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That's pretty much the case with all sports. Talent is "cheap" in a sense and is worthless without the stamina and the mental fortitude to back it up. You might have an extremely talented pitcher who is the best in the world for the 4 innings, but doesn't have the stamina and nerves to pitch...

Problem is that after the race ends, the score resets. Let's say you lose 6 out of 10 race to five sets against an inferior player. In all his wins, he beat you 5-4, in your wins, you beat him 5-2, for an overall record 44 to 38 in your favor. The overall record rather than the set record is...

Don't tell me you take that short race exhibition seriously? Keep in mind, I'm not trying to make excuses for Shane, and I agree with your central premise, I'm just illustrating that short races don't tell us anything. Jean Balukas beat Keith McCready (when he was still close to his prime) 11-3...

I don't think Shane is the best all-around pool player in the world, but since when did we judge pool players based on short race tournament (anything less than 20 in the rotation games really is a short race given the variance of those games) success? I remember in the 90's, when Efren was...

Reasonable percentages for a bar table, actually. Breaker has a slight edge, but not so massive that it's insurmountable.

Don't particularly enjoy watching it, but that doesn't mean it requires any more or less skill to compete at it against other good players. Your opponent defines the "difficulty" of any game, not the equipment, and I can see bar box pool being something of a mind****, since you're never, ever...

I like your line of thinking (the major rotation games are built around OFFENSE and running balls, which is why I'm against the too tight pocket movement) but no game, from board games to ball games, can ever eliminate defense entirely. Besides, you get to see some of the greatest shotmaking...

I have to disagree with the bolded. The reason 9 ball and perhaps 10 ball tournaments seem like coinflips is because of the variance of rotation games and short races (as you've intimated), and even then, the top 5-10 players in the world will usually rank as such at the end of the tournament...

Here we go: So about a 50% break-and-run percentage. In the IPT, Efren played 73 matches and made 130 break and runs. Let's say he averaged 11 games per match (meaning he won or lost every match 9 to 2, so it's a conservative estimate) for a total of 803 games played. That translates into a...

Problem is the heated tables and magic racking. In the matches I've watched, I didn't see a lot clusters after the break. I also think (per AtLarge's statistical breakdown) that the break-and-run % wasn't that dramatically different from 8 ball played on standard tables. I could be wrong,

Those players also played on slow nap cloth. You needed a stroke. That's why I'm against the idea that the skill of today's players is any better than the past players. Equipment is just much more user friendly. Case in point. Ernesto Dominguez making a run at the 2014 US Open, which is...

What excuses? American kids don't play pool anymore like they once used to. All our greats hit the road in their teens, sleeping in pool halls, living and breathing the game. Now it's a hobby. Anyhow, were their any Brits on the European team?

No. And if people want to go back to slow cloths, it's in the interest of making the game harder, which would be nice, since snooker converts wouldn't be able to do much, as we saw at the IPT, playing on slow cloth where you need a stroke. I think you'd even be able to play better than Jimmy...

Yes you are. You can poll this site, and no one, British or otherwise (aside from you, I guess) would want to go back to slow cloth, slow rubber, even the well maintained kind featured on the IPT. And since snooker went to faster cloth, the amount of centuries and 147s has risen greatly...

Don't think fundamentals are the problem. The Filipinos and Taiwanese are the best pool players in the world at the moment and it can be said they have very "un-textbook" mechanics. I think it has to do with passion and interest. Pool is a hobby for kids now in the States, where's it a passion...

Great post, actually. Although I disagree that the UK cuesport talent is regressing. Judd Trump is Earl on a Snooker table and has the kind of rockstar appeal that could draw more youth into the game. Darren could possibly influence more young players to take up pool. And with the UK being a...

Thanks for the replay. As for the bolded, it could wind up that perception doesn't equal reality if the stats do wind up quantifying that the breaker is a slight underdog. But yeah, in a late game tournament scenario, having the break is probably is a big advantage. In 9 ball, 9 on the break...

Yes, "oh no." You said "championship," implying World Championship or a proper tourney. That was the 8 ball Masters, which is an invitational event with a small field, like the World Pool Masters. Earl finished 17th in one of them. Is he the 17th best Chinese 8 ball player in the world now...

You don't really know much about this game, do you? Be honest now, you just took up a cue sport in the last 5 years or so? Every pool player here will rave about the transition from the nap we had in the past to the cloth we have today. As well as the rubber. And no one wants to go back. No...

I think we all know that. We were simply trolling each other back and forth, like fans of NBA players do or some such. Classy move by Chris :thumbup: