I have an idea
- Thread starter BigDaddyInc.
- Start date
Records are meant to be broken, but personally, I hope his stays forever.
I am pretty sure John ran his 400's both on a 9' Gold Crown. He has recently ran a 330 simething on a Diamond all of these are impressive. runs.
That's awesome thanks Mark for that info. Both SJM and Bob are both avid about 14.1 and have been huge supporters of the game. I feel Bob was a big part of the resurgence of 14.1 with his straight pool challenge at the Derby City Classic which has been running for perhaps the last 7 years. This year both of these fine gentleman supported the 14.1 challenge the DCC.
John S has told me he think the 8' table is easier to get a big run on due to the ease of reach of max distance of a shot but still having adequate room for the balls to open. If comparable tables were being made to what the Mosconi run was accomplished on I think the 526 is very much capable of being surpassed, shorter table, narrow shelf along witht the 5+ inch corner pocket size all would help the run. Willie gave exhibitions constantly and ran 100 most every day constantly on strange table. He liked good conditions and carried his own balls so you know he had consistent clean balls. He had without doubt the most runs in public in front of a crowd of any player in the last 70+ years. He was on salary from Brunswick and was constantly in exhibition action. He did not run 526 or anywhere close on a consistent basis but he ran that 100 all the time. If we only see this attempted with 4 attempts by a handful of top players 1,2 or 3 times a year then I think Mosconi's run is safe. I for one would accept a video as that would be proof of the run, in front of an audience would be better of course. Thanks Bob and SJM for starting out the prize fund.
I would love to see this happen. Get Diamond to make a comparable table 8' not too deep a shelf, 5 1/8 pockets and let them travel and have exhibitions in muliple states. Record all the runs and with enogh attempts I believe we would see that record surpassed. Great idea.
Last edited:
If you read all the posts knocking Mosconi's record run of 526, you would think it would be easy for someone to beat it. Let's see, it was a 4x8 table, the pockets were buckets, and on and on. As for me, I'd like to see someone run 500 balls on any 4x8 table if they think it's so easy.
There are a couple of very soft 8-foot tables at Amsterdam and I gotta say, none of the top players go near them. I understand what you're saying and I agree with you but the truth is, many players I know in these parts don't consider them to be "official" equipment. If Mika ran 1,000 on it, he'd immediately say something like, 'but it was on the 8-footer' and frown.
Most 14.1 players today (at least in NYC) are uber-traditional and because of that, the only way you'll ever see any of these guys step away from a 9-footer is if money is involved (like the 7-foot table challenges). They're not going to request to play on anything else.
No, I don't think you can recreate those conditions, old balls, slow cloth, slower rails, high defelection shafts, looser pockets, etc.
What I would hope to recreate is the energy level that the two most famous exhibition tours generated. The first, in which Ralph Greenleaf toured with the very young Willie Mosconi and sometimes with female legend Ruth McGuinness (whose high run was approx 130), had great fanfare. Mosconi, in his prime, traveled from poolroom to poolroom (including Julian's on 14th Street which I'm sure you'll remember) playing a challenge match with the best player in the room.
I think these sorts of exhibition tours would bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the 14.1 scene, and when it comes to running balls, I believe only two of the players currently in their prime (Engert is past his prime) have run 400, Hohmann and Schmidt. They are both good role models for our sport, and if they did tour together, it would serve us all well.
The elephant-in-the-room question here, for me at least, would be, with a "standing-room-only" audience of, one would assume, at least a smattering of "who's who" in the pool world, at an official exhibition in NYC, why **wasn't** this run "recognized"? I've seen it discussed many times and the wrap-up has always been "Oh, well... it wasn't recognized as official." but I don't recall ever seeing WHY. Anyone have any idea, beyond "It just wasn't." ?
Quite the thread resurrection. Not a bad idea.
How much time would it take to run 600 balls?
How much time would it take to run 600 balls?
45+ racks, so... a while.
Unless you're Lou Butera. then it would take, 40, 50 minutes, tops.
I'm figuring 5 minutes a rack, which is quick imo. 45×5=225 minutes or close to 4 hours.
