Get the fu@# out there and practice. Play with some good players. Stop sitting around whining and complaining about rankings. "Who's ranked this? Who's ranked that?" PAY YOUR FU#$ING DUES!! Not that I am Archer or Cliff, or any where near it, but please take it from someone that has put in a shitload of time in action and on the table in general. You will NOT get to be a better player by trying to stay the lowest rank you can. I remember when people couldn't wait to move up in the hierarchy of the pool world. It was EMBARRASSING to say you were at the bottom.
Here's what this all stems from. I played our local tourney Sunday night. We ranked a guy a "6". Now, he'd played dead even for $50 a set with "Little John" who is a proud "7." Now, our tournament goes 2-7, with sevens being the highest unless you're known to be better. There are two of us they make "9". These are all races to what your handicap are. You're a six, you go to six. Most are 3, 4, 5, and about five sixes, and two sevens. Well, you guessed it, I beat the "six" 9-1. (Played a helluva set too) He starts saying how everyone should be their APA rank. Okay, so I guess I'll be a seven. That's as high as they go in their APA around here. He's a five in the APA. "Only a five, and barely that." So the manager of the poolroom agrees to make everyone their APA handicap, EXCEPT the two of us that are "nines".
For all I care, make me an "11". If I play a good set, it won't matter anyway. I wish more people saw it that way. Maybe we'd escalate the players levels for everybody. Okay, after all these years, I get cranky towards someone that has gone out and bought a nice cue, joined APA, played for two years without much effort, and has the balls to start screaming about "fair." Well, let me tell you something. Play 20-25 years, five days a week, travelling most any and everywhere for tourneys and action, hoping just to jump a half a ball. Then, and only then, can we talk about your "ranking" and being "fair." If two guys that obviously know they play within a ball of eachother, and one gets three games to seven, then it's time to talk.
If you are a serious beginning player, this isn't directed towards you. Stick with it, consume it, love it. I applaud you. This game has given me heartaches, but also more fun than a stripper, a feather and a doberman. It's you guys that just half way take pool serious but want to win every time you're at the table. Pay your dues, guys. Archer didn't become player of the decade by sitting around the poolroom beating them into the rails, complaining about being a "3". I actually remember Coltrain doing absolutley nothing but breaking the balls for an hour.
Okay, I'm done now.
Here's what this all stems from. I played our local tourney Sunday night. We ranked a guy a "6". Now, he'd played dead even for $50 a set with "Little John" who is a proud "7." Now, our tournament goes 2-7, with sevens being the highest unless you're known to be better. There are two of us they make "9". These are all races to what your handicap are. You're a six, you go to six. Most are 3, 4, 5, and about five sixes, and two sevens. Well, you guessed it, I beat the "six" 9-1. (Played a helluva set too) He starts saying how everyone should be their APA rank. Okay, so I guess I'll be a seven. That's as high as they go in their APA around here. He's a five in the APA. "Only a five, and barely that." So the manager of the poolroom agrees to make everyone their APA handicap, EXCEPT the two of us that are "nines".
For all I care, make me an "11". If I play a good set, it won't matter anyway. I wish more people saw it that way. Maybe we'd escalate the players levels for everybody. Okay, after all these years, I get cranky towards someone that has gone out and bought a nice cue, joined APA, played for two years without much effort, and has the balls to start screaming about "fair." Well, let me tell you something. Play 20-25 years, five days a week, travelling most any and everywhere for tourneys and action, hoping just to jump a half a ball. Then, and only then, can we talk about your "ranking" and being "fair." If two guys that obviously know they play within a ball of eachother, and one gets three games to seven, then it's time to talk.
If you are a serious beginning player, this isn't directed towards you. Stick with it, consume it, love it. I applaud you. This game has given me heartaches, but also more fun than a stripper, a feather and a doberman. It's you guys that just half way take pool serious but want to win every time you're at the table. Pay your dues, guys. Archer didn't become player of the decade by sitting around the poolroom beating them into the rails, complaining about being a "3". I actually remember Coltrain doing absolutley nothing but breaking the balls for an hour.
Okay, I'm done now.
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