Today,Shane, Busty.
15 years ago, Sigel, Earl.
20 years ago Hall, Wade Crane.
15 years ago, Sigel, Earl.
20 years ago Hall, Wade Crane.
Who's your favorite "Pro" and Why?
- Thread starter Pangit
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Brandon Shuff - all around good guy, shows very good sportsmanship.
Ray Martin (great player, lot of class, smart about the $)
Luther Lassiter (he's the real deal)
Ronnie Allen ( in his day he was always fun to watch play)
Danny D. (a cool guy that has been there and done that)
Luther Lassiter (he's the real deal)
Ronnie Allen ( in his day he was always fun to watch play)
Danny D. (a cool guy that has been there and done that)
Was Sigel playing 15 years ago? I thought he quit in '94.
He is my all time favorite.
rodney morris and raj hundal
I have known rodney for a couple of years now. My first encounter was i heard he was stopping by my local pool hall. I showed up to watch him play and was the nicest guy you could meet. Now whenever he is in town, i get a call and we hang out. We talk about everything but pool cuz i assume he gets too much of that from everybody.
This past year at sbe, i went down to gang out. I became friends with raj hundal who was equally as nice. On saturday nite at the last sbe, it was me, rodney, mika, mike dychaine. And a few others. They were all amazing.
I learned more about pool in 90the minutes listening to them than i have the past five years of playing.
My vote goes to rod and raj.
I have known rodney for a couple of years now. My first encounter was i heard he was stopping by my local pool hall. I showed up to watch him play and was the nicest guy you could meet. Now whenever he is in town, i get a call and we hang out. We talk about everything but pool cuz i assume he gets too much of that from everybody.
This past year at sbe, i went down to gang out. I became friends with raj hundal who was equally as nice. On saturday nite at the last sbe, it was me, rodney, mika, mike dychaine. And a few others. They were all amazing.
I learned more about pool in 90the minutes listening to them than i have the past five years of playing.
My vote goes to rod and raj.
Right now it would be SVB because of his work ethic and amazing skill. His break is to die for and to me he is even more of a robot than Orcullo at the table. All time favorite now that is an easy one Efren!
Earl "THE PEARL" Strickland because he don't take crap off of nobody!
Also because his high gear was the best ever.
Shane is a great player with incredible work ethic, but his break is what wins his matches. When it comes to pure firepower, Earl is the best ever.
I realize his behavior has tarnished his legacy badly, but his results tell the story.
Very well put, I love the guy
I've been away for a while...but my favorites used to be Allen Hopkins, Louie Roberts, and Earl.
You never knew when Allen would show up in a dive bar a long time ago and buy everyone a drink.
Louie Roberts was great! Always doing trick shots and just being Louie.
And Earl...I used to go bar hopping with. He probably remembers my car before he'd remember me. LOL Used to love that shot Earl used to do. Draw the cueball off the rail, length of the table and draw back the length of the table to make the other ball.
This was in the mid 80's. Now I'm home a lot and live the boring life....
Back in those days there would be a professional tournament every other week on the East coast or West coast. At least once a month anyway.
Keith McCready. Why? Because when he shoots pool, whether it is an action game or a tournament match, his approach is to entertain the crowd. He genuinely wants people to have a good time, and the more involved the audience is, the better Keith shoots. Even when Earl Strickland plays against Keith, his demeanor is quite different than when he's playing other people. They have respect for each other.
Nobody likes to pull Keith in a tournament, either. You never know which Keith is going to show up. He's still got a little lightening in the jug and is capable of beating anybody on the face of the earth. When Keith is in the house, the crowd always draws near to his table, whether he's gambling or competing. The finals could be occurring at the same time Keith is playing elsewhere in the venue, and one or two people will be watching the finals, and everybody else will be sweating Keith's match.
Most importantly to Keith, though, he's an entertainer at heart when he shoots pool, quite the opposite of the robotic play that the blue-blooded pool purists enjoy seeing. And that's okay. Different strokes for different folks [pun intended].
