Does John Schmidt Get into the Hall of Fame After 626?

[Cardigan Kid]

Let's go for broke and push all the prediction-pool discussion chips right to the center of the table....


Mr. 600--John Schmidt--breaker of the once immortal Mosconi 14.1 record of 526 with a Memorial Day 2019 run of 626...

Does he get inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame after such an accomplishment?

He has other career highlights as well, but this will be his greatest.

Yes or no?
Why or why not?

and if so - how soon?

Congrats to John - what a run it was.

 

[Cornerman]

Let's go for broke and push all the prediction-pool discussion chips right to the center of the table....


Mr. 600--John Schmidt--breaker if the once immortal Mosconi 14.1 record of 526 with a Memorial Day 2019 run of 626...

Does he get inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame after such an accomplishment?

He has other career highlights as well, but this will be his greatest.

Yes or no?
Why or why not?

and if so - how soon?

I guarantee he’ll be on the ballot. Someone needs to write up a good career bio for him so it can be presented to the USBMA. We also need better info on his Wiki page.

Freddie <~~~ can’t make it up

 

[Pete]

Hope John puts it on DVD with his commentary of the run.

How I Beat Mosconi's Unbeatable Record Run Mr. 626

You can use that John...

 

[Cardigan Kid]

In my opinion--the sheer weight of the accomplishment would put him first ballot, ahead of anyone else, as soon as he is eligible.
It may sound extreme--but standing back, this is greater than any world championship, us open, derby master of the table....how many can say off the top of their head who was the world champion in 2004...or who won the U.S. Open in 1981....but EVERYONE knew who had the highest ever 14.1 run in recorded history....THAT has all changed as of yesterday.

This needs to be trumpeted from the highest mountain top.

It's that great of an accomplishment. It's historical and the BCA needs to act accordingly and get every media contact and morning show news reel working. Also stop the press on the latest Billiards Digest Issue...Schmidt needs to be on the cover with a 10 page interview article.

 

[garczar]

He broke, no, SHATTERED a record many thought might never be equaled. Good enough for me.

 

[Cardigan Kid]

Hope John puts it on DVD with his commentary of the run.

How I Beat Mosconi's Unbeatable Record Run Mr. 626

You can use that John...

Yes, agreed 100%...a video of the run with running audio commentary by John interviewed by Jeremy Jones needs to be done. That will be the video to end all videos...a pool instructional and inspirational lesson all in one. I'll be right in line with the pre-order sales!

John is very good at articulating his thoughts and critiques during the rack and Jeremy Jones is exceptional at extracting it.

Gotta make it happen.

 

[JAM]

I guarantee he’ll be on the ballot. Someone needs to write up a good career bio for him so it can be presented to the USBMA. We also need better info on his Wiki page.

Freddie <~~~ can’t make it up

I'm on work crunch now, but I can add some color to his Wiki page. It is bare bones right now. The Wiki editors will NOT let you post anything unless you have a reference to back it up. They're very strict.

His Wiki page was created in August of 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Schmidt_(pool_player)

My favorite John Schmidt story is when he came on AzBilliards to see if anybody wanted to form a backers committee to stake him at the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship. As usual, it was met with a few naysayers and Negative Nellies, but some AzB-ers loved the idea and pooled their funds together to stake John. A few weeks later, John won the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship. It was beautiful.

 

[JAM]

My John photo with Keith at US Open in, I think, 2003 or 2004.

 

[sjm]

In my opinion--the sheer weight of the accomplishment would put him first ballot, ahead of anyone else, as soon as he is eligible.
It may sound extreme--but standing back, this is greater than any world championship, us open, derby master of the table....how many can say off the top of their head who was the world champion in 2004...or who won the U.S. Open in 1981....but EVERYONE knew who had the highest ever 14.1 run in recorded history....THAT has all changed as of yesterday.

You must be joking.

Bigger than competing against the world's best and being the last man standing? And, yes, Pagulayan won the world championship in 2004. If a high run record is more important than winning a world championship, why is no other top player giving it any priority?

After last year, when Niels Feijen, one of the best players of all time, wasn't voted in, I started to wonder what the criteria are. Is it about sustained excellence over a long period of time, the kind Feijen has produced, or is it about popularity and the sentiment of the moment?

I see Schmidt as a borderline hall of famer. He won the US Open 9-ball, the Derby City 1-pocket, the Super Billiards 10-ball, but his list of significant titles is very small compared to the guys normally voted in. For example, would you dare compare him to Thorsten Hohmann, who will become eligible this year, who has two sanctioned world championships in straight pool and two sanctioned world championships in nine ball? Thorsten also averaged 50 balls per inning once for the entire event in winning the European Straight Pool Championship, arguably the greatest ever performance in a single straight pool event.

