I'm not all that big on records myself. I mean, they're cool to think about for a bit here and there, but I'll never be one of those "stat guys".:smile: My eyes glaze over everytime I'm within earshot of a couple of dudes talking about what record their favorite team or player has and how that makes them such a better team or player.
One feat records are typically a extraordinary performance where everything was perfect at a given moment in time. All the stars and moons aligned all at once.
If I was practicing banks one day, and happen to be filming it and all the sudden I"m on a run... all the banks are falling, I'm getting shape on them to make them a little easier, I rack them up and break them, make a ball and they all spread wide apart.. and I keep running them and end up with 50 banks in a row. If 50 is now a record, does that now make me the best bank player that ever lived? I hardly think so (but I will milk it for awhile)
I could go on to never get a high run of more then 6 the rest of my life.
As far as Mosconi's record... that's a lot of damn balls any way you look at it. But you're right, the fact that it's on a 8 ft with probably buckets for pockets kind of takes away a bit of the allure to it. I understand that the argument is, that on a smaller table it's a little more congested, but for a player of his caliber, he knows all about gently knocking balls open. If that was done on a 9 ft table with normal size pockets, not buckets, then it means more to me.
But in the end, it's still just a snapshot in time where everything came together. I wonder how many balls he missed where they got hit into the rail 4 feet away and still went in. Or how many jiggled in the pocket before dropping? Or how many where the cueball got away from him but still ended up magically getting open for another shot?
It's a great feat, there's no doubt about it. He was a great straight pool player so if there's anyone that deserves it or you would expect it from, it would be him. But his legacy is defined by his whole career, not one day where everything came together.
I think of records like Brett Farve's, for most games started. Once you get a record going, they'll throw you in no matter what, just so you can keep the record going. Might be for 1 series, but hey... got to keep that record going.
Speaking of records in pool.... I wonder where I stand in a few of these categories......
1. Most changes of a grip or stroke over a 30 year period (in fact I just changed it again a few days ago):smile:
2. Most time spent doing pool related projects in front of a computer
3. Most consecutive years of disappointing one's self at their progress made in their overall game (I think I just broke my streak recently, since I came off a 12 year layoff, sucked for about a year, but have picked it up a bit now)
4. Most balls hit without using centerball
