Oh except two hyper shimmed ones at the Palace in Bellflower.
1993 LA Open 9 ball finals.....Mark Tadd vs Dennis Hatch
- Thread starter Onepocket73
- Start date
By the way Jam, Keith scared every one of the top players! They knew if he was on his game (rested and sober) they were in trouble. There is NO ONE today that plays with the carefree and relaxed attitude that Keith was blessed with. He made pool look like a walk in the park! If anyone thinks today's champions can make impressive shots, then they needed to see Keith when he was in full swing. He could somehow make an amazing shot look easy, and then laugh a little, saying something like, "I was sweating that one," or maybe just "Lookie here!" Keith glided through racks of 9-Ball like they were all hangers, and they weren't! He'd be chatting with the crowd all the way, only stopping to shoot the next ball in. I remember, caught his act a million times. "El Diablo" (the Devil) was the name I liked best, bestowed upon him by the Mexican bar table champions after he continually pounded them all to smithereens. Keith was definitely a Pool Savant!Notice full cue jump shot, and it almost worked. There were no jump cues back then.
I see the One Pocket final is also on Youtube. Check that one out. Both these guys could dab it. Steve Cook was a brilliant One Pocket player. In fact he played all games at a super high level. I will agree with Stu, the top players today are better. They have more finesse today, kick better and of course have the jump cue! That said I saw the best players of the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's and I saw some killers. They played that high speed pool that was much more fun to watch. When we switched to one foul BIH the game began to slow down. The greatest players I watched play had one thing in common. They had lots of heart and could come with it when they had to. Sigel, Varner, Wade Crane (aka Billy Johnson), Buddy, Denny Searcy (in his prime), Hopkins, Rempe, Parica, Efren, Busti, Keith, Cole, Earl, Archer, the Miz, all of them and more were amazing players who had no fear! There were just as many in the earlier generation; Ronnie, Kelly, Jersey Red, Cornbread, Richie Florence, Bugs, Taylor, LASSITER, Shorty, Ervolino, Incardona, Carella, Greg Stevens, George Rood, and again many more, were all great players. And one man stood apart from all of them - Harold Worst! He was the exception to the pack. He did play as good as anyone today and maybe even better due to his mental make-up. He rarely if ever missed anything he shot at, the ball or the position! He had the best composure and focus of any player I ever saw, today's players included. I never saw him give any shot less than his 100% best effort and if he got a bad roll he just walked over and sat down, zero emotion. He never let down at any time in any match (Buddy was the closest to him that way). He had the most powerful stroke and the most solid stance I've ever seen. All under complete control. He rarely needed to hit the ball hard, but he could draw the length of the table with accuracy if necessary.
Yes I admire the supreme skill of the players today, but to dismiss the previous generations is a mistake in my book. Different rules, different cloth, different lots of things. Let a Mark Tadd or Francisco Bustamente, or better yet Parica or Buddy, in their prime challenge one of the big guns today and you might be surprised. These guys were relentless and if you flinched that was it. You were toast! Prime years Mizerak and Sigel would still be the favorite in any 14.1 tournament. Sure these guys today run a million balls, but Steve would never give you a shot! At Banks, Taylor, Bugs and Cannonball are still the best I ever saw. It's all conjecture of course, but I saw what I saw and I see what I see today, and there are chinks in the armor of most of these guys. Thank you, JH
One last thing to clarify what I said above. My opinions are all based on playing with the same conditions and rules in use back then, such as no jump cues etc. etc. Today's players would have to learn and relearn how to play 9-Ball (try some "push out" and all balls spot up). That's a much tougher game then what they play today!
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You talking about Keith made me think of watching Fat Randy play. He never ducked a living human and every match was entertaining as hell. He was a natural-born carny and had a gift of gab like Fats. Too much 'robot pool' these days.
Exactly. The greatest of yesteryear would have been great in any era. Mosconi, Greenleaf and Crane, played without Simonis cloth. Sigel, not known for his humility, suggested that "had he played on Simonis cloth, Mosconi would have run 2,000 at straight pool."
Even though the straightest shooters today shoot a hair straighter than the champions of yesteryear, they have no more championship pedigree than guys like Mosconi, Greenleaf, Crane, Lassiter, Sigel, Mizerak, Reyes, Parica or Varner. It's worth noting that nobody in this generation plays 14.1 defense at a higher level than Crane produced or 9-ball defense at a higher level that Efren and Varner produced.
Mosconi, Sigel, or Filler? It's fun to think about, but there's really no way to say who's best among them. Each excelled, even mastered, the challenges they faced in their respective primes.
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Randy was a dandy, and oh what a gambler he was. I got into it with him in OKC one time when I wanted to bet on Hitchcock, giving Randy the eight and the break. I offered to bet a 50 a game on the side and Randy said "put up 500 for ten games!" I ducked out.
I think they played and Randy won that one. His break was just too strong. And remember Hitch could only win one game at a time and Randy could win several if he got rolling. I escaped that one.
I did get a kick out of watching him play. He was what I would call an entertaining gambler. He had that gift of gab all right. Not many (any) like him today. We had Keith and Ronnie and Louie and Randy and Benny Conway and Fats of course. Jersey Red was great too, telling you what he was going to do on every shot and how he was going to beat you. Pretty much 100% accurate too! Pool was fun back then. A little too serious now.
The Godfather
New member
A question for you: Was there a 1993 Bicycle Club Event for men? Or was the last men’s Bicycle Club held in 1992, and then it was renamed and became the Mosconi Cup? I have a 1992 jacket for sale….Thanks.
That dam Cyclops on new cloth, with AC at Derby...best in the world missing position by a foot. Cue ball wobbling as it rolled.
Yeah...Awesome watching Hatch dominate the Northeast for decades. Always going to shoot his way out. Amazing to watch.
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I think the last Bicycle Club tournament was in 1994 or 95. It was never associated with the MC in any way as far as I know.
I’m guessing 94 was the last year. I went to a couple of them.
The milk drinkers of today or robots (same thing) may play as good or better than the real pool players. But they sure aren’t as fun, I like the cast of characters from a B movie we were collectively back in the day.
Fatboy <———likes milk on his cereal
I have another Tadd match thats long. Its the best of 3 sets 9-ball.....Tadd vs Buddy Hall at the Southbay shootout. Someday I'll post it to my channel when I get unlazy....LOL
Today's the day, baybee!
