For the sake of simplicity, I'll restrict my comments to American pro pool.
There is nobody who posts here who won't quickly concede that Buddy Hall is on the short list of the best nine ball players of all time. We've often struggled to separate the likes of Mike Sigel, Buddy Hall, Earl Strickland, Johnny Archer and Luther Lassiter when it comes to the identification of the best American nine baller ever, and Van Boening may soon belong in the conversation (if he doesn't already belong).
If your intent is to remind us, with nostalgia, of what a phenomenal player Buddy Hall was, right on brother. If, alternatively, your intent is to suggest that Buddy Hall is head and shoulders above the rest, I'd have to say that I strongly disagree.
The competitive resumes of many are simply mind-blowing. For example, Nick Varner is a world champion in nine ball, eight ball, one pocket, bank pool, and straight pool. Lassiter won the Johnston City all around in three consecutive years, in the presence of dozens of future BCA Hall of Famers.
And, of course, there's Mosconi, whose domination of the sport is legendary, and who is rightfully considered the greatest American pool player ever by many.
Nice post that rightfully celebrates one of pool's greatest ever champions, but if the intent is to place Buddy Hall on a pedestal above the likes of Mosconi, Sigel, Varner, Strickland, Archer and Lassiter, I'm not buying it.
I got something else to say about lock but I will say it in a thread I am about to start .
