VIDEO: Steve Mizerak playing snooker against Steve Davis in 1987.

Nice one.
His smooth stroke seems wasted on that heavy cloth.
I miss the Miz.
 
I can't believe the Miz can actually make balls with that stroke. Reminds me of Alex Higgins....
 
I guess your definition of straight isn't the same as mine. Just look at his follow through at 2:35 or 5:10
 
drsnooker said:
I guess your definition of straight isn't the same as mine. Just look at his follow through at 2:35 or 5:10
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Certainly there are elements of Mizerak's technique not well-suited to snooker. He stands more upright, and as you've suggested the cue isn't always on-line after the shot is played. Alex Higgins' cue often finished in the light shade after he had hit the ball, and he jumped up on a lot of shots, but he had his chin lower to the cue than Mizerak and a very short backswing. Plus he learned the to play on snooker tables, which helps.

As Mizerak suggested in the post-match interview, he went on to play in at least two snooker World Championship qualifying events, that I'm aware of. In 1988 and 1989 he lost both of his opening matches 10-1 and 10-2 to Mark Rowing and Anthony Harris. In both he would have needed to win this first match, and then another four to get to the televised stages of the event, but the standard of the qualifiers was considerably lower then than now. Drop Steve Davis in that field and he would not lose too many frames in inevitably reaching round one.

Jim Rempe fared a little better, though. In 1987 he beat both Martin Smith and John Rea 10-9 to get to the third qualifying round, where he lost 10-4 to a 17-year-old Stephen Hendry. Hendry won his next match 10-7 to get to the first round, where he lost to Willie Thorne. In 1988 Rempe lost in the first qualifying round 10-4 to Jim Meadowcroft, and lost 10-5 at the same stage the following year to Bill Oliver.

Of the two it seems Rempe was the more capable snooker player, and from what I've seen had more of a snooker style than Mizerak.
 
I thought Mike Massey did pretty well too, but I can't seem to find it. Google is letting me down.
 
Straight pool players have shorter strokes with shorter bridges. The straight pool/snooker comparison is really apples and oranges. The Miz grew up on a pool table.

To me the modern pool player that has the most potential to cross over to snooker would be Shane.

I think Buddy Hall would have performed better than the Miz or Rempe. Hall had more of a snooker style.

Dunno.... I really enjoyed watching the video. Thanks for posting.
 
mnorwood said:
Straight pool players have shorter strokes with shorter bridges. The straight pool/snooker comparison is really apples and oranges. The Miz grew up on a pool table.

To me the modern pool player that has the most potential to cross over to snooker would be Shane.

I think Buddy Hall would have performed better than the Miz or Rempe. Hall had more of a snooker style.

Dunno.... I really enjoyed watching the video. Thanks for posting.
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Glad you liked it.

I'd love to see the format revived today - like yourself I'm a huge fan of both games. Unlikely it will ever happen, but we can hope. Barry Hearn is in charge now and he's looking to promote snooker outside of the UK, though he's looking more toward Europe than the US. The snooker/pool challenge may actually have been his idea as he is interviewed on the VHS talking about the American market.

I think Hearn probably felt after a few events that the game just wouldn't take off there. They played another two or three events over the next few years, with Mizerak taking on different snooker players, but in the end nothing came of it.
 
drsnooker said:
I guess your definition of straight isn't the same as mine. Just look at his follow through at 2:35 or 5:10
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I'll agree that it isn't perfection on every shot, but the stroke he uses on those long pots is pretty good. I think he would have benefited from a snooker cue, especially on those shots off the rail.

But one of the hallmarks of high level snooker players is consistent execution on every single shot. Pool Players even pros, tend to get lazy I find, mainly because you can get away with it on standard pool shots.
 
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DangerousDave said:
Glad you liked it.

I'd love to see the format revived today - like yourself I'm a huge fan of both games. Unlikely it will ever happen, but we can hope. Barry Hearn is in charge now and he's looking to promote snooker outside of the UK, though he's looking more toward Europe than the US. The snooker/pool challenge may actually have been his idea as he is interviewed on the VHS talking about the American market.

I think Hearn probably felt after a few events that the game just wouldn't take off there. They played another two or three events over the next few years, with Mizerak taking on different snooker players, but in the end nothing came of it.
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The biggest problem I have with Hearn is his apparent lack of interest in the American market. Every time I go to a pool hall with a snooker table I spend the majority of my time teaching people how to play. I try to practice but people continually approach me with all kinds of questions. When I did the stream with drsnooker and double j I got messages from all over the country about different places where snooker is played. I'm not saying snooker would be the next poker sensation but I think it has great potential here in the states. Nothing ventured nothing gained, but who am I? I'm just a fan.
 