Photo courtesy of Poolpics by Hoppe, taken at 2004 Joss Tour Season Finale in Maine.
Nobody likes to pull Keith in a tournament, either. You never know which Keith is going to show up. He's still got a little lightening in the jug and is capable of beating anybody on the face of the earth. When Keith is in the house, the crowd always draws near to his table, whether he's gambling or competing. The finals could be occurring at the same time Keith is playing elsewhere in the venue, and one or two people will be watching the finals, and everybody else will be sweating Keith's match.
Most importantly to Keith, though, he's an entertainer at heart when he shoots pool, quite the opposite of the robotic play that the blue-blooded pool purists enjoy seeing. And that's okay. Different strokes for different folks [pun intended].
Photo courtesy of Poolpics by Hoppe, taken at 2004 Joss Tour Season Finale in Maine.
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Rodney Morris, Brandon Shuff and Mika.
Efren, simply because he was always in control. His break was lacking but he still won at 9 Ball because his cue ball control was truly magical. Watching him play 1 Pocket you wanted to have a DVR in your head because he made shots you were in no way ready for and you desperately wanted a replay. He had humility and what many people don't know is how much he truly loved the sport. Watching him play all comers and giving as much as 15/3 until the early hours of the morning while he was just having fun!
Nick Varner is vastly underrated.
But as Jam said Keith could take off anybody and he was by far the most fun to watch!! More than once he made Efren just shake his head when he caught a gear. I sorely miss him at Hard Times but am glad he found Jam and I am happy to have the memories.
Nick Varner is vastly underrated.
But as Jam said Keith could take off anybody and he was by far the most fun to watch!! More than once he made Efren just shake his head when he caught a gear. I sorely miss him at Hard Times but am glad he found Jam and I am happy to have the memories.
I can think of several,for several different reasons.
Even with some of the stuff the Filipino contingent comes up with,I have to say in all honesty I've learned more from watching Mike Sigel than any other single player. He was also my favorite as far as 'entertainment".
I put the Filipino players in a seperate category (pure creativity) as far as coming up with things I didn't see before,and things I didn't know were even possible until I saw one of them do it. Efren of course is at the top of this group,but ALL of them have done something either on video or in front of me that made me go DAAAAMN!
Oddly enough,I also put Corey Deuel in that same group. Everyone here has probably seen the crazy draw shot he did on Mika on Youtube (the one where he didn't get out). My personal fave jaw-dropper of his is from the 2003 Mosconi Cup.
He's playing Steve Davis,and gets hooked under the 6. He pushes out to a spot where the cue ball is frozen to the corner pocket point,and facing a long,straight-in on the 3,with the next ball straight across from it on the opposite side. (If Cuetable wasn't coming up as an "attack site" on Google,I'd draw it out.)
Steve passes the shot back,Corey makes the ball and draws his cue ball about 12 feet to get perfect on the next ball. Another freak occurance,he doesn't get out that time either,LOL.
My personal fave out of the Euro players is Neils,but am getting more impressed all the time with Raj Hundal. His stroke is more similar to Shane's than most people probably notice.
Rafael Martinez is also a fave,just no wasted motion and gives people the impression he moves with "purpose".
Or,the time he thought Hennessee knocked his cue case over on purpose and jabbed him in the chest hard enough it had to have left a bruise. That and Henny getting knocked out for mouthing at Sparky Ferrell's wife were the only times I was entertained by things getting physical between 2 players.
Shane is just a different breed of animal,possibly even a "mutant".
As far as watching what goes on at the table,more specifically the player's stroke,to me Ray Schultz was a joy to watch with that high-speed,flamboyant stroke.
Before his antics got to be too much,watching Earl was also pure pleasure,for his intensity,and apparent desire to crush his opponent.
As far as players that never show any real emotion,I give the nod to Ralf and Nick Varner.
I never got to see much of Buddy as his best,and that sucks because if anyone ever made the game look entirely too easy,it was him. Tommy D.
