Index and Links to all the Beards Stuff

To quickly scroll thru and examine the contents of my whole website click on:http://indexandlinkstobeardstuff.blogspot.com/

16 famous player interviews, includes 14 on video.Complete pool movie script for "Roxanne's Game."22 Vintage pool articles from Sports Illustrated.28 miscellaneous vintage pool videos

Five Pool Blogs: The Beard's Forum, War Stories, The Last Days of Bugs Rucker, Secrets of a Hard Core Pool Hustler, and Pool Pics and other Memorabilia

The Wake of Javenley Youngblood Washington

Obituary

Javenley Washington, Sr... Was born to the late Edward L Washington and Beatrice Shaw Washington on July 19, 1926 in Parkdale, Arkansas, both parents preceded him in death. At the age of five he came to Chicago, Illinois.

He attended and graduated from St. Benedict High School in Milwaukee.

Javenley, Sr.. accepted Christ at an early age and was baptized as a Catholic. He was a member of St. Mary of the Lake Parish under the leadership of Fr. (Rev.) Jim Kastigar, where he attended on a regular basis since joining in 2004 until his death.
Javenley Sr.. met Diane Smith Gratton, they were married and were blessed with the birth of two sons, Lawrence (T.T Foxx) and Javenley, Jr. He later met Mary Waller, they were married and blessed with the births of four children, April, Marlon, Monica Ann, and Mark.

He worked diligently with his father in their family business until he embarked in the world of billiards. This is where he received the name "Youngblood." He was the premier banking legend in the black community for many years. He was honored and placed in the Bank Pool Hall of Fame in 2006. He traveled many cities and played with the best. He was an avid reader and a man of great wisdom. You could find him in one of Chicago’s Public Library’s or bookstores reading and sharing his wisdom. He was known to walk three to four miles daily and did yoga until his death.

Javenley, Sr. leaves to celebrate his life and cherish his memories: his wife Mary; his sister- Lois Whitehead; his six children: Sergeant Major Lawrence (T.T. Foxx) Washington, Sr.. (Faye), Javanley, Jr. (Lela), April (Henry), Monica Ann, Major Marlon Washington ( Pauline), and mark; ten grandchildren: Angela (Michael), Sheryl (Josh), Rosella (Everett), Sergeant Lawrence Washington, Jr., Javanley, lll, Aki F.,Kelly, Robert, Robin, and Nicolette; five great-grandchildren: Phillip, Michael, DeAngela, Jaela, and Jarell; and a host of family and friends

One Pocket Hall of Fame Dinner 2006

This is a slide show on YouTube put together by Bill Porter at the Onepocket HOF dinner in Derby City in 2006. Bugs Rucker, Eddie Taylor, Gary Spaeth, CornBread Red and Freddy Bentivegna were inducted into the inaugural Bank Pool HOF. Bugs was inducted into the Onepocket HOF the previous year.

Bugs' Fact, Legend and Lore

When Bugs played Minnesota Fats in Johnston City in the early 60s, Joey "The Cincinnati Kid" Spaeth was staking him. A great player himself, Joey did not often back other players. However, Spaeth had just come from Chicago where he had the misfortune to have played Rucker. While there, Joey instantly became a convert to the Bugs Rucker fan club, when in a game of Onepocket with Spaeth only needing one ball to win, and everything seemingly out of play, Bugs banked all of the remaining balls into his pocket to win the game. He banked eight and out into one pocket! Joey had never seen anything like it before, and I personally have never seen or heard anything like it since.


Also in Johnston City, Illinois, Bugs spotted Hall of Famer, Buddy Hall two balls playing banks, 10 to 8 — and won the money. Perhaps you think maybe Buddy played badly — he didn't. Buddy made every makeable ball he shot at, played dead-nuts safeties, never dogged anything, and still lost every game. That was the kind of bank speed the mighty Bugs had.


During the filming of The Color Of Money, Leonard "Bugs" Rucker, was originally slated to play the black guy that hustles and beats Paul Newman. Bugs was absolutely helpless as an actor, and couldn't do a single line. They finally gave up on him and installed Forest Whitaker to do the part. The rest is history. Whitaker is an oscar winning actor today.

