Great match, thanks for sharing!
1990s 9-ball McCready vs. Paez
- Thread starter Bob Jewett
- Start date
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I have pool balls I bought when I purchased my Brunswick Century 9-footer with ball return in the 1980s era, and Keith absolutely hates them. The balls sold today are of a different quality than balls years ago, aside from the colors.
Glad to see Ko Ping Hung used a wooden cue. In pool's golden years, everybody used wooden cues with a wooden shaft, unless one is playing in a bar and picked up a metal house cue. That's me!
Maybe DCC and Turning Stone don't allow jump cues, but back in the era I am referring to, nobody jumped balls. In fact, Earl Strickland and others from his era have a strong disdain for jump cues. Bob Jewett wrote this on a September 2, 2025, post: Jump cues were not common until about 1990. By then roll-out/push-out was pretty much gone.
Like other hardware in pool that has evolved, so to have tips. There are quite a few tips out there, other than Elkmasters and Le Pros. This pool vendor has over 60 tips for sale: https://www.pooldawg.com/pool-cue-accessories/pool-cue-parts/pool-cue-tips
The late Gene Hooker co-hosted the 10 Ball Challenge at Trump's Marina in Atlantic City, which utilized the roll-out/push-out rules instead of the standard 9 ball rules of today. Danny Hewitt from Canada won, and Jim Rempe came in second place. Rules have definitely changed since the '80s.
The level of play in pool has never been higher and like in all sports the legends of the past whether Jerry West and Elgin Baylor in basketball or Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays in baseball the pool greats from the past would be able to compete today. The rest would have a difficult time. Many of the players you mention had their best years before 1990.
if you compare straight pool and one pocket where jump cues, rollouts and other equipment advantages don't apply consider that Mike Sigel has a high run of 339 on 5 1/4 in pockets while Filler who has far fewer years of experience ran 285 and out to win a U.S. tournament with tighter pockets
When you look at Jayson Shaw running over 800, John Schmidt ,,600 plus on tighter pockets I think Sigel gets scorched by a number of today's players. During the IPT at Hard Times in Bellflower I heard a few players barking at him to gamble so they obviously weren't intimidated by his.reputation. He would have been in his early fifties not that old.
Playing the best players in the world will lift your game and I think most would agree one pocket is played at a much higher level today. Much credit goes to Efren. Scott Frost and others kept losing but learning over a long period and raising the level of their game.
I watched a lot of tournaments at Hard Times in the 90s and Keith was my favorite player to watch. A railbird Calvin it best: Keith shoots the prettiest game of nine ball. It was fun to watch.but he was often eliminated early against the shortstop level players and it seemed his head was elsewhere. Phil Cappelle wrote a book Rebirth of a Legend in 2000 that spoke of the doldrums he was coming out of but there didn't appear to be much of a comeback other than a high finish in the U.S. Open a few years later.
Keith had the potential to cash in on the challenge match market moreso than anyone. A format with multiple games that showcases his shooting skills, banter and wit.
I feel for those American players who saw their pool earnings dwindle but let's keep reasons real and not blame the chalk.
There are a billion more
if you compare straight pool and one pocket where jump cues, rollouts and other equipment advantages don't apply consider that Mike Sigel has a high run of 339 on 5 1/4 in pockets while Filler who has far fewer years of experience ran 285 and out to win a U.S. tournament with tighter pockets
When you look at Jayson Shaw running over 800, John Schmidt ,,600 plus on tighter pockets I think Sigel gets scorched by a number of today's players. During the IPT at Hard Times in Bellflower I heard a few players barking at him to gamble so they obviously weren't intimidated by his.reputation. He would have been in his early fifties not that old.
Playing the best players in the world will lift your game and I think most would agree one pocket is played at a much higher level today. Much credit goes to Efren. Scott Frost and others kept losing but learning over a long period and raising the level of their game.
I watched a lot of tournaments at Hard Times in the 90s and Keith was my favorite player to watch. A railbird Calvin it best: Keith shoots the prettiest game of nine ball. It was fun to watch.but he was often eliminated early against the shortstop level players and it seemed his head was elsewhere. Phil Cappelle wrote a book Rebirth of a Legend in 2000 that spoke of the doldrums he was coming out of but there didn't appear to be much of a comeback other than a high finish in the U.S. Open a few years later.
