Justin Bergman is on a mission

[sjm]

Before you sell Justin Bergman short because of his being absent from the tournament scene, you might want to give a very brief moment’s attention to the Wikipedia entry on Joe Balsis.

Yeah, Joe was a friend of mine. He was considered among the best junior players of all time in what I believe was the late 1930s. Irving Crane mentioned him to me, too, as having been a junior that many felt was the next American great.

Joe, however, chose not to go pro and went into the family business, which was the meat business (hence, the nickname "Meatman"). He didn't go pro until the early 1960s and fulfilled the expectations of yesteryear, winning enough major titles to gain BCA Hall of Fame induction.

I can't think of any other player that took more than twenty years off from competition and had a successful return. Joe was an original.

 

[Jaden]

it will all be ai generated soon and robots will beat all out asses in pool.

I'd put a wager out there that truly autonomous robots do not beat the top players in the next 20 years.

 

[maha]

they are already beating players in ping pong. similar things for robots. and won a marathon.

but i hope you are right.

 

[Jaden]

they are already beating players in ping pong. similar things for robots. and won a marathon.

but i hope you are right.

I just watched that ping pong robot. I don't consider that autonomous. When you have to have a specific table in a specific location with a fixed robot, that isn't autonomous in my opinion. I would mean a robot going to a table with balls that aren't pre-known able to autonomously move around the table, make shot selections etc...