Is Someone That Competes at Pool Considered an Athlete
- Thread starter CJ Wiley
- Start date
You can call yourself and other pool players whatever makes you sleep at night, but just because someone plays pool at a high level doesn't make them an athlete.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Srm21isYMs <---- for Donny Mills
As I like to say, if you don't sweat or get out of breath... it's not a sport. If you sweat and get out of breath when you pool pool, you're the opposite of an athlete.
Wow. I think you saw right through ALL of the posts, except the original post which asked if someone would be an athlete if they compete at pool.
Some overweight guys and girls might have copious amounts of talent for pool but if they play in a multi-day tournament or long sessions it will become quite obvious who is the athlete.
Pool wears everyone down and the athlete in the best shape with the best talent will be the last person standing.
Short races, anyone with talent can win.
BTW, who will be going to the endurance test at White Diamonds in Lafayette, LA where the Calcutta REGULARLY goes for over $50,000.00?
It is March 16 & 17th. Bar Table race to 7.
An out of shape SVB got lucky last time and is now going to try it one more time. :wink: Francisco said someone had invited him to go but as of right now, I can't confirm that he will be there.
Sorry for the hijacking but it looks like Creedo sealed the lid on this one.
Mr. CreeDo,
I guess I'm in the middle. I respect the game immensely.
However I would not consider athletics as a requirement to playing pool at its finest other than hand eye coordination & one needs that for a whole host of non-athletic activities.
The word talent comes to mind. It takes talent to play pool at its finest not athletics There are talented musicians. There are talented sculptors & other artists. I would consider playing pool at its finest to be considered an art. Therefore the one doing the playing, like playing a musical instrument, would be an artists not an athlete. We call people that play musical instruments well musicians. We call people that play pool, snooker, & carom billiards well cueists.
I would not call a musician an athlete & I would not call a cueist an athlete.
They are artists. The musician plays musical notes in combinations & sequences & the cueist plays sequences & combinations of clicks & pops to create his or her art.
I appreciate the ability of both with the utmost respect.
The game needs & should be elevated to its proper place of appreciation & respect.
To do so by trying to make it out to be an athletic competition is barking up the wrong tree IMHO.
I know there is a difference between my comparisons in that billiards is played competitively, but so is Chess.
Regards to You &
Anyone remember the Miller Lite commercials from the seventies with retired atheletes? All were retired because you couldn't be active and be associated with an alcohol product or something. George Fels wrote about it in B illiards digest. A judge ruled pool wasn't a sport therefore Steve Mizerak was able to participate, or he wasn't an athelete.
I've heard the arguement over whether pool is a sport or a game all my life. Is the main issue whether you're an athlete if you play?
I looked up athlete to see if it was clear that athlete's played sports or games and this is what I found:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/athlete
Definition of ATHLETE: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina
So a professional athlete can play either sports or games. Does this mean it's now ok to call pool a game, or is there somehow more "status" in being a sport? I don't think the general public would include pool in their list of "sports"......what do you think?
'The Sport is the Teacher' ?or 'The Game is the Teacher'
One of my favorite movie quotes is from Kingpin - "Its an honor to be in a place with this many great athletes" (similar) while the camera pans the room of 300+ pound "athletes".
I think maybe one is better off if they're athletic, but is a pool player an athlete, loose interpretation of the definition maybe.
Well, let's see if I can answer the original question: "Is someone who competes at pool considered an athlete?"
Someone who competes at pool may or may not be an athlete, the act of playing pool does not make you an athlete. Whereas the act of playing in the NBA or NFL does....not necessarily so in baseball. :wink:
J
Someone who competes at pool may or may not be an athlete, the act of playing pool does not make you an athlete. Whereas the act of playing in the NBA or NFL does....not necessarily so in baseball. :wink:
J
Need to be in top shape to have the edge.......
During a 10 year period in my life i just tried to play whoever I could on that bartable. I was living with a friend of mine and we worked out 3 days a week. I mean really worked out until we were ready to drop.
Once I stopped doing this i never did play quite as good as then.
Maybe I'm telling myself something.
I'm going to hit the gym more often for sure. it's a must if you want to play good pool.
Pool is a sport. So is teaching pool I think.
Just follow me around for a day while i'm giving 3 lessons. I'll wear you out just watching.
On those 3 lesson days i really sleep well. And when i go to the gym I sleep well also.
I don't think there is any other sport where they allow smoking right where the players are competing. Kind of rediculous.
Can anyone think of any other sport that allows this?
During a 10 year period in my life i just tried to play whoever I could on that bartable. I was living with a friend of mine and we worked out 3 days a week. I mean really worked out until we were ready to drop.
Once I stopped doing this i never did play quite as good as then.
Maybe I'm telling myself something.
I'm going to hit the gym more often for sure. it's a must if you want to play good pool.
Pool is a sport. So is teaching pool I think.
Just follow me around for a day while i'm giving 3 lessons. I'll wear you out just watching.
On those 3 lesson days i really sleep well. And when i go to the gym I sleep well also.
