Well I haven’t written in this thing in a while….so much has happened since my last entry….its pretty crazy. I think of how many posts this think would have if I actually SAT DOWN and recapped not just the daily….but the WORTH WRITING DOWN events that happen in my life. Sometimes..there’s more than one story in a day. Sometimes….theres 3 or 4 or even 5. lol. So since the last post….wich wasnt really about my life in pool…it was just an account of a really weird (yet not so weird anymore since its happened quite a few times in my life now in different cities and from different non related people each time) experience I had while at a local coffee shop. I figure since this is a life blog…and this shit was out of the blue…..again…Id write about it in my blog. Even though it had nothing to do with pool really. But I promise….this post will. ?
So since my last post I was invited to go on tour by Dennis Hatch with him and Johnny Archer and I accepted graciously. And although I am not going to write about that trip with them right here…(lets just say me and Dennis got into it a bit….not everything is what it seems with him I learned and we were supposed to be boys. Not so much I guess.) I do want to say it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for the chance to just go on tour with 2 of the greatest players to ever live. Yes…I dont care about what anyone says… Dennis is certainly one of the greatest talents living today.. no matter what type of person he is. And its only cuz I know how he was raised….that i dont hate him.
But Johnny Archer…..let me tell you Johnny is a RIOT! and a great human being to boot! Me and Johnny spent Easter Sunday at a Greek Orthodox church not understand 90% of what they were saying…and then we come back to the hotel and the fire alarm is going off and the whole fire department and police squad is flying in the parking lot as we pull in!! lmao!! AND!! I got it all on tape! AND!! the town we were in was the place where the ILLUMINATI hold their yearly huge gathering with all the top officials in the Secret Illuminati societies of the world!! WE WERE IN BOHEMIAN GROVE!!! IT WAS THE BOHEMIAN GROVE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND POLICE SQUAD!!! FREAKY SHIT MAN> Im telling you….this Illuminati shit is always present in my life somehow… There are some stories that you will just never forget and we had a few of them together…I wont embarrass him and put him on blast with more funny stories but lets just say….I THINK JOHHNY ARCHER IS A GREAT GUY AND IT WAS A PLEASURE BEING ON THE ROAD WITH HIM. We would have gotten a lot closer if me and Dennis werent going at it. lol.
But like I said…..there were a hundred stories I could tell on here about those 8 days..(2 of them I had to leave and come back for probation) but a few of them wouldnt be nice to tell so I wont even open up that can of worms. More out of an unearned respect that I really shouldnt have for someone…than any other reason. I am not out here to hurt peoples lives…..even though so many people have hurt mine…and my opportunities…but still..I pretty much live by that “Do unto others” rule that everyone seems to have forgotten about. Or act like they never knew in the first place..
BUT!! I do want to tell the story of my accomplishing my MISSION IMPOSSIBLE! Dennis had left me in Valley Forge and I had no ride home. All my stuff was in his truck (thank GOD ACTUALLY cuz I REALLY would have been screwed if I had to lug my shit around w me….lol! Im not going to get into the whole thing…(again I am going way above and beyond the acts of kindness I should be extending in this thing), but my point is…I was stranded in Jersey…on Sunday….and had to be home for probation on tuesday morning at 8am. AND!! my homeboy had my cue in his back seat and left to go home and forgot it was there. So no cue. AND….I had pretty much gone broke on the trip…(starting with 600$) cuz I was paying a 3rd of the expenses….and was getting screwed on my opportunities to make money through action along the way…(I booked 1 winner and 1 loser…and the loser was a larger sum than the winner and the losing day…turned into a disaster at the end. Again…im going to leave those details out out.) AND!!! RENT WAS DUE AS SOON AS I GOT HOME!!! $400!! nice right? So I gotta turn $100 to about $600 cuz after the $100 bus and the $400 rent…I cant be FLAT BROKE you know… I need ATLEAST a BENJI to do something with ya know?!
Dont you all wish you were me right about then..?? ?
So here I am….stranded in Jersey…almost broke…and I gotta not only find a way get my bankroll up with a freshly broken left pinky finger (again, leaving the details out …lol there are going to be a lot of details left out to to protect peoples professional reputation in life.. (not that anyone ever gave a fuck about my life or rep that is supposedly so bad when its really JUST A BUNCH OF LIES AND BULLSHIT…) but anyways… ya. I got a broken left pinky….cant play cuz im in so much pain…(well I’m still playing cuz I have to but playing 2 balls or more under my speed) so its tuff for me to win anything…(fuck, everyone plays good out there nowadays.. if you dont play better..you go broke! LOL!) I got no way to get to the bus station cuz im stranded, PLUS I only got 100 bucks left to my name. LMAO!!! WHY MEE!!!!!!???????????!!!!!!!!! again. They say GOD never gives you more than you can handle..
