The document of our pool related road trip across the U.S. updated daily

ChicagoRJ said:
How come you can tell her to "go for it" but nobody here is allowed to tell her NOT to go for it.

It's their opinion, based on the facts, that it is NOT a very good idea, it is not rational, it is not prudent, and it is not economically feasible.

Basically, being honest with her, as we would say to our own kids. There is not much money in pool, and there is almost NO money for woman B player,,, that's a fact, you can argue, you can pound the table, but the facts are on our side. Plain and Simple.
If she was 18, 22 or even 28, yeah, give it a shot. But at her age, she needs to quit thinking like a starry eyed dreamer of riches and glory in a sport that has neither .....

And yeah, some of us can help her with a job, if she wants to come to Chicago I will try and hook her up.
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Did I say no one is allowed to tell her not to go for it? If I did then sorry didn't mean to restrict anyone's advice on how Rhea should live her life.

And fwiw until I mentioned it NO ONE offered her help finding employment that I had seen. Of course I could have missed it because I didn't read all the threads all the way through.

My overriding point though is that each person is responsible for their own lives. If you are at a point where you can either hunker down and get a job and grind it out or you can follow your passion without harming anyone else then MY vote is follow your passion. I don't think that there is any age where being a dreamer is not appropriate.

"It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child."

Pablo Picasso
 
JB Cases said:
Did I say no one is allowed to tell her not to go for it? If I did then sorry didn't mean to restrict anyone's advice on how Rhea should live her life.

And fwiw until I mentioned it NO ONE offered her help finding employment that I had seen. Of course I could have missed it because I didn't read all the threads all the way through.

My overriding point though is that each person is responsible for their own lives. If you are at a point where you can either hunker down and get a job and grind it out or you can follow your passion without harming anyone else then MY vote is follow your passion. I don't think that there is any age where being a dreamer is not appropriate.

"It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child."

Pablo Picasso
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yeah, you kinda took everyone to school for daring to suggest she quit this "dream"...And no, I didn't post anything about jobs before until you mentioned it.... I was not aware she was looking for work, but if she came here, of course, I'd try and set her up with something matching her skills, experience and education.

That was the problem with the pool player hustlers of the day, they had passion too, of course now that they are in the 70's and 80's what they don't have is a 401K, or any kind of pension plan, or savings to live well in retirement years.

I don't want to see going down that same path.... again, there are many that work, and play pool every night, and all weekend long, and there is not many folks that can beat them.....not sure how many Nat'l and state championships they have won..... I'm sure they could compete on a tour with the pro's, but they could not afford the pay cut :)
 
JB Cases said:
Why? You and I both know what the road is like. Who cares if she gets robbed (on the table)?

How else are you supposed to figure out where you stand then to get out there and do it?

Everyone wants to tell everybody else what to do. It's her life let her live it. Maybe she goes on the road by herself goes dead broke and takes a job waiting tables meets a millionaire and ends up with a permanent sponsor for her pool fix. No one here can predict the future.

You went on the road, how come it was ok for you and not ok for her?

Let me clue you in to something, hundreds of thousands of people in the USA are transient. They move around with only what they can carry and whatever skills they have. Somehow they manage to make it. Some of them do very well and some of them are perpetually on the edge of homelessness. For each and every one of them though they are living their own lives.

You're probably right that it's a disaster for Rhea to try and live life as a roaming pool player but guess what? Maybe it's not, maybe she finds a spot where she fits in perfectly, ends up owning or managing a pool room or something...point for me is that you and a lot of other people are just telling her no because it didn't work out for you possibly. I don't know that's just a guess. It didn't work out for me and I am still telling her to go for it IF that's what she REALLY wants to do.

Only she knows that. If it were me I'd definitely take everyone's advice and think hard about it and make my decision after careful consideration.c If I thought I could afford to run around near broke trying to make money on a C-player's speed then I would do it. If not then I wouldn't simple as that.

I don't care if you don't respect me for having that perspective. It's formed from my own life experience.

