If we consider guys like Jonah Longu (sp?) then there are similarities in capabilities. He was offered positions in the NFL I understand.Buckster_uk said:
It was an analogy anyway. Not perfectly comparible.
Ronnie O'Sullivan to play pool this year
- Thread starter zed9
- Start date
It was an analogy anyway. Not perfectly comparible.
Cheers Craig!TheOne said:
Seems a lot of the angst against us here is based on people misreading what we are saying.
You like I have played pro-snooker players in 8-ball and found them easy to beat. These are the guys who haven't played but 8-ball and bury themselves.
But we also know, that if we transplant our knowledge of 8-ball into Ronnie's head, he'd be a level above. I played in a few tourney's with Quinten Hann (made top 16 in the world at snooker and won the world english 8-ball title). He was simply awesome. Ran so many hard racks it put all the pool players in a daze in some Aussie tournaments I went to.
I've played with Johl and Shawn Budd and all the best Australia has to offer, but Quinten played the game on a higher level than them. He is the highest ranked snooker player to have played pool seriously. Yet his break making is 2 levels behind O'Sullivan. He's lucky to make 3 centuries a year in pro competition.
Note: Quinten won the Winfield Challenge of Cue Sports where world champions of pool, snooker and billiards gathered, the 2 years it was run.
TheOne said:Yes he played some pool, so what, most of the snooker players in the world probably started playing two shot 8 ball that doesn't make them pool players?
He said himself he was a converted snooker player and this thread is the first time that I have heard anyone think otherwise!?
I suggest you go back and read my posts again. I;m kind of fed up of repeating it. I don't think I'm insulting pool players, I class myself as one. I'm just telling it like it is, Im sorry if you don't like it? I only listed players I almost beat to make the point that if a shitty player like me can compete with these players then a) vastly better players like Ronnie are probably going to do better than me and b) there's something wrong with the game and it needs to be made harder. You keep talking about money matches and long races and 1 pocket and 3 cushion etc but that's ot what I AM TALKING about. I'm talking about pro tournaments, comparing 9 ball to snooker. Also if you had actually read my post you would have seen that I said I missed half the shots. I'm the first one to take the piss out of mysefl when I lose, many people have commented to me how I'm a good sport and take losing well. I generally don't make excuses if I lose. But I will say that I know when Im playing well and when Im not and given the amount of time Ive been playing 9 ball and the hours Ive practised I'm reasonably happy with my last few months. But hey I don't play to keep you or anyone else happy, I don't even play for the money really, I play for myself and the love of pool.
Did I, really? You seem to have been having a few digs at me for a while, Oh well nothing I can do about that. It seems that I can't state my opinions without you misinterpreting my words and taking them so personally. If I wasn't playing so crap I would be playing for money but like I said before I even left for this trip I havent been practising and after playing so poorly I'd probably get raped! If you really understand my points I really don't see what that has to do with this discussion?
For me I've had my "look at pool" over the last 8 months or so, now its time for me to hopefully find a table and go back to school LOL fyi I bought 3 books last night, advanced Pro book, banking with the beard and play your best straight pool. So much to learn in the pool world, hopefully I will somehow get access to a table and then who knows I might even win a match next year!!
Can I ask you one question, have you ever seen pro snooker played live?
See what impressions do? This whole time I thought you were some egotistical jerk who thought pool players suck. From what your saying now, you are back to that likeable guy I was talking about. Sorry for misunderstanding, BUT, you did make it easy for me to misunderstand. And you are not a crappy player, you can hang with the pros, all I said is that you are not a top player. YET.
Not sure that this was directed at me or The One, as we both played in Oz, but pretty sure we'd both have a similar reply, and according to many pro-pool players questioned on this issue they have the same opinion as us.Celtic said:
Just the sheeple fans like yourself that tie yourself in knots by not being able to face the fact that pro-pool players are significantly underdeveloped in their level of professional ability compared to pro-snooker players seem to want to argue the point.
