Saga of a pool player
Hypothetical story: Your name is Jimmy. Started playing pool when you were 15, had a talent for the game, rapidly improved, and got hooked. ALL you wanted to do was play. You had a girlfriend (who you lost cause she didn't like hanging around pool rooms), friends (who bailed out, same reason), part-time job (which you lost because of your pool jones), older car (which broke down and you couldn't afford to fix it cause there was no action, and no more part-time job), plans to be an engineer (which disappeared when you quit school to play pool full-time) and, finally, dental work that needed to be done that got delayed. No problem, I'm in dead stroke, my 1-pocket game has really improved, and one of the old-timers says I'm ready to go on the road. I take off with this guy that will stake me, we travel around the south, sometimes sleeping in the car if we didn't make a score (gotta keep our gambling bankroll intact), got beat up and rolled at one joint, got stiffed at another joint (after posting the bet, they lost and about 20 of them wouldn't let us out with the dough), so lonely I could scream, but, hey, I'm building up my chops to be a pro. After 3 weeks, we limp back home, busted, my "backer" telling me I owe him money, which was never our agreement; he then tells everyone connected to pool in our town that I'm a no-good nit, dog it for the cash, etc. I'm dead busted but I scrounge up the entry fee for a local tournement, win the thing ($600, yippee!), go to a regional tournement, win $1200...hey, this pool stuff is sweet! Go back and forth like this for years, living off my cue, no girl, no decent food, no credit, no real friends. But...I suddenly jump up in speed (who knows why) and start making some good scores, finally have some money, and am able to enter a qualifier for a new tour. It takes all my money to get there, fade the high entry fee, and spring for room and board. Man, everyone is a champion; if I don't win or finish 2nd, I get zip, nada, bupkus. Hey, the guy is saying if we bank the 8 we get a big dime? Sign me up, Scottie! Never got a chance to bank the 8, finished 8th (might as well have been 80th); what's this...people are saying pool players are scumbags for trying to survive. Wow, I don't think I'm a scumbag. I'm just a guy who loves pool more than anything and trying to stay afloat. Just think, if I'd stayed in school, I might be an engineer right now...nobody calls them scumbags.