How good was Keith McCready?

toolted said:
When I watched Keith play at Hard Times Costa Mesa in 1976 or so, he was beating everyone at every game. Bar box, 9 ball, short rack snooker and even starting to get good at one pocket. The thing was that at that time he played with a scary intensity and precision and he shot quickly and with immense self confidence, selecting outrageous shots that no one else would attempt, and for big money. Of course he had his entourage and backers which made it even more intimidating for those trying to match up with him. When I saw vids of him playing later he had a very relaxed style and holding the cue at the very end. In Costa Mesa he held the cue way up almost past the grip winding and with that wild intensity that I guess he outgrew later.

At his best, Little Keith played like God Himself, utterly perfect. I have never seen anyone else get to the level of Keith in the late 70's. The closest you will see to his mastery of the cue is to watch videos of Ronnie O'sullivan. Both are right brain geniuses whose talent can never be equaled by practice alone. Mozart in music, Clark or Senna driving an F1 car, Jordan in the last minute of the NBA finals, Tiger a few years ago. Genius easier admired than explained. Keith was in this rare class.
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Nice post, but very interesting 1.5 year/1st post bump!
 
toolted said:
When I watched Keith play at Hard Times Costa Mesa in 1976 or so, he was beating everyone at every game. Bar box, 9 ball, short rack snooker and even starting to get good at one pocket. The thing was that at that time he played with a scary intensity and precision and he shot quickly and with immense self confidence, selecting outrageous shots that no one else would attempt, and for big money. Of course he had his entourage and backers which made it even more intimidating for those trying to match up with him. When I saw vids of him playing later he had a very relaxed style and holding the cue at the very end. In Costa Mesa he held the cue way up almost past the grip winding and with that wild intensity that I guess he outgrew later.

At his best, Little Keith played like God Himself, utterly perfect. I have never seen anyone else get to the level of Keith in the late 70's. The closest you will see to his mastery of the cue is to watch videos of Ronnie O'sullivan. Both are right brain geniuses whose talent can never be equaled by practice alone. Mozart in music, Clark or Senna driving an F1 car, Jordan in the last minute of the NBA finals, Tiger a few years ago. Genius easier admired than explained. Keith was in this rare class.
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I think somewhere someone said Keith was a good baseball player.

Tons of top pool players are great golfers too. I think that golf is the sport that I hear the most about around pool players.

LOL, Brumback, Dalton and others .... fish. :rolleyes:


Ken
 
JAM said:
You have just made my day. I can't wait for Keith to wake up and read your post.

He's been moping around the house lately while the U.S. Open is in progress. Friends are calling him from New Orleans in action for 10 dimes, and he sits here benched, like a caged animal. Needles to say, he hasn't been in a good mood lately. Your post will surely lift his spirits.

And, Keith, when you do read this, I promise we're going to hit the DCC, Turning Stone, or SBE in 2014. A thoroughbred needs to get out of the barn and run, and you will run, but with me sitting on the rail to ensure you run in pure fields. :p
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Tell Keith to snap out of it! :-) If you two decide to go to Derby this time, I will definitely go. I'd love to see Keith again and get to actually meet you JAM.
 
Every time some one bumps this thread with their stories about keith it makes me feel depressed and jealous cuz I have never seen Keith play in person and i would have loved to watch him play.
 
I have watched Keith play at DCC and while his skills were not what they were when younger (I never seen him play in his hey day but doesn't everyone's skills diminish over time), his ability to entertain and chat up the rail was second to none!

The Earthquake show deserved top billing in my opinion! Crowds would form whenever Keith started chirping. His witty, comical banter always stole the show!

I hope to see him back on the table in 2014...best of rolls to him and JAM!

