Maybe what passes for a celebrity in the pool community by which I mean 99% of most people wouldn't know who they were if they punched them in the face.
can mosconi's high run be beat'n?
- Thread starter sr 9ball
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Maybe what passes for a celebrity in the pool community by which I mean 99% of most people wouldn't know who they were if they punched them in the face.
"No bar, no bowling alley, no pinball machines. Just pool. Nothin else."
And no juke box? Where are you located? I'll be there by midnight though Hell should bar the way.
Dave Nelson
And no juke box? Where are you located? I'll be there by midnight though Hell should bar the way.
Dave Nelson
Nice post.
One other factor to consider in all this is that Willie didn't lock himself up in a room and wail away trying to run balls for hours on end. He'd walk into a strange room, shoot two warm up racks on a foreign table and be ready to go. And then he'd either run 100 off his first shot, or, if he was in the middle of a run when he'd won the game, turn to the crowd and ask, "Would you like to see a 100 ball run?" After everyone voiced the predictable, "yes" he'd turn back to the table and complete the run. He did this every single time I saw him play and many, many others said they also saw Mosconi "call" a 100 ball run.
That Mosconi did that with such confidence and reliability is amazing, but my point actually is that it was not like he was playing under ideal circumstances. There was the unfamiliar table, whatever distractions emanated from the room and the crowd AND he did it in one inning. *That* is what is truly amazing.
Lou Figueroa
Also consider that Mosconi would be collecting and racking the balls for himself, so it was a pretty quick tempo.
Lou Figueroa
Ha. That's actually a quote from The Hustler when they walk into Ames, but it is actually a pretty good descriptor of where I play, Executive Billiards in Indianapolis. Yes and there is no jukebox either.
Willie's father was running a small pool hall in South Philadelphia, and the family lived on the floor above it. From Willie's Game, by Willie Mosconi & Stanley Cohen, p. 3:
"He was worried that I might cut the cloth or spill something on it and he would have to buy a new one. So I was forbidden to play, but that didn't stop me. In fact, I think it made playing all the more attractive. One way or another, I found my way to the table.
My father was a big baseball fan, and he often went to Shibe Park in the afternoon to watch the Phillies and the Athletics play. While he was out at the ball park I used to go downstairs, eat the candy bars and the pies from the concession stand, and play pool. At night, I would sometimes climb down the rainpipe from my room and into the pool hall through the rear window. Finally he caught me and started locking up the balls and the cue sticks when he was out or went to bed. But that didn't stop me either. I went to the pantry, picked out the roundest small potatoes I could find, got a broom handle from the kitchen and an apple crate to stand on, and improvised. My mother was too busy to keep track of such things. We were a growing family at the time. I already had a younger sister and a set of twin brothers, and another set of twins, also boys, was not far behind. So my mother had more to do than count the potatoes. I knocked them all over the table, but of course they left their mark. One time, the skins started peeling and the juice smeared the cloth so bad I couldn't clean it, and boy, did I catch hell. But I still hung around there whenever I could, and I was watching the players more and more intently."
My father was a big baseball fan, and he often went to Shibe Park in the afternoon to watch the Phillies and the Athletics play. While he was out at the ball park I used to go downstairs, eat the candy bars and the pies from the concession stand, and play pool. At night, I would sometimes climb down the rainpipe from my room and into the pool hall through the rear window. Finally he caught me and started locking up the balls and the cue sticks when he was out or went to bed. But that didn't stop me either. I went to the pantry, picked out the roundest small potatoes I could find, got a broom handle from the kitchen and an apple crate to stand on, and improvised. My mother was too busy to keep track of such things. We were a growing family at the time. I already had a younger sister and a set of twin brothers, and another set of twins, also boys, was not far behind. So my mother had more to do than count the potatoes. I knocked them all over the table, but of course they left their mark. One time, the skins started peeling and the juice smeared the cloth so bad I couldn't clean it, and boy, did I catch hell. But I still hung around there whenever I could, and I was watching the players more and more intently."
Willie's father vehemently opposed Willie playing pool. So, he used to practice with potatoes and a broomstick handle on his kitchen table when his old man wasn't around.
But when his father realized what a prodigy Willie was and that he COULD MAKE MONEY playing pool he started advertising challenge matches even though Willie still had to stand on a box to be able to shoot!
(-:
EagleMan
OOOPS...Didn't notice At Large's prior post.
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