Mike Sigel

vgodley1

vgodley1

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hello all,

Although I don't post that often, I read these forums every chance I get. One thing I have noticed is that I have read a lot of negative comments regarding Mike Sigel and his abilities, specifically as it relates to the IPT and his being able to really compete with the "big dogs".

I just checked the Seybert's score board for the 14.1 going on and it seems that the Man is playing extremely well and in most cases dominating his flight. (hasn't lost yet). How do you nay-sayers reconcile this?

I am on the wrong side of 40 and always loved all things pool related. Mike Sigel in my mind was one of the best there ever was and it looks like he is showing his speed and still has plenty of game left.
 
Everybody loves a winner, vgodley1! :p

Show me somebody who likes to be a loser, and I'll show you a loser. :D

When players are on top of the world, shooting at warp speed, then the pool chatter is favorable and positive. :)

If a player happens to stumble or have a bad tournament day, then sometimes the public can be fickle. :(

I remember reading an article about Tiger Woods who had a bad day on the golf course. The media speculated on whether his winning ways were done, and as time went by, he snatched himself a few more titles, negating the naysayers who lost faith. :cool:

Boxing Champion George Foreman didn't want to let go of his passion for the sport and got himself a boxing match after the age of 40. He fought like a pitbull, never giving up. His career came to an end, by his own choice, realizing he wasn't capable of performing the way he used to. Is he considered one of the best that ever was? You betcha he is! :)

In pool, age can have an effect on one's capabilities on a field of green, but wisdom can be a powerful weapon. Mike Sigel is considered one of the best that ever was, is, and will be, in my eyes. Nobody can ever take that away from him, and it's great to see him competing professionally again.

JAM
 
Ask Efren who his favorite player is........his answer will always be SIGEL.

The Sigel of yesteryear was a DOMINANT force. For a long time it was just expected that he was going to win everything he entered......and he did. I think at one point he won 15 major events consecutively. STRONG!

I for one think that kind of natural talent doesn't go away. He did quit playing for a long time....but once he gets back in true form, I think he can get back on top. That is my hope anyhow.
 
Better be carefull with that looser statement, there are a LOT of Cubs fans around! ;)
 
hi!
playing pool is like riding a bike, you never forget how it is!
and great players are always great, even they don't win everything!
 
vgodley1 said:
Hello all,

Although I don't post that often, I read these forums every chance I get. One thing I have noticed is that I have read a lot of negative comments regarding Mike Sigel and his abilities, specifically as it relates to the IPT and his being able to really compete with the "big dogs".

I just checked the Seybert's score board for the 14.1 going on and it seems that the Man is playing extremely well and in most cases dominating his flight. (hasn't lost yet). How do you nay-sayers reconcile this?

I am on the wrong side of 40 and always loved all things pool related. Mike Sigel in my mind was one of the best there ever was and it looks like he is showing his speed and still has plenty of game left.
Click to expand...

There is no question that Mike Sigel is one of the greatest pool players in the history of the game. I'm not surprised that Mike is still able to dominate because 20 years ago I had 75 year old Cowboy Jimmy Moore slap a 125 and out on me. Age is just a number, and it never phased The Cowboy.

As far as Mike's domination in the first round, why should anybody be surprised? Mike was and still is one of the greatest 14.1 players ever. I think it is wise to add that Max Eberle is playing well also. That has been no surprise to anybody. I wouldn't be surprised to see Max win it all. It will be interesting to see how MikeSigel/Max Eberle/John Schmidt will do against some of the German contingent - especially Thomas Engert and Thorsten Hohmann.
 
Blackjack said:
There is no question that Mike Sigel is one of the greatest pool players in the history of the game. I'm not surprised that Mike is still able to dominate because 20 years ago I had 75 year old Cowboy Jimmy Moore slap a 125 and out on me. Age is just a number, and it never phased The Cowboy.

As far as Mike's domination in the first round, why should anybody be surprised? Mike was and still is one of the greatest 14.1 players ever. I think it is wise to add that Max Eberle is playing well also. That has been no surprise to anybody. I wouldn't be surprised to see Max win it all. It will be interesting to see how MikeSigel/Max Eberle/John Schmidt will do against some of the German contingent - especially Thomas Engert and Thorsten Hohmann.
Click to expand...

I'm really glad to see Max make such a great showing in this event. His record is a strong 7 wins, 0 losses as well. I wouldn't be surprised if he won it either. I would love to see an Eberle/Sigel showdown at the end!
 
I also agree that Mike could still compete well in todays pool/billiard world. However, I doubt that the motivation needed to compete will come back to Mike. Everybody knows that when he was at his prime, it was always almost a given that Mike would win, and at the time, you had to get by Mike in order to have any hopes at the title. Then came the game of 9 ball, where at any given major tournament, any one of the top 30 players in the tournament could come home the winner. I had the honor of spending a few days with Mike when he was here for the first Tokyo Nine-Ball as his driver/translator, and got to listen to hours of his ranting and raving, and some of it made sense. In Mikes opinion, 9 ball is the ultimate equalizer game in which the lesser player always has a chance to beat the better player. In his mind, what he called "general direction" players always had a chance to win at 9 ball simply becuase in most cases, general direction CB position is all that's needed. During those couple of days that I spent with him, part of me was like "yeah, the guy is just making excuses for the fact that he just doesn't have it anymore", but when I think back now, the guy really made lots of sense. At the time, Mike was making cues, and selling pretty well here in Japan, and that along with other business activities, he was making a good living. A better living than he ever made as a player.
Mike no longer needs to win, so I doubt we'll see much of him in future 9 ball events, but I would really love to see how he does in the current 14:1 event, and if he could put together a little bit of desire and take some of the rust out, I think he can also do well with the IPT.
Unfortunately, as a player, I missed Mikes prime, so I really look forward to the possibility of being able to see Mike back in the middle of it all again.
dave
 
vgodley1 said:
I just checked the Seybert's score board for the 14.1 going on and it seems that the Man is playing extremely well and in most cases dominating his flight. (hasn't lost yet). How do you nay-sayers reconcile this?
.
Click to expand...
I think there have been more Sigel enthusiasts than there are Sigel naysayers.

Fred
 
Matt_24 said:
Ask Efren who his favorite player is........his answer will always be SIGEL.

The Sigel of yesteryear was a DOMINANT force. For a long time it was just expected that he was going to win everything he entered......and he did. I think at one point he won 15 major events consecutively. STRONG!

I for one think that kind of natural talent doesn't go away. He did quit playing for a long time....but once he gets back in true form, I think he can get back on top. That is my hope anyhow.
Click to expand...

Matt, he didn't win 15 tournaments in a row, but he did win eleven times in a row when he reached the finals. He knew how to win fo sure.
 
Blackjack said:
- especially Thomas Engert and Thorsten Hohmann.
Click to expand...


Thomas "Scott Smith/Monica Webb hairdo" Engert is shooting great but Thorston Hohmann is on another planet. I watched him run 100 and out on Megan Minerich. He broke, she played a safe leaving an off combo up table, Hohmann drilled the combo and ran out the set. The most impressive thing is that he only got out of line once (that I could tell). He is moving the rcok very well. If he shoots that way for the rest of the weekend, he should win. No doubt.


Eric
 
jay helfert said:
Matt, he didn't win 15 tournaments in a row, but he did win eleven times in a row when he reached the finals. He knew how to win fo sure.
Click to expand...

Jay,

The first video tape of a pool tournament that I ever bought was the finals of a Sands Regent matchup of David Howard and Sigel.

You did the commentary, and superbly, I might add.

Anyway, Howard jumped out to a lead, made a mistake somewhere in the set, and Sigel just capitialized and steamrolled him. Like you say, he knows how to close.
 
jay helfert said:
Matt, he didn't win 15 tournaments in a row, but he did win eleven times in a row when he reached the finals. He knew how to win fo sure.
Click to expand...

My bad...I thought it was 15 because I have an old Accu-Stats 9 ball match where he is playing Buddy in a finals. Ronnie Allen is commentating and said Mike had just won 14 tournaments in a row, and said he wanted to go fishing instead of playing in this one, but decided to...and he ended up winning that one in a close finally. Maybe my memory is faulty. He seemed to have a knack for making the 9 on the crack in just about every set at least once. Kind of interesting, considering his break wasn't necessarily the strongest I've ever seen.
 
vgodley1 said:
Better be carefull with that looser statement, there are a LOT of Cubs fans around! ;)
Click to expand...