Keith had the potential to cash in on the challenge match market moreso than anyone. A format with multiple games that showcases his shooting skills, banter and wit.
I feel for those American players who saw their pool earnings dwindle but let's keep reasons real and not blame the chalk.
There are a billion more
A minor correction: Joshua Filler ran 285 in the final Derby City 14.1 event. It was a solo high run attempt without an opponent or points limit. The pockets were the standard Diamond pro pockets of 4.5 inches. That is the high run record for that event.
If one shaft or tip would make a major difference, everybody would use the same one.
Archer ran 13 racks against Bustamante using a standard cue, maple shaft and 50 cent Triangle tip...once I repeat that feat, I'll switch to carbon..;-)
Great post, i feel the same way, it really doesn't matter. if your confident in your equipment.
It's nice to still see some, that don't feel the need to change from wood. (A good sponsor also helps here too)
Regardless of the era of pool, or the equipment. I would like to think, that any of the older generations, could adapt. To the conditions of todays pool.
There was great pool played in the 90s. Culminating in world championship in 1999. The first big international pool event, that matchroom did.
Well said my friend
If someone tells me a prime Buddy or Earl was not three hands full for any of todays players, they can try convincing me that there are 32 days in July...
playing 14.1 years back you didn't hit the rack too hard you hit it in certain spots as the cloth was slow and the racks didn't break open wide like now. and too often you buried yourself in it and had no shot. running a hundred was a feat.
thats why the greats then picked out a few balls at a time.
those high runs now are on fast cloth and polished balls and the balls break wide open. plus they start with a ball in hand break shot.
and practiced on that table for who knows how much and not stepping up to play cold.
and mike in his prime i believe would beat all of them in the game.
still they are great players and have achieved high runs never even imagined.
running balls was much tougher back then.
thats why the greats then picked out a few balls at a time.
those high runs now are on fast cloth and polished balls and the balls break wide open. plus they start with a ball in hand break shot.
and practiced on that table for who knows how much and not stepping up to play cold.
and mike in his prime i believe would beat all of them in the game.
still they are great players and have achieved high runs never even imagined.
running balls was much tougher back then.
Today's pool, with the super fast cloth and bouncy rails, is almost a different game from what was played years ago.
Years ago, there were times that you had to hit the cue ball almost as hard as a break shot just to move it around the table for position, especially table-length draw shots.
In today's game, some of the hardest strokes are like bunts compared to the home run strokes that were required before.
I posted in this thread last night to address some untruths about Keith, but ended up deleting my comments. I guess that’s part of the thicker skin I’m still working on when it comes to anything about Keith McCready.
On a brighter note, this thread has actually sparked some fuel and food for thought for me on a pool project I’ve been meaning to finish. I hadn’t realized until recently just how different the game was back in the ’70s, during Keith’s prime, compared to today. The rule change with the two-shot/push-out really impacted 9-ball, and Keith always said it completely changed his game. By the ’90s, tournament pool had taken more of a back seat in his life. During that time he worked at Tanya Tucker’s quarter horse ranch, got to know horse trainers, and even matched up with a few celebrities like Red Foxx, Kiefer Sutherland, one of the stars from Mission Impossible, and Willie Nelson, to name a few.
Throughout his career, Keith still notched wins over legends like Alex Pagulayan, Niels Feijen, Larry Hubbard, Kid Delicious, Shane VanBoening, Santos Sambajon, Mike Sigel, Francisco Bustamante, Efren Reyes, Earl Strickland, Buddy Hall, Ronnie Alcano, Kim Davenport, Jose Parica, and others. But pool was never quite the same for him after the changes. As we all know, short races in 9-ball add an element of luck, and the equipment today is worlds apart from the ’70s, with jump cues, break cues, carbon shafts, faster cloth, and different rules.
When I met Keith in the early 2000s, he still had a little “lightning in the jug” and those flashes of brilliance that made him so exciting to watch. It was a thrill for me, though I never saw him in his true prime, which by all accounts was the ’70s, not the ’90s, when his Accu-Stats match with Paez was filmed.
