John Schmidt, talented

[sjm]

...Steve was a very smart man also. I loved it when he would look at me and say in an ominous tone, "Listen Jay, here's the way it is." And he would talk real slow and dramatically, amplifying the point he was making. And you know what. He would usually be right on with his assessment of whatever he was talking about. Steve had insight.

Nice post, Jay. The greatness of the Miz is, for reasons I can't explain, sometimes overlooked. He won countless US Opens and World titles in 14.1 when the fields were supertough. Also sometimes overlooked is that Steve was, very much, a man of principle. Though relatively new on the pro scene, Steve was among the most vocal of those protesting the exclusion of the great Cisero Murphy from World Championship events in the mid to late 1960's. Cisero once mentioned to me how much he appreciated Steve's efforts, which helped to undo a gross injustce in our sport.

Still, this thread is about John Schmidt, a superstar whose all-around excellence is continuing to wow us, and whose future is something we all look forward to enjoying.

 

[cueman]

thats the shot alright,maybe im easily impressed but i think thats a cool looking shot.
even after all these years i get a kick out of spin.

John,
I have not seen you shoot the shot, but I saw Earl Strickland shooting one years ago that sounds similar. He would pocket the spot shot then make the cue ball spin off the side rail and come back and hit the end rail before touching any other side rail. He was a Meucci player rep then and was telling the whole tournament arena that you can only shoot that shot with a Meucci and challenged anyone to get up and do it with any other cue. He had no takers during the exhibition. But Scotty Townend went and rented a table and refused to gamble or do anything, except try to shoot that shot with his Schon. After several hours Scotty was finally making it work with his Schon. I was impressed when I saw either of them do it, but what impressed me most was that Scotty was willing to shun all action in order to prove to himself that he had the stroke to make that shot even though it took him hundreds and hundreds of tries to succeed. If you are making it that way you are only the third player I know to have done it.

 

[Wally in Cincy]

The first time I saw John Schmidt was at the DCC a few years back and he was warming up for a 9-ball match against Max Eberle (they happened to be the two best-dressed players in the room ) and my memory is a little fuzzy but I think John ran about 4 racks of rotation while warming up.

 

[DogsPlayingPool]

I'm an old fart and grew up with straight pool and Mosconi as my hero. I suppose in one way I'd hate to see his record run broken. But on the other hand to me the true legend of Mosconi is not his 526 but rather his 15.

Records are made to be broken and if anyone outruns Mosconi I would sure like it to be John. Besides his obvious talent I appreciate his attitude, loyalty to his sponsors and friends and his his overall demeanor that well represents our sport. On top of all that I appreciate the fact that he probably devotes more than any of the other top players to the game of straight pool. That means something to me.

 

[Bobby]

One reason: the best accounts of the feat have Mosconi quitting unfinished with an easy shot remaining to continue--he was tired (some say he missed the last shot, but those accounts have been impeached). Nobody has ever dominated straight pool like Mosconi did over 2+ decades.

The best 14.1 player I ever saw play personally was Joe Balsis--he had a beautiful stroke.

Mosconi himself has said that his high run in practice was 608 and that was on a 9 footer.

 

[Klink]

That is some pretty good golf. Maybe next time Im in Crestview I can get you on my lowball team:smile: I never picked up a golf club untill about 4 years ago. After about three months the first time I ever played and kept score by the rules, was at the Moors, and I shot a 92 from the white tees.

Thanks for the reply, and good luck in your next match up.

 

[john schmidt]

That is some pretty good golf. Maybe next time Im in Crestview I can get you on my lowball team:smile: I never picked up a golf club untill about 4 years ago. After about three months the first time I ever played and kept score by the rules, was at the Moors, and I shot a 92 from the white tees.

Thanks for the reply, and good luck in your next match up.

my girlfriend used to work at the moors.
they used to have the blue angels classic there.
funny thing is alot people thought that course was really hard.it was much more open off the tee than my homecourse tanglewood.

anyway at that time tommy welch and the head pro joe myers of tanglewood went there with me to play.they both shot 80 something from one tee up about 6400 yards. tommy was a 4 handicap and joe about a 6

its 6910 yards par 70 and i shot my best round there that day with them playing the tips and playing it down . i shot 65.

anyway that was when i played almost everyday and golf seemed easy.