I see nothing wrong with a player breaking a record if they are capable.
And I think some are.
Absolutely they should be shooting at it IMO
And I think some are.
Absolutely they should be shooting at it IMO
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Like us, they're human, and yes, they do on occasion miss. Just nowhere near as often as we do.
In a conversation about golf, someone once described to me the difference between an amateur and a pro as being that the pro doesn't necessarily make more great shots than the amateur, just far fewer bad ones. I think the same can be said about pool.
If someone breaks Mosconi's record on any table I would be first to applaud the feat. There has been a lot of Straight Pool played since 1954 and only once (Thomas Engert's 491) has anyone come close. 8', 9', makes no difference to me. It wouldn't be easy to do if you had all the best 14.1 players in the world competing on 8' tables with similar sized pockets. In fact I'd bet against it if they played all day for a week, each having their own table to shoot on.
I don't know how much discussion there has been about Willie Mosconi's world record but I know there's been plenty.
I was just wondering if it would be fair or even appropriate if a 4 x 8 table should be set up with 4 7/8" pockets, like the one Willie used to make the world record that still holds to today?
Many of today's tables have much narrower pockets than this and I'm sure it inhibits todays pocket billiard 14:1 specialists from beating that record.
Would you like to see the world record broken using the same equipment?
Would you prefer seeing the world record broken using today's larger tables with the 4 7/8" pockets?
Or would you prefer to never see Willie's record broken.
Personally, I would like to see the record broken, based upon someone using equipment similar to which Willie played on.
JoeyA
Joey where did you get the information about the pocket size of the 4x8?
This has been some information I have been looking for a long time, is there a referance to this some where?
Thanks Craig
Joey where did you get the information about the pocket size of the 4x8?
This has been some information I have been looking for a long time, is there a referance to this some where?
Thanks Craig
The mistake made was if they had bought one of these million dollar policies paid to who ever runs over 526, and put that up for a challenge at all the major pro tour events, it could have kicked the game into a new level. And Efren would have done it in the first year after he learned how to play the game. He was running 200 when he did not have a clue how to set up a break shot.
Willie was the greatest ball runner in his era, but all records, are made, to be broken.
I think Mosconi has a high run of over 400 on a 5x10 with felt correct?? was a question. Answer.
The high run was Crane first in 1939 on a 10', 309, then willie at 365, then they went to 9' tables. We have never used felt. It is cloth. Willies 10' run was on Simonis #1, which is like 760 in speed used today, which is about 15% faster than 860.
Willies HR on a 10' was using simoinis #1, which is like 760 used today, which is thinner and about 15% faster than 860. After WWII, simonis was no longer imported into the usa, and the only time it was used, was during the world championship in NYC, when they brought in a couple of bolts just for that event. All the other tournaments were on what you call today, house cloth, thicker and slower than simonis.
So when Willie did a different exhibition every day, he would have used what that local installer had in stock, and it would have always been, house cloth. The 14.1 players, actually liked the slower cloth better, as it was easier to play close up position better, where a faster cloth could let the cue ball run long and off angle on you. Mike Sigel, came up on the slow cloth, and even talked the IPT into using it, so it would give him the edge.
Willies 526 run, was not on simonis, there was none around for him to use. Simonis did not come back into the usa for another 30 years after willies Hr.
I have a friend, very knowledgeable, who got on the table right after his run, and checked it out, and told me the pockets were 5 l/2". Bucket pockets, and that would make sense, Willie would choose the table to play on, that had the largest easiest pockets. It was a show, and it featured him making a 100 ball run, which he did, just about every show, sometimes you might see 200 or more. The pocket size was was never discussed or mentioned, but the actual size was known and it floated around. Recently, somebody wrote in the record you see on the net the pockets were pro cut, I dont believe it, that was done, just to purify the run and the record, probably by Brunswick.
A 300 ball run, is fantastic, and 300 on a 10' table with 4 l/2" pockets, I think would be greater than 526 on an 8' table with 5 l/2" pockets, that is why they covered that one up.
I know, that throws a monkey wrench in the story, but that's the truth, so dont shoot your messenger here. I have nothing but the greatest respect for Willie Mosconi, the greatest champion of his time.[/QUOT
I won't shoot you but I would like to get the story straight about the size of the pockets. There's a MONSTER DIFFERENCE between 5 1/2" pockets and 4 7/8" pockets.
Who to believe???
Thanks for the report Curly!
Believe who ever you wish to, I really dont care. Go with what Brunswicks feeds you, then you will be happy. Any time you break news like this, of course, nobody is going to believe you, all you get for this, is ridicule and abuse.
Craig,
It has been mentioned by a few different posters. I don't know the original source but it is also mentioned at WikiPedia.
Believe who ever you wish to, I really dont care. Go with what Brunswicks feeds you, then you will be happy. Any time you break news like this, of course, nobody is going to believe you, all you get for this, is ridicule and abuse.
The high run racks in 9 ball is only nine. Only 3 people have done it, most feel, its much higher than this. But in recent years, nobody could break the record, because they went to alternating racks, so your high run then, could only be one.
Earl Strickland once ran 11 racks in a tournament for a $1,000,000 prize.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Strickland
I myself once ran 6 racks - and I'd have a VERY hard time believing that was only within 3 of the record.
Earl Strickland once ran 11 racks in a tournament for a $1,000,000 prize.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Strickland
I myself once ran 6 racks - and I'd have a VERY hard time believing that was only within 3 of the record.
Of course, I did not mean you, for you just asked the question. It will be others, who will do this. So many in the pool world, when they see something, they dont understand, or it is different from what they think they know, they dont examine and study it, they just kill it on the spot, then they are happy and content.
Brunswick for decades pushed the Mosconi HR record, because he was a paid staff player, and selling him, and his records, meant more profits for them. They helped to hide and bury the real high run of Michael Eufemia, which is 625 on a 9' table. If you dont believe me, just ask Ray Martin, he will tell you it is so. So covering up the size of the pockets, had to be them as well. I dont think Flo had anything to do with that.
Exhibition Hr's are soft, a high run in a pro tournament, I am more impressed with. But, they made these guys quit when they got to 125 and later 150. The Sigel 150 at the Roosevelt, he was so in the zone, so perfect, if they had left him alone and just kept racking, he might have ran 600 that night. And that is what they should have done, let them keep going past 150, and the rest of the field, continued around the one man show. And paid a million bucks for the first to go past 526, this could still be done today, if a real new tour comes back. That would be one heck of an attraction. It could be a 9 ball event, and have a challenge table in the back just for the one man straight pool challenge, and have a camera rolling on every challenge, which the player has to buy into, to have a chance at the big bucks. You could pay out a bonus, when one goes over 150, 300, or 400. It could help bring back this great game, that is now all but dead, out side of the NE and Chicago areas. The challenge fees could help pay for the insurance policy. If you pay your fee, run 3 and miss, you can ante up, try again and again.
It becomes hard to compare some of the things done back in the day, to what is being played with now.
The high run racks in 9 ball is only nine. Only 3 people have done it, most feel, its much higher than this. But in recent years, nobody could break the record, because they went to alternating racks, so your high run then, could only be one.