Lol, have multiple tables going. Each player starts at the bell rung, prizes for hitting each century mark first. Speed straight pool for highest score. Now that's entertainment. :thumbup:
Willie had his 526 FULLY witnessed...from start to finish.
....Mike or the Babe did not have their’s fully witnessed...
...a friend of mine saw a lot of the babe’s run..but he went out to eat...
...when he came back, he was surprised it was still going on.
..pt....the elephant speaketh
I recently set my high-run of 26 but my best friend/witness was drunk & said I cheated toward the end!
This forum isn't for bragging. Don't tell us about all your drunk friends.:grin-square:
Well hopefully, then, if someone ever runs a thousand or more ( and Black Beauties, et. al., are handed out to the sweaters so they don't miss a second of it ), they don't drug-test the *audience*!
But, on a serious note, if it really WAS a "packed house" for Eufemia's 625, you would think at least a *few* people saw every ball made. Can you imagine the level of interest once he got up into the 400s? Seriously... and pool-ites are famous for staying up days at a time to sweat and/or play. So the idea of 30, 40 or more, people seeing every ball is not, I would think, stretching it. I think something is missing from that story... no idea what, but it sure doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. Or, at least, there would be something to argue about. But there isn't. Every time I hear anything about it, it's always, again, "Well... it's not recognized." BUT WHY???
You have to understand New Yorkers, Michael.....”How ya doin’?”.....”None of your #$%@ business!”....
It was not a packed house, not by Mike Eufemia’s own account. His run was a continuation of a game-ending run and few stuck around. The run was rejected as the new world record by the Guinness Book of World Records because no one saw it from start to finish.
If the house was packed, it was during the actual match, not after Mike won the game.
You have to understand New Yorkers, Michael.....”How ya doin’?”.....”None of your #$%@ business!”....
Laughs... true dat, homey.
Can't fault the logic of what you're saying, but I'm just not going for it. R.e. the packed house I was just going off what At Large posted:
My information is that Mike Eufemia ran 625 at an exhibition on February 2, 1960, against Michael Aherne on a 4 1/2 x 9 table at the Logan Billiard Academy at Logan and Fulton Streets in Brooklyn, NY in front of a standing-room-only audience. Mr. Aherne made the opening safety break and Mr. Eufemia then ran 625 balls.
He runs out in the exhibition, then continues making balls. Packed house ( if ). Takes maybe an hour more, which is NOTHING in a pool room ( been there, done that, hundreds and hundreds of times ) to get into the high 200s or more. At that point EVERYONE is sweating it, even the janitors. And since he kept making balls at the end of his run to win the exhib, I'm thinking maybe SOME people left, but not many. I'm guessing most stayed, at least "til he "missed". So another hour goes by, now he's in the high 300s if not low 400s. And so I'm supposed to believe at that point, the majority of sweaters go "Yawwwnnnnnnnnnn... well, I'm ouuta here, Jimbo, don't want the wife yelling at me again. See yaz tomorrow."
I don't think so. If anything, people are leaving just to get other friends, etc to come sweat it, just to see how many balls he runs.
Nah... I'm just not goin for it. There is something about that run not being recognized that makes no sense. I'm not saying it should've been. I'm simply saying it's really odd to me no one seems to know exactly why it wasn't. I mean, c'mon... 625 balls? How often has THAT been done, even for funzies or practice or whatever...? I'm guessing not many times, period. So one of the very very very few times it's ever been done, and most agree it WAS done, no one seems to know why it was never recognized. But we're supposed to believe the over-riding majority of a packed house just up and left in the middle of a multi-hundreds-ball run, only a few years ( 6, actually ) after Mosconi's?
Nuh uh... I could be waaayyyyy out in left field, but I'm just not goin' for it.
Last edited:
( I was kidding @ Butera ) :grin:
About five years ago, I made a standing offer of $10,000 for the full length video (DVD) of someone running more than 526 balls. It could be an over sized 8' table, like Mosconi played on or a 9' table, with normal sized pockets (5" corners acceptable). All I asked was that I get full ownership and custody of the tape. That offer was made on here!