Any chance of an 14.1 American champ in the near future?

Y

yobagua

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
10 years ago I took a cheap flight to New York to attend the 17th BCA 14.1 US open. I had nostalgia for a time in the 60s when I took a bus to LA to watch Irving Crane, Luther Lassiter, Danny Diliberto, Jimmy Moore, Joe Balsis, a young Steve Mizerak, etc. play for the US crown. What stunned me there in Manhattan was that the final four were 2 Germans, Oliver Ortmann, Ralf Souqet, Efren Reyes and a seldomed heard of Taiwanese Min Wai Chin. No Americans.
In the next decade Europeans would dominate the 14.1 game. I have been wondering since if there was any chance of the return of American domination of the sport? It was the game Fast Eddie and the Fat Man played in the movie THE HUSTLER. Its what got me started.
Im not a Xenophobe (ultra nationalist) but I would like to see a contingent of young Americans give others a good run for their money.
Hopefully the young 14.1 leagues popping up in the midwest might be a cure. Recently saw a young Beau Runningen (sp) play a great game.
Hope there are more gems out there.
Keone
 
ForumGhost516 said:
I think right now our best chances are Johnny Archer, John Schmidt, and Max Eberle.
Click to expand...

Very true Charles !!!

But let's not forget about our friend Dave Daya, he is a real grinder. And with taking 5th last year his desire has just gotten that much stronger !!!

Steve
 
Last edited:
Given the diversity of their lifestyle. I dont know if those 3 can put in the time and energy to focus on what it takes to win a major 14.1 event.
Schmidt of course comes closest. I wish he would do less dirt bikeing but thats on me. It can be tough on the body.
Billy Incardona once made the observation that Archer plays 14.1 like 9 ball. And no doubt Archer is on top of the game as far as 9 ball is concerned. Archer gets high runs by not missing. Cardone made a suggestion that Archer needs to work on break shots and pattern play. I agree.
Last I heard Max was working and living on a farm. But that was just rumour.

This is all conjecture on my part and what guys like Bob Jewett and friends as well as Dragon Promotions has done to further the 14.1 game is highly appreciated. I just hope that there are some young people in the Heartland waiting in the wings to bust out.
Keone

ForumGhost516 said:
I think right now our best chances are Johnny Archer, John Schmidt, and Max Eberle.
Click to expand...
 
American Champ

Sadly, with the obvious case of the small local Billiard Rooms across the country not being able to sustain themselves, of which many have closed or are closing, the future is not too bright. At least for developing young players. In the area of the mid-Atlantic Region, the pool rooms are few and very far between. There are not near as many players under the age of 25 developing reputations as there were just a short 10 years ago.
Just for a little research, check out Charlie Ursitti's web site under the Tournament Programs section and check out some of the old Programs, like the World Championships and the US Opens. The player profiles show the ages of the contestants and during the 70's there was a large percentage of the fields that were under the age of 30. At this year's World's, let's see how many of those players that would fall into that age bracket. At least on the American side of the things.
I am a huge fan of 14.1 and of the American players, but it should be recognized that our status Worldwide is falling behind, especially in 14.1.
Best bet is to support your local pool room and next time you see some youngster hitting balls around on a table, pass along some of your wisdom cause he or she may be our future.
Good luck to Dave Daya, Shaun Wilkie, Alan Waldo and Allen Hopkins.
 
Last edited:
I think our best bet to win a major 14.1 event would be Danny Harriman or Johnny Archer. I also think Charlie Williams has a good chance as well, while not a "14.1 player" per say he's a great competitor and he's won a couple of the 14.1 challenges at DCC and VF.
 
Right now it's John Schmidt, Johnny Archer and Danny Harriman (still very underrated). Schmidt is explosive; he could get hot and blow everyone out. Archer knows straight pool pretty well, but doesn't play it much. Still, he's such a great shotmaker, he can also get hot and blow out anyone. Harriman is extremely steady, very studious and does everything well.

