This is not accurate. I was around the game 50 years ago and have attended over a dozen world 14.1 championships. I always bought the program, and the player blurbs nearly never mentioned high runs, but instead the players credentials in competition, correctly reflecting that attendees rarely ared what a player's high run was in practice.
Fifty years ago, and this was during the straight pool era, players high runs were barely known, except for Mosconi, Cranfield, Crane and Eufemia. It's also a myth that many of the top players fifty years ago placed much emphasis on producing a high run in practice, though they did care about the high run prize in competition. Agreed, however, that it's that way today for countless people, but it's to the game's detriment that straight pool is no longer about winning in the eyes of so many.
Straight pool is dying, and may die completely unless the emphasis returns to winning titles.
You may be correct that back then the emphasis was more on winning but in the poolrooms I frequented the best players hi run was known, talked about, and primarily used to determine giving or getting weight when gambling.
If there was someone you didn't know looking for action it was common practice to ask around to try and find out how many balls the guy could run.
**Fargo didn't exist. Even the A,B,C,D method for gauging players strength didn't exist yet. Nor the internet.
So other than watching someone the only way to get a (somewhat) accurate idea of their skill was by hi run.
I'd also note that one of the main attractions and topics of conversation when attending many Mosconi exhibitions
was the opportunity to see a 100+ ball run.
Granted, it was nothing special to Willie but to the average player it was noteworthy and something to aspire to.
**Regarding Fargorate, while straight pool results is not one of its parameters it is a fairly accurate method for determining speed. As such, it could be used for matching up providing both players 14.1 experience (or inexperience)
was similar. However, a very experienced 14.1 guy could easily play and beat someone 100 pts. higher if they'd never played the game.
The saying "You don't know what you don't know" is much more applicable to 14.1 than rotation games.
I think I'm safe when saying that you Stu, like I, lament the decline of the game we grew up with.
Though I've thought a lot about it, possible ways of reversing the trend escape me.