Where the money is, the talent will arise. You must think pool is an exception to this rule, despite all the evidence presented. It has been a priori and emprically testified to.
You mentioned snooker players in the 50's taking on the old pool stars. I doubt they were as good. It is not the game of snooker that makes snooker players better cueists, but the money and depth of the competition that has driven continual player improvements over the past 50 years. In Joe Davis' early days a century in snooker was looked at like the 4 minute mile. Nowadays 12 year old kids make one a day and pros make dozens a day in practice.
It's much like 3C billiards where the new players are doubling tournament averages set by Cuelemans in his hey day when he was 18 times world champion ...or something like that.
Put 10 mill into 3C billiards and players in 10 years will be twice as good as they are today.
Pool has little money. A few survivors get by from the sport. There is little incentive for potential players to dedicate themselves to the game full time.
Colin Colenso said:
You do realize that Quinten Hahn's nickname is the "Wizard of Oz" dont you?
It was simply a comment on the fact that he is not only a phenomenal player but also quite well known for antics akin to Earl Strickland, only more violent and has been suspended at times from the pro snooker tour.
Thanks for the 400 word reply completely missing the point though...
Oh yeah...the dark side of of Quinten is too big and too embarrasing a subject to get into.Celtic said:
btw: That last response was sponsored by Carlsberg.
Just got back from watching a fantastic night of pool and I can feel the love in here tonight! Even TwoStroke was nice! 
Colin, you obviously word it much better than me and seem to make the points better too.
As for the Open (and this will please you TwoStroke), Earl is on fire, he just played the best I have seen him tonight and missed the least amount of balls I have seen by anyone all tournament. I sometimes think players give up once they know they have to play him. Yes he knows every trick in the book but he also has some kind of aura around him that seems to give him an edge. However given he's up against 3 filipinos he might fall short but I wouldn't right him off. 6 US Opens now that would be some feat! (I'd still play him at snooker though he he ;-)
Colin, you obviously word it much better than me and seem to make the points better too.
As for the Open (and this will please you TwoStroke), Earl is on fire, he just played the best I have seen him tonight and missed the least amount of balls I have seen by anyone all tournament. I sometimes think players give up once they know they have to play him. Yes he knows every trick in the book but he also has some kind of aura around him that seems to give him an edge. However given he's up against 3 filipinos he might fall short but I wouldn't right him off. 6 US Opens now that would be some feat! (I'd still play him at snooker though he he ;-)
TheOne said:Just got back from watching a fantastic night of pool and I can feel the love in here tonight! Even TwoStroke was nice!
Colin, you obviously word it much better than me and seem to make the points better too.
As for the Open (and this will please you TwoStroke), Earl is on fire, he just played the best I have seen him tonight and missed the least amount of balls I have seen by anyone all tournament. I sometimes think players give up once they know they have to play him. Yes he knows every trick in the book but he also has some kind of aura around him that seems to give him an edge. However given he's up against 3 filipinos he might fall short but I wouldn't right him off. 6 US Opens now that would be some feat! (I'd still play him at snooker though he he ;-)
Just watched the match and it was a fantastic performace from Earl, shooting a .977.
His interview at the end of the match was pretty funny too. To quote him "I shoot extremely well, you all know that". LOL
shortshooter
Registered
Just to clarify a couple of points.
Judd Trump is the next King of snooker.
He has already taken Ronnie O's record as the youngest ever player to hit a 147 in a tournament.
He is 100% certain to be world champ, maybe in his teens.
Saying a 9ball player wouldn't beat him, well, nor would many TOP snooker players.
He is only ranked 82 because he is 2 young to play on the tour proper.
Also, Quinten Hann is a former 8ball player.
He told me, and also mentioned it in an interview once, that he grew up in OZ playing 8ball.
He said that his first love is 8ball and he only plays snooker to make money.
Perhaps, instead of saying "Snooker players" and "Pool players" the term should be "Cueists" or something similiar.