I don't see anyone on the horizon who compares to the likes of Sigel, Varner, Miz, Rempe, Hopkins or Dallas West in straight pool. Those guys all have tremendous straight pool knowledge and superb tight quarter cueball control. The current generation just doesn't play it enough to be as precise with the cueball and avoid pitfalls as those past masters.
 
tedkaufman said:
Right now it's John Schmidt, Johnny Archer and Danny Harriman (still very underrated). Schmidt is explosive; he could get hot and blow everyone out. Archer knows straight pool pretty well, but doesn't play it much. Still, he's such a great shotmaker, he can also get hot and blow out anyone. Harriman is extremely steady, very studious and does everything well.

I don't see anyone on the horizon who compares to the likes of Sigel, Varner, Miz, Rempe, Hopkins or Dallas West in straight pool. Those guys all have tremendous straight pool knowledge and superb tight quarter cueball control. The current generation just doesn't play it enough to be as precise with the cueball and avoid pitfalls as those past masters.
Click to expand...

There is a solution to this problem. And that is COACHING. The Europeans and Asians take this very seriously. Perhaps its the culture. Americans are an independent lot. Doing it on one own grit and guts. The Europeans come from a classical tradition. Strict attention to history, study, and theory. Asians have a strict adherence to submitting to the "sensei" (Master). As in Martial Arts.
Americans thrive on creativity and self reliance.

There is nothing like success, but still a succesful person might need mentoring in situations that might be foreign to him. Guys like Sigel, Varner, Rempe, Hopkins, West, etc. are still around. What better resource do we Americans have then to ask these guys to train young players.
I know Archer did seek out Varner before he entered into his first 14.1 event. But Archer still needs to learn the finer points of the game. With it he could possibly be the best.

Listen to Diliberto on any 14.1 accu-stat tape. Particularly when he is with Incardone. The knowledge of straight pool is phenomenal and different compared to a skilled 9 ball specialist like Cardone.

Of course the major problem is economical. With only a handful of major 14.1 events there just isnt enough money in the game for a long term commitment. That is why I marvel at guys like Danny Barouty, Steve Lipsky, Flaco, Jonathan Smith, and people like them who still continue to honor the game without monetary rewards.
 
Yabagua:
We share very similar sentiments regarding straight pool. You must be from NYC. When I lived there, a lot of people still played straight pool, and really well. Who, outside of NYC, ever heard of Flacko? But I racked for a lot of 100's by him. Barouty, is another one. Great straight pool player with tons of knowledge. (Barouty knocked me out on my one attempt to play the US Open.)

If someone were motivated to learn straight pool, there are still plenty of opportunities to learn it. I know Harriman worked with Bobby Hunter for awhile and Jeanette Lee (who learned from Gene Nagy). I think Schmidt also learned from Hunter. Steve Lipsky plays with Barouty regularly.

I agree about the commentary of Diliberto. Grady, too. And anytime you can listen to Rempe talk straight pool, listen! And watching Mike Sigel pattern balls is a treat. Dallas West, too.

I was very fortunate to watch and play with and talk to Johnny Ervolino and George Mikula frequently. George, particularly, was the best patterner of layouts I ever saw. Ervolino was great, too, but you had to play like him to work his patterns. But the great thing about NYC was, there were so many knowledgeable players to discuss observations. You could immerse yourself in straight pool.

In any case, I think straight pool will return when there are more big tournaments the players care to prepare for. And it may happen. The World Tournament really generates a lot of interest in the game. Anyone who plays the straight pool much tends to fall in love with it, so I do see a future for it. From that we'll see the next great American straight pool player emerge.
 
tedkaufman said:
Right now it's John Schmidt, Johnny Archer and Danny Harriman (still very underrated). Schmidt is explosive; he could get hot and blow everyone out.
Click to expand...

I agree that Schmidt certainly has the skill to blow everyone out but I think it's a mental thing with him. He's been touted for awhile now as the best American 14.1 player and possibly the best ball runner in the world....in practice. But he never wins a 14.1 event, he's lost twice to Charlie Williams in those 14.1 challenges. I think because of the expectations on John to win one or even dominate is so great that I think it gets into his head and he under-performs. Taken to an extreme degree he could end up like Gene Nagy - a 400 ball runner who, after awhile couldn't perform at all under any kind of pressure.......

or he might win the World Championship in dominating fashion, in which case you can ignore my comments :grin:
 
yobagua...Max Eberle is the manager of the newest pool room in Vegas, Best Billiards...so he is working on his game all the time. He has also finished as high as 3rd in the World 14.1 tournament, so he has the chops to win!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

yobagua said:
Last I heard Max was working and living on a farm. But that was just rumour.