NOW!!
WATCH HOW I PULL THIS ONE OFF!!!! JASON CHRISTOPHER “ETHAN” HUNT!!!! MISSION IMPOSSIBLE!
“Here is your mission if you choose to accept it”:
1. Find a place to go before the Convention Center closes and you get stranded in the middle of fucking nowhere…with no ride… AND a place to stay for the night….witha ride out of that place in the morning.
2: Beat someone out of enuff money to make rent AND get you home by Tuesday morning at 8 am (current time…..7pm Sunday…and counting) WHILE playing with a freshly broken pinky finger and using someone else’s cue. AND have enuff money to have in your pocket AFTER you pay all that out so your not completely broke. Like your finger is.
3. Find a ride to a bus station to get you to a bus that leaves in time to get you home by 8 am tuesday morning. Bus Ride Trip Duration: 12 hours. And Greyhound dont leave every 15 minutes ya know what im sayin people?!?!
Ya.
“This message will self destruct in 1 min”
BOOM!
Current time: 8:30 pm Sunday night.
So…luckily I used to live in Jersey and NYC so I knew mad people. I got a Jersey family AND a NYC family so I told my boy Kevin what the deal was….so he got us a ride to SandCastle Billiards where I used to go all the time and I was good friends with Eddie.
Charlie Williams was in town along with a bunch of other Pros right before that Dragon Promotions thing they had going on at Sandcastle. I think it was a challenge match with Busty and Shaw or something. I dont know…and at that time…I diddnt care. Now I dont like Charlie…ever since I first met him a long time ago in Orlando and I saw what an aarogant little bitch he was to people Ive never liked him. To me hes the ANTITHESIS of a professional. He looks down on everyone but other certain PROS…and then he sucks THOSE pros dicks and kisses their asses like a little bitch. He treats fans like shit and is super arrogant when he doesnt have to be. (and it you notice…hes never won a US OPEN. To me….hes NEVER been on the level of ANY top player… Corey, Earl, Busty, Hatch, Mika, Orcollo, ANY OF THEM. I seen him get beat by chumps….and hes a dick.) But I had to swallow my pride and grin and bear it I told Eddie my predicament and he said I could crash at his house. Charlie diddnt like it either believe me.. He tried to tell Eddie not to let me stay like a little bitch. lol but fuck that. Me and Eddie were boys forget pool…and thats how it stood. I had a place to stay for the night and a ride to the bus station the next day. Charlie pouted the rest of the night..lmao.
SO….One part of the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE was complete. By 930 pm Sunday. At SandCastle Billiards.
NOW….I tell Eddie..”Ok…NOW find me a cheap 1 pocket game.” and he goes…”OK! SCOTTY!!! YOU WANT SOME CHEAP 1 POCKET ACTION?!?!” and some tall, clean cut, well dressed guy from across the room yellls back..”HELL YEAH!” and just like that..I got a game.
“See…I get you a game just like you say a room owners supposed to do!” Eddie says. lol I’m always on him about how to be a perfect room owner…and you know what? Over the years…HES LISTENED A LOT!!!
Shout out to ED Liddwalli whos not only a great guy…but one of the BEST ROOM OWNERS IN THE COUNTRY AND DOES A LOT FOR POOL IN NEW JERSEY AND NYC…even though hes in Jersey. lol. EVERYONE INTHE TRI STATE AREA NEEDS TO GO SUPPORT SAND CASTLE BILLIARDS IN EDISON NJ!! Take the New Jersey Rail to Metutchan and take a 10 dollar cab to the pool room (or walk the 12 blocks…thats what I do….its a nice walk) and play in the best room in Jersey!! (this is my plug Eddie by the way….cuz I know you subscribe to my blog…like you should bitch.. 😉 ) Eddie is guaranteed to get you a game…make the game right and he’ll even play himself!
anyways. Scotty comes over and we play on this SUPER tight table. NOT THE TIGHTEST IN THE ROOM EVEN, but in Buffalo…i dont see a tight table…and with this broken hand…I was in trouble. Meanwhile…first game he runs 8 and out. From nowhere.
“THANKS EDDIE!! APPRECIATE IT!” I yell as I peel off a Jackson from the 5 I got left. “GOOD LOOKIN ON THE GAME DOG!” and Scott starts cracking up. Im laughing myself…but inside..I just want to kill Eddie…lol. He wins the next 2 games almost as quickly as the first and I couldnt make a ball on that virgin table. “we gotta switch tables Scott.. I never see a tight pocket table where im from and I dont want to ask you for any weight…I just want to play on a regular table. Pro cut is fine….but not this snooker pocket shit. fuck I cant even SEE an opening in the corners from the other end of the table right now..lol” and since he was torturing me….of course he agreed to switch tables.
