For all of those reading my Fonz of Mayfield High blog..Thank-you:> Physically? I'm as far removed from Mayfield as a person could be. Mentally? Mayfield looms large. It's time to switch locales. Bob Castle now lives in Las Vegas, and his mentor is a legendary horse gambler named Ray Finney.
"Ray-ball! How long are you going to be?" Bob Castle blurted. Castle was talking to his good buddy Ray Finney on his cellphone. They were supposed to meet at the gym for their weekly raquetball game, as usual Ray-Ball got side-tracked. Ray "Ray-ball" Finney is not the kind of guy your going to meet in Kansas. Castle had given Ray the nickname "
Ray-ball" shortly after they first met. The last fifteen years Ray Finney has been living every straight man's fantasy..EX: He gets up in the morning and heads to the gym, where he has a fitness model as his personel trainer. After that, he usually has a light lunch and heads to the race book. Once his business is done at the book, it's time for a massage. About 4 o'clock he gets on the phone with his buddies at Del-Mar and they start going over picks for the evening races (the morning races are figured the night before). He then proceeds back to the race book and takes care of his evening business.
"I'm gonna have to reschedule our match. I got side-tracked." Ray-ball replied. Ray Finney likes to hit the strip joints early and often in Las Vegas. Castle should have known better when he scheduled the match. "Why don't you meet me at Pierro's for dinner around 8:00. I'm buying!" Pierro's is one of the nicest restaurants in Las Vegas, way out of Castle's price range. When Ray-ball made the offer Castle accepted without hesitation. From 5:30 PM on. Ray Finney could be found in one of two places. A high class gentlemen's club or a fancy restaurant. The Spearmint Rhino (a gentlemen's club in Las Vegas) once bumped Dennis Rodman so Ray-ball could have his table. Rodman looked at him and said. "Who the fuck are you again?" In a nutshell, Ray Finney has lived a life that most men only dream of and he had all sorts of juice in Las Vegas. Him and Bob Castle were polar opposites
"Over here hillbilly." Castle had just walked into Pierro's and Ray-ball was sitting at the bar enjoying his Crown & water. Hillbilly was the nickname that Ray had given Castle. He often teased Castle about his Kansas roots (all in good fun). What brought these two together was the love of college basketball. Ray-ball spent his youth playing basketball in the Catholic leagues of New York City, so he was well acquainted with the game. Castle always considered himself somewhat of a basketball historian, Ray-ball and him became fast friends. Truth be told, Castle was a little envious of Ray. He had a mundane job and struggled to make ends meet, while Ray-ball had the Life of Riley. "I gotta ask you something before I have a drink. How do you so well and never, ever, crack a sweat. The only thing you seem to worry about is what restaurant your going to eat at or what club your going to hit. When do you ever work Ray-ball?" "Believe it or not hillbilly, I live by the credo "always working" it doesn't seem that way because I am so good at what I do. Most people don't have the stomach for my profession. That's what makes me so effective. Now relax and enjoy your dinner, were headed to the Spearmint Rhino after this."
