That Reminds Me !
Buddy once called me while I was at the Burlington, Iowa tourney. He said I HAD to come to Detroit because of all the action going on and insisted I stay with him. He had a nice apartment all set up. I left & drove A.S.A.P.
The action was the best I have ever seen or will ever see. Without going into too much detail, I will tell you that one night/morning, I had -
A PIECE, OF A PIECE, OF A RAIL BET - MY END WAS $17K & change.
On the second day there, Buddy says we have to pick up "RED" at his house because his car was in the shop.
When we get there, RED is still getting dressed upstairs so we sit in the living room and wait. RED"S lovely wife turns on the TV and what do you think was playing - "THE HUSTLER".
I can still hear "RED'S" voice yelling down the stairs in a dialect & vernacular that only "RED" could muster.
"WHY, I WISH I HAD A NICKEL FOR EVERYTIME I BUSTED THAT FAT, NO GOOD, LOW DOWN, DIRTY ROTTEN, SCUM SUCK'EN ASS HOLE.
Now those were the NICE things he had to say about Fats.
When he came downstairs, we watched the whole second half of the movie and I swear - Red put on a stand-up comic routine that would put any Vegas Headliner to shame. I was laughing soo hard - I had to go to the bathroom to give my face mussels a rest. They were hurting from laughing.
FYI - I later heard Red say that it was a shame the general public (squares) thought Fatty couldn't really play. Red said he was one of the best - "In His Day" and maybe the best Hustler of One Pocket ever.
I can personally attest to that as my pool life started here in St. Louis when I took the wrong streetcar home from Christmas shopping and had to walk over 2 blocks to catch the right streetcar. I (14 yrs old) looks up and sees a sign saying "Billiards" on Sarah and Olive Blvds. I go upstairs and who do you think was playing on the back table for $500 One Pocket. Fatty & Long Beach. There must have been 50-60 people watching this one game. Now I had only played 1 or 2 games of pool before this but I knew I liked it. I was completly mesmerized by what I was seeing. I had all my Christmas packages with me and some of the older guys explained what was going on. This was before the movie (1960) but "NY Fats" was as spectacular, stunning, and successful as the movie portraid him.
Some old guy sold me a watch that only had the correct time twice a day for $6 & another old guy Hustled me out of my last $9 playing $1 - 8 Ball.
I LOVED IT! - ALL OF IT!
The dirty poolroom, the seedy characters, the sharpest desssed Fat Guy I've ever seen driving the longest white cady and YES, I even enjoyed "The Hustle" that was put on me.
I couldn't wait to get better at my neighborhood poolroom and go back for some more.
I did, & did, & did, & did !!!
