BCA Hall of Fame discussion

Who do you think?

  • David Howard

    Votes: 6 16.2%

  • Jimmy Mataya

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Jimmy Reid

    Votes: 3 8.1%

  • Keith MCcready

    Votes: 8 21.6%

  • Jack Breit

    Votes: 4 10.8%

  • Mieko Harada

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • John Fitzpatrick

    Votes: 1 2.7%

  • CJ Wiley

    Votes: 2 5.4%

  • Grady Mathews

    Votes: 12 32.4%

  • Wade Crane

    Votes: 1 2.7%
  • Total voters
    37
R

Raph Cleary

Active member
I've been extensively looking through the National Billiard News archives, these players have caught my eye for being some notable great players. Are these players worthy of the recognition or not? Any other past players I have not listed?
 
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From being in match play, and being around all these men since the 60's, If I had to pick one of these....I'd pick O.
Reid, Mataya, Howard...

The OP added Ether.
The beginning of this thread only the above 3 were mentioned.
 
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While I have seen them all play & all area great players with exceptional ability. I think they are all “close” to HOF players, but none of them are HOF players. At most they are part of the conversation, but it ends there.

Ed Kelly, Mike, Earl, Daz, Rodney all at different ages 80’s down to 40’s are HOF players.

The guys in this pole did lots for pool, but didn’t win the big ones or add enough to pool to be HOF, not a knock-they are great. But not HOF great.

Fatboy<——certainly not HOF,
 
Fatboy said:
While I have seen them all play & all area great players with exceptional ability. I think they are all “close” to HOF players, but none of them are HOF players. At most they are part of the conversation, but it ends there.

Ed Kelly, Mike, Earl, Daz, Rodney all at different ages 80’s down to 40’s are HOF players.

The guys in this pole did lots for pool, but didn’t win the big ones or add enough to pool to be HOF, not a knock-they are great. But not HOF great.

Fatboy<——certainly not HOF,
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Agree 100%. Well said.
 
From the USBMA which votes on HOF members, talking about Kim Davenport's selection:

He was recommended this year by the Veterans Committee, which reviews the records of players who had not gained election on the general ballot prior to turning 60.​

If you have a favorite, it might help to write up a complete bio and send it to the USBMA.
 
I’m typically not a person that looks at historic household names and says it’s a shame they weren’t picked.

I’m not a historian but I like David Howard. Two US Open wins plus two 2nd place finishes is something. I’m in that modern mindset of US Open being a major today alongside being the surrogate world championship over the last couple decades. So I weight that heavily for DH. At the same time I really struggle knowing how to weight Sand Regency, Stardust, PBT Tour wins, etc. He’s more worthy to me than Mataya, Reid, or honestly Davenport.

But again, I think there are modern eligible players that dwarf their accomplishments. SVB is a no-brainer first ballot. And I’m more interested in keeping up with the flow. As much of a shame as it sounds, some very beloved players might get missed and to that I just think “if your accomplishments spoke louder, that wouldn’t have happened”.

Then again I think the USBMA is poised to make these types of determinations to ensure we don’t miss those that truly have passed a high bar of accomplishment.
 
Bob Jewett said:
From the USBMA which votes on HOF members, talking about Kim Davenport's selection:

He was recommended this year by the Veterans Committee, which reviews the records of players who had not gained election on the general ballot prior to turning 60.​

If you have a favorite, it might help to write up a complete bio and send it to the USBMA.
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That's a good idea, thank you. Maybe an uncalled for forum, but I just looked at Davenport being inducted into the Hall of Fame after reconsideration from the BCA member and wondered if their were any other players that haven't been inducted.
 
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MattPoland said:
I’m typically not a person that looks at historic household names and says it’s a shame they weren’t picked.

I’m not a historian but I like David Howard. Two US Open wins plus two 2nd place finishes is something. I’m in that modern mindset of US Open being a major today alongside being the surrogate world championship over the last couple decades. So I weight that heavily for DH. At the same time I really struggle knowing how to weight Sand Regency, Stardust, PBT Tour wins, etc. He’s more worthy to me than Mataya, Reid, or honestly Davenport.

