TAR Proposal Thread

hang-the-9

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Before we go any further, this is not a thread where you can ask Justin to marry you.

There are quite a few "TAR should put on this match" threads and usually the answer is "sure, if we could get them to Vegas for what we can pay".

What two TAR matchups would you pick and why? Wide open, but you need at least a half-ass valid reason.

Ghandi vs Captain Kirk is just as good for me as any pool players. As long as you list why they would match up well or why they would want to challenge each other for the cash.
 
hang-the-9 said:
Before we go any further, this is not a thread where you can ask Justin to marry you.

There are quite a few "TAR should put on this match" threads and usually the answer is "sure, if we could get them to Vegas for what we can pay".

What two TAR matchups would you pick and why? Wide open, but you need at least a half-ass valid reason.

Ghandi vs Captain Kirk is just as good for me as any pool players. As long as you list why they would match up well or why they would want to challenge each other for the cash.
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As a pool player, I generally like watching other (normally high caliber) pool players play. If I wanted to watch two hacks I would just go to the bar on league night.

With that being said:

Mosconi vs. VanBoening: Mosconi is considered the greatest of all time. Shane is considered the current greatest player alive by a lot of people. I like Shane in this.
 
Icon of Sin said:
As a pool player, I generally like watching other (normally high caliber) pool players play. If I wanted to watch two hacks I would just go to the bar on league night.

With that being said:

Mosconi vs. VanBoening: Mosconi is considered the greatest of all time. Shane is considered the current greatest player alive by a lot of people. I like Shane in this.
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Sounds great, but unless you can resurrect Mosconi ala Weekend At Bernie's-style, the you might have an issue. And, if someone stops the music, then I'm gonna say, Shane wins.


Eric
 
I was watching the last podcast and shane mentioned Tony Watson. I think Tony and Shane would be a good Tar Match.
 
I would like to see any two pros who are willing to play the way we play in the basement: Quiet during the shot, but let's have some fun between shots. One of the reasons pool is so boring is that there is NO interaction between the players.

Let's have some woofing, trash-talking and good old-fashioned fun. I'll even sponsor the beers.

How about if they place $100 side-bets? That would be fun to watch."Bet ya $100 you don't make a ball on this break" "Bet you $200 you can't make that shot left-handed." "Bet you $100 I pocket this jump shot." BTW, cash-on-the-barrelhead; $100 bills on the rail.

I was going to offer a list of candidates but I don't know who's really fun because they're never allowed to show that side of their personality.

Nah, it would never fly. We like our pool like it's played in a funeral parlor.
 
Alex vs Daz 8 ball, race to 25. I'd buy that one. We don't see enough 8 ball at the highest level.

My second choice would be Hawaiian Eye vs Keith McCready. just for Eye starting all these "proposed TAR threads"
 
Karl Boyes and Dennis Hatch. Between the little trash talk at the cup and being in the more emotional side of pool it would make for a good match... They are both pretty close in ability in think too.
 
Jayson Shaw is considered the top player on the east coast if not the best, and he plays out of Steinway billiards. I don't know who's considered the best in the west but I feel like that would be fun to watch.
 
jwon01 said:
Jayson Shaw is considered the top player on the east coast if not the best, and he plays out of Steinway billiards. I don't know who's considered the best in the west but I feel like that would be fun to watch.
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Jayson isn't even the best player in that room. Sheesh. Let him take off the training wheels first and win SOMETHING, anything, before making ridiculous statements.
 
Muttonchops said:
Alex vs Daz 8 ball, race to 25. I'd buy that one. We don't see enough 8 ball at the highest level.

My second choice would be Hawaiian Eye vs Keith McCready. just for Eye starting all these "proposed TAR threads"
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Funny that you mention that! I can't tell you the number of times I was told I should play Keith when I lived in Riverside CA in the late 70s. I'd take people's cash in the bars and they would always say that I could hang with him. I didn't have much cash at the time and I had just got married and had a baby, so I wasn't out gunning for anybody in particular.

As a matter of fact, they almost all said my personality at the table was similar to his. There was always more people watching the table I was playing on than any other tables in the joints. I kept the people laughing and entertained.
 
Icon of Sin said:
Mosconi vs. VanBoening: Mosconi is considered the greatest of all time. Shane is considered the current greatest player alive by a lot of people. I like Shane in this.
Click to expand...

Are they playing 10-ball or straight pool? Since Mosconi was a straight pool player and SVB specializes in rotation pool and to a lesser extent 1-pocket I am not sure either player would have much of a chance against the other in both players respective prime in a significantly long session.

Mosconi is someone that most people have never seen play and almost noone alive ever saw him play in his prime, which was now over 70 years ago. His videos that exist are from far, far past his prime when he was past his stroke that largely ended his competitive pool career. His records and results in competition are insane, but there is absolutely no video of Mosconi playing competitive pool in his prime in something like the World Championships, rest assured I have looked for it.

Given what I have seen of him far past his prime in brief videos I can see that the guy was likely a machine when he was in his prime. Most pool players are at the top of their game in their 20's and 30's. Willie Mosconi turned 40 years old in 1953. I would guess the vast majoritty of people on AZBilliards were not born in 1953 and even the old farts that were are likely still to young to have actually seen Willie Mosconi play in his actual prime.

The problem with a pool player from the past like that with little to no video footage is people these days have no clue how good he really was. If it was not for the massive amounts of video the people 50 years from now are going to be saying how much better some kid in 2063 is then that Shane Van Boening guy from the past or that Efren Reyes, the so called "Magician" ever were. Will they be right? Is it even a honest comparison of ability to compare people in different eras? Equipment changes, game changes, the different pool scenes in which people played? All of these factors have an effect on the players and any one of the clear natural talents in pool would likely be a very different player had they grew up in a different era. Would SVB had cut Mosconi's straight pool championship count in half had he also been born in 1913? Would Mosconi played spoiler on SVB winning his second US Open in a row? Sadly we will never know, as fun as it would be to watch.
 
NYC cue dude said:
Jayson isn't even the best player in that room. Sheesh. Let him take off the training wheels first and win SOMETHING, anything, before making ridiculous statements.
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Actually, he is. After beating Jayson in the semis of the Steinway Classic, Earl observed that Jayson had beat him the last twenty times they played. I'm sure it was an exaggeration, but Jayson really is the best player in that room.
 
Shane vs Ko Pin Yi in 10-ball.

Shane vs Appleton in 8-ball.

Rodney Morris vs Niels Feijen in 9-ball.
 
Icon of Sin said:
Mosconi vs. VanBoening: Mosconi is considered the greatest of all time. Shane is considered the current greatest player alive by a lot of people. I like Shane in this.
Click to expand...

Who would have guessed that TAR would book a player who is no longer alive.

If they would, however, the better match would be Shane vs Luther Lassiter, the best nine baller of Mosconi's era. In straight pool, the match we'd want to see would be Mosconi vs Greenleaf.

On the women's side, Ruth McGinnis vs Jean Balukas in straight pool would be amazing.
 
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