P.S. I actually know of a female player who IN FACT married a millionaire who does IN FACT sponsor her participation in all pool events she wants to play in. She can play so it's not a total donation but she isn't at the top tier consistently. And no, out of respect I will not name her but it's 100% true, ok maybe 99%..... :-)
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I would tell anyone the same thing because it's the facts. Me and Justin Hall ran around for years before anyone really new how he played and it still wasn't worth it. Yes you make a couple big scores but what about when you get stiffed for 5000. I'm telling her bad idea because I have been there. Do you know the kind of places you have to go in to be able to grind it out. How do you think she would fair in Jackson Ms alone leaving the pool room or Atlanta, Mobile, New Orleans or the hundreds of places nobody's safe leaving with a pocket full. It's not my bussiness to tell her what to do, but I damn sure won't encourage her to make a dumb decision.
 
as i recall, there was a thread on here for Rhea v OMGWTF @ $3K?
but that money's off the light now.
 
ScottyDzntKnow said:
I would tell anyone the same thing because it's the facts. Me and Justin Hall ran around for years before anyone really new how he played and it still wasn't worth it. Yes you make a couple big scores but what about when you get stiffed for 5000. I'm telling her bad idea because I have been there. Do you know the kind of places you have to go in to be able to grind it out. How do you think she would fair in Jackson Ms alone leaving the pool room or Atlanta, Mobile, New Orleans or the hundreds of places nobody's safe leaving with a pocket full. It's not my bussiness to tell her what to do, but I damn sure won't encourage her to make a dumb decision.
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Well this is where we differ. She is a grown up who is no stranger to pool rooms. This is not a 21 year old going out on her own.

But as far as that goes there have been many women who went on the road by themselves or with partners at times. Holly Sholes and Rachel Abbink to name a few.

Adults should be free to do what they want to do. if they want to put themselves into dangerous spots then do it. Sure give your advice it's expected. But don't expect that everyone should do what you say and not want to do what you did.

Tell me you didn't make some good scores on the road with Justin? Tell me you didn't have some good times and have some good stories from that time? I know you did because I know how it is and how things go down. I know you had times when you made great scores by trapping someone and other times you outran the nuts.

At the end of it you didn't get rich, you didn't find the whale game and end up $100,000 to the good but guess what, you survived to tell us about it. Justin survived to go on and win the banks at DCC or whatever he won...

You and I both know that a B player isn't strong enough to be a road player. Not in the way you know it goes down on the road. So how far down the road will she get? Couple towns? One city?

It's not like she has the tools to make it because IF she did then she would already be doing it. So I say still go for it do all that you can, stretch to your limits and when you hit the wall you can't get over then find another route.

It's how I live my life and you won't see me ever advise another human to live their any differently. Sure I will give them pointers and things to watch out for just like people have done for me from time to time but at the end of the day each person has to forge their own path.
 
John, if Rhea were your Daughter or Sister, is this the advice you'd give give her? If so, I'm thankful I'm not related to you. Despite your implications, I don't see anybody judging her or attempting to dictate what she do. I see people offering advice with her best interests in mind. As usual with you, I see you burning tons of bandwidth arguing with everyone. You simly can't keep your narcissistic personality under control can you?
 
nobcitypool said:
John, if Rhea were your Daughter or Sister, is this the advice you'd give give her? If so, I'm thankful I'm not related to you. Despite your implications, I don't see anybody judging her or attempting to dictate what she do. I see people offering advice with her best interests in mind. As usual with you, I see you burning tons of bandwidth arguing with everyone. You simly can't keep your narcissistic personality under control can you?
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I have two daughters. If either of them tell me that they want to go out by themselves and try to make it as a player I will say go for it. When they are growing up I will do all I can to protect them and prepare them for life. When they go off on their own I will be there to help and support them but I will not control their lives.

Don't worry about me. Control your own urge to put me down just because you don't agree with my view on life. Did you live my life? Do you have any clue what my life has been like and what my influences and experiences have been? No, you don't beyond what I have shared. So save your analysis for someone who cares about what you have to say.

How do YOU know what's in anybody else's best interest? You call me narcissistic and yet it's you who is presuming to know what's best for someone else. Perhaps someone should appoint you to be the one who hands out life/work assignments since you seem to think you know what the best path is for everyone else.
 
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AtLarge said:
Apparently Rhea is about 37 years old, has been playing for about 18 years, and plays at about a B speed.

Food for thought: has there ever been anyone who was that old, had played for that long, and played at that speed (or lower) -- and then went on to become a decent professional player?
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Very good post, i would say no to your question.

It looks like to me, if Rhea happens to become a better player from this experience, It still wouldnt do her any real good, because being the type of gambler Rhea is she would find a way to go broke after all!

As some off us are aware of, it doesnt take a AAA pool player to win money at pool.

A b player could make a very nice living on the road, its happen before and it will happen again, but it wont happen with a person that has weaknesses with understanding what to do and what not to do while on the road!

