Every one of your top seven is either deceased or a senior citizen. It would be very sad indeed to believe that not even one player worthy of consideration in your top seven nine ball players of all time has been born since 1961. Has the game gone that far backward?
In truth, the opposite is true. Since the game went virally global about a decade ago, the standard has skyrocketed. Great players are now popping up in every single corner of the world. On top of including players from the top pool-playing nations, the list of Fargo 800+ players includes at least one player from each of each of Singapore, Albania, Iraq, Vietnam, Lithuania, Bosnia, Hungary, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Serbia, Spain, Poland, Scotland, Greece, Austria, Russia and Estonia. For every pool professional there was when the guys at the top of your list were in their playing primes, there are probably twenty now. Winning at the majors has never been more difficult and, in this era, one player has a resume that far exceeds that of any other. I wonder how many more majors he'll have to collect to crack your top seven.
Earl and Sigel both made my top three, so we're pretty close there. Along with Filler, they deserve placement at the top of the list. Parica was a great gambler, as was Buddy, but their tournament resumes pale by comparison to guys like Filler, Earl, Sigel, Varner, SVB, and even Archer.
Well, at least you mentioned Josh and Shane. Having gotten to watch Mizerak compete so often remains one of my greatest honors as a pool fan.
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