Why has no one beat Mosconi's high run?

[krupa]

I think John has had his camera rolling 100s and 100s of times trying to break the record and I highly doubt he is the only one
Every yr for decades the same question is asked you get the same answers and only one run has been close
1

You may be right.

There are anecdotes about Mosconi that say he could run 500+ balls without much effort. I can't find the source right now, but Charles Ursitti claimed Mosconi once ran 500+ balls in a practice room and shrugged it off as if it were nothing.

 

[JB Cases]

This topic certainly has a lot of interest in this forum.

I think the answer is quite simple.

Nobody has beat it because nobody can.

Think about it,,, even without the possibility of making a dime, if I could beat that record, I would.

Wouldn't you?

Wouldn't anybody?

Why? If it doesn't pay anything other than notoriety among a very small group of 14.1 fans. In Willie's day he was already famous and the "record" was only icing on the cake.

I am sure that many pros would like to beat the record but since 14.1 daily isn't what they do why spend the time on it?

In today's world people get paid to break records in sports that they make their living in. They don't pick obscure records to spend time trying to break.

 

[haystj]

Why? If it doesn't pay anything other than notoriety among a very small group of 14.1 fans. In Willie's day he was already famous and the "record" was only icing on the cake.

Why, you ask?

So that for the next umpteen years people would be trashing the feat that I accomplished and how I did this ,,, or did that....

Personally I would do it for the glory of doing it... to "dethrone" an icon like Willie Mosconi...

Why does it have to come down to money? People do extraordinary things all the time, and not always for money

 

[haystj]

I also don't know how you can compare pool and basketball. The only similarity is that they both use balls.

Well, I was hoping it was obvious that I was not comparing NBA baskeball to pocket billiards straight pool.

Guess I was wrong.

I was comparing one amazing feat to another,,, one record that most likely never be broken to another record that most likely won't ever be broken.

It isn't because people don't want to break the record, but rather they haven't been able to.

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Mr. Bond]

If by "always" you mean very rarely, I agree.

Back in the day, 30 years or more to define it, I attended many 14.1 events. Most of them were regional events in the east, many of them were just qualifiers for the big events. Except for the PPPA World championships and the US Open 14.1, almost all events were played in pool rooms on old slow equipment with composition balls. The pockets were nearly always looser than 4.5", typically 4.75" and went as big as 5" at times.

The game is played on significantly tighter equipment today than it was in the 1970's and 1980's, but the guys shoot much straighter than the guys of yesteryear, so they can fade it.

If your " back in the day" only goes back to 1970, then I agree.

But, further back in the day, a 10ft table with 4.5" pockets was the pro tournament standard. A standard that the vast vast vast majority of players today would choke on.

Any monkey with a stick can run 9 balls on a bar box. ( and slop half of them in? )
If a real player wants real credibility, they would show the world how " easy " it is to run 600 balls. Should be a piece of cake for all the experts alive today. Not.

 

[KRJ]

If your " back in the day" only goes back to 1970, then I agree.

But, further back in the day, a 10ft table with 4.5" pockets was the pro tournament standard. A standard that the vast vast vast majority of players today would choke on.

Any monkey with a stick can run 9 balls on a bar box. ( and slop half of them in? )
If a real player wants real credibility, they would show the world how " easy " it is to run 600 balls. Should be a piece of cake for all the experts alive today. Not.

Well played Mr. Bond, well played. Drinks are on me, shaken or stirred

 

[JB Cases]

Why, you ask?

So that for the next umpteen years people would be trashing the feat that I accomplished and how I did this ,,, or did that....

Personally I would do it for the glory of doing it... to "dethrone" an icon like Willie Mosconi...

Why does it have to come down to money? People do extraordinary things all the time, and not always for money

That is true. But the question was asked why it's not been broken. I think it's for the reasons I mentioned. Pride in the accomplishment doesn't pay the bills. For those of us who have other sources of income we have the luxury of fantasizing about the fame and glory of breaking the record. For a struggling pool player who isn't getting paid every day like Willie was spending time on a vanity project probably isn't going to be something they pursue diligently.

 

[JB Cases]

If your " back in the day" only goes back to 1970, then I agree.

But, further back in the day, a 10ft table with 4.5" pockets was the pro tournament standard. A standard that the vast vast vast majority of players today would choke on.

Any monkey with a stick can run 9 balls on a bar box. ( and slop half of them in? )
If a real player wants real credibility, they would show the world how " easy " it is to run 600 balls. Should be a piece of cake for all the experts alive today. Not.

And if they did it on a 4x8 with 5" pockets would that count?

 

[haystj]

For a struggling pool player who isn't getting paid every day like Willie was spending time on a vanity project probably isn't going to be something they pursue diligently.

I see what you are saying, and it does have merit.

But seriously: You call running 527 balls in straight pool, breaking a 40+ year run by Willie Mosconi A vanity project?????

