Who do you think won the showdown at the close of TCOM?

Who wins at the end of TCOM?

  • Vince

    Votes: 57 48.3%
  • Eddie

    Votes: 61 51.7%

  • Total voters
    118
Well, TCOM happened to be on TV today and it got me thinking how Scorsese left open the question of who wins that showdown between Vince and Eddie at the close of the movie, perhaps in anticipation of a sequel that wasn't made.

Anyway, I don't recall this being asked before and thought it might be fun to see what you guys think.

Being both old school and just plain old, my money's on Eddie. :D Just seems to me that he knew Vince's speed better than Vince knew his.

If it was a 10' table with 4" pockets and they were playing Call Shot 10-ball, race to 100...

Freddie <~~~ Vincent would win. Eddie's break sucked ass
 
Vince won, they played right after the credits rolled as bonus coverage!.....you telling me you guys didn't watch it?....thats why there was never a sequel. Vince ordered a bottle of JTS brown, Eddie got wasted as usual, and fell asleep under the table.

i thought everyone knew that!

G.
Curses. I knew I should have waited til the end of the credits.

Freddie <~~~ RIP Dom Deluise
 
The impression I get is Vince might have been a 'best-in-the-state' type of player, but eddie was a once-in-a-generation player.

That is not really what the movie put out there at all. Vince was a young inexperienced phenom, Eddie saw it right away when Vince was torturing Julian (who was more put out there as a best in state contender). Vince's speed was made even more clear when he went off his leash and was going toe to toe with Grady and had to be pulled back or he very well might have beat him straight up.

Vince was clearly way better then a simple state champ.
 
That is not really what the movie put out there at all. Vince was a young inexperienced phenom, Eddie saw it right away when Vince was torturing Julian (who was more put out there as a best in state contender). Vince's speed was made even more clear when he went off his leash and was going toe to toe with Grady and had to be pulled back or he very well might have beat him straight up.

Vince was clearly way better then a simple state champ.

OK, state champ is selling vince short. But look at this way:
vince tortured julian, pretty much a nobody, but only "might have" beat grady.

minnesota fats was the grady seasons of the hustler, and eddie tortured him to death!
First to the tune of over 10 grand (before he fell hard into the bottle)...
later he got fats to say "I quit, I can't beat you eddie."

Vince MIGHT have beaten one of the best in the country, eddie did it convincingly.
So I see him as being on a different level.
 
Well, TCOM happened to be on TV today and it got me thinking how Scorsese left open the question of who wins that showdown between Vince and Eddie at the close of the movie, perhaps in anticipation of a sequel that wasn't made.

Anyway, I don't recall this being asked before and thought it might be fun to see what you guys think.

Being both old school and just plain old, my money's on Eddie. :D Just seems to me that he knew Vince's speed better than Vince knew his.

The answer is: there is no answer.

That is why TCOM is a much better film than many pool aficionados want
to accept.

We here in America are uncomfortable with films that don't have tidy
endings where all questions are explained. Whereas those godless
intelectual French, just love films that leave major points unresolved, you
know, like life...

Eddie is 30-ish years older than the young turk who rose to the occasion
at the end of The Hustler. Well past the age when even great players often
just don't have the fire-in-the-belly any more. And now, the game is 9 Ball.
A whole different ballgame indeed.

I'm sure the character of Eddie is dead serious in his thinking that he will
eventually beat Vince, but is he right? Is it even realistic?

There is no clear cut evidence either way... and that is the point.

Dale
 
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heyyyy-

Sadly I think Vince won, thats always been my take on it.

Great thread/poll


sucks no other movie followed up COM.

_______________________________________________
working on it Eric!
and
During the final Tournament (Filmed at Navy Pier)
Larry Schwartz(BD and author of The 8 Ball Handbook for Winners)
was in every other scene in the last 10 mins of TCOM
(the announcer says "Chicago's Larry Schwartz v's "St. Louis Louie" Louie Roberts and is seen with a full beard playing next to Vince)
missed you at Mosconi...
-a
 
The answer is: there is no answer.

That is why TCOM is a much better film than many pool aficionados want
to accept.

We here in America are uncomfortable with films that don't have tidy
endings where all questions are explained. Whereas those godless
intelectual French, just love films that leave major points unresolved, you
know, like life...

Dale

Well, it's true that in life many things go unresolved. But in the pool world they usually are. Unless, of course, the players can't agree on the weight, the rules, or what rack to use. :lmao:
 
Well, it's true that in life many things go unresolved. But in the pool world they usually are. Unless, of course, the players can't agree on the weight, the rules, or what rack to use. :lmao:


...........or what size the pockets should be :wink:!!!