But again, I think there are modern eligible players that dwarf their accomplishments. SVB is a no-brainer first ballot. And I’m more interested in keeping up with the flow. As much of a shame as it sounds, some very beloved players might get missed and to that I just think “if your accomplishments spoke louder, that wouldn’t have happened”.

Then again I think the USBMA is poised to make these types of determinations to ensure we don’t miss those that truly have passed a high bar of accomplishment.
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Well said, I totally agree.
 
The poll is peculiar in that "none of the above" is not even a choice.

My days as a regular on the pool scene go back to 1976. I don't feel any of these would look out of place in the BCA HOF, but that said, I don't think any of them belong -- the title count just isn't there.

I'll add that the first few US Open 9-ball event had tiny fields, as small as 16. and all occurred before the competitive landscape became truly global. Yes, it grew into a big field event with an elite international field by about 2000, and is now the sole domain of the superelite, with the last five won by Sanchez-Ruiz, Biado, Filler, Shaw and SVB.

These points aside, if any of these fine players are elected, I'll be happy to congratulate them at the induction ceremony if I'm lucky enough to attend.

No doubt, there's a fine line between being great and being hall-of-fame-worthy.
 
sjm said:
The poll is peculiar in that "none of the above" is not even a choice.

My days as a regular on the pool scene go back to 1976. I don't feel any of these would look out of place in the BCA HOF, but that said, I don't think any of them belong -- the title count just isn't there.

I'll add that the first few US Open 9-ball event had tiny fields, as small as 16. and all occurred before the competitive landscape became truly global. Yes, it grew into a big field event with an elite international field by about 2000, and is now the sole domain of the superelite, with the last five won by Sanchez-Ruiz, Biado, Filler, Shaw and SVB.

These points aside, if any of these fine players are elected, I'll be happy to congratulate them at the induction ceremony if I'm lucky enough to attend.

No doubt, there's a fine line between being great and being hall-of-fame-worthy.
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I'm a legend in some circles,does that count?
 
sjm said:
It does to me!

Once upon a time, I was the best pool player living on West 54 St in Manhattan. Even that didn't last, for Tony Robles moved in with his soon to be wife Gail, who also lived on West 54th Street.

I'm jealous of you, because I'm not sure I was ever a legend in any circle.
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Do circle jerks count?
 
Write up a good case. Send it in. Kim Davenport was a good study. Most committee members didn’t really consider him until presented with the information from the written information that came from the nomination. Rik Graham did that campaigning legwork, and sent me the bio. The Veterans Committee did their thing.
 
raphcleary said:
I've been extensively looking through the National Billiard News archives, and these players have consistently caught my eye for winning big tournaments that could be considered "Majors" over and over, with great top finishes. Should these players be considered for the Hall of Fame, and are there any other players that I missed that are worthy of the recognition?
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All of them have been considered, if that’s your question.
 
sjm said:
The poll is peculiar in that "none of the above" is not even a choice.

My days as a regular on the pool scene go back to 1976. I don't feel any of these would look out of place in the BCA HOF, but that said, I don't think any of them belong -- the title count just isn't there.

I'll add that the first few US Open 9-ball event had tiny fields, as small as 16. and all occurred before the competitive landscape became truly global. Yes, it grew into a big field event with an elite international field by about 2000, and is now the sole domain of the superelite, with the last five won by Sanchez-Ruiz, Biado, Filler, Shaw and SVB.

These points aside, if any of these fine players are elected, I'll be happy to congratulate them at the induction ceremony if I'm lucky enough to attend.

No doubt, there's a fine line between being great and being hall-of-fame-worthy.
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sjm, how do you think brief periods of complete dominance factor into Hall of Fame consideration?

Let's say Sanchez-Ruiz regresses back to his pre-2021 self and never wins another major and instead just wins a few European events here and there for the rest of his career.

Does his 2022/2023 resume (DCC 9 Ball, WCOP, U.S. Open, World 8 Ball, and World 9 Ball) make him a HoFer regardless of what happens during the rest of his career?

Or is it better for a player to have more sustained "staying power" at the top of the game, even if they ultimately have fewer major titles than someone who caught lightning in a bottle for a few years and then faded?
 
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