Yeah, Hearn cares about were the money is right now. Pool is barely alive in the USA. Even bigtruck can barely get by broadcasting pool tourneys.
Most pool players see snooker as a curiosity they try it and then go back to pool. It's really too bad!
 
mnorwood said:
The biggest problem I have with Hearn is his apparent lack of interest in the American market. Every time I go to a pool hall with a snooker table I spend the majority of my time teaching people how to play. I try to practice but people continually approach me with all kinds of questions. When I did the stream with drsnooker and double j I got messages from all over the country about different places where snooker is played. I'm not saying snooker would be the next poker sensation but I think it has great potential here in the states. Nothing ventured nothing gained, but who am I? I'm just a fan.
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I can say this much: if Hearn thought there was money to be made in America, he'd go after it. I'll upload the 1987 interview tomorrow, you can see what you think.

I was disappointed with the ESPN commentator's impression of safety play in the snooker clip, but he didn't hesitate in speaking for the nation that "it would wear thin." I think that's what the people involved in snooker suspect. If we put a poll in the main forum gauging snooker's popularity, how do you think it would go? Something like "Would you watch snooker if it was televised in the US?"
 
Thanks so much for posting the video. I was hoping to see it after watching Davis make a nice run in 14.1.

My favorite comment from the video: " . . . a safety, to us [snooker fans], can be just as exciting as the potting."

Also good:

Ref: "Frozen ball."
Miz: "What does that mean?"
 
Rethunk said:
Thanks so much for posting the video. I was hoping to see it after watching Davis make a nice run in 14.1.

My favorite comment from the video: " . . . a safety, to us [snooker fans], can be just as exciting as the potting."

Also good:

Ref: "Frozen ball."
Miz: "What does that mean?"
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touching ball.
 
Slh said:
touching ball.
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Right. By asking, Mizerak wanted to know what to do next. He didn't know the snooker rule that applied when the cue ball is frozen to an object ball; in straight pool the rule is different.
 
Nah. I'm 100% sure that Miz knew exactly what the ruling was. He was just having fun out there with the referee and the crowd...after all, it was an exhibition...so why not relax a little bit? Actually, both Steve's had a great sense of humor and also were great showmen...;)
 
I remember watching this on TV back in the day. "It would wear thin" is the one line that really sticks in my mind. I disagree - anything can breakthrough. We are not talking millions dollar games, just a breakthrough. American Football "wears thin" with most sports fans in the UK because it is stop-start and goes on for hours and is therefore boring. But we still watch cricket - go figure! If Barry Hearn can get a "World Snooker Tour" going where there are 8 tour pros and 6 local wild card "names" and 2 local qualifiers, it would attract an audience. All the big name pool players in the USA and Sout East Asia would jump at the chance to compete in such an event for a good fe thousand dollars prize money. They are cueists, they would jump at it.
 
The belief that something needs to be fast and action packed in order to be a popular spectator sport is a myth anyways. In north america there is,

Poker - Neither fast, nor action packed. Just a bunch of guys sitting around. I know there is more to it, but it's no mma fight. Next to impossible to make a highlight reel out of this.

Golf - Not much to say here. (P.S. I enjoy watching golf)

Baseball - on the upper end of not much happening.

NASCAR racing - Yes the cars are driving fast, but after a while it's just 4 hours (or whatever it is) of cars going in circles.

Baseball isn't a good example, but if any of the others could become spectator sports surely snooker can in the US.

For the millionth time, you don't sell the sport you sell the players. If people care about the players they will watch them do anything. When Alex Higgins was creating a buzz people who didn't know the blue was worth five points were attending his exhibitions.
 
Someone posted on the main forum they were thinking of opening a new room in Springfield, MO. and asked for equipment recommendations from local players. One of the things most often requested was a good snooker table or two.

The game is missed. The problem I see here (USA) is gathering enough support initially to break even on the expense of running a room with snooker tables. Most bar tables are located in places where they were added as an afterthought. They take relatively little space by comparison and can be very high profit. Space considerations are surely a large factor in these days of high utilities and taxes.

Another major problem is getting the youth interested in snooker. Most of them would rather spend their allowances killing each other in cyberspace than take the time to learn a real game.
 
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