Pools Greatest Money Player, CornBread Red

CORNBREAD RED: POOL’S GREATEST MONEY PLAYER
By Bob Henning
This book takes the reader into the life of pool’s legendary money player. It’s action-packed, entertaining, and easy to read. An inside look at the Johnston City tournaments and the world famous big-money poolroom -- the Rack, in Detroit MI. It has received rave reviews from pool publications and other reviewers.

$16.95
Excerpt from my book, The GosPool According To The Beard:
Cornbread Red liked to bet so high it put a "tremble" in his opponents stroke. Red was one of my heroes. Whenever I ran into him, I followed and hung onto him the whole time. He had me totally fascinated. Red was the master at shooting off the game ball. When confronted with a big-cheese-money-ball, Red would derisively snort, "Haw, haw," in his inimitable style, then he would increase his normally long back-stroke about another foot, and slip-stroke the shot in, with dust flying out of the back of the pocket.

http://www.bankingwiththebeard.com/books.html#cornbread1

My Visit with Bugs

I visited Bugs at St Margaret's Hosp. monday. I brought him another 1k (grand) collected from the good folks who participated in Steve Booth's charity raffle. I have another 1k to give to his daughter Sondrea tomorrow. That makes about 5k so far with more to come. Later, for a real revelation regarding how tuned in Bug's family was to his profession.

You might never see another champion the likes of the mighty Bugs Rucker. He could play anywhere, on any table, for any bet. He didn't even have his own cue stick. Even if someone gave him one, he would usually sell it within a week. He could play with one directly out of the wall racks. He ducked no champions, but many champions ducked him. If you were dumb enough to play him a short set, like two out of three for all of it, nobody outside of Cornbread Red or Ronnie Allen could handle that kind of pressure like he could. Let's celebrate him a little while he is still with us.

Bug's daughter Sondrea and I were visiting him at the same time, whereupon I discovered that she didn't have a clue as to what her daddy did for a living for all those years. Finding out he was the world's bank pool champion for 20 yrs. and a member of the Bank Pool, and One Pocket Hall of Fame was a complete surprise to her. All she could relate to what he did was that he would leave town for a few weeks and return home flush with money. It turns out nobody in the immediate family knew anything about his pool career including his son, his mother and his wife! "They thought I was just a bum." was Bug's reply to me. Why he never told them anything remains a mystery. I can only guess that his family was probably very religious and strait-laced. (This later proved to be the case)

Bug's Birthday
Today, Aug 18, is Leonard "Bugs" Rucker's 69th birthday. He is spending the day in St Margaret's hospital with a bad case of diabetes and a missing leg. He asked me to bring him a special birthday lunch, king crab legs and baby-back ribs. I dont know if that's a healthy thing to do, but I'm gonna do it anyway. The meal cost pretty good too, so I put him to work autographing balls. I brought my son, Dino with me. Bugs hadn't seen Dino in about 15 years, but his mind is still sharp and he recognized and acknowledged Dino immediately. That made my son feel good and glad that he had come with me. Happy birthday to a great champion.

Billy Incardona's Instructional 1 pkt DVD

Accu-Stats' own Bill Incardona shares with you his common sense approach to successful One-pocket. This shows the most logical way to approach the One-pocket table. Bill discusses, and then demonstrates, each thought process that he deems important. He proves why banking, kicking, and taking intentional scratches are vital. He guides you through seven key thought processes from thinking offensively to destroying your opponent's shot, to the do-or-die scramble. Bill has always been a master of communication whether he's in the commentary booth talking to viewers, or just one on one. So spend some time with Bill Incardona and raise your One-pocket game to new levels.

Pat Fleming director of Accu-stats

I have spent much time in the Accu-Stat’s broadcast booth with my old pal Bill, and while we may, and often do, disagree on what particular shot to shoot during our analysis, I never disagree on the thought processes he used to arrive at a shot decision. He has always been one of the great thinking players in our game. His DVD will give you a valuable insight into how he was able to successfully handle the high-pressure, big money situtions that he became famous for throughout his career. This DVD is vigorously recommended.
Freddy The Beard Bentivegna
60 minutes $26 plus shipping
http://www.bankingwiththebeard.com/dvds.html#billydvd1