I don't think there is any other sport where they allow smoking right where the players are competing. Kind of rediculous.
Can anyone think of any other sport that allows this?
Athletic people have an advantage because its a physical activity. But the game itself is not athletic. The exception of course is the break. Breaking well, could be considered an athletic activity unto itself. And one must not forget that the repugnant existence of speed pool does put a variable into the equation.
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Athleticism is nice but not crucial. You just need a certain bare minimum of general health - you can't be so big you can't stretch halfway across the table, or stay on your feet for 4 hours. I'm sure efren has played some long sets, and I'm equally sure if he took off his shirt he couldn't be an extra in Gladiator.
Once you meet certain bare minimums of health, it's mental stamina, not physical stamina. The cream rises to the top in long races because they even out lucky rolls, and a mentally tough player fades those temporary shifts in momentum. It's not because the one guy got out of breath or sleepy. At least, not in any normal race, maybe in 15-ahead one pocket or something.
I know people have a lot of respect for the legendary gamblers who could play for three days straight without narcotics. That stuff makes for great stories but it's not what pool's about. It's not an ironman competition. If efren turns into a B player after 15 straight hours, he still deserves more respect and applause than any A player whose eyelids never droop.
What is it about my post, CJ, that I "must" be kidding about? Did you misunderstand my post (especially the part you bolded) and you're arguing with a point that, if you read just a bit further (like, the sentences right after the part you bolded), you'd see that I expanded a bit?
Or are you saying that you vehemently deny any incarnation of explanation that pool is a sport, because the Merriam-Webster definition you're using says it doesn't require any physical strength, agility, or stamina? (If you are, we are indeed in disagreement, because while pool doesn't require physical strength per se, it does require "agility" [in the form of hand/eye coordination, which is a form of "agility"], as well as stamina.)
Care to elaborate?
-Sean
EDIT: consider this: the Olympic committee considers target shooting and curling as sports, neither of which conform to what some folks on here say that "you must break a sweat" for it to be considered a sport. So should pool and the other cue sports.
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I've heard the arguement over whether pool is a sport or a game all my life. Is the main issue whether you're an athlete if you play?
I looked up athlete to see if it was clear that athlete's played sports or games and this is what I found:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/athlete
Definition of ATHLETE: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina
So a professional athlete can play either sports or games. Does this mean it's now ok to call pool a game, or is there somehow more "status" in being a sport? I don't think the general public would include pool in their list of "sports"......what do you think?
'The Sport is the Teacher' ?
To me it's a game. I don't know of another sport that allows for bathroom timeouts in the heat of competition.
Canwin
most "true athletes" play multiple games and sports.
The defininition is clear, I guess if someone doesn't agree with this defenition it's more of an arguement about Webster's Dictionary's defenitions.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/athlete
Definition of ATHLETE: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina
I believe pool does require physical agility, so someone that competes at it is clearly an athlete. I don't consider myself an athlete just because I play pool and many of us play tennis, golf, martial arts, basketball, table tennis, and various other sports. I believe most "true athletes" play multiple games and sports.
Some one said you must sweat or get out of breath to be an athlete, that would not be correct under any definition that I've seen. I also have never seen where people that are termed "overweight" somehow can't be included as an athlete. That just seems prejudice towards people that battle weight challenges and many football players fall under that category.
The defininition is clear, I guess if someone doesn't agree with this defenition it's more of an arguement about Webster's Dictionary's defenitions.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/athlete
Definition of ATHLETE: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina
I believe pool does require physical agility, so someone that competes at it is clearly an athlete. I don't consider myself an athlete just because I play pool and many of us play tennis, golf, martial arts, basketball, table tennis, and various other sports. I believe most "true athletes" play multiple games and sports.
Some one said you must sweat or get out of breath to be an athlete, that would not be correct under any definition that I've seen. I also have never seen where people that are termed "overweight" somehow can't be included as an athlete. That just seems prejudice towards people that battle weight challenges and many football players fall under that category.
Dude I know. I am so backed up right now. Ok, look for a PM shortly.
It definitely takes all the attributes of an athlete and coordination too. That being said, it doesn't involve whole body demands as actual sports do.
Canwin
I can dunk it in basketball. dunk it real good
Critical thinking does not exist in the majority of this thread and it's apparent that a lot of AZB members don't even know what it is. These responses are hilarious.
I've been on and off with these forums and the more i'm here the more it's apparent why it's a huge turnoff.
People creating their own definitions for what they think Pool, Sports and Athletics are-actually believing their own bullshit-and then responding like it's nothing but the truth.
If you don't sweat it's not a sport? If a player has the nicknamed "Fats" they're not an athlete? Do you really believe that? Not a very intellectual place to be surrounded by people who have thought that way their whole lives. Like JB said, industry leaders in sports like ESPN, SI, World Wide of Sports and world governing bodies clearly recognize it as a sport and billiards players as athletes, but because you don't believe it is, it isn't?
Man.
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Chess is most definately NOT a sport.