Do you know of players who had such Natural Talent, that they could have been a World Champion?

measureman

measureman

AzB Silver Member
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Neptune Joe Frady from N.J. had all the talent needed to become a world champion but sadly his nerves got in the way.
 
ribdoner

ribdoner

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
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measureman said:
Neptune Joe Frady from N.J. had all the talent needed to become a world champion but sadly his nerves got in the way.
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my road partner between 62 until i went in the army in 65...other than the 9 +- mos i spent in cali

his name was Bill Blake and he had a very high ceiling

got strung out on H within a year or so after i was gone and committed suicide about a year later at the age of 22/23

his game and his girl left him a few months prior to his death
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
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Robhud71 said:
The greatest mistake I ever made was thinking because of the talent that God gave me that the pool room “owed” me a living. It did not.

For the better part of my career I never used or played high. But in the end being around so many in that life I gave way to temptation, and the lure of easy money. I really never thought about it back then, but you play sets for thousands of dollars the only people willing to put up that kind of money were bookies and drug dealers.

Once I made the decision to go down that path they made it easy to facilitate my demise. It was my choice and selfishness that brought me there though.

But I digress. I quit playing in about 2000, and the only time I would go into the pool room was when I was drinking, and wanted to try and grab some former glory. But the way pool works is if you aren’t riding that train full time there is no way possible you can play your best game.

That night, when I played Anthony, I just couldn’t pull it together. After that I called him and settled that debt. But there were a lot of things I regret along the way, that I never made up for. I had a lot of people that were really pulling for my success that I let down because of my selfishness.

Archers opened up recently here and I have played a few times. But for me the pool room is a dangerous place. I am not sure I will ever feel “safe” there ever again. Not that the pool room is a bad thing in and of itself.

I just don’t know if there is anything left for me there.
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You made the right choice.
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
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I've seen so many come and go, all of whom could have been champions if they had the correct discipline and dedication. There was once a kid out of Michigan named Mark Beilfuss who was beating everybody at age 17. He was out of the game by age 20! Then we have the case of Mr. Jon Kucharo, who reached top ten in the world at age 20. He practiced long hours every day and had the hardest break I ever saw. He didn't smoke or drink.........until at the age of 21 he got introduced to alcohol and hard liquor. He took a liking to it and within a couple of years he was just another pool has been. Years later he did show up at the BCA Nationals to gamble on the bar tables, but by then was just another shortstop.

Coltraine was a great player but he was forced to retire young due to physical infirmities. Petey Margo quit on top to go into business with Pete Balner. Good decision as he became a multi millionaire. I heard about Jimmy Matz but never saw him play. He never came to the tournaments back East. Toby Sweet was another great player who never showed his face at tournaments (until he was much older) and could play as good as anyone alive. Frisco Jack the same. The all time best pool hustler I ever knew. Most pool players did not know what he looked like, but they all knew his name!
 
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sammylane12

sammylane12

AzB Silver Member
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sjm said:
Wow, do you have any idea how hard it is to win a World 9-ball Championship? Future BCA Hall of Famer SVB has never one won. In the straight pool era, BCA Hall of Famer Jim Rempe never won a World Straight Pool Championship. Even some of the all time greats failed to get over the finish line in world championship events. Yup, it's that difficult!

Yes, we've seen the occasional cinderella stories, like Darryl Peach in the 9-ball era and Larry Lisciotti in the straight pool era, but winning a world championship typically requires knocking off a few current and future hall of famers in the single elimination rounds. Darryl Peach beat a who's who in nine ball (including Bustamante in the semis) when he won, and Larry Lisciotti somehow double dipped Steve Mizerak in 1976 to win from the losers bracket.

I will admit I'm not familiar with Jimmy Matz, but I don't think most of the players mentioned to this point showed enough form to be deemed capable of a world championship. That said, I'm sure some posters watched these players more than I did. Keith Macready, however, clearly had enough game to be deemed capable. I've often been told that the late Chan Whitt, another player I never got to watch, also had enough game to eventually be counted among the game's true greats.
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"Wow, do you have any idea how hard it is to win a World 9-ball Championship? Future BCA Hall of Famer SVB has never one won"?
He won the last one, right?
 
sjm

sjm

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sammylane12 said:
"Wow, do you have any idea how hard it is to win a World 9-ball Championship? Future BCA Hall of Famer SVB has never one won"?
He won the last one, right?
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LOL, my post was made in February of 2021, about fourteen months before SVB broke through.

Yes, he won in Apri 2022, and it was definitely one of the highlights of 2022 in pro pool.
 
sammylane12

sammylane12

AzB Silver Member
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sjm said:
LOL, my post was made in February of 2021, about fourteen months before SVB broke through.

Yes, he won in Apri 2022, and it was definitely one of the highlights of 2022 in pro pool.
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Sorry man, I didn`t realize the date of your OP. I completely agree with you on it being a highlight of the 2022 pool year, for me it was THE highlight.
 
J

JerseyJ

New member
I have a McDermott D19 I purchased new in 1979 has Mop diamonds in each of the 6 points original case original 13mm shaft & 2 new 12mm shafts. What is ot worth
 
mr3cushion

mr3cushion

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Silver Member
The 'Sweetest/Natural' stroke I've ever seen as a 'Pool Player' was Johnny Cannello.

In 3 Cushion, Raymond Ceulemans, Frederic Caudron and Junichi Komori.
 
M

maha

from way back when
Silver Member
virtually every top player has fit that bill. and most of them had a short career. those that didnt do the bad crap lasted longer.

most anyone with great hand eye coordination could be a world champ if he put in the time and effort and had the disposition.
 
sammylane12

sammylane12

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
How about Mark Belfuss? (s?) He was fantastic at a young age, a 100 ball runner. I think he beat Jos Balsis 125-0 in one game.
 
Jaden

Jaden

"no buds chill"
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9ballscorpion said:
Do you know of players who had such a great Talent, or and or pure Natural Talent, that they could have been a World Champion, but they either quit, or was not serious enough about the game, or maybe something ruined it for them, like drug addiction for example?

I think of Landon Shuffett for example, who did not quit, but decided to commit most of his time to Education, and think that he may have been strong enough to maybe someday have been a World Champion, if he were to have taken a path with complete devotion to pool. He was, and probably still is an amazing player, but I assume he has a career now, and maybe does not have much time to play pool as much as he did when he was winning all of those Junior championships.

I wonder about other players who were really great, but pool was just not their #1 passion in life, or maybe they got bored with it before reaching their full potential, and went on to doing something else, or maybe something went wrong in their life, like drug addiction or alcoholism to name a few examples, and it really hurt their game and life.

Keith McCready comes to mind too, but he probably was considered the best in the world at one time, but I wonder if he reached his full potential as a pool player. I read a quote from his somewhere that said that he stated that he never practiced or did drills, saying something like it was a waste of time. Not sure if that is true. Just something I read somewhere, or that someone told me. He is a Legend in my opinion though. Just wonder if he could have been even greater, and accomplished more in pool.

Love reading cool stories about players that were so good that they had the cue ball on a string, and could do anything they put their mind to on a pool table, but were never World Champions, or even that serious about the game to begin with. Just something they were naturally great at, but maybe it was not their #1 passion.
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There's no such thing as it is commonly thought of. There are people that have a good inclination, but there is no such thing as someone who just picked up a cue and could be a world beater. Everyone who is capable of that, to a man, has put in the hours.

Now, there are some who have not put in as much effort as others and have played at a high level, but they would have played better with the proper dedication and still, to a man, they have put in the table time.

I have never met a player who could and have beat top level players who haven't also put in thousands of hours of play time.

Jaden
 
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