For me, AzBilliards has been such a great resource, packed with history and stories you won’t find anywhere else. While I follow today’s international pool superstars much more closely than Keith does, I’ve also grown to love snooker in recent years.
In the autumn of our lives, we're just trying to stay healthy and enjoy life to the fullest, outside of pool.
On a brighter note, this thread has actually sparked some fuel and food for thought for me on a pool project I’ve been meaning to finish. I hadn’t realized until recently just how different the game was back in the ’70s, during Keith’s prime, compared to today. The rule change with the two-shot/push-out really impacted 9-ball, and Keith always said it completely changed his game. By the ’90s, tournament pool had taken more of a back seat in his life. During that time he worked at Tanya Tucker’s quarter horse ranch, got to know horse trainers, and even matched up with a few celebrities like Red Foxx, Kiefer Sutherland, one of the stars from Mission Impossible, and Willie Nelson, to name a few.
Throughout his career, Keith still notched wins over legends like Alex Pagulayan, Niels Feijen, Larry Hubbard, Kid Delicious, Shane VanBoening, Santos Sambajon, Mike Sigel, Francisco Bustamante, Efren Reyes, Earl Strickland, Buddy Hall, Ronnie Alcano, Kim Davenport, Jose Parica, and others. But pool was never quite the same for him after the changes. As we all know, short races in 9-ball add an element of luck, and the equipment today is worlds apart from the ’70s, with jump cues, break cues, carbon shafts, faster cloth, and different rules.
When I met Keith in the early 2000s, he still had a little “lightning in the jug” and those flashes of brilliance that made him so exciting to watch. It was a thrill for me, though I never saw him in his true prime, which by all accounts was the ’70s, not the ’90s, when his Accu-Stats match with Paez was filmed.
For me, AzBilliards has been such a great resource, packed with history and stories you won’t find anywhere else. While I follow today’s international pool superstars much more closely than Keith does, I’ve also grown to love snooker in recent years.
In the autumn of our lives, we're just trying to stay healthy and enjoy life to the fullest, outside of pool.
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yea and the newer breed dont understand the difference in pool players goals and lives from 50 years back and now. it is a different world of pool today. good and bad.
it was an exciting great life or a bad one depending on how you lived it. ill still take it back then than now for a pro trying to get by.
now its a boring life on the road and only a very few get by.
it was an exciting great life or a bad one depending on how you lived it. ill still take it back then than now for a pro trying to get by.
now its a boring life on the road and only a very few get by.
They both looked pretty awful in early play. Amazing how much better they play when the chips are down!
As for the table, I'll make book that the modern tight pocket tables play easier than those old tables when you consider shelf, cloth, cushions, everything. I don't really care as long as both players are playing on the same table.
Hu
As for the table, I'll make book that the modern tight pocket tables play easier than those old tables when you consider shelf, cloth, cushions, everything. I don't really care as long as both players are playing on the same table.
Hu
'pro' pool these days is at least 90% tournament-10% action. The days of road dogs touring the country are deader than HulaHoop.
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Some youngsters made some few week trips but Scot Townsend was the last road player I knew of, still on the road. A few left alive but not trying to make the road work.
If my hair was brown and the beer was cold I would like to try the road again. Many say it can't be done but there were a lot of arts to working the road. Most modern day players haven't tried it and don't have a clue what is possible. There is also the fact that a generous trowel of glamour has been spread over the road life. There were a very few that lived comfortably off of just the road. Others had their times sleeping in the car along with the good times. One of the big reasons I didn't hook up with Danny Medina when he wanted to was because the seats in his car were too short and I was driving a single seat truck then!
Hu
Keith remained in prime form through the 80s. Color of Money in 85 fueled more drive and confidence to wear the World gets the ,8. The pool world was much smaller then and started to change with the Filipino invasion followed by Europeans, Orientals and others.
In watching hundreds of tournaments at HT in the nineties and speaking with those in the know I heard often Keith was past his prime and a half ball behind the world class players which is nothing to be ashamed of because you are capable of beating anyone on a given day.
Keith was a money player foremost and I am sure if you compared his tournament winnings to his net earnings gambling it wouldn't be close. He could have negotiated out of those rule changes in arranging a gambling match. And he played all games where these rule changes don't matter.
