Internet pros
Wow. I just looked closer at my fargo rating. It is apparently at 738 and puts me in the midst of some pretty good players. And to answer Jaden's question, my highest finish at the US Open was 17th...however in the 4 times I played I took 17th, 25th, 33rd, and 33rd, and each time beat 1-3 established pros. I always did well out there (for me).
But the funny part is this. A few years ago someone posted a thread about 'what level ghost can you break even with'. It was a survey, and I answered that I could break even with the 10 ball ghost. Well, the guy that wrote the post got all pissy, stating that everyone was full of it, and all the players on the survey that said they could beat the ghost could get action. I ignored this at first, but he went on and on, basically calling us all out. So I asked for action, and he immediately high rolls me, talking about playing 5 races to 11 for 1K each and freezing up 5K in the middle, and tells me that we could stream it live for all of AZ....of course, all non-negotialbe. So I thought about whether to play, practiced a few sets against the ghost, broke the balls 100 times on a tough breaking table to try to gauge how many impossible layouts I'd get vs. short racks, etc, then finally I replied to the poster (Cincyman?) and told him I'd take him up on everything except for one condition- I wouldn't play on his home table. I wanted to play on a neutral diamon, even the TAR table would be fine. Jimmy Wetch is a friend of mine and told me, and I quote "Even when I was touring and gambling all the time and ranked 5th in the world, there is no way I'd ever make a game in someone's personal house. It could be dangerous, and if nothing else they can mess with the air conditioning, or who knows what, pins in rails, whatever.. If it's a legit game they'll run it in a pool hall." So I told him that was my ONLY request. I had the money and was ready to go. So of course he tells me that I'M a nit because I won't play him on his terms since the offer was non-negotiable.
This long story was just to point out my experience with people calling me out on this forum. Look, I'm not a pro, I'm not SVB, shoot, I don't play as good as half the guys I am ranked higher than on Fargorate. I just like to play hard and have fun, and try to pocket balls. And I do get that there is respect to be given to those at the top.
But what's with the hate for Jaden? Shoot, I lost a match to Jesse Engel on Saturday in which he absolutely crushed me, 10-2. It was brutal. He played inspired, I couldn't get the balls to cooperate, and every time I hooked him he refused to give up ball in hand and found ways to just make things awkward and difficult. Top it off with a few bad rolls and finding awkward angles, and I just couldn't get going, and ended up fumbling the few opportunities that I actually got. Anyone watching that would've rated me a B player all day long. Anyone that makes conclusions watching one match doesn't play much competitive pool.
Anyway, Jaden is no touring pro, but he never said he was. "Semi-pro" is the most vague term ever coined so drawing battle lines over it's use is pretty absurd. He wins money in events that pros play in and has victories over them, and he can turn in air tight sets. A player. Short stop. Semi pro. Call it what you want. If you PERSONALLY draw the line higher, good for you. But the treatment of Jaden is nothing short of bullying. The idea that it is 'out of respect' to better players doesn't make sense, when it's being delivered in a disrespectful way to a very good player!
Jaden, I don't know why I posted this. I'd agree with you this is why top players don't post much. I'll tell you something funny...on a very personal note, I went through a very difficult divorce over the last 2 years, not at all of my choosing. Anyway, reason I share is that I have posted daily for 20 months on a forum dedicated to helping people through that stuff, how to lead through difficulty, how to stand by a failing marriage, etc. My point is this- in thousands of posts, I have only been in a few passionate debates, and that is when we are talking about extremely sensitive stuff, fighting denial, personal demons, etc. Yet here we're talking about a pool game and people go to war over the definition of 'is' or whatever.
Anyway, keep hitting the balls good, and don't let these guys get to you. We know they're good people, just caught them on the wrong day. Let it go, no one takes it seriously, we all know internet wars are skin deep. Later!
JB