Even with some of the stuff the Filipino contingent comes up with,I have to say in all honesty I've learned more from watching Mike Sigel than any other single player. He was also my favorite as far as 'entertainment".
I put the Filipino players in a seperate category (pure creativity) as far as coming up with things I didn't see before,and things I didn't know were even possible until I saw one of them do it. Efren of course is at the top of this group,but ALL of them have done something either on video or in front of me that made me go DAAAAMN!
Oddly enough,I also put Corey Deuel in that same group. Everyone here has probably seen the crazy draw shot he did on Mika on Youtube (the one where he didn't get out). My personal fave jaw-dropper of his is from the 2003 Mosconi Cup.
He's playing Steve Davis,and gets hooked under the 6. He pushes out to a spot where the cue ball is frozen to the corner pocket point,and facing a long,straight-in on the 3,with the next ball straight across from it on the opposite side. (If Cuetable wasn't coming up as an "attack site" on Google,I'd draw it out.)
Steve passes the shot back,Corey makes the ball and draws his cue ball about 12 feet to get perfect on the next ball. Another freak occurance,he doesn't get out that time either,LOL.
My personal fave out of the Euro players is Neils,but am getting more impressed all the time with Raj Hundal. His stroke is more similar to Shane's than most people probably notice.
Rafael Martinez is also a fave,just no wasted motion and gives people the impression he moves with "purpose".
Or,the time he thought Hennessee knocked his cue case over on purpose and jabbed him in the chest hard enough it had to have left a bruise. That and Henny getting knocked out for mouthing at Sparky Ferrell's wife were the only times I was entertained by things getting physical between 2 players.
Shane is just a different breed of animal,possibly even a "mutant".
As far as watching what goes on at the table,more specifically the player's stroke,to me Ray Schultz was a joy to watch with that high-speed,flamboyant stroke.
Before his antics got to be too much,watching Earl was also pure pleasure,for his intensity,and apparent desire to crush his opponent.
As far as players that never show any real emotion,I give the nod to Ralf and Nick Varner.
I never got to see much of Buddy as his best,and that sucks because if anyone ever made the game look entirely too easy,it was him. Tommy D.
Just look at my avatar, thats my favorite! JAM said it best, he is an entertainer. And for me it's the "unexpected" factor about him that I like. His love for the game is so evident when he plays, and at any moment he can run the table on you and still manage to put a smile on your face!
He reminds me of how I felt the first time I learned how to draw the cue ball. The smile it gave me and the excitement I felt when I learned something new about the game, that's what Keith is like for me. He reminds me about how much I love this game.
There are players today that are great, but they don't seem to enjoy the game the way Keith does and I just flat out enjoy watching Keith play.
I have a few runner ups,
Lou Butera- for about the same reasons as Keith, his love of the game is so strong it's infectious. And Lou is a blast to watch.
Mike Massey- Mike is a genuinely good guy and his knowledge of the game has really impressed me.
He reminds me of how I felt the first time I learned how to draw the cue ball. The smile it gave me and the excitement I felt when I learned something new about the game, that's what Keith is like for me. He reminds me about how much I love this game.
There are players today that are great, but they don't seem to enjoy the game the way Keith does and I just flat out enjoy watching Keith play.
I have a few runner ups,
Lou Butera- for about the same reasons as Keith, his love of the game is so strong it's infectious. And Lou is a blast to watch.
Mike Massey- Mike is a genuinely good guy and his knowledge of the game has really impressed me.
Fav pro
Efren- Humble. Gentleman. Magical play. Tony Drago- the pure way to play! Fast and loose. Tony Robles- Again, fast and loose. Personable. Keither with the either! Unorthodox, entertaining, regular guy. Jeanette- best ambassador of pool ever. Easy on the eyes!
Efren- Humble. Gentleman. Magical play. Tony Drago- the pure way to play! Fast and loose. Tony Robles- Again, fast and loose. Personable. Keither with the either! Unorthodox, entertaining, regular guy. Jeanette- best ambassador of pool ever. Easy on the eyes!