I love this generation of players and how the globalization has raised the level of play, popularity and prize money. The prize money in the U.S. Open went from $8500 in 1980 to $41000 in 1990 to ,$211,000.in 2000 to half million today. The World 9 ball this year had a million dollar purse. Of course you have to be an elite player to cash in, cover expenses and make a profit. There are so many stone cold killers today, many unknown. They don't miss often and on much tighter pockets than the buckets of the early years. Players in the UK who grew up.playing snooker found nine ball easy and after learning the nuances like safety play were able to compete at the highest levels.
Hats off to SVB for all the success he has had and money won during his career during the toughest era in pool.
Do you think he wishes he played during the ,"glory years," of the 70s and 80s considering the paltry payouts,?
The American players in the 80s shot themselves in the foot when they refused to join forces with the women to form one tour that would have raised the profile and prize money in pool. Some resented foreign.players thinking this is a tour for Americans.
I realize how nostalgic and reminiscent of the past people can be. Think Springsteen's Glory Days. Let's be real though this era of pool is played at a higher level.
middleofnowhere
Registered
That was a good one. Another recently posted is Miz vs Davenport 1989. I just watched it again in fact.
I went on the road during that era with a true road warrior, mostly down South, and even found myself in a couple of action games. One in Greensboro, North Carolina stands out. The place was nothing but action, wall to wall tables, and it was there I saw something I’ll never forget: Seattle Sam Trivett crawling up on a table on all fours to make a shot. I laughed so hard I couldn’t control myself, had to run outside just to catch my breath.
The bars down South back then weren’t like today’s sports bars. Each one seemed to have dozens of tables, sometimes even a snooker table. My road partner preferred the quieter pool rooms, but he didn’t have Keith’s kind of personality, the knack for reading a room, getting someone to play, and keeping the mood light while the cheese was on the line. That part of the hustle was left to me, and I learned quick how to get action with the best player in town.
It wasn’t all wins, either. We were walking into rooms blind, sometimes forced to play with a bent metal house cue. You’d never bring your own cue in the joint because it would give you away. And when the house pro showed up, well, the game was on. We won more than we lost, but I knew the Western Union phone number by heart. More than once we had to call home for money because he—or we—had gone bust.
Some memories still stand sharp:
- Having a gun pulled on me in Dalton, Georgia. Legal or not, I’ll never forget it.
- Watching a man sob in the parking lot, rent money gone, and feeling no joy in that win.
- Falling in with a steer in Alabama whose whole family stole meat for a living, even the kids. It made me uneasy.
- Seeing a wild ring game of 9-ball on a snooker table at Baker’s in Tampa, FL, one of the oldest poolrooms.
- Meeting Grady Mathews, driving a sharp Cadillac with a pit bull puppy riding shotgun, who took us to dinner and picked up the tab.
- Beating a girl out of $100 with adrenaline in my veins, and it was pure fun.
- Partying with carnival folks in Florida, some of the kindest, most genuine people I ever met on the road.
For me, those golden years on the road were full of excitement because I was so deeply into pool, but after seeing a man crying in the parking lot over lost rent money, the thrill of laying down lemons to steal a win began to fade.
Keith and Scotty were thick as thieves. I remember Keith once disappeared for a week with Scotty during an IPT event in Reno, leaving Pots and Pan in his hotel room. To this day I don’t know what they got into, and I probably don’t want to. Their friendship, though, was rock solid. When Scotty lost his other half, Keith called him right away, knew he was short on cash, and asked me to drive him to Western Union where he wired Scotty $500 to get through the hard stretch.
That’s the kind of bond players of that generation shared. Through all the laughs, busts, and long nights, they built friendships that lasted a lifetime.
Photo I took July 2006 in Las Vegas. They clean up nice, don't they?
I always love reading your stories and input. Being a Marylander and knowing many of the characters that you reference from years past, your stories make for even better reading than many of the posts I see about road life.
Geese was.....well.....Geese. The one and only. Him and Keith together had to be absolutely hilarious.
Did you ever cross paths with Barry Jones? He played all over the place but I specifically crossed paths with him at the Champions on the Golden Mile in Frederick. Nice guy who could drop one liners with the best of them. Sadly, I believe Barry passed from cancer a number of years ago.