Keone
Click to expand...
 
Scott, I have watched a World 2006 semi finals match between Max and Hohmann several times lately. It was the first time I had seen Max play straight pool. Max was clearly nervous at the outset, but his routines and mechanics are so good, he dog-proofed himself until he could get settled. I really admired the way he seemed to accept the pressure and literally ran around the table several times to quiet his nerves. Yet, each time he got down to shoot, he prepared himself and never rushed. I was very impressed by his pool skills and his capacity to handle the pressure. I think his pre-shot routine is something everyone can learn from.

As for his straight pool knowledge, I was extremely impressed. He did many things in the course of play that reflected a ton of experience. Things like creating breakshots are routine to top level players. But Max was creating second breakshots and key balls to increase his options. And he cleared the balls with excellent patterns. I think he was more careless than he should have been at not maintaining safety-valve shots when he'd go into clusters (but Hohmann did the same thing too often). Otherwise, I thought Max played superbly.

So, if Max is in form, I agree, he could win the tournament. He's a far better player than I realized. He's one big win from pool stardom.
 
Eric. said:
Danny Harriman deserves a mention as one of the top US 14.1 players.


Eric
Click to expand...

I have seen Danny play a couple of times in the Maryland 14.1 Championship. Last year, he ran 100+ balls in both the semi-final, against Thorsten Hohmann, and in the final, against Shaun Wilkie. He didn't play this year because he has been working and he has not been playing pool.

If Danny Harriman could get the financial backing and the time to dedicate to practice, I think he has a great chance to win the world championship. He is an amazine straight pool player.
 
We have just sent out a story with interview with John Schmidt and Mika Immonen on top USA favorites to win. We will post link here when az has the news up. Also stay current on all World 14.1 news at www.worldstraightpool.com
 
WOW! 6 of the final 8 are Americans! IMO Hohmann is the one to beat. Hes got to get by the LION, who has the heart of one. Archer will have something to say about all that and Mike Sigel has been in this situation before. The real dark horse is Rodney Morris. I hope my Hawaiian homeboy takes it down. Aloha no Rodney.
 
US Open Straight Pool event

I will stick to a format where the draw has nothing up the sleeve, I believe the US Open 14.1 event will eventually replace charlies tornement. I look forward to CSI bringing a great 14.1 tournament that is pure Pocket Billiards without all the politics and hidden favortism' - that has hampered charlie with his hidden draw and popularity contest in the past. If you think the opening draw in Charlies last 14.1 event was not showing a little more than the human element and or was not tainted then you are sadly mistaken. Seeding is ok if based off an official ranking system, charlie's draw is set up so the players he likes or FAVORS are well compensated.
 
Last edited:
I think it's possible right now. In my opinion, there are several Americans that are, on average, slightly superior in shot and pattern conceptualization to the Europeans who dominate straight pool today. Also, a few Americans have a firmer grasp of straight pool defensive concepts than those same Europeans. It is in the area of shot execution that the Europeans tend to outperform America's best, and that is certainly a result of their greater discipline in training.

When it comes to nine ball, I've been convinced for years that, on average, the Fillipinos play with more knowledge than anybody else and that this is a big part of why they win so often, even though their execution is relatively comparable to that of their American and European counterparts. In my opinion, Americans can and should enjoy a similar advantage in straight pool due to superior knowledge, but because they lag behind in shot execution, the give that advantage back and then some.

American Mike Davis got to the final in New Jersey this past year, and there's every reason to think that another American will be in that position soon. When they do, of course, odds are that there will be Ortmann, Hohmann, Immonen, Feijen, VanDenBerg or even Appleton, who might just play straight pool as well as the other five, waiting for them in the final. Anyone who plays well enough to reach the final plays well enough to have a realistic chance at winning.

Time for someone to follow Mike Davis' lead and get to the finals. At that point, anything can happen.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top