cotton/linen/wool is still an option, but i agree that it's quite mental that they got a huge chunk of the humanity to walk around in plastic clothes lol
Was pool better 50 years ago?
- Thread starter The Wolverine
- Start date
cotton/linen/wool is still an option, but i agree that it's quite mental that they got a huge chunk of the humanity to walk around in plastic clothes lol
Wow just finger warming and 5 pages late but.
Have I got stories from 50 years ago. My encounters with competition at it's highest level occurred in the 80s.
Cole Dickson was one that provided in depth view of life as a successful pro.
A favorite top player is Brady Golan, from Canada. He produced a 147+ score in competition play. Only possible with " free ball" with all balls on the table then do black for ever color. Let's see 147 + 8= 155. Yeah okay, he did it!!!!
Of Course Dan Louie would be my favorite role model. Him defeating Parica back to back in the Tahoe tournament was incredible as both went hill/hill.
So my training was that the lack of Mr in front of the name indicates a Personal friend.
Have I got stories from 50 years ago. My encounters with competition at it's highest level occurred in the 80s.
Cole Dickson was one that provided in depth view of life as a successful pro.
A favorite top player is Brady Golan, from Canada. He produced a 147+ score in competition play. Only possible with " free ball" with all balls on the table then do black for ever color. Let's see 147 + 8= 155. Yeah okay, he did it!!!!
Of Course Dan Louie would be my favorite role model. Him defeating Parica back to back in the Tahoe tournament was incredible as both went hill/hill.
So my training was that the lack of Mr in front of the name indicates a Personal friend.
Kenny Dodd from Oregon was a money player of note. He was my grandmaster scalp (please excuse the crass expression) fart.
My drawing Brady in a tournament that had me playing the donation role was fun as I made a couple good shots. Shrug
Same thing when I played Dan Louie in a 9 ball tournament. My first break yielded a roll out that Danny handed back. And I made the straight back bank! With Perfect shape. Well that was it as I didn't get out. it was a mice shot on strange equipment with uh and up hill both ways. Wink Shrug
My drawing Brady in a tournament that had me playing the donation role was fun as I made a couple good shots. Shrug
Same thing when I played Dan Louie in a 9 ball tournament. My first break yielded a roll out that Danny handed back. And I made the straight back bank! With Perfect shape. Well that was it as I didn't get out.
it was a mice shot on strange equipment with uh and up hill both ways. Wink Shrug We called it "Pill Pool". Even if it was played for serious money, everyone was always laughing in that game.
Different for sure.
Depends on what a person considers, "better".
I always kept it as a recreation or hobby. A hobby that could show a profit but not enough to quit the day job.
Now it's still recreational and a lot less profitable.
Depends on what a person considers, "better".
I always kept it as a recreation or hobby. A hobby that could show a profit but not enough to quit the day job.
Now it's still recreational and a lot less profitable.
it depends, i know, that’s why i asked you
middleofnowhere
Registered
This thread has had me thinking. I find myself thinking about it at different times in the day. The game has been an important part of my life. I quit school to run around playing pool. I have been a player, room owner, equipment dealer and manufacturer. I met my wife as a result of the pool room.
I can easily tie much of what has happened in my life directly or indirectly to the game. Though the changes can be pointed out one thing has not changed. That is, the experience of playing the game as an individual, that has not changed.
Be it in a pool room or at home, when I throw the balls out on the table to practice straight pool, 9 ball or just do some some drills. It's the same at 80 as it was at 16. It's like a time machine and I'm that kid back at the old bowling alley trying to figure things out.
I feel blessed to have been lucky enough to have discovered the game. It seems crazy to have done something for almost 70 years and can still feel a passion for it.
In the movie the "Legend of Bagger Vance ", there is a line about golf. It goes something like,
"It's a game that can't be won, only played".
Pool is a little like that. You play for personal bests. The highest level you reach isn't even important.
The original question was, "Was the game better 50 years ago"? As it applies to the individual player him or herself the answer would be no, it's still the same great game.. The joy and motivation to play the game to them, be it 50 or 100 years ago or today. On a 5 x10 in 1920 or a 4 x 8 in 2026 is the same.
A player from 100 years ago talking to a player today would have more in common then differences and enjoy each other's company.
It's basically the same game.
So this is my stream of consciousness for the day. There must be a point in there somewhere.
I can easily tie much of what has happened in my life directly or indirectly to the game. Though the changes can be pointed out one thing has not changed. That is, the experience of playing the game as an individual, that has not changed.
Be it in a pool room or at home, when I throw the balls out on the table to practice straight pool, 9 ball or just do some some drills. It's the same at 80 as it was at 16. It's like a time machine and I'm that kid back at the old bowling alley trying to figure things out.
