In previous threads we've identified that people often break rules in many sports but they are only penalized when called on it by the refs or their opponent. Watch a little instant replay on any major sport. Are we now to say that all major sports are riddled with cheaters because they didn't call a penalty on themselves or their opponent or the ref didn't make the call? What about all those times the ref made a bad call?
Well, yes. We can say the NFL is riddled with cheaters. The same way the highway is littered with speeders.
You see guys constantly breaking the rules intentionally in football, trying to get away with whatever they can. Holding, pass interference, etc. It's frequent... it affects plays and probably entire games.
So why don't the players call these fouls on themselves?
1. They want to keep their high paying job. Not an issue for pool players.
2. They answer to a team, and the decision might be very unpopular with the team. A "whistleblower" may lose his spot on the team. Not an issue for pool players.
3. Football specifically is a pretty macho sport. You're expected to break the other guy's bones, now you're gonna feel bad about pulling his jersey? Not an issue for pool players.
4. They don't have to feel bad about 'robbing' anyone, because they all get paid (well) regardless of whether they stick to the rules or not. So cheating the other team out of a victory doesn't mean you're cheating them out of money. Not an issue for pool players... if you cheat you directly affect a tournament or money match and you're potentially taking money out of the other guy's pocket.
Worth mentioning...
A lot of it has to do with herd behavior. We tend to go with the flow.
Football has just evolved into a game where nobody calls fouls on himself, sort of like how hockey has evolved into a sport that sanctions fighting. It's just tradition by now. There's no precedent for someone calling a foul on himself, and nobody wants rock the boat and end his career being the first to do it.
But pool does NOT have that tradition. Calling fouls on yourself is routine and is not going to end your pool career. If anything it's expected. And respected.
Why isn't ESPN in an uproar over all the "cheating" in football?
Because it's common, routine. Everyone already knows about it. Not newsworthy.
A better question might be, why isn't the NFL in an uproar about cheating?
The answer is, because it's primarily a show that people pay to see. They don't care whether the game is fun or fair, it's a huge moneymaker. If they put 22 refs on the field tomorrow, reviewed every single play, and benched consistent rule breakers... they'd have a cleaner and fairer league. But it'd slow everything down and be less popular with viewers. They'd lose money. So they don't bother.
It would seem that "rules" have little to do the issue, it's really about whether your opponent or the ref calls the penalty.
OK, so if you see your cue ball is about to come up short and get hooked behind another ball, and the opponent is directly behind you, or the ref is watching a hit on another table... why not just give the cue ball a little nudge so you're no longer hooked? Nobody saw it, and it's their job to catch this shit, so by your reasoning there's no reason you should feel ashamed to do this.
For those of you hung up on the rules...ask yourself, if you break the speed limit by 1 mph are you now a criminal?
Should you turn yourself in to the police and pay a fine?
A lot of it has to do with what everyone else does. We tend to go with the herd. For most people... if everyone else breaks the speed limit, then they will learn that behavior too. If nobody breaks it, then they will play along.
One reason the speeding analogy doesn't work is because there's an unspoken agreement between drivers and the police that the speed limit is 'flexible'. A ref will ALWAYS call a no-rail if he sees it. A policeman will NEVER cite you for 1 mph over. So there is a widely known "unwritten speed limit" that's about 10mph higher than the posted limit.
In pool there's no 2nd set of unwritten rules that a ref goes by. He goes by the book.
The other reason the analogy doesn't work is... with speeding, the law is broken by degrees, it's not "you're either speeding or you're not. Period." ... there are different degrees of speeding with different punishments. And cops can choose to not cite you, or to reduce the charge.
In pool it's a little more black-and-white. You either reached a rail or not. It was either a good hit or it wasn't. The ref has no leeway or selective enforcement.
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