Then the debate would be, "It is easier to play 9ball than it is snooker" for all cueists, everyone, all.
Now that is not worth debating.
Jon.
Judd Trump is the next King of snooker.
He has already taken Ronnie O's record as the youngest ever player to hit a 147 in a tournament.
He is 100% certain to be world champ, maybe in his teens.
Saying a 9ball player wouldn't beat him, well, nor would many TOP snooker players.
He is only ranked 82 because he is 2 young to play on the tour proper.
Also, Quinten Hann is a former 8ball player.
He told me, and also mentioned it in an interview once, that he grew up in OZ playing 8ball.
He said that his first love is 8ball and he only plays snooker to make money.
Perhaps, instead of saying "Snooker players" and "Pool players" the term should be "Cueists" or something similiar.
Then the debate would be, "It is easier to play 9ball than it is snooker" for all cueists, everyone, all.
Now that is not worth debating.
Jon.
F
Fred Agnir
Guest
pro9dg said:
Forget about my beliefs. Have you seen the video of how loose those triple shimmed pockets are? All we have are videos, and those pockets were loose. So, even if they were triple shimmed, they were the loosest pockets I've seen on TV. Okay, except for the BCA 9-ball tournament
Fred
F
Fred Agnir
Guest
I guess that some of the argument is the tournament and qualifying structure of snooker vs. pool. We don't have a qualifying structure, so anyone with the entry fee can enter. Our tournament races aren't sufficiently long to guarantee that the best player is going to win. But that's part of the lure. Given a stroke of fortune and the stars alignment, any professional has a chance to go very far in the tournament.Colin Colenso said:
So maybe that's the snooker argument that makes the most sense. I've been arguing on a wide spectrum of the mastery of the pool game. I think most of the snooker fans are arguing from the point of view of making it to the Crucible and trudging through an admittedly grueling tournament.
We have open satellite tours. To make the argument nearly the same level, the snooker player would have to make it through a Joss Tour, Florida Tour, or Viking Tour event. And someone like Ronnie O'Sullivan would certainly make it through his first match, but without some serious work, I don't see how he could win that tournament, or score enough points throughout the yearly calendar to be at the top of the satellite field. It remains to be seen, but I fully admit that given the two structures, making it through the snooker qualifiers is a more daunting task for any snooker professional than making it through pool satellite tours for a pool player. Therefore, the switch would favor the snooker player given the structures.
Fred
lewdo26 said:
I've mentioned this before, so forgive me if you've seen it, but Don McCaughey (aka McCoy) recently told me that 8-ball is THE hardest game to play. If you don't know who Don is, ask Buddy or Mike S or Scott Frost (Don taught him 1-P)...and you still probably have some money in your pocket.
I told Don about the IPT (he hadn't heard of it yet!) Thursday night and his eyes lighted up. He played BCA last year and went 28-0 in 8-ball, against some of the best players in town. He could do some major damage in the IPT, imho.
Jeff Livingston
Ronnie O playing 8 or 9 ball
Just to point out something missed in this discussion,take alook at the women's 9 ball,dominated by snooker players.The men wouldn't have it as easy because of the depth of talent in the pro pool ranks but don,t kid yourselves the snooker pros will make a dent in the IPT money list.The top men haven't bothered until now because of the poor purses. Watch Ronnie O on World Snooer.com running a perfect game(147)and how hard do you think 8or9 ball will be. This is not to say he will win his first tournament ,the ladies had a learning period.
Just to point out something missed in this discussion,take alook at the women's 9 ball,dominated by snooker players.The men wouldn't have it as easy because of the depth of talent in the pro pool ranks but don,t kid yourselves the snooker pros will make a dent in the IPT money list.The top men haven't bothered until now because of the poor purses. Watch Ronnie O on World Snooer.com running a perfect game(147)and how hard do you think 8or9 ball will be. This is not to say he will win his first tournament ,the ladies had a learning period.