Hey, I resemble that remark.

Hey, Hey, let's play two.

The real Cubbies are back. I don't know who those guys they had on the team the past couple of years thought they were.

It's back to fun at the old ball park.

Jake
 
JAM said:
Everybody loves a winner, vgodley1! :p

Show me somebody who likes to be a loser, and I'll show you a loser. :D

When players are on top of the world, shooting at warp speed, then the pool chatter is favorable and positive. :)

If a player happens to stumble or have a bad tournament day, then sometimes the public can be fickle. :(

I remember reading an article about Tiger Woods who had a bad day on the golf course. The media speculated on whether his winning ways were done, and as time went by, he snatched himself a few more titles, negating the naysayers who lost faith. :cool:

Boxing Champion George Foreman didn't want to let go of his passion for the sport and got himself a boxing match after the age of 40. He fought like a pitbull, never giving up. His career came to an end, by his own choice, realizing he wasn't capable of performing the way he used to. Is he considered one of the best that ever was? You betcha he is! :)

In pool, age can have an effect on one's capabilities on a field of green, but wisdom can be a powerful weapon. Mike Sigel is considered one of the best that ever was, is, and will be, in my eyes. Nobody can ever take that away from him, and it's great to see him competing professionally again.

JAM
Click to expand...


Off the subject of Sigel for a moment, George Foreman is my (athletic hero) I was once a very over weight person, from early childhood until 23 year old I weighed at my biggest 380. In 1994 I saw "Big"George in what was billed as his Last fight, or last chance at a title. George was coming of a lose to Tommy Morrison, about a year earlier, and this was his first fight back, A Title shot. He was Fighting a young south paw, Michael Moorer, who "in my opinion" just won the title from Evander in a match were the Judges were paid off. Any way George was on paper a 2-1 or 3-1 under dog, not too bad for a 45 year old over weight man vs. 26 or 27 year old prime of his life fighter, but realisticly the boxing public and others made George winning 25-1. To shorten it up a bit, George had won 1 round of the first 9, in round 10 George hit Moorer w/ 2 big left/right combo's and a big right hook, and then the words that still bring tears to my eyes today,

Jim Lampley:

Down go's Moorer on a right hand, a close hit right hand shot.

Ref counts 6,7,8,9 and then waives his hands over Moorer.

Lampley: IT HAPPENED, IT HAPPENED,

"I'm seriously tiering up right now"

George looks up as to say, "Thank you god, thank you very much.

Then kneels in his corner and bows his head.

Sorry for the long rant, But I love George He proved to me it doesn't matter if everyone else counts you out, just never, ever count your self out.

Thanks Jam for the chance to share my love for George.

Bryan Fisher
Fisher Cues

P.S. My Mother is my Hero in Life.
 
Smorgass Bored said:
ESPN 'Classic' showed the 1993 U.S.Open today with Sigel vs Tony Ellin.
Tony won 11-6 and will next face Earl Strickland in the Finals (I guess that will be on Monday at noon)
Doug
Click to expand...


Its on tommorow too.
 
Two years ago I spent a week with Mike and he told me himself in 15 tournaments televised by ESPN he finished - 2nd - three times, not saying he's the greatest ever but line all the pro's up show me one that has accomplished that. Probably 80% of the professional players today haven't made 15 appearances in the finals on ESPN or any other sports network.

Just like Jack Nicklaus in his day was the greatest to ever play the game of golf set records that may never be broken ( Tiger Woods ) is the only player today that probably has a chance of beating them, but everybody gets old in age and can't do the things they once did in the sport they played.

But its not these guys fault that they get older in age and can't perform like they once did, but you can't take away what they have accomplished in their sport they loved to play.

And even at their age today they still play the game better than half the world.
 
Craig said:
Two years ago I spent a week with Mike and he told me himself in 15 tournaments televised by ESPN he finished - 2nd - three times, not saying he's the greatest ever but line all the pro's up show me one that has accomplished that. Probably 80% of the professional players today haven't made 15 appearances in the finals on ESPN or any other sports network.
Click to expand...

I will Name two........

1) Allison Fisher

2) Karen Corr
 
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