526

I think John hit the nail on the head. The only reason isn't broken is because of money. Take a guy like Shane, he never plays it. If someone put up $200,000 for a person to beat the record, on the same size table and pockets as Mosconi, the pros would come out of the woodwork. Under these conditions John would own the record in a very short time. IMHO


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I think John hit the nail on the head. The only reason isn't broken is because of money. Take a guy like Shane, he never plays it. If someone put up $200,000 for a person to beat the record, on the same size table and pockets as Mosconi, the pros would come out of the woodwork. Under these conditions John would own the record in a very short time. IMHO


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Oh yeah, no doubt. But for the money I would like to see him drive from city to city for a year; play in a different room every night; take on an opponent in a game to 125; and run the 527 some time during that match. (Versus locking himself up in a room and whaling away at the record for hours on end.) I'm sure he'd even come across an 8 footer every now and then.

Regardless, it makes for an interesting discussion.

Lou Figueroa
 
hi

Sorry you feel that way, John.

But, as in every other sport, it not the opinions of the players themselves that count. It is the opinions of the aficionados of the sport that count. The guys that can look at the play of any particular player and honestly discuss it in the context of the game's history and lore and write about it knowledgeably.

I probably know you as well as you know me, which isn't very much. And you, as great a player as you are, are too young (and too close to things) to put your play in context with Mosconi's (though I do recall a comment from you to the effect as to how you were tired of people saying you couldn't carry Mosconi's jock strap) or fairly consider how your runs are viewed by students of the game who know the history of the sport.

Sooooo, you can listen to whomever you want. Some guys will lie to you and whisper, "Hey, John, it's OK to cut corners and make the mountain easier to ascend." While the guys that are actually trying to help you out are the one's telling you that the greater honor and glory lies in conquering an ascent that got tougher as you neared the summit.

Lou Figueroa
fair enough ,thanks for the advice ill try to keep it in mind.
also thanks for at least not being 2 faced and insulting my career behind my back.
u are letting me know that my accomplishments are a sham,i cut corners and i lack integrity. at least i know where i stand with u.
thanks
 
Funny thing is, as often as the subject of 526 gets brought up on here, (using this thread as an example) it still gets plenty of discussion.

IMHO, I'm with John that if someone wanted to go through the hardships of dedicating themselves to do it, the record could probably be broken within a year. But also like he asked, who would WANT to do that?

Maniac

I really don't know about how long it would take. I trust John Schmidt's opinion over anyone's on the matter though. It would be great if TAR did 1,000 point games where a 400+ run would actually count for something. In my opinion, such a run would be epic and worthy of being the official record.
 
fair enough ,thanks for the advice ill try to keep it in mind.
also thanks for at least not being 2 faced and insulting my career behind my back.
u are letting me know that my accomplishments are a sham,i cut corners and i lack integrity. at least i know where i stand with u.
thanks


I have said *numerous times* that I think you're a great player. And I thought it was fantastic that you won The World title to add to your many accomplishments.

It's kinda of funny: a little ways back, when the topic was another player's "accomplishments" I was such an insightful fan of the game that you PM'd me, "You're my new hero." Now, when you don't care for my opinion on a player picking up the CB mid-run, I'm just another guy who,"likes to hear himself talk."

Lou Figueroa
 
hi

I have said *numerous times* that I think you're a great player. And I thought it was fantastic that you won The World title to add to your many accomplishments.

It's kinda of funny: a little ways back, when the topic was another player's "accomplishments" I was such an insightful fan of the game that you PM'd me, "You're my new hero." Now, when you don't care for my opinion on a player picking up the CB mid-run, I'm just another guy who,"likes to hear himself talk."

Lou Figueroa[/QUO
hey lou u and i see each other once a year.
why dont we save the insults and smart ass comments for when we are in same room together.
its way more exciting that way.
just so u dont misunderstand what im saying or cant read between the lines.
i would rather you insult me face to face because i hate typing.
i dont think u would be so antagonistic in person.
maybe im wrong
 
I looked it up -- Mosconi was 78 and Caras 82 at the time of that exhibition (1991). Perhaps they were playing CB-fouls-only in deference to age.

As to your 1966 experience -- you can remember that from 47 years ago, and you're only 49 now?:wink: Again, who knows what rules they were using. He usually played a fairly good local player, but maybe they "relaxed" the rules sometimes. Or could it have been in the demo portion of the show?

Thanks for thinking I'm only 49 years old. lol.