Maniac
 
I voted for Vince because my big fat carpal tunnel-afflicted thumb hit the wrong button on my tiny iPhone screen. :embarrassed2:
 
Vincent got beat and never recovered. Fast Eddie ditched the old broad. Vincent lost the girl, who left town with Fast Eddie.

Thereafter, Vincent developed a substance abuse problem. He couldn't get a job because pool was all he knew. He ended up hanging out in Atlantic City, sleeping in flower pots. Eventually, Vincent became a dancing monkey for all to marvel at. When he performed on a field of green, he was everybody's hero, but he could never get ahead, couldn't make no money, and continued to roam the boardwalk, looking for crumbs anyone would throw his way.

One day, Vincent met a lady who, for whatever reason, took a liking to his disheveled self. The only thing he had were the clothes on his back, didn't even own a pool cue. The two of them united and went on the road. The lady gave up her career to pursue his on the tournament trail but soon found out there was no money to be made in pool. Being a tournament soldier was quite different than the excitement of being a road player.

The two of them disappeared from the pool scene, and then...[still searching for an ending]. :thumbup:
 
Agree

Even with his Burt-imposed hiatus, Eddie had a heluva lot more experience than Vince. (That tournament was the "end" of Vince's first road trip.) So even though Vince was younger, faster, stronger, (and a scientologist :)), I think Eddie would be able to find a way to win.

Initially ,I chose Vincent, but after reading this I agree with you.Eddie would find a way the same as fats found away the first time he matched up with Eddie.Eddie knew Vincent better then Vince knew himself, Eddie would use that knowledge to defeat him.
 
And then

Vincent got beat and never recovered. Fast Eddie ditched the old broad. Vincent lost the girl, who left town with Fast Eddie.

Thereafter, Vincent developed a substance abuse problem. He couldn't get a job because pool was all he knew. He ended up hanging out in Atlantic City, sleeping in flower pots. Eventually, Vincent became a dancing monkey for all to marvel at. When he performed on a field of green, he was everybody's hero, but he could never get ahead, couldn't make no money, and continued to roam the boardwalk, looking for crumbs anyone would throw his way.

One day, Vincent met a lady who, for whatever reason, took a liking to his disheveled self. The only thing he had were the clothes on his back, didn't even own a pool cue. The two of them united and went on the road. The lady gave up her career to pursue his on the tournament trail but soon found out there was no money to be made in pool. Being a tournament soldier was quite different than the excitement of being a road player.

The two of them disappeared from the pool scene, and then...[still searching for an ending]. :thumbup:

And then found a easy lucrative gig in politics, where the big bucks are.
 
Vincent got beat and never recovered. Fast Eddie ditched the old broad. Vincent lost the girl, who left town with Fast Eddie.

Thereafter, Vincent developed a substance abuse problem. He couldn't get a job because pool was all he knew. He ended up hanging out in Atlantic City, sleeping in flower pots. Eventually, Vincent became a dancing monkey for all to marvel at. When he performed on a field of green, he was everybody's hero, but he could never get ahead, couldn't make no money, and continued to roam the boardwalk, looking for crumbs anyone would throw his way.

One day, Vincent met a lady who, for whatever reason, took a liking to his disheveled self. The only thing he had were the clothes on his back, didn't even own a pool cue. The two of them united and went on the road. The lady gave up her career to pursue his on the tournament trail but soon found out there was no money to be made in pool. Being a tournament soldier was quite different than the excitement of being a road player.

The two of them disappeared from the pool scene, and then...[still searching for an ending]. :thumbup:

Autobiography?
 
Well, TCOM happened to be on TV today and it got me thinking how Scorsese left open the question of who wins that showdown between Vince and Eddie at the close of the movie, perhaps in anticipation of a sequel that wasn't made.

Anyway, I don't recall this being asked before and thought it might be fun to see what you guys think.

Being both old school and just plain old, my money's on Eddie. :D Just seems to me that he knew Vince's speed better than Vince knew his.

I don't see it this way. Vincent is now what Eddie was way back when. Eddie has not been back in the game long enough to take vincent out, and he knows it. The end of the movie has them both stepping away from the hustling side of pool to get back to pure 1 on 1 competition and letting your game all out as Eddie did at the end of the hustler regardless of what the consequences were going to be.. Eddie knows he is out gunned at this point, but wants to know where he really stands compared to Vincent, and vows to get better and better until he beats him.
 
wouldn't it be funny to be dead tied at 100 votes? We're coming up on that except for a misclick giving Vince an extra vote and Eddie one vote less.
 
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