I feel blessed to have been lucky enough to have discovered the game. It seems crazy to have done something for almost 70 years and can still feel a passion for it.
In the movie the "Legend of Bagger Vance ", there is a line about golf. It goes something like,
"It's a game that can't be won, only played".
Pool is a little like that. You play for personal bests. The highest level you reach isn't even important.
The original question was, "Was the game better 50 years ago"? As it applies to the individual player him or herself the answer would be no, it's still the same great game.. The joy and motivation to play the game to them, be it 50 or 100 years ago or today. On a 5 x10 in 1920 or a 4 x 8 in 2026 is the same.
A player from 100 years ago talking to a player today would have more in common then differences and enjoy each other's company.
It's basically the same game.
So this is my stream of consciousness for the day. There must be a point in there somewhere.
Thanks for a truly exceptional post.
You're right, similarly, the best part of pool for me was seeing my improvement, not using an upward comparison to those still better (that's just frustrating and depressing).
I believe I started hanging out in the pool room at 14 or so. Like most young, dedicated players, I was improving in leaps and bounds. When I started, everyone was better than me. That's what made it fun. As I improved, I was inching my way up the room's pecking order. Of course now, I had to change my mindset from improving to slowing my decline slower that other old guys my age. That's fun too. Keep adjusting your perspective to find that enjoyment in the game!
Biloxi Boy
Man With A Golden Arm
Laughter was a key component, also, but to a lesser degree, in Golf and ring games.
So much intrigue going on. Alliances shifting from moment to moment. Nothing better to watch than some cat who believed he had it wired only to end up on the opposite end of it through the very devices he had sought to employ -- very nasty business, but all in good fun.
On plastic clothes.
A few years ago a friend of mine died, and, in the division of his clothes among his friends, I got a bathrobe. It was from a top of the line men’s clothing chain. It was, however, quite old. It was meant to feel like silk but clearly wasn’t. I preferred my own cotton robes, and so I wore it only a couple of times. But they might have been when I was finishing up eggs or bacon on the stove. I finally decided to give it to Goodwill. As I put in the bag, I noticed a black label on the inside I had not seen before. The label said:
DO NOT EXPOSE TO OPEN FLAME
A few years ago a friend of mine died, and, in the division of his clothes among his friends, I got a bathrobe. It was from a top of the line men’s clothing chain. It was, however, quite old. It was meant to feel like silk but clearly wasn’t. I preferred my own cotton robes, and so I wore it only a couple of times. But they might have been when I was finishing up eggs or bacon on the stove. I finally decided to give it to Goodwill. As I put in the bag, I noticed a black label on the inside I had not seen before. The label said:
DO NOT EXPOSE TO OPEN FLAME
sudocrushms
Well-known member
But you fail to understand the old nappy and slow Forstman cloth was quite limiting. No jump cues. Guys played with heavier cues (and higher deflection/ squirt cues) and you had to have a stroke with accuracy and power to move the cueball around. Limited types of cue tips then. No ball in hand fouls. You cannot disparage the top players of any previous era by comparing them to players of today unless you choose to be ignorant.
We played double check pool
i have yet to see any old american pool video with slower cloth than contemporary filipino gambling videos.. and there are several contemporary players with standard high deflection cues. i agree low deflection cues have benefits, but mostly in learning to get to a certain level. there's nothing you can do with a low deflection cue that you can't do with an old school cue, as ko pin yi and his brother keep proving..
Adding to Jazznpool's excellent reply to your post, this type of thinking just doesn't work. Yes, give a Filler or a Shane bucket pockets, Simonis cloth, rails and balls with today's quality, jump cues, screw-on extensions, and the better pool tables in use today and they would run a whole lot of racks, but that's not a meaningful comparison across generations.
Today's players play with better tables that have better rails and better ball sets. They all have jump cues. They have screw-on cue extensions that ensure that the bridge need nearly ever be used. Fifty years ago, most players did not even have break cues, never mind jump cues. They played on slow, nappy cloth and some of the positional shots that look routine today were almost impossible back in the day. If you had to play a power-stun shot off a five-degree angle, you had to have huge power to make it happen. Need a long draw off a long shot? Only the best could do it back in the pre-Simonis days. One reason that Strickland and Sigel were the two best 9ball players forty-five years ago, shortly before the switch to Simonis, was that both had an extremely powerful stroke. It's so easily forgotten.
There is little doubt in my mind that, even on the equipment and conditions of yesteryear, a Filler or a Shane would have played at a higher level than their counterparts of fifty years ago, but by less than one might guess.
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