Cory PM'd me and asked for a story about Melvin Strawberry Brooks. I have several, but in this one I win.
Stawberry came to Chicago about 10 or 12 years ago and we went down to Bob Agins poolroom on 63rd and Cottage Grove to play. It's an all black room but I was always as comfortable there as I was in my home room of Bensingers. (This is the room that was featured in Color of Money, where Tom Cruise does his stick twirling thing.) I had already won a few thou at the Billiard Cafe on Chicago's North Side and if I wanted to win more I was going to have to beat him where he had been playing. I was accompanied by the famed tush-hog Sugar Shack Johnny Novak. We were partners often, and had spent a lot of time together on the road. To cut this short, I was in dead stoke and I won another 10 thou. Strawberry went back to DC and returned about 6 months later. He came back to the Billiard Cafe and being the sport that he was, he wanted revenge. I had always experienced great shifts in my speed -- for example, once I broke Grady playing even, and another time he wound up giving me 11 to 7 and winning -- and this day was another recurrance of my speed shift. Trying to be cagey, I didnt really want to play, I asked Strawberry for a ball. Considering I came about 25 games ahead the last time we played, I figured he'd get hot and tell me where to shove it. Instead he seemed delighted to spot me. It was like some kind of a pride saver that somehow negated my previous win. Needless to say, he robbed me with the ball. However, 10k he did not win back. Out of stroke I was, dumb I was not. Good tough player and gambler.
the Beard
Bank on, brother!
http://www.bankingwiththebeard.com/index.html
(Check out my shirts and hats. I got to sell stuff, I cant play)