The point I was trying to make is that John's integrity was questioned about cleaning the cue ball during the run and it was brought up that Mosconi would never do that. First off how does anybody know that he didn't clean the cue ball during the 526, how does anybody know he didn't move an object ball by accident and keep on going. You stated that the video I showed was an exhibition and maybe they were only playing cue ball fouls only. If I'm not mistaken the 526 was during an exhibition so can we assume the rules were "relaxed" during that run?

As far as age goes what does being 78 years old have to do about playing by the rules and Mosconi's integrity during the match. If they were playing cue ball fouls only why didn't he tell Caras he moved the ball and ask him if wanted him to move it back? Did he do this during the 526?, maybe, maybe not. I guess if he was playing in a tournament at age 78 he would be allowed to play under a different set of rules because he is Mosconi and he is old. My point is why is John's integrity questioned and Willie's is not?

-Bill
 
I really do not see what could possibly be wrong with cleaning a cue ball while on video and replacing the ball on video to the same spot. If it were during a refereed match, the player would have the right to demand the referee clean the ball. Since there is no referee present, the player replaces the ball to the same spot. We can always see in the video where they mark it with a piece of chalk and put the ball back. I don't think anyone is saying John changed the position of the cue ball to change his angle on the shot so if they are not saying that, what difference does it make.

Some have opined that Willie Mosconi would never do something like that, and in fact never did anything like that during his 526 ball run, but of course, that is mere speculation. We have seen an example of Willie doing worse than that on video.

I think we have a tempest in a teapot here and we should hold off on criticizing a player who has given straight pool a shot in the arm for the last 8 or so years, and who has given straight pool fans numerous videos of high runs.

This is just my opinion, and I guess I could be wrong.
 
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Help me out here -- I didn't see anybody question John's integrity. The only thing I read was where someone (Lou) happened to bring up for discussion the idea of cleaning/polishing the balls, including the cue ball during the course of a run. I think it's a legitimate subject to talk about. I really think you have to read deeply into Lou's post to think he's questioning John's integrity.

Here's what I think about polishing the balls in the middle of a run: I don't think it really dimishing the run, but it does add another variable you have to account for when comparing these runs to those of the legends. If you run 300, 400, or 500 balls and polish the balls after single rack, it is still an unbelievable accomplishment. However, if they (legends) did not polish the balls between racks in the past, it does give today's players an edge, even if it's an ever so slight one.

But then again I tend to mark the position of all the balls during the course of my 12 ball runs and polish them all off. I would hate to end an 11 ball run because of a skid.
 
hi

i didnt want to drag bill marop into when i said person told me they saw mosconi rest hands on balls for bridge etc.if bill told me he saw that then i would never question him.lou can call bill a liar if he wants.
point is if he ran 526 doin that fine by me,i clean qball and put it back exactly .
i only clean qball right before i break them so its not like im jackup over a ball or something.
when i ran 400 and 403 i never touched qball.chalk wasnt sticking to it.
sometimes certain temps or humidity or chalk acts different and i need to wipe off chalk every 100 balls or so.

thing is i have critics or haters even.
if i ran 527 tomorow somebody would say isnt high run actually 768
or willie had suit on
or u had simonis
or willie ran 605
or who cares
or yeah but john wipes qball
or tables today r easier
etc etc etc etc etc etc.

like 100 people would even care and 50 of those would rip it to shreds to discredit me for different reasons.

how do i know people would discredit it and rip it apart. they do it to mosconis 526,everytime somebody brings it up somebody say cranfield ran 768,or eufemia ran 626 blah blah.
personally i feel i could run that many but will never do it to shut up my critics ill do it if serious incentive is there.
to do it so a couple of haters on azbilliards can have something to talk about no thanks.
i spelled out what it would take for me to give as good of a shot as mosconi had .
just think about all the fun the haters can have watching me fail after a year of trying and realizing im just not good enough.
somebody put up the money and ill break it otherwise i care about breaking it but not nearly enough to go thru everything involved with breaking it.
 
hi

Help me out here -- I didn't see anybody question John's integrity. The only thing I read was where someone (Lou) happened to bring up for discussion the idea of cleaning/polishing the balls, including the cue ball during the course of a run. I think it's a legitimate subject to talk about. I really think you have to read deeply into Lou's post to think he's questioning John's integrity.

Here's what I think about polishing the balls in the middle of a run: I don't think it really dimishing the run, but it does add another variable you have to account for when comparing these runs to those of the legends. If you run 300, 400, or 500 balls and polish the balls after single rack, it is still an unbelievable accomplishment. However, if they (legends) did not polish the balls between racks in the past, it does give today's players an edge, even if it's an ever so slight one.

