blackeee
Verified Member
Do any of ya'll now how he got his nickname? I do.
I believe it was because he liked pulling the wings off of flys and the rear legs off of grasshoppers. I could be wrong though .blackeee said:Do any of ya'll now how he got his nickname? I do.
I want to hear it too.blackeee said:Do any of ya'll now how he got his nickname? I do.
Only person who might know is Freddy. Let's see what he says.lll said:i thought it was because he could run faster and was smarter than those that trised to trap him
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM5Gwzk3Vfc
blackeee said:Only person who might know is Freddy. Let's see what he says.
According to Larry Cox,who is known to you Freddy and plays at Red Shoes, it happened like this: When Bugs first started hangin around the poolroom, all the young guys were called "jitterbugs" As Bugs became accepted to the poolroom crowd it went from jitterbug to Bugs.fred bentivegna said:I once asked and got the answer to that question. The only problem is that I got the answer about 40 years ago and I have completely forgotten what it was. I do remember that he had it very early in his career.
Beard
Red Shoes said:Leonard "Bugs" Rucker got his name because way back when he started playing, he (and his crowd of young men) would "HUMBUG" when playing pool for money. "HUMBUG" is a term used in the black community for verbal "sharking". It can be anything from calling fouls that didn't happen to "threatening" an opponent. No matter what form it takes it is constant during the match. Continual "chatter" during a session is considered "Humbugging". An old black guy named "Bones" (don't know how he got his name, he died about 10 years ago) shortened the term "Humbug" to "Bug" when Leonard would come in the pool room. "Bug" transformed into "Bugs" AKA Leonard "Chicago Bugs" Rucker. The last of the old black players left on the planet "Odell" (he is 96 I think) will verify this. So "Bugs" got his nickname because of unsporting conduct when he was young. Now in the late 60s and 70s his ability made "humbugging" unnecessary, plus it was not tolerated in high-stakes gambling around the country. Also, "Bugs" just plain grew up (not a wild kid anymore). Still, given the right situation "Bugs" was willing to create an illegal advantage for himself if he thought he could get away with it.