No question there's more good players today. I'm not complaining about the cloth they are using, just saying that the game is played differently today because of it. Pool is more a game requiring a soft touch then the power game of yesteryear (but not always). It's all good! You still have to put the balls in the hole and get shape on the next ball.
Interesting, you and I are of the same generation, and have observed how ther game has changed over the years. Gone are the days of Rempe, Varner and Hall I wonder if they were able to be time warped in their primes how they would complete in this new style of today’s players. Has the cloth really made that big a difference?Good point here. The game has sure changed. During my generation, we used to always include who has the most powerful stroke when talking about the best players. I knew I would never get to the top because I couldn't do some things with the cue ball that the best players were able to do. My stroke was maybe only 50% of theirs. Consequently my shot selection was more limited if that makes sense.
I'm certain there are a lot of guys on here who play better than me now that I might have been competitve with 20 years ago. Last time I played my real speed was when I owned my last poolroom. It closed in January, 2005 and I basically quit playing after that. I came back and cashed in a couple of tournaments (U.S. Bar Table and Seniors tourney), but I was playing 75% speed at best. I had one big win over Frank The Barber who had been my nemisis when we were youngun's. I got a little fired up to play him again after all these years.
Back in those days I made 20bucks off of him, well not directly but by him losing. Just like you said, he was the young hotshot everybody liked. We were at the swanee at hollywood billiards and some rail bird thought Justin would win. He had no idea who LOUIS ULRICH was... I don't usually bet, but I did bet him $20 and won when Louis beat him and put him to the loser's side.
Not so much to guys like that. They were able to adapt to the playing conditions, no matter what they were. You had to be back then!
Seems as though the power break has largely been taken out the equation because of the templet rack allowing for the more accurate softer break and the certainty of making the wing ball almost every time. The cloth of course has a lot to do with it as well. Guys like Wade Crane and David Howard wouldn’t have fared as well today in the breaking department.
They would have adjusted I'm sure.
Exactly, just like baseball players hitting sliders and knuckleballs or 98mph fastballs they didn't throw in 1920. They would have adjusted just like they did to all the pitchers back from the day. That's what they do, that's why they went as far as they did.
How about just winning games against them. That is an outstanding achievement for most of the working players. Especially in non rotation games. I am not going to say the people I won against, but I had some days in my pool experience where I battled with some very strong players and kept them trying to stop me, and not being able to. I felt like I was the king of the world. It only happened about 4 times in 50 years of play, but they are great memories.
Yeah and he paid the price for it from some of the other “traditional players”. I can remember being at a tournament when Earl went off on him for it!
I also beat Ronnie Allen in a (short) one pocket match, David Howard (US Open winner) 11-8 in Reno, and, I'm told, Denny Searcy at nine ball (it was the 70s and a blur
I think more here could make such claims if only they would get out and play.
I also beat Allison Fisher at an Expo. She broke and ran a rack on me, then broke dry and I ran out. I won on fewer misses.
I've also been beaten like a rented mule by Dallas West, Bob Vanover, Steve Mizerak, Allen Hopkins, Oscar, Thorsten, Dennis Orcullo, Darren, Biado, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Torbjörn Blomdahl and others too onerous to mention.
Fun times, I miss Ronnie for sure, what a lesson I got that day , I was 21 …. Also got to play Jonnie Ervalino ( sorry if I misspelled his name ) , what a character he was !
You got around pretty good dude. You caught Ronnie at the tail end of his career. His best days were behind him by then, but he was still dangerous. I saw Ronnie beat some very good One Pocket players playing even, his one hand to their two. Lesser players could get anywhere from 10-8 to 10-6. And he could hit you with ten and out in those days!In1991 I gave Ronnie Allen 10-7 playing one pocket and he had to play with one hand , jacked up , on a 10ft table at CJ’s Billiards Palace in Dallas TX for $3 grand …. I got away with the cash after 12hrs of grinding!!! Thought I was gonna steal the cash but I barely got there , he never stopped talking the entire time lol
There is no doubt in my mind that there are many more players of a higher skill level world wide ( talking pool now) then there were years ago. I can remember tournaments with 24 or so entrants in the early 1990s that I won and if I played at that same skill level now in any 24 person tournament I would not ever place at all in the money.
I agree 100% that there are many more high level players today than in 1990. The advent of leagues and all the information being available that was once reserved for a handful a year , has raised the bar.
agree
