Just read your story of retiring your Hoppe (cue). I bought my Hoppe in 1965 maybe. I got robbed but I sure wish I had it back. My stick was a 19.5 with a pool shaft and a snooker shaft. It was sweet.
But the thing that struck me was the story of you beating the lady (Loree Jon Jones). I have a similar story but it is not about me. I have the knowledge of what to do but had a vision problem and depth perception was poor, it also created an additional problem of my stroke wavered. I am good enough to win from most amateurs but never would have been a contender no matter how hard I practiced, which I did ten hours a day for several years.
But my story was not of me. There was a kid barely 16 we lived in Kansas City in the mid 60s his name was Jimmy Warner the kid was a natural he was taught by a old stick named John Rags. John had glaucoma and could hardly see, still he was a hell of a snooker player. He taught Jimmy. One day every one at our home pool hall Pass Time Cue heard Minnesota Fats was going to give an exhibition over at the Golden Cue in Raytown Missouri just a few miles away so we all jumped in our cars and headed that way. Now Jimmy had the best 9 ball break at that time in Kansas City it was not unusual for him to make 3-5 on the break and would run three out of five after the break, the kid was great.
Well the same thing happened with Fats. He asked if anyone was up for a 9 ball game with him and Jimmy stood up. Fats couldn't believe that a kid would stand up to him and started to laugh him off. A lot of the audience were in the know of who Jimmy was and they started snickering to, not at Jimmy but at Fats. Now Fats thought that they were laughing at Jimmy so he changed his mind and decided to make Jimmy look foolish so he gave Jimmy the break. Bang, Jimmy broke made 4 and run. Fats looked choked like he had swallowed a cow and told Jimmy to break, bang Jimmy hit that rack and made the 9 on the break. The fat man couldn't believe his eyes and made it look like Jimmy was just lucky last game Jimmy never gave him a shot. Fats quit, told Jimmy to sit down and everybody laughed including Fats. The fat man made a few trick shots and left town.
I quit playing the pool halls around Kansas City I loved the action but knew I was not going to make a living with a stick, I lost track of Jimmy and never knew what happened to him. Lost my Hoppe oh well. I hope this will give you a chuckle. Lester From Kansas City
Thanks for sharing, Lester!But the thing that struck me was the story of you beating the lady (Loree Jon Jones). I have a similar story but it is not about me. I have the knowledge of what to do but had a vision problem and depth perception was poor, it also created an additional problem of my stroke wavered. I am good enough to win from most amateurs but never would have been a contender no matter how hard I practiced, which I did ten hours a day for several years.
But my story was not of me. There was a kid barely 16 we lived in Kansas City in the mid 60s his name was Jimmy Warner the kid was a natural he was taught by a old stick named John Rags. John had glaucoma and could hardly see, still he was a hell of a snooker player. He taught Jimmy. One day every one at our home pool hall Pass Time Cue heard Minnesota Fats was going to give an exhibition over at the Golden Cue in Raytown Missouri just a few miles away so we all jumped in our cars and headed that way. Now Jimmy had the best 9 ball break at that time in Kansas City it was not unusual for him to make 3-5 on the break and would run three out of five after the break, the kid was great.
Well the same thing happened with Fats. He asked if anyone was up for a 9 ball game with him and Jimmy stood up. Fats couldn't believe that a kid would stand up to him and started to laugh him off. A lot of the audience were in the know of who Jimmy was and they started snickering to, not at Jimmy but at Fats. Now Fats thought that they were laughing at Jimmy so he changed his mind and decided to make Jimmy look foolish so he gave Jimmy the break. Bang, Jimmy broke made 4 and run. Fats looked choked like he had swallowed a cow and told Jimmy to break, bang Jimmy hit that rack and made the 9 on the break. The fat man couldn't believe his eyes and made it look like Jimmy was just lucky last game Jimmy never gave him a shot. Fats quit, told Jimmy to sit down and everybody laughed including Fats. The fat man made a few trick shots and left town.
I quit playing the pool halls around Kansas City I loved the action but knew I was not going to make a living with a stick, I lost track of Jimmy and never knew what happened to him. Lost my Hoppe oh well. I hope this will give you a chuckle. Lester From Kansas City
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