Gary
 
Kieth

In my honest opinion I believe it was 2003 us open if that tourney would have ended on sat. night I believe it still ended on sun. back then but if it would have ended on sat. Kieth would have won the open that year no one on earth was beating him. Some of the most entertaining pool I've ever seen was shot by Keith that night. If I remember correctly I think he even shot a nine ball without looking. Bottom line is Kieth is a legend and I'm patiently waiting for a come back!!!
 
prad said:
Every time some one bumps this thread with their stories about keith it makes me feel depressed and jealous cuz I have never seen Keith play in person and i would have loved to watch him play.
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I watched Keith play at the first BC Open in Binghamton, NY in 1985. Both in the tournament and in the practice room in action. I remember him playing Grady One Pocket and Grady had his hands full. I didn't know Keith played One Pocket. As you may know, he won the tournament and the $25,000 first prize. Unfortunately, I haven't seen him in person since:o
 
clint3612 said:
He needed the 8 from David. (:
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David Matlock would have been sent home broke if he played Keith in the '70s -- big ball, little ball, big table, little table, ANY GAME. Your hero, David Matlock, couldn't, wouldn't, and never would have had a chance to have beat Keith with the 6 and out in the '70s. It's so funny he never traveled to California to play Keith some. David knew better, and so did his backers. You can take that to the bank.
 
Pushout said:
I watched Keith play at the first BC Open in Binghamton, NY in 1985. Both in the tournament and in the practice room in action. I remember him playing Grady One Pocket and Grady had his hands full. I didn't know Keith played One Pocket. As you may know, he won the tournament and the $25,000 first prize. Unfortunately, I haven't seen him in person since:o
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Is that Birmingham NY different than the Albany NY?

I thought he won one in Albany.

I think I heard Grady say Keith never freakin missed a ball at one of them, and I thought it was Albany.

Sorry I dont know NY all that well.

Ken
 
clint3612 said:
He needed the 8 from David. (:
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wtf is wrong with you man ? why you try to beat up a dead horse ? i saw your post history too, looks like you are obsessed with david matlock, do you have a fantasy of watching keith play david bar box 8 ball while you "pleasure" yourself ??
 
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Ken_4fun said:
Is that Birmingham NY different than the Albany NY?

I thought he won one in Albany.

Ken
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It's BINGHAMTON, and I don't know that there was ever a major tournament in Albany. Mike Zuglan and I are old friends and I'm sure I would have known if there was. Mike had his room in the Albany suburbs at that time, in Rotterdam.
And, BC had nothing to do with Broome County. Gary Pinkowski never referred to it as the Broome County Open nor did any locals. The golf tournament held at the same time as the pool tournament was originally called the Broome County Open but after Johnny Hart got involved and lent his comic strip BC logo it wasn't called that any more. The pool tournament had Hart involved from the beginning and the BC referred to his strip and characters.
 
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Ken_4fun said:
Okay, Ill bite. Is that the one in Albany....grrr.

:mad:

Ken
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Keith won two back-to-back tournaments at the Golden Cue in Albany on the Joss Tour.

Here's the Accu-Stats scoreboard for the BC Open that Keith won. :smile:
 

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Pushout said:
It's BINGHAMTON, and I don't know that there was ever a major tournament in Albany. Mike Zuglan and I are old friends and I'm sure I would have known if there was. Mike had his room in the Albany suburbs at that time, in Rotterdam.
And, BC had nothing to do with Broome County.
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opps...sorry im so stupid.:o

Ken
 
Johnny Hart, who wrote the long-running B.C. cartoon comic strip, hailed from Binghamton, NY.

In the National Billiards News, there is an article about this tournament, the B.C. Open, and it gave a little history. I don't have time to look it up now, but it refers to the B.C. Open being named after Broome County. It could be the Natinoal Billiards News was wrong. The pool media doesn't always get it right, but this is where I read it first.

Here is the famous B.C. cartoon from Johnny Hart.
 

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Pushout said:
Well, I apparently didn't know about the tournaments at the Golden Cue. This was not Zuglan's place. His room was Pro Billiards in Rotterdam, I think.
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How did you get that picture of me in your avatar? :D
 
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