Rusty in Montana said:

My Christmas gift to me was a Mike Gulyassy jump break Sledgehammer cue that I've enjoyed using it complements my playing cue is also a Mike Gulyassy cue both were used when I got them but I'm ok with that . These were both gifts to me to celebrate my being cancer free and surviving the treatments since my parents weren't as fortunate , may God rest their souls !

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pwd72s said:

Maybe the equipment and players of today have become too good, too perfect, and too similar in style to be as enjoyable to watch as these old matches.

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maha said:

you just couldnt do any business with him as he could not be trusted in any way.

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Mensabum said:

Uh oh.

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lfigueroa said:

I hesitate to write this because it's somewhat personal but, here it is.

One morning very early this year I was practicing on my favored table in the back of pool hall. A young woman walked in with a small boy. I'm terrible at guessing the ages of kids but he was somewhere before a tween -- dark hair, skinny, well dressed in kakis and a rugby shirt. He had his own cheapie cue in a soft case and seemed a very quiet, very intense type. They took a table several away from me while I was practicing some 14.1 and running a fair number of balls. And after about a half an hour the woman approached me and said, "Excuse me sir but it looks like you know what you're doing. Would you mind giving my son some pointers?"

Now, normally, I might have demurred -- I consider my practice time sacred but something about her gentleness touched me and I said, "Sure."

At his mother's urging (pushing) he approached me and stood at my table and I asked, "Are you ready to learn something?" And he imperceptibly nodded. And so I spoke to him softly, telling him, "Pool is a game of precision and repeatability. If you are precise in your set up and execution you will be able to repeat your setup and reliably pocket balls."

So we began. I set up a small series of shots. Corrected his stance, grip, and bridge and tell him, "I know it's a lot. But if you stick with it you'll be able to do it without thinking. Trust me." And, as I suppose you would expect, he has a modicum of success and after about 40 minutes the woman says, "Kevin, it's time to go. Thank the man." And, in a very serious fashion, he walks up to me and shakes my hand, and says, "Thank you."

Mom and son walk to the bar to pay time and she buys him a Coke and after a few minutes walks back to me and says, "I cannot thank you enough for what you just did. Kevin's dad died two months ago in a work accident and we're on our way to my mom's house. He seems kind of lost and still in shock." And suddenly she gives me a big hug, softly crying on my shoulder.

I don't know what else to say except that sometimes, even in the pool hall, there is room to do a good thing.

Lou Figueroa

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Mensabum said:

Why would anyone try to sell an aiming system??
Surely there's easier and better money to be had out there??

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Slopopolis said:

For anyone that's used becue shafts with both the white and clear ferrules - do you have a preference? Is one lighter than the other? Stiffer?

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j2pac said:

Very nice!

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mikepage said:

True. But I'm wondering...do you think we have some secret ulterior reason to mislead you on this issue?

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Buckzapper said:

If we could re-rack and have Danny play Grady in the 70s or 80s, I'd bet my house on DeLiberto, no matter the game. Danny played against players like Jimmy Moore, Babe Cranfield, Irving Crane, Luther Lassiter, Jimmy Caras, Mike Eufemia, Frank McGown and others that didn't miss very often. Grady was constantly broke, because he thought he could beat champions. Grady left town owing me $600. I never got it.

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Frosty said:

Your observations are on point, very astute although kinder than I would be regarding Tyler. Tyler reminds me of a player that turned into a coach, a coach he’s spent some time with, Mark Wilson.

Mark, as you know, once played pro pool for a short period of time, emphasis on the word played as he never won a damn thing, for the same reason Tyler never does, lack of heart. He played slow, unless he had absolute perfect position, he’d look to duck and play a safety. I saw him shoot over .900 in a match once and his opponent shot a lower percentage and won the match.

Some guys, while through hard work and dedication actually develop a skill set to where they have all the tools to play at an elite level, but they lack heart, they have a ten cent head and never reach their full potential. Tyler doesn’t need a mental coach, he needs a heart transplant. Or he could do what he’ll eventually do, just become an instructor. Some guys just can’t compete, they just don’t have it in them.

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Kris_b1104 said:

I don't doubt or disagree with that.

All I'm saying is a 600 7ft player is not the same speed as a 600 9ft player.

But like you said, since this probably doesn't exist in the real world, it's hard to argue.

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Kris_b1104 said:

Excellent analysis. I agree, Jeremy plays strong and has good potential if he continues to put in the work. I enjoyed watching him play far more than Styer.

Tyler may need a vacation/reset on his whole style of playing. He seems constantly stressed at the table. Which is weird because before the MC, I've seen videos of him running racks and racks very comfortably, putting together packages, although still slow as a snail.

It's very concerning watching him get down on the shot and fidget every part of his body until it feels right, then gets back up, gets down, tinkers with some other fundamental, and finally shoots. I can't think of any other great players that do that. I'm talking about the second-guessing themselves on every aspect of the game.

You either got that killer instinct or you don't.

He may need to spend 6 months in the Phillipines lol.

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classiccues said:

Hmmm...
High end cues are not *one* category of cues. You can have two 15K cues with two very different reasons for them being 15k. If you want to argue the merits of a $5000 sneaky pete by some mystical warlock of a cuemaker vs a Mezz cue, its worth a conversation. My views have evolved as I have gotten older. The cues that you see that are newly made, are art in their own right. BUT do not think buying them is going to make you 2 balls better. Only practice will do that. I have said that if a cue was so magical and worth a few balls of your game, or a few tournaments a year, that pros would play with them. They don't play with them, and it goes beyond sponsorship. They can beat you with anything, they could probably beat you with a ramin cue and a slip on tip.
Now high end cues, you buy for the pride of ownership. Of owning nice things. You can have a Timex, or a Rolex, they BOTH keep time. You buy high end custom cues, new ones, and vintage Szambotis / Balabushkas because you like nice things and appreciate history and because you can. If you are a player looking to play better, practice. That's it. As far as the cue.. buy what you can afford, and what you like. If you shoot with an LD shaft, the butt won't matter as much.
Are they on the decline, yes, but not why you think. As Sean bought up and we all saw at the ICCS high end cues have an audience. What is in the decline is cue collecting by the average person. When I was playing, everyone, even C/D players had 2-3 or more cues. Now this doesn't seem as prevalent today. People change; habits change. Hell, young people can barely pay their rent, how the hell can they buy 4 5k cues?
But it would not hurt to have some more online reference to cues, and introduction to cues, and better visual cues to try and get more of today's younger people into cues. 30 years ago, almost every custom cue was or had a collector. I hate to throw out names, but so many of those middle tier guys have been lost to time. Not every cue is going to hold value or even be valuable in the long term. BUT people need to know about them, and they still should be in collections. Also collecting cannot be "snobbish", if all a guy can afford are Meucci's, or collect Hueblers, he is still a collector. Being a positive influence to collectors is very big.
The big killer and its been a long time problem are the shenanigans that go on with sellers. Paperwork that gets "lost", or the cue doesn't match the LOA. People spending big money don't like to look stupid. When untrustworthy things are allowed, and they have been allowed by many people that have been considered custodians of the industry, it makes all of us look bad. Sellers with absolutely ZERO knowledge claiming to be dealers, it's a joke. Using AI to hide your ignorance in a cue write up... you cannot make this up.
At the show I bought up a cue and collector registry, where you could join, get your cues registered, and if you sold a cue, the cue could be moved to the new owner with all documentations never to be lost or misplaced. It's a little more in-depth than that simple explanation, but it's the smart thing to do.

Joe

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