Quote:
Originally Posted by 62Stratus
Jose Garcia tops Hoppy in a 1975 match
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Many of you 14.1 junkies (I’m one, too) have probably seen this excellent match between Jose Garcia and Jack Colavita.
https://youtu.be/uYcqzRykLVo
Colavita won, but Garcia played beautifully and was on his way to winning but for missing a routine shot due, perhaps, to going a bit quickly and not giving the shot the full respect that any and every shot deserves.
In any event, what I find fascinating is how obviously (to my eye) and assiduously Colavita played break shots so as to avoid scratching. It almost seemed as if he was willing to sacrifice any reasonable probability of having a shot as long as he didn’t lose the CB. Rack after rack brought a soft break shot and his hope for something to become available. Of course, like so many competitors in so many sports, when a reasonable shot was not there, he acted as if he had been cheated. In any event, I do not view his break shot results as being a function of the old “slow cloth” and “balls that aren’t lively” story. He just babied the shot. Garcia stroked his break shots with more speed, and as you’d expect, he got more spread.