So now…Im a little better. BUT…im down to my last 2 barrels. 40 duckets in the bucket. A broken pinky..a foreign cue…and all the other circumstances on my shoulder. Whew. Dont you want to be me AGAIN right about now?!? But.. one thing about me.. s I got a lot of fight. A lot of heart. So….I grind back the first game on the pro cut table. Then I loose a game. Then I win a game. Then I win another game. Slowly the pain in my swollen and blue and green left hand starts to blend in with the rest of my arm…becoming kinda numb…and not so much noticable. I win another game. then 1 lose 1….then win 2. and another. I go from 3 games looser to 6 games winner in like 4 hours. and at the end…we were betting 60 a game so I ended up winning 320$. By that time….the room was closing. I pay the time…and I end up winning 290 bucks. Almost a complete TRIPLE up! We make a date for tomorrow morning to play again. Scott was a hell of a guy…a true gentleman and a pleasure to play with. Although we were gambling seriously…we bantered and talked a little friendly shit back and forth and applauded when deserved and it was how 2 gamblers should be. Respectful on both ends.
I was proud of myself.
So…Charlie and Eddie and 2 other people go to early breakfast….and its up early to grind for another day to complete my mission. But time is running out. remember….the bus ride is 12 hours.
Now the next day..Eddie wakes up late….we were supposed to be at the poolroom by 11. This fool wakes up at 1. Im PISSED! So I chirp at him the whole time and he tells me my problems arent his problems and we argue like 2 brothers all the way to the pool room. He calls Scotty and Scotty comes and I book a bus out of Edison at 945 pm. I have to go from Edison to Penn station NYC to Buffalo and the only time I can get there is 345 pm. im fucked and ill have to tell my probation officer…who closes shop at 430…why I was late. we start playing at 3. So we go back and forth for like 2 hours….dead even. Now…its looking like im fucked…BUT!! my phone rings and its my DAD! hes worried about me and doesnt want me to miss my probation so he found a bus out of Newark that leaves at 930 and gets me in buffalo at 9 am in time for me to make my morning session. (probation goes from 830 -1130 for the morning session….which is when I have to check in cuz my job is not on the books..Im a pool player. lol)
So…now I check the New Jersey Train and there is a train that leaves Metuchan station at 745 pm. its now like 645 pm. lol So I am like …”you wanna just play a race to 2 for 200?” (now if I lost…I was fucked…no rent when I got home for Buffalo. Sleepin in the streets with the HOBOS… lol ) “Of course!” he said excitingly….cuz see..Scotty likes to bet. Hes got a lot of money…AND has a lot of heart. AND GAMBLE. So…the first game….we battle back and forth for the first ball but I win the battle and rin an 8 and out. 1-0 me. Next game goes on FOREVER it seemed….and he won. 15 minutes till my train leaves now. and its the last game.
NOW….if anyone has ever played 1 pocket with a good player.. 1 GAME could last an hour…ive had some last 2 hours before.. So Im under TREMENDOUS PRESSURE RIGHT HERE!! either hurry up and loose…go broke…and make my train….OR…take my time….play safe and smart…and miss my train…and probation…and go to jail possibly. lol All I was thinking was at the time…”Please lord just give me an opportunity…. JUST ONE SHOT LORD TO MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN!” and then it happened. He let me see a ball JUST enuff to make a hit to back cut bank the ball and come around 3 rails and get on another ball perfect and be able to manufacture an ALCATRAZ OUT. Fuck IT!! I had to go for it. And guess what???
I MADE IT. and got on the next ball…and ran an 8 and out in like 2 minutes….out of NOWHERE!!!! with the sickest shots and cuts and combos you ever seen!! My man WU TANG (KIZER SOZE) was right there to witness it.. Scotty was sick!! I got my 200…..and had WU TANG run me to the train with literally 2 minutes to spare!!!
SO!!!
Mission completed.
I caught my train…had my 500 in my pocket to pay my 400$ rent….AND had 100$ left over…to keep me afloat.
I slept like a BABY all the way home.
Happy.
Proud.
and amazed…at how…somehow….I saved myself again…..under the most unreal circumstances…with some of the most unbelievable pool….anyones ever seen.
Dont believe me??
Ask Eddie, Wu Tang, that asian woman who got 1st place in the womens at Valley Forge..(she was right there too..) and anyone else who was at Sand Castle that day.
Mission Impossible Completed: BUFFALO “ETHAN” HUNT out… . . .