John Schmidt Watch - May 2019

When he breaks the record, and I'm sure he will, it needs to be national news. It would be a big boost for pool and John. Is anyone of consequence with media ties working with him to publicize the record-breaking run when it happens? Barry Hearn? Joe Rogan? He should be booked on the Today Show, Good Morning America, the late-night shows, etc.

LowRight said:

When he breaks the record, and I'm sure he will, it needs to be national news. It would be a big boost for pool and John. Is anyone of consequence with media ties working with him to publicize the record-breaking run when it happens? Barry Hearn? Joe Rogan? He should be booked on the Today Show, Good Morning America, the late-night shows, etc.

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Maybe that would happen if the late night shows were still being hosted by Jack Paar or Johnny Carson.

If I missed at 490 I'd set a different record. I'd set the record for longest distance for a thrown pool cue.

alstl said:

If I missed at 490 I'd set a different record. I'd set the record for longest distance for a thrown pool cue.

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I could not even imagine getting to 500, and knowing only 27 more to go. That's some pressure.

I hope he does it. And I like Willie as much as anyone else. But, lets get off the "comparing" tables, cues, balls, chalk, cloth, tips, etc. A record is a record.

I'm pretty sure baseballs, bats, gloves, fence distance, etc were not all the same in the 1920s compared to now. But, nobody in baseball brings that up when records are broken, so neither should pool players.

rexus31 said:

No need for Diamond to get involved, just get an 8' Brunswick Sport King with 5" pockets. That's what Mosconi ran 526 on.

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Yes, but not with Simonis cloth. If you want a fair comparison, and I sense that you don't, put an old, nappy cloth on a 4 x 8, use the old composition balls, and then add the deadish rails of yesteryear.

Here is his you tube chanel link

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4bKgX3HqiFBQtkx5AyrBbw

Bob Jewett said:

John is doing his current attempts at Easy Street in Monterey, CA.

I was there for his 421 earlier this month. (It was originally counted as 435.) Lou Sardo and his wife were also there. Lou is one of the sponsors.

The 490 John just ran was one ball short of Thomas Engert's 491, but I think Engert's run was just a practice run and not the sort of recorded exhibition that John is doing.

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Correct, Engert's 491 run, over fifteen years ago, was a practice run, not an exhibition run.

sjm said:

Correct, Engert's 491 run, over fifteen years ago, was a practice run, not an exhibition run.

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do you know something more about engerts run , maybe the year or the club he ran it ?

4pointer said:

do you know something more about engerts run , maybe the year or the club he ran it ?

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Sorry, can't help out here. My best guess is that it was in 2002.

Congratulations John !

Getting close to the top of the mountain, he can see the light, he can almost taste it.

iam asking for my own research about these highruns .

how did the 490 end?

caro double b in ingolstadt , on a fast cloth and tight pockets they told me .
cant believe it .
to me engert is the greatest talent after mike sigel ...

LowRight said:

When he breaks the record, and I'm sure he will, it needs to be national news. It would be a big boost for pool and John. Is anyone of consequence with media ties working with him to publicize the record-breaking run when it happens? Barry Hearn? Joe Rogan? He should be booked on the Today Show, Good Morning America, the late-night shows, etc.

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For pool players only, the apa crowd and the general public STILL have no clue as to what 14.1 Continuous Billiards, aka Straight Pool even are. Even it it's explained to them, they still think 8 ball is harder because you can't sink just any ball.
Sad, I know, but true all the same.

Thanks for the heads up. I knew about the run, but not where to find the videos. I just subscribed to his channel. I recommend you all do the same.

4pointer said:

caro double b in ingolstadt , on a fast cloth and tight pockets they told me .
cant believe it .
to me engert is the greatest talent after mike sigel ...

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Wow, that's some great info. Agreed about Sigel's greatness, probably the best straight pooler since Mosconi, just a hair above Mizerak and Varner among the great American players.

Pushout said:

For pool players only, the apa crowd and the general public STILL have no clue as to what 14.1 Continuous Billiards, aka Straight Pool even are. Even it it's explained to them, they still think 8 ball is harder because you can't sink just any ball.
Sad, I know, but true all the same.

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Regarding folks clueless or misinformed about Straight Pool (my lifelong favorite game) one way I've found *very* useful whenever a non-player onlooker, or a beginner who's genuinely curious about what's involved, is to always first ask them if they enjoyed the "Hustler" movie. Unfailingly they've seen it and immediately state what a great film it is and how skillfully the Newman and Gleason characters appeared to be playing -- rack-after-rack -- for hours . . . and when asked, they suddenly remember that periodically they heard "That's 125 . . . Game" loudly announced by the rack man.

Connecting them to the movie seems to subtly trigger their remembrance of at least three prime characteristics of the game that moviegoers were witnessing and enjoying -- (innocent of any real 14.1 knowledge): (a) the continuous nature of the racks; (b) the accumulation of points . . . one at a time; and (c) the sustained excellence required to reach that figurative 125 for a win each time.

By always bringing up the movie, I've -- in a friendly way-- brought many folks from the point of being totally "clueless" (or grossly misinformed) to being actually eager to learn much more about the Straight Pool game that was repeatedly referred to in the film they liked so much.

In my experience, even the notion and purpose of 14.1 "Safety" play when no realistic shot was available, was readily grasped by almost all non-players in the audience seeing the film then or now, with no on-screen explanation required.

Try the above correlative technique and you'll have the genuine pleasure of seeing piqued-curiosity, sudden remembrance/awareness, and more than a few light bulb moments. Pleasures that sustain anyone teaching any worthwhile endeavor.

Arnaldo