Kid Delicious project

N

need-a-nickname

New member
Hi everyone:
I begin this by saying I've never "done" a message board before; so my apologies if this is some breach of etiquette.

Anyway, Jon Wertheim here. I doubt my name rings a bell but I am a writer at Sports Illustrated magazine and am working on a movie/book project with Danny Basavich (d/b/a Kid Delicious.) I'm relatively new to pool, but I've had a great time learning about the subculture. (And I agree that the food at Derby City wasn't fit for human consumption.)

Anyway, the story will revolve mostly around Danny's days on the road and I'm hoping you guys can help me. The research for this book has been a lot of fun, but it's become clear that you guys -- players, sweaters, backers, etc. -- are the keepers of pool's past. Unlike other sports, there are no newspaper clips that will confirm that Danny really did beat Moby Dick that night in Minnesota. There's no video of the time he lost to Jamie Baraks in Davenport. Eyewitness accounts and personal recollections are crucial.

That said, if any of you have good stories or memories or general observations about Danny -- particularly with respect to his time as a roadman -- I would love to hear them. If anyone of you have more general road stories, feel free to pass those on too.

I'm at jon_wertheim@simail.com.

Thanks. jw

P.S. Anyone know how to track down Bucky Bell?!?
 
need-a-nickname said:
Anyway, Jon Wertheim here. I doubt my name rings a bell but I am a writer at Sports Illustrated magazine and am working on a movie/book project with Danny Basavich (d/b/a Kid Delicious.)
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Are you a staff writer, or freelance? What is the general attitude at SI, towards pool? Is there anyway we could petition them, to give pool some real coverage? Good luck with your movie/book project.

Tracy
 
Just go watch the kid play on the tour, a blind man can see he's the real deal. Everyone on tour loves him for that same reason, they all know he's the real deal, so what else do you need to know. Trying to prove a gambling match is ridiculous. A total waste of time. It does not matter.
 
RSB-Refugee said:
Are you a staff writer, or freelance? What is the general attitude at SI, towards pool? Is there anyway we could petition them, to give pool some real coverage? Good luck with your movie/book project.

Tracy
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Hi Tracy:
I'm a staff writer, employed full-time (Trying to do the pool project on the side!) I don't think the magazine has anything against pool per se. I did a piece on Danny a year or so ago that must have ben 8-10 pages long. But pool's obviously a niche sport with a much smaller fan base than the NFL, NBA, baseball etc., so it can be tough to justify coverage. But I'm always up fo a good story, though, and if the IPT gets going perhaps that will help.....
 
yrraltsafone said:
Just go watch the kid play on the tour, a blind man can see he's the real deal. Everyone on tour loves him for that same reason, they all know he's the real deal, so what else do you need to know. Trying to prove a gambling match is ridiculous. A total waste of time. It does not matter.
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Be a pretty rotten book if the pages were blank! Doubt i'd buy it.
 
need-a-nickname said:
But pool's obviously a niche sport with a much smaller fan base than the NFL, NBA, baseball etc., so it can be tough to justify coverage.
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Yep!.......10 million give or take a few hundred thousand in the USA. Course that doesn't take in to account the real fanatics in the Phillipines, Tiawan and Japan!:D

Some folks who might be of assistance are-
1)JAM-Jennie Malloy- fantastic railbird reporter (and she types fast too).

2)Keith McCready- pro,former road pro,actor,IPT member, JAMs significant other.

3)Oldhasbeen- 60's n 70's road warrior.

4)Hemicudas- knows pretty much anything about southern poolroom action.

5)sjm- seems to know just about anybody in the NY area.

Many others (lots of pros and action players).

Terry
 
Nostroke said:
Be a pretty rotten book if the pages were blank! Doubt i'd buy it.
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Oh geeze, you just make it up as you go along, who gives a flip, ever heard of Tevis and the Hustler story, how much of that do you think he proved or validated, and who now cares. At the end, in fine print, you call it fiction.
 
Need-a-nickname

Well, i was around when Danny and partner (forgot his name) came through
Wichita. He bounced in and out for about 4-5 months, and did a little playing here, and I know he was also popping down to Tulsa and Oklahoma
City in between.
 
yrraltsafone said:
Oh geeze, you just make it up as you go along, who gives a flip, ever heard of Tevis and the Hustler story, how much of that do you think he proved or validated, and who now cares. At the end, in fine print, you call it fiction.
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i think you got apples and oranges here. This guy is doing research, gather up a maximum number of stories from different points of view, put it all together into a movie. Why make stuff up when probably the true story is better, funnier, and more engaging than the fiction could be. Lastly, theres nothing worse than someone butchering a story about something they know nothing about. If some guy is making up pool stories for a movie, real pool players are gonna know when something doesnt sound right. I have a feeling authenticity is going to be the real key to making a great pool movie like color of money versus making some piece of crap movie like pool hall junkies. Plus if its all based on real events, they can slap the "based on a true story" onto the advertising, which i think helps get more "non-pool" people into the theater, they are interested in a good story thats true, even if they dont spend 4 nights a week in a poolhall like some of us do.
 
scottycoyote said:
i think you got apples and oranges here. This guy is doing research, gather up a maximum number of stories from different points of view, put it all together into a movie. Why make stuff up when probably the true story is better, funnier, and more engaging than the fiction could be. Lastly, theres nothing worse than someone butchering a story about something they know nothing about. If some guy is making up pool stories for a movie, real pool players are gonna know when something doesnt sound right. I have a feeling authenticity is going to be the real key to making a great pool movie like color of money versus making some piece of crap movie like pool hall junkies. Plus if its all based on real events, they can slap the "based on a true story" onto the advertising, which i think helps get more "non-pool" people into the theater, they are interested in a good story thats true, even if they dont spend 4 nights a week in a poolhall like some of us do.
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I don't think you have ever gone back and tried to get the real scoop on the story as I have. 4 were there, you show up 100 in the joint saw it all. The fish grows every time the story is told. Everyone who never saw it writes them selves into it. It soon becomes a joke. The minnow becomes a whale. Truth, give me a break, make it up as you go along, as I said, who cares, who gives a damn, who could ever prove it any way.

Go through all that crap, all that time and money, write it all up, and Hollywood will rewrite it to sell and its all like I said, a giant waste of time and money. Just dream it all up, sell it, then let hollywood build it up twice as good as it was, that was exactly occured to the hustler story as it was sold and rewritten four seprate times, each time, the fish grew, and after the movie aired and fatty went out, the fish grew into a whale.
 
Some more folks who might give you some insight-
1) Gabesmom- mother of Gabe Owen, another former road player in recent years (he and Danny are two of the new kids on the pro scene).

2) Freddy Bentivigna- author of "Banking with the Beard". Knew practically all of the old hustlers.

3) The pros- Danny Harriman, Shawn Putnam, Sarah Rousey, Melissa Herndon, Jenn Barretta.

4) other "pros"- lil' jon(Macias(?sp)), Joe T(tucker), John Schmidt

5) eieio -former female road player and current IPT member.

6) Mike Janis -former tour director for the Viking Tour.

7)rackemsukr- Linda "wonder woman" Carter, IPT member

Also you can find lots of stories by searching old posts on the forum.

Terry
 
yrraltsafone said:
**************************************************
I don't think you have ever gone back and tried to get the real scoop on the story as I have. 4 were there, you show up 100 in the joint saw it all. The fish grows every time the story is told. Everyone who never saw it writes them selves into it. It soon becomes a joke. The minnow becomes a whale. Truth, give me a break, make it up as you go along, as I said, who cares, who gives a damn, who could ever prove it any way.

Go through all that crap, all that time and money, write it all up, and Hollywood will rewrite it to sell and its all like I said, a giant waste of time and money. Just dream it all up, sell it, then let hollywood build it up twice as good as it was, that was exactly occured to the hustler story as it was sold and rewritten four seprate times, each time, the fish grew, and after the movie aired and fatty went out, the fish grew into a whale.
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well i may be wrong, but I dont think "The Hustler" was supposed to be a true story. You said fatty, im guessing youre referring to minnesota fats. Tevis went to his grave saying minnesota fats was something he created and the character was purely fictional. In the book "hustler days", theres quite a bit of info about how fats (then known as new york fats or triple smart fats i think) adopted the name and started going around saying the movie was about him.
Im not trying to come off as some pool expert because im not.........I do know you keep saying who gives a damn about the truth and the facts.....i can speak up and say I DO. Id like to hear something thats as close to the truth as possible, if these guys are setting out to make a movie based on dannies time on the road and true stories then I will definitely want to go see it. If its going to be a completely fictional thing........wellllllll.........hell ill prob still go see it because i love pool, but it makes me alot more interested in the whole project seeing a guy posting on here trying to get info. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, there goes mine
 
I got bucky's home number. PM your number and Ill have him call you tmw.

Ian
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need-a-nickname said:
Hi everyone:
I begin this by saying I've never "done" a message board before; so my apologies if this is some breach of etiquette.

Anyway, Jon Wertheim here. I doubt my name rings a bell but I am a writer at Sports Illustrated magazine and am working on a movie/book project with Danny Basavich (d/b/a Kid Delicious.) I'm relatively new to pool, but I've had a great time learning about the subculture. (And I agree that the food at Derby City wasn't fit for human consumption.)
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Welcome to the forum Jon. No etiquette rules broken. ;) Unfortunately I can't help you out with any stories but I did want to welcome you to the forum. I hope you've got thick skin and can tell the difference between an internet troll and genuine forum members that mean well. ;)

Your Derby City food comment had me laughing out loud. I wasn't expecting that! :p

Good luck with your project. We're all anxiously awaiting the finished product. There are a ton of people in the pool world that lurk but don't post. I encourage any of you lurkers out there that can help Jon out, to please send him a PM or an email. The sooner he gets the info he needs, the sooner we get to see it. ;)
 
need-a-nickname said:
...confirm that Danny really did beat Moby Dick that night in Minnesota.
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Moby Dick? There was a bar called Moby Dicks that closed over 20 years ago in Minneapolis. Could you be referring to Toby Dick? He is a good player and has been known to gamble for high stakes on occasion. He has been living in the metro area in Minneapolis for several years.

Is this that the guy you seek? I know someone who can get ahold of him.
 
The person to talk to would be Chris Bartram a fellow Ohioian and a really good guy. He is one of the premiere gambling pool players in the country and a former road partner of Danny's. If this information helps and you need more just get a hold of me and I can give you Chris's cell phone number. Chris's staker and his good friend (known as the SAW) can help as well.

Hope this helps,

Kevin Tomlin
 
yrraltsafone said:
Just go watch the kid play on the tour, a blind man can see he's the real deal. Everyone on tour loves him for that same reason, they all know he's the real deal, so what else do you need to know. Trying to prove a gambling match is ridiculous. A total waste of time. It does not matter.
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For God sake, the guy comes on here, is respectful and just asks for some info.
Why even post here if you have nothing helpful to add?

Best of luck and like the others have said, there are plenty of people on here who could give you tons of GOOD information.

Koop
 
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