Flipping coins for 100 dollars to show you got gamble, thats a NO NO , enough said!

If Rhea does continue, i hope her the BEST!
 
Perhaps it escaped you John (it usually does) but this started when you became critical of other people's advice to Rhea. If you have advice for her, give it. However, you don't need to project your negative opinion of other people's advice. Argue with someone else dude, I'm done wasting my time with you. BTW, you may not see anybody offering her a job but I don't see you providing Rhea your contact info so you can wire her money when she's flat broke and can't afford a hotel or meal.
 
nobcitypool said:
Perhaps it escaped you John (it usually does) but this started when you became critical of other people's advice to Rhea. If you have advice for her, give it. However, you don't need to project your negative opinion of other people's advice. Argue with someone else dude, I'm done wasting my time with you. BTW, you may not see anybody offering her a job but I don't see you providing Rhea your contact info so you can wire her money when she's flat broke and can't afford a hotel or meal.
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Why would I do that? I don't expect any of you to pay for my decisions in life so I don't expect anyone else to ask me to pay for theirs.

I don't care how it started, you stated your opinion of my view and DECIDED not to leave it at that and yet you accuse me of being the one to argue blue sky.

If you're done be done. Go away. But I bet you're not and won't.
 
ok, i'm going downstairs to get my nails done & KK9's going to help setup for Mosconi. WHEN I GET BACK, i'd like JB & NOBCITY to have kissed & made up!
 
JB Cases said:
I have two daughters. If either of them tell me that they want to go out by themselves and try to make it as a player I will say go for it. When they are growing up I will do all I can to protect them and prepare them for life. When they go off on their own I will be there to help and support them but I will not control their lives.

.
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You'd have to be a terrible parent to encourage that sort of thing.... I would give them options, let them know why their choice is wrong, and then if they choose so be it... but my God, there is no future in it, why encourage it. That is part of the "help and support them" that you mention,, now is the time of help them make the right decision...

You might as well encourage her to be a homeless person, it's easier, and you get free soup :)

If you daughter turns 18 and wants to be a typewriter repairman, do you set her straight, or let her follow her dream ??
 
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Ladies & Gentlemen, Please do not make any attempt to adjust your computers John Barton is now going to tell everyone exactly how it is. He is now ready to take over complete control of this thread and you had better not even think your thoughts are remotely correct. Sadly I have now finished lunch and have to get back to hanging my Christmas lights. Back to the John Barton tells it like it is show!!
 
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JB Cases said:
I have two daughters. If either of them tell me that they want to go out by themselves and try to make it as a player I will say go for it. When they are growing up I will do all I can to protect them and prepare them for life. When they go off on their own I will be there to help and support them but I will not control their lives.
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That's good parenting. There are some people around here who'd prefer their daughter dead than a drug addict.

Seriously.
 
JB Cases said:
But as far as that goes there have been many women who went on the road by themselves or with partners at times. Holly Sholes and Rachel Abbink to name a few.
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Rachel Abink and Rhea are nothing alike, not even close.... One, Rachel played WAY better, two, while Rachel may have her blond moments she is pretty freaking sharp and has decent street smarts. If Rachel still played and was around I'd stake Rachel giving Rhea the 7 and then stake her giving like the 7 & the last 3. Rachel will beat most men she would see on a day to day basis, Rhea, not so much....
 
ChicagoRJ said:
You'd have to be a terrible parent to encourage that sort of thing.... I would give them options, let them know why their choice is wrong, and then if they choose so be it... but my God, there is no future in it, why encourage it. That is part of the "help and support them" that you mention,, now is the time of help them make the right decision...

You might as well encourage her to be a homeless person, it's easier, and you get free soup :)

If you daughter turns 18 and wants to be a typewriter repairman, do you set her straight, or let her follow her dream ??
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If repairing typewriter is what she wants to do then she will have come to that conclusion by knowing all the options. To which I would say good luck honey, maybe consider making leather typewriter cases on the side?
 
The Saw said:
Rachel Abink and Rhea are nothing alike, not even close.... One, Rachel played WAY better, two, while Rachel may have her blond moments she is pretty freaking sharp and has decent street smarts. If Rachel still played and was around I'd stake Rachel giving Rhea the 7 and then stake her giving like the 7 & the last 3. Rachel will beat most men she would see on a day to day basis, Rhea, not so much....
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Also true.
 
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