There is no right or wrong on this issue, but on some of the finer points we have different opinions. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[JB Cases]

I see what you are saying, and it does have merit.

But seriously: You call running 527 balls in straight pool, breaking a 40+ year run by Willie Mosconi A vanity project?????

There is no right or wrong on this issue, but on some of the finer points we have different opinions. Nothing wrong with that.

It is in my opinion. At this point I would hope we could all agree that 526 is simply a number that exists because of time and circumstance and not something that stands as an unattainable feat.

It has been reported that several people have broken that record and several more have done high runs on tougher equipment that should be considered the equivalent.

In fact as David mentioned earlier the championship table used to be 5x10 with 4.5" pockets and IIRC the high run on those was 309. I think that the old 14.1 players in Mosconi's day probably scoffed at the 500+ on a 4x8 recreation table with 5.25" pockets.

So yes, to me looking at the state of pool now, where 14.1 is a minor game in the world of pool trying to break the record is a mostly vanity project. And for that matter I agree that only the elite players in the world have a shot at it. But anyone who thinks that today's top players don't have the skill to do it is wrong in my opinion. They have the skill, just not the motivation.

 

[measureman]

the first time Chuck Norris ever played pool he ran 1278 balls.
But it was not considered for the world record because he did it on a billiard table.

 

[wrldpro]

I think John has had his camera rolling 100s and 100s of times trying to break the record and I highly doubt he is the only one
Every yr for decades the same question is asked you get the same answers and only one run has been close
1

JS was and still might be a great player. I'm sure he didn't have a camera rolling 100s of times as I'm sure it was thousands of times.The table that he ran 400 on at Q-Masters in Va Beach was probably the easiest 9ft. table in the country.The table not only had 5+ inch pockets but also the slate was filed over and rounded at every pocket to make it easier for the beginner and amateur players.
Mosconi stopped at 100 ball runs everyday on his exhibition tour almost every time which had to be about 1000 times and also many times in practice. JS never quit at 100 balls because he was on a mission to gain public image and sponsorships. I asked Nick Varner how many times he ran 150 and he told me he couldn't count that high , so I asked him how many over 200 and his reply was not that many as matches never went to 200 only 150 so his mindset and goal was to only run to 150. Ive stopped at 100 quite a few times and at 200 once with a wide open table.
There are many other great players that did the same things and many that didn't even keep score of their runs like Wimpy lassiter who practiced for 4+ hours on his 5x10 Gandy without missing. Ive played on Wimpys table at his Nephews house many times with 35 year old cloth on it and never broke 60 balls.
So how many balls would Willie or Nick or many others have run if they never stopped at 100 or 150.

 

[railbird99]

Legend has it that every time someone gets close, Mosconi rises from his grave, and causes an unfortunate skid or ball rolling off, and in some rare cases, death.

 

[pdcue]

They had the best cushions then.
The MONARCH CUSHIONS made in Chicago.
And AMF also had the Manhattan cushions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=nWLQWYnhHKY#t=951
Look at the size of that corner pocket .

Yes sir, But that is a Gold Crown - as I have pointed out MANY times, the
table he played on was a good deal 'tighter' than that.

Dale

 

[JB Cases]

Legend has it that every time someone gets close, Mosconi rises from his grave, and causes an unfortunate skid or ball rolling off, and in some rare cases, death.

That's funny!!

or not....if you're the guy about to beat the record.

FWIW - I agree with Lou that someone should just get an 8ft table with giant pockets and beat the record already.

I bet if Lou got one he could run 200 balls.

I might be able to run 18 on such a table.

 

[Mole Eye]

Speaking for myself, I wish someone would break it with a recording just to see if we could some attention, perhaps some interest, in the general public. I would guess that the person breaking the record might get to do a few exhibitions himself.

 

[measureman]

Speaking for myself, I wish someone would break it with a recording just to see if we could some attention, perhaps some interest, in the general public. I would guess that the person breaking the record might get to do a few exhibitions himself.

Unfortunately the general public would have no clue or interest.
Breaking the hot dog eating record would get more attention.

 

[irock]

I would like to see the same kind of table that the record was set on, with the same size pockets, and cushions and cloth set up at the major tournaments, and have a single elimination 14.1 tournament on it. The tournament is only about Willie's record, if someone breaks it during the tournament, he or she wins the purse. If no one wins, more money is added and the purse gets bigger for the next major tournament. As long as you stay alive in the tournament you have more chances at the record and prize money. I would think the purse would increase quite quickly.

 

[haystj]

Did he do the 526 in one session?

I can't imagine the concentration it would take to do that in one session, even if the pockets were 6 inches in width.

One bad (unlucky) roll and it's over Rock.

 

[AtLarge]

Did he do the 526 in one session?

I can't imagine the concentration it would take to do that in one session, even if the pockets were 6 inches in width.

One bad (unlucky) roll and it's over Rock.

Yes, and he said it took just 2 hours and 10 minutes.

(That's approximately 4 balls per minute, including racking.)