks it is a kid's game, and thus does not take it seriously. If he did, WATCH OUT WORLD !!!!!! He also does NOT gamble [in fact despises the gambling aspect of the game, his heart is pure], altho most people think he is just hustling them when he says that, which has been known to create some problems. When he is playing pool it is strictly for fun-zees, altho he did play in the Gem City, but only because I put him in to see how he would do. He went two and out but he had to play two of the best. Shawn Putnam was his first match and he made him sweat big droplets before Shawn finally pulled the match out. I watched and Jay made only two mistakes the whole set, both of which cost him dearly. His second match was with The Pearl, who had just forfeited his first match and was ready to chew nails. The Jaybird actually had The Pearl smiling during most of the match and how many can say they have done that. He played very well but had no chance as Earl was on fire.
SNOOKER: never seen him play it but he tells me he has several 100's and I don't doubt his word. You can always count on his word, this I know.
DO YOU WANT PLAY HIM ??? YES, ABSOLUTELY !! But only if you can put your ego aside and just play him for fun, no talk about gambling, now talk about whupping his ass cause 999,999 out of 1,000,000 will have no chance. Play him for the joy of playing a great stroke artist from which you will learn a lot about the game. Despite his relative young age [compared to me] you will learn much as he is also a very, very good instructor.
As one last note, after he was out of the Gem City several good players asked him to be their sparring partner while they were warming up for their next match. I watched him win 8 of his first sparring games against Larry Nevil [sp?] before The Jaybird came over to me and whispered in my ear: "Shit, I forgot I was supposed to just warm him up!! I better start loosing some games." Too bad you were not there. It was a great tournament. Kim and John put on a great show. A screw all of you who were annoyed that the volunteer who was doing the streaming video had problems and you couldn't jerk off while watching other people play.
And 2 U Jaybird: FUB, EMA, KMD, SMT and PATW.
Luv U Brudder,
PS: to everybody else, he is not a bad guy, in fact a good man, especially if you can get him to shut up once in a while :}>