But then again I tend to mark the position of all the balls during the course of my 12 ball runs and polish them all off. I would hate to end an 11 ball run because of a skid.
good post and im not trying to be a jerk but in lous post hes totally questioning the integrity of my runs or me . lou and i have history so believe me i can pickup when hes insulting me. actually polishing the balls in middle of run might hurt me as now i have to get used to slickness again.
i dont polish balls or qball i simply wipe chalk off qball big difference.
its cool u like 14.1 its a fun game. hang in there . later
 
John I believe you have two options: Break the Record or don't. Truth is people always call out record breakers. I know people who call Hank Aaron a cheater. If money is what you want that is respectable.

Doesn't this go back to the main point that straight pool has been dead for a long time. If it wasn't the money and attention would be there. AS mentioned before other players would also be in the sweepstakes maybe even to invigorate pool as did McGwire and Sosa.

Correct me if I am wrong but 9 ball does not seem to have such an illustrious record that needs to be shattered
 
hi

Fwiw, 400+ on a 9' Diamond table is unreal to me.
Props to JS.

thanks for kind words joey but actually my high run on a diamond is 294 and was on film. its world record on diamond .my high on gc is 403 .i feel the 294 was about same difficulty if not a bit harder then 403.
in today day and age without witnesses or camera i dont think runs should even be mentioned otherwise i ran 987 yesterday .nobody saw it and no camera everybody will just have to take my word for it lol..

p.s. just kidding i didnt run 987 in case people arent reading closely
 
hi

John I believe you have two options: Break the Record or don't. Truth is people always call out record breakers. I know people who call Hank Aaron a cheater. If money is what you want that is respectable.

Doesn't this go back to the main point that straight pool has been dead for a long time. If it wasn't the money and attention would be there. AS mentioned before other players would also be in the sweepstakes maybe even to invigorate pool as did McGwire and Sosa.

Correct me if I am wrong but 9 ball does not seem to have such an illustrious record that needs to be shattered

i might break record.i might get near a pooltable and second inning do it. is there witnesses or camera who knows.
also it took mosconi nearly 20 years playing 14.1 only on a 4x8 to run that many.
therefore i would have to stop my life have table lights cameras etc and enough time on table to break it.
also for me to try to break in a year a number that took him around 25 years to do is tough. for the right amount of money ill try and feel im even money in a couple years to do it.

also to all the people who say if the money was there shane or efren would beat it all i can say is.
they dont have to beat mosconies number ill let them just beat mine.
ill play them a month straight 14.1 either guy or both for more money then they can win at any tourney.
there is guys who could break mosconis number right now but those two guys arent it.
no disrespect to shane or efren but shane would need years to become a 4-6 hundred ball runner.
 
John I believe you have two options: Break the Record or don't. Truth is people always call out record breakers. I know people who call Hank Aaron a cheater.

Hank Aaron wasn't a cheater, but Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, and Barry Bonds (who is now the current MLB homerun record holder) certainly did when they all three surpassed Hank Aaron's homerun record!!!

Maniac (and to this day, they still LIE about it :angry:)
 
Oh yeah, no doubt. But for the money I would like to see him drive from city to city for a year; play in a different room every night; take on an opponent in a game to 125; and run the 527 some time during that match. (Versus locking himself up in a room and whaling away at the record for hours on end.) I'm sure he'd even come across an 8 footer every now and then.

Regardless, it makes for an interesting discussion.

Lou Figueroa

Lou, I think Willie's 526 was BECAUSE of his exhibition schedule...
...rather than in spite of it.

Malcolm Gladwell writes on how the Beatles got their sound together...
..as a young band, they played zillions of cheap gigs at German nightclubs.

I keep whining at Justin for 1,000 point 14.1 matches on TAR...
...I'd much rather watch that instead of 9/10 ball where they're too
busy dumbing down the rules so nobody can run a 2-pack.

pt..<..has played on the 526 table
 
exactly

Lou, I think Willie's 526 was BECAUSE of his exhibition schedule...
...rather than in spite of it.

Malcolm Gladwell writes on how the Beatles got their sound together...
..as a young band, they played zillions of cheap gigs at German nightclubs.

I keep whining at Justin for 1,000 point 14.1 matches on TAR...
...I'd much rather watch that instead of 9/10 ball where they're too
busy dumbing down the rules so nobody can run a 2-pack.

pt..<..has played on the 526 table

good post ,doin exibitions would inspire me,not hinder me.
 
John, no disrespect to you as I know your a great player at all games matter of fact one of the best all around players today. You don't believe Efren could beat the record why is that? Efren excels at full rack games. In my opinion the greatest all around player to ever play. If you could possibly beat it why couldn't Efren? Possibly because his age? That would be my guess.
 
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