Even in 14.1, John's tournament track record over the years is very forgettable, and his one win at the Charlie Williams 14.1 event was not a sanctioned world title. Does one world record run erase years of fairly forgettable results in 14.1 competition? Not to me it doesn't.

John's 626 is a wonderful achievement and I'm very happy for him but your suggestion this run somehow eclipses all the great accomplishments available in our sport as well as the achievement of others is nonsense of the highest order.

OK by me if John gets voted in somewhere down the road, but if he gets in right now, it's about politics and not about celebrating a career of sustained excellence.

All that said, though, I voted yes, as I think he'll get in at some point.

 

[BRussell]

sjm makes a strong case, but I'm with Cardigan Kid.

It's OK for the HOF to partially take into account the marketing of pool to the public, and this record is so easy for the public to understand. Giving him and that record more public acclaim is good for pool, and that's an end in itself IMO.

And is John's record in tournaments really that much below Kim Davenport's, who made the HOF last year?

 

[Cory in DC]

You must be joking.

Bigger than competing against the world's best and being the last man standing? And, yes, Pagulayan won the world championship in 2004. If a high run record is more important than winning a world championship, why is no other top player giving it any priority?

After last year, when Niels Feijen, one of the best players of all time, wasn't voted in, I started to wonder what the criteria are. Is it about sustained excellence over a long period of time, the kind Feijen has produced, or is it about popularity and the sentiment of the moment?

I see Schmidt as a borderline hall of famer. He won the US Open 9-ball, the Derby City 1-pocket, the Super Billiards 10-ball, but his list of significant titles is very small compared to the guys normally voted in. For example, would you dare compare him to Thorsten Hohmann, who will become eligible this year, who has two sanctioned world championships in straight pool and two sanctioned world championships in nine ball? Thorsten also averaged 50 balls per inning once for the entire event in winning the European Straight Pool Championship, arguably the greatest ever performance in a single straight pool event.

Even in 14.1, John's tournament track record over the years is very forgettable, and his one win at the Charlie Williams 14.1 event was not a sanctioned world title. Does one world record run erase years of fairly forgettable results in 14.1 competition? Not to me it doesn't.

John's 626 is a wonderful achievement and I'm very happy for him but your suggestion this run somehow eclipses all the great accomplishments available in our sport as well as the achievement of others is nonsense of the highest order.

OK by me if John gets voted in somewhere down the road, but if he gets in right now, it's about politics and not about celebrating a career of sustained excellence.

All that said, though, I voted yes, as I think he'll get in at some point.

You're more arguing why John's not the GOAT by virtue of his 626. But that's not the standard for HOF admission. This is subjective but to me, 626 is alone sufficient for admission. US Open, DCC, etc. only add to that.

 

[michael4]

I don't see how anyone could vote "no" to this question.

 

[Mick]

626 IS the hall of fame.

 

[ChrisinNC]

You're more arguing why John's not the GOAT by virtue of his 626. But that's not the standard for HOF admission. This is subjective but to me, 626 is alone sufficient for admission. US Open, DCC, etc. only add to that.

I would think John's induction (preferably sooner than later) in to the World Straight Pool Hall of Fame would be a good start before consideration for the BCA Hall of Fame.

 

[Slickstick9]

of course he does:grin:

 

[Snooker Theory]

You must be joking.
If a high run record is more important than winning a world championship, why is no other top player giving it any priority?

Excellent point

 

[JAM]

I don't see how anyone could vote "no" to this question.

I agree.

After all, it is the Billiard Congress of AMERICAHall of Fame.

 

[AtLarge]

I would think John's induction (preferably sooner than later) in to the World Straight Pool Hall of Fame would be a good start before consideration for the BCA Hall of Fame.

We don't know whether the Dragon Promotions' HOF has any future at all. I don't think we've seen any announcement of their World event, or of a HOF induction, for 2019. If the event itself is dead, will they do anything about the HOF in the future?

[Maybe they are just taking this year off.]

 

[Charlie Hustle]

One salty person voted in the thread!

 

[JazzyJeff87]

I definitely think he should be inducted even if he stops playing pool right now. To me a Hall of fame is for people in a sport/game/thing that do something incredible for that sport. Someone who changes the way a game is played, ushering in a new era or someone who completely dominates for years and becomes a superstar, or someone who creates or breaks an incredible record. Even inventors within that realm have a place in he HOF in my mind. I agree wih the GOAT assessment. Not goat but definitely HOF materiel...millitarily speaking.