THE KID (a short story)

W

wayne

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
(Note: I wrote this a couple of years ago and just ran across it again, thought some might enjoy it.)

THE KID

I was talking to a guy today who has been around pool forever and he started talking and this is basically what he said (wish I had taped it):

It was Santa Monica in the 60's. The place was alive, it had a pulse all its own. The action was unreal, money flowed through that place like water. There were more high rollers in there than in Vegas. There was a cat in the parking lot who sold silk suits and dresses out of the trunk of his car, the finest clothing available, if you needed to pick up a gift for your old lady, he was the man. You better get the size right because there were no refunds. Another dude would leave his limo out front with his driver and his bodyguard and he always had a quarter million in the trunk.

The hustlers in this place were rich with their winnings. One of them drove a new Mercedes and lived like a King. There were movie stars, sports stars, and people who made stars playing pool in there. There were backers and bettors all over the place.

I remember the night I first saw "the Kid" like it was today. I was watching the action and checking out the stars in the room. Peter Falk was in his regular game in the corner with Ray Fox. George C. Scott was playing with James Caan and that tennis player Jimmy Conners was in a game too and Telly Savalas.

This guy walks in and pulls out a was of cash and says "I've got a 17 year old kid out in the car and I'm ready to put up $20,000 if anyone wants to give him a try." The buzz in the place got louder. A game was set up with the best player in the place at the time. The kid came in and started playing, no practice, no warm-up and let me tell you it seemed like it took him 3 weeks to miss a ball. He picked off every player one after the other. I never saw anything like it.

The kid's name - McCready
 
Wayne, I remember that place very well. It was the Billiard Den on 6th and Western. Those guys in the parking lot with the clothes (and anything else you wanted) were always looking to make a deal. I found myself buying clothes from them lots of times. :)

When I was 17, I was playing every day and night. I would get mad if I missed a shot. Cecil Tugwell used to play right-handed in those days, and he was one of the harder players to beat. I could go to any bar and make a nickel in no time flat. Now if you go into a bar and ask them to play for any kind of money, they look at you cross-eyed.

Peter Falk was a trip. He used to stake pool players, and other movie stars would bet on them or against them. There was another guy that used to go there by the name of Greg Morris (Mission Impossible). You're right. They all used to congregate around and then match up games. Those sure were the good old days. I wish pool was like that now, like the way it was back then. Everybody would have a bank roll! :D
 
Keith McCready said:
Wayne, I remember that place very well. It was the Billiard Den on 6th and Western. Those guys in the parking lot with the clothes (and anything else you wanted) were always looking to make a deal. I found myself buying clothes from them lots of times. :)

When I was 17, I was playing every day and night. I would get mad if I missed a shot. Cecil Tugwell used to play right-handed in those days, and he was one of the harder players to beat. I could go to any bar and make a nickel in no time flat. Now if you go into a bar and ask them to play for any kind of money, they look at you cross-eyed.

Peter Falk was a trip. He used to stake pool players, and other movie stars would bet on them or against them. There was another guy that used to go there by the name of Greg Morris (Mission Impossible). You're right. They all used to congregate around and then match up games. Those sure were the good old days. I wish pool was like that now, like the way it was back then. Everybody would have a bank roll! :D
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Hi Keith:
The story was told to me by JJ Jenkins who has hundreds of good ones. I've played Cecil Tugwell many times but only as a left-hander. He will switch over to right hand on occasion but just to avoid the bridge. I saw the tape of him beating Efren in a challenge match at Hard Times around 1991, he played flawlessly and I think he may have been one of the first to beat Efren. After the match was over and Cecil had the money there you are Keith entering the picture and jawing with Cecil to play you some (this right after he just beat the best player in the world). You weren't letting up on him either, you really wanted a piece of him. LOL
 
This is the best thread I've ever read. Exactly why I log on!

Thanks for sharing...Keith- make sure you get LOTS of books printed!!

