[Reginald Rutledge]

thing to my memories.

I must say I love Tookie. I had met Tookie before in Virginia but never really hung around Tookie.

First, earlier in the season, Tookie told me how I had brought joy back to him playing the game. He said he was like a kid all over again because the style of play made him want to play again. He even challenged his own league to explore these rules openly.

Then, Tookie took it upon himself to poke fun at my stuttering on TV in front of the nation and his league. They got a big kick out of that. So did I!

Then, in Ohio, on our trip over to the Stearns Center, he used an analogy of a woman teasing her man with my wife present and G Hardmon. My wife, being from the streets too, could only crack up as we all did.

Then, when Tookie was getting ready to get into an intense game of MF, I hollered out "Tookie, I need you". He looked as ********ed as anyone could and he just looked at me and shook his head and said, "Reg, I swear, if it was anybody else, I would....".

I've not hung around Tookie much but he probably would have been one of my 'boyz from the hood when I grew up in south Memphis running the streets. Guys like him, I relate to well and think the world of them. Just hanging with him was a memory I will always hold on to.

Reg