ending the infamous 526

He has also stated elsewhere that he missed, in his autobiography "Willie's Game" I think. Given the conflicting statements I have to figure he missed.
 
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Gerry said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRKw56oAA-E&feature=related


check out this classic Mosconi video...at the end the guy asks how the 526 ends and Willie said he got tired and quit!....no miss? !


Willie is classic!

G.
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That is what he began saying in later years. In the late 50's and 60's, (contemporary to the run), if asked he would set up the shot, a cross table cut if I remember correctly, he missed to end the run. Interestingly he also developed a way of speaking in past tense, as though no one plays pool any more and would know what he is talking about.
Regardless, isn't it amazing how easily he ran balls even at his advanced age when this video was shot.
 
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robleyf7 said:
thanks for the video willie sure has a great stroke
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i know....right!

i have a video of my wife at 19 years old beating willie at a game of 9ball at a pool room grand opening here in PA. Maybe she will let me post it? :)



G.
 
I hate to disparage anything Willie says, but saying he quit because he was tired is peculiar. After all, why would he stop at such an odd number as 526?!?!

That would be 37 racks (518) plus 8 balls. Unless he started mid-rack (assuming this "game" was against an opponent & they had just missed), why would he just stop 8 balls into that rack?

I heard another story that he was stuck behind a ball with no shot & he was "relieved" that the ordeal was over.
 
Willies record will likely stand for eternity.
Not because people won't play as well , but because there would always be a disclaimer if it wasn't done on the same size table.
Since there are not many people playing straight pool tournaments on 4x8's, the record will likely never be considered broken by some , even if it was done on a Diamond with 4 inch pockets.
 
Gerry said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRKw56oAA-E&feature=related


check out this classic Mosconi video...at the end the guy asks how the 526 ends and Willie said he got tired and quit!....no miss? !


Willie is classic!

G.
Click to expand...

Check out the search function.

Willie missed once - ball 527 - the shot was described in the next days
Springfield newspaper article as "a deep cut to the corner".

For reasons known only to him, he said for years he quit due to being tired.
As mentioned before, he finally 'fessed up, tho never explained the
mis-information on his part.

All this has been discussed a gazillion times here.

FWIW - Willie was a few decades past his prime when that video
was made. If you think he had a good stroke then - you shuda seen him
in his heyday.

Dale
 
I think when Mosconi said he got tired and quit the run, he was confusing it with a different run. Charlie Ursitti, Mosconi's manager, said he witnessed him running 589 or 598 in practice and just quitting the run unfinished. Maybe over the years Mosconi confused the two runs.
 
Or maybe he felt like if his nemesis, Minnesota Fats could embellish 99% of his stories then he could embellish 1%.
 
lfigueroa said:
This is the one that mentions the Alzheimer's:

http://goo.gl/F0pdu

Lou Figueroa
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I guess a heart attack was the immediate cause of death, but I doubt that his son would be wrong about the Alzheimer's.

Here's a link to a 1962 appearance on I've Got A Secret. At about the 6:00 minute mark he sets up a break shot and runs off 15 balls. I hadn't seen this before and it shows Mosconi close to his prime - he was probably doing lots of exhibitions around that time (The Hustler was released the year before). Decide for yourself whether Willie's stroke qualifies as a slip stroke. You can see it well, and the wrist snap, in the break shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ts7YqHRrjc
 
jcs003 said:
big pockets!
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Fats!! What a salesman!! A story I heard was He once was in a poker game in the Joplin MO area, playing HUGE stakes in a back room...thousands on the table when armed robbers broke in and demanded all the money. Fats starts jabbering and holds up both hands, says, "wait a minute! wait a minute! " He then turns to his stack, counts out 5k and hands it to one of the other players and says... "here is that 5k I owe you" :)
 
Rich93 said:
I guess a heart attack was the immediate cause of death, but I doubt that his son would be wrong about the Alzheimer's.

Here's a link to a 1962 appearance on I've Got A Secret. At about the 6:00 minute mark he sets up a break shot and runs off 15 balls. I hadn't seen this before and it shows Mosconi close to his prime - he was probably doing lots of exhibitions around that time (The Hustler was released the year before). Decide for yourself whether Willie's stroke qualifies as a slip stroke. You can see it well, and the wrist snap, in the break shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ts7YqHRrjc
Click to expand...

Interesting thing about that rack shows me how simple he made the game. He ran 15 balls and only went to a rail 8 times with no rail on 7 shots.
 
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