Better equipment, shafts, Tips, and Kamui Chalk, but the 526 RUN RECORDS Stands?

[walrus_3d]

In person, Willie was great to be around (I met him during one of his exhibitions). If Willie answered "I just got tired" when I asked him about what ended his run (especially if I were armed with foreknowledge from his book), I certainly wouldn't call the man a liar -- especially in the friendly way he answers the question in the video. I might upturn an eyebrow and smile at him with a knowing smile (and he would know immediately I knew a little more than I let on), but definitely not call him a liar.

-Sean

This is another one of those cases where you can both be right. Perhaps he got tired and missed the 6 ball because he wasn't concentrating. Maybe he got tired and missed the 6 ball on purpose. Ooh, wait, 'cause then he'd be a sandbagger! There's a good one. Would you rather call Mosconi a liar or a sandbagger?

Nothing's black and white like that. But it's still a fun thread to me.

 

[poolplayer2093]

Yeah, real picky, traveling across the country for years and playing in hundreds of different rooms.

Man was a real stickler.

Lou Figueroa

i hear grady mathews did the same thing. you don't get on here calling him the greatest player ever. instead you hear about people taking advantage of him when he comes to their pool room.

anyway with the same equipment standards i figure most pros that are into 14.1 could match or beat mosconis record

 

[lfigueroa]

i hear grady mathews did the same thing. you don't get on here calling him the greatest player ever. instead you hear about people taking advantage of him when he comes to their pool room.

anyway with the same equipment standards i figure most pros that are into 14.1 could match or beat mosconis record

I don't think Grady went around giving 14.1 exhibitions.

And, for years, when "the same equipment" was around, no one else did it -- and Mosconi's contemporaries were 14.1 specialists. Now the same equipment is mostly gone, so we'll probably never find out. Sorry.

Lou Figueroa

 

[poolplayer2093]

I don't think Grady went around giving 14.1 exhibitions.

And, for years, when "the same equipment" was around, no one else did it -- and Mosconi's contemporaries were 14.1 specialists. Now the same equipment is mostly gone, so we'll probably never find out. Sorry.

Lou Figueroa

he said he did in his book. you should read it since you got it laying around. if i recall right he said something like "I'd go around and bet the owner of the room that i'd run a hundred if he didn't he'd do the exhibition for free"

all the same equipment is gone because nobody likes watching pool on anything with pockets bigger than 4.5 inches

 

[easy-e]

he said he did in his book. you should read it since you got it laying around. if i recall right he said something like "I'd go around and bet the owner of the room that i'd run a hundred if he didn't he'd do the exhibition for free"

all the same equipment is gone because nobody likes watching pool on anything with pockets bigger than 4.5 inches

That's right. I played a lot of pool with Grady when I lived in South Carolina and he first opened his room. He told me about all of the 14.1 exhibitions he gave around the country.

 

[poolplayer2093]

That's right. I played a lot of pool with Grady when I lived in South Carolina and he first opened his room. He told me about all of the 14.1 exhibitions he gave around the country.

i remember reading that in his book and figured it was true after watching his 14.1 dvd's

 

[lfigueroa]

he said he did in his book. you should read it since you got it laying around. if i recall right he said something like "I'd go around and bet the owner of the room that i'd run a hundred if he didn't he'd do the exhibition for free"

all the same equipment is gone because nobody likes watching pool on anything with pockets bigger than 4.5 inches

I know he did some, but not the hundreds of 14.1 exhibitions, and not for as many years, Mosconi did. (I think he says 70+)

The equipment -- old Brunswicks -- are gone because GCs and other tables, came out. Having played in rooms all over the country the last few years I can personally tell you that there are still plenty of loose pocketed tables around. Grady says as much as this in his book ;-)

Lou Figueroa
played Grady
in his SC room too

 

[lfigueroa]

..........

 

[poolplayer2093]

I know he did some, but not the hundreds of 14.1 exhibitions, and not for as many years, Mosconi did. (I think he says 70+)

The equipment -- old Brunswicks -- are gone because GCs and other tables, came out. Having played in rooms all over the country the last few years I can personally tell you that there are still plenty of loose pocketed tables around. Grady says as much as this in his book ;-)

Lou Figueroa
played Grady
in his SC room too

yeah there are. but the pockets you see pros playing on these days are much tighter. the pockets JS did his run of 403 was much tighter and it was a foot bigger

 

[lfigueroa]

yeah there are. but the pockets you see pros playing on these days are much tighter. the pockets JS did his run of 403 was much tighter and it was a foot bigger

Some of the matches are on tighter equipment nowadays, not all.

I also seem to recall that in Mosconi's heyday 5'x10's used to be quite popular. That would be a foot bigger.