-pige
 
whitewolf said:
I think you got the nickname wrong. The nickname 'Kid' belongs to Cole 'the Kid' Dixon. Keith said that the Kid was his best buddy, so all I want to know is who was the best? Be honest Keith. You already stated that he was one of the best players to come out of CA. I never saw you play Keith when you were young, but I saw the real Kid when he must have been 21. Awesome. but then I heard you ran 22 racks or something - very awesome. I too miss the old days, especially in Winnie Beenies when every hustler from the country would come in there. It was funny listening to them trying to see how good other players were so that they could get a good matchup. Like watching paranna action in slow motion. Maybe I will have to go to Kentuck for the Derby classic one day. I here there is a lot of action out there - as much as you want. Later, WW
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The kid was how the person who told me the story referred to Keith as a kid because at the time he didn't know who he was and he was a kid. It wasn't meant to be a nickname.

I played Cole Dixon some one-pocket a few years back for a $100 a game. We played 3 times and he beat me 2 out of the 3 times and finished a little bit ahead. The thing I remember most is him firing length of the table banks 90 miles per hour and never once missing. He must have done this about 10 times. He did it a couple of times and drew back the length of the table for position which amazed me because if he missed I would have easy runouts (but he never missed).

The only time I played against Keith was in a liability game on a tight snooker table. There were 3 of us and I was way up and Keith was about even with the third guy a big loser. Then Keith hit a stroke and I never saw anything like it on that very tight pocketed snooker table. He made shots that I had never even seen anyone even try and robbed us the rest of the night. I was lucky to escape breaking about even.

My guess is whoever was feeling it between the two of them on any particular day would probably come out the winner. If they both happened to be in dead stroke at the same time I don't know who would win but it would be something to see.

Wayne
 
whitewolf said:
I think you got the nickname wrong. The nickname 'Kid' belongs to Cole 'the Kid' Dixon. Keith said that the Kid was his best buddy, so all I want to know is who was the best? Be honest Keith. You already stated that he was one of the best players to come out of CA. I never saw you play Keith when you were young, but I saw the real Kid when he must have been 21. Awesome. but then I heard you ran 22 racks or something - very awesome. I too miss the old days, especially in Winnie Beenies when every hustler from the country would come in there. It was funny listening to them trying to see how good other players were so that they could get a good matchup. Like watching paranna action in slow motion. Maybe I will have to go to Kentuck for the Derby classic one day. I here there is a lot of action out there - as much as you want. Later, WW
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WW,
You DEFINITELY need to see the Derby City Classic. It's the next best thing to the old Johnson City tournaments.

Isn't Cole Dixon mentioned in "Playing off the Rail"? I think Annigoni let McCumber stake him to some action. Sounded like Cole may have had a little substance problem.
 
Great thread! These are great stories about Keith, and though I've been sweating matches for 38 years now, I wasn't lucky enough to watch the teenaged McCready play.

A legendary player I did get to see when he was still a teenager was the great Allen Hopkins, and it was downright amazing how well he played and how confident he was in action games.

Moral of the story - there's always a young phenom on the horizon. Only eight years ago, the young phenom's name was Alex Pagulayan. Enough said.
 
sjm said:
Great thread! These are great stories about Keith, and though I've been sweating matches for 38 years now, I wasn't lucky enough to watch the teenaged McCready play.

A legendary player I did get to see when he was still a teenager was the great Allen Hopkins, and it was downright amazing how well he played and how confident he was in action games.

Moral of the story - there's always a young phenom on the horizon. Only eight years ago, the young phenom's name was Alex Pagulayan. Enough said.
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SJM,
Allen Hopkins RUINED my pool game. When I first saw him play in the early 70's it was quite startling. He had this very short stroke, and jumped up after each shot - he looked worse than any of my college buddies. Except for one thing - he hardly ever missed, and played great position. After seeing him demolish several local players, I then decided to try to model my stroke after his - BIG MISTAKE (he had natural talent, I didn't). After several wasted years I had to quit the game to follow professional pursuits. As you know it was only recently that I started playing again, and hopefully my current stroke is not similar to Allen's. I suppose there is one good thing to come out of it - when I have to stretch for a shot, I feel very comfortable just poking at it without a back swing (but if you ever see me doing that on a regular shot, please just hit me in the head with a hammer). By the way, I thought the same thing about Lee Trevino when I first saw him play at Laurel Valley and he went on to become one of my favorite players.

Also, by the way, I would go anywhere to watch Allen play straight pool - he seems to be one of the few players to still play the "peck away at the pack" style.
 
Awesome Story!

Great story!!! Thanks for sharin'. Now we just need to get ol' Keith to finish that book. I can't hardly wait Keith...get to writin'!!! :D

Jim
 
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