Lou Figueroa

 

[poolplayer2093]

Some of the matches are on tighter equipment nowadays, not all.

I also seem to recall that in Mosconi's heyday 5'x10's used to be quite popular. That would be a foot bigger.

Lou Figueroa

Then talk about that run. don't glorify the run on the smaller table with big pockets. i know the guy was a great player. focus on the achievements that were really impressive

 

[Mr441]

yeah there are. but the pockets you see pros playing on these days are much tighter. the pockets JS did his run of 403 was much tighter and it was a foot bigger

Schmidt's 400 ball runs were on a table with bucket pockets. His highest run on a tight table is slightly over 300.

 

[lfigueroa]

Then talk about that run. don't glorify the run on the smaller table with big pockets. i know the guy was a great player. focus on the achievements that were really impressive

Well, to begin with and though we've waltzed all over the place, that is not the thread topic (and 526 on any table is impressive to any pool player, but you, I guess). However, Bobby, back up the thread said, "Let's not forget that Mosconi also had the highest run on a 5 x 10 table also with 365 and also a 353. Those are damn impressive runs on a 10ft table."

Lou Figueroa

 

[Roger Long]

Roger:

I see your point, if we're talking "in the spirit of boiling it down to barebones." But I'm not in the habit of calling anyone a liar, unless I'm prepared to do that face-to-face, and even then, I have to be mighty p!ssed and have a strong dislike for the person.

In person, Willie was great to be around (I met him during one of his exhibitions). If Willie answered "I just got tired" when I asked him about what ended his run (especially if I were armed with foreknowledge from his book), I certainly wouldn't call the man a liar -- especially in the friendly way he answers the question in the video. I might upturn an eyebrow and smile at him with a knowing smile (and he would know immediately I knew a little more than I let on), but definitely not call him a liar.

And, even though it might appear as though I'm swinging a machete at the legs of the pedestal that some of the posters here are propping Willie up on, I do admire the man's skills and achievements. I just don't get the mythical idolatry cast upon him, especially with the significant caveats (or shall we politically correctly say "asterisked footnotes") to his accomplishments, as already mentioned here?

-Sean

I agree fully, Sean. I just wanted to stir the pot some more. Cocobolo Cowboy is at the height of his glory because of this thread, and if we let it die, he might go into a deep, dark depression.

Besides, I still think Coco's original question is an interesting one, and still remains unanswered. I mean, wouldn't it be logical to think that if you took John Schmidt (or Thomas Engert) and armed him with a Predator Z shaft which was tipped with a Kamui tip and scuffed with a Gator tip tool and chalked with Kamui chalk, and then taught him Perfect Aim and CTE, and then put him on any table in good condition that was covered with any good worsted (napless) cloth; shouldn't he then be able to easily break Willie's record?

Roger

 

[Roger Long]

Just because someone has accomplished great things in a sport does not mean the man himself is great. I mean really, by all accounts Mosconi was "temperamental," perhaps as many geniuses are who come to expect perfection in an imperfect world.

To some of us there is a difference between telling a lie and being a liar. After all, who amongst us has not told an untruth?

I will let Roger cast the first stone.

Lou Figueroa

Oh, I would never stone anyone, Lou. Especially for simply telling an "untruth." If stoning was normal punishment for that, we wouldn't have any politicians, lawyers, or salesman left in this country.

Roger

 

[topcat1953]

My Father told me that if you want to start an argument, just talk about politics, sports or sex. I guess I should add Willie's Hi-Run to that.

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

I honestly think if you want to get an idea why Willie Mosconi was a great a pool player as he was, read Willie's Game the Mosconi Autobiography.

I think it Willie was Willie because of skill, practice, and a comittment to being the best pool player during most of Willie's life.

Willie Game like Cornbread Red's book Cornbread Red, the Pool's Greatest Money Player, are both great book to read.

 

[The Saw]

Besides, I still think Coco's original question is an interesting one, and still remains unanswered. I mean, wouldn't it be logical to think that if you took John Schmidt (or Thomas Engert) and armed him with a Predator Z shaft which was tipped with a Kamui tip and scuffed with a Gator tip tool and chalked with Kamui chalk, and then taught him Perfect Aim and CTE, and then put him on any table in good condition that was covered with any good worsted (napless) cloth; shouldn't he then be able to easily break Willie's record?

Yes, especially if they were on an 8' table shooting into 5" to 5-1/2" buckets.... LOL

 

[Roger Long]

Yes, especially if they were on an 8' table shooting into 5" to 5-1/2" buckets.... LOL

Precisely! So I wonder what's been stopping them?

Roger

 

[jimmyg]

And with all the great gym equiptment currently available, you'd think there would be thousands of gym junkies around able to whip Rocky Marciano's butt also.

It's all BS, marketing, and $$s. IMO.

J