League players are strange people

DAVE_M

DAVE_M

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I moved to another town, that is big on APA 8-ball & 9-ball. I decided to join in the league; For fun of course, playing 3's and 4's isn't exactly thrilling money matches. The captain of the team badgered me every night to sandbag, which I did not. Trying to cheat in a trophy league is stupid and a waste of effort and time. Anyways, I went from a SL3, to a SL4, to a SL5, and finished the session 7-2.

I found another team to play with, because I was tired of the "league player" and sandbagging crap. When the captain found out, the dude flips out, calls me a traitor and says never to talk to him again. Are all league players little nitty ninnies like that? I hope not.

I was told once from someone on these forums, "If you're in a league for money and trophies, you're in it for the wrong reason."

Maybe I should start wearing my APA patches, pocket chalker, and neon glove? :rotflmao1:
 
The behavior of league players, some of which you just described, is why I avoid it like the plague. Most of them take the game too seriously and can't get out of a rack if their life depended on it. I'll probably take heat for that one but it won't be the first or the last time.
 
DAVE_M said:
I moved to another town, that is big on APA 8-ball & 9-ball. I decided to join in the league; For fun of course, playing 3's and 4's isn't exactly thrilling money matches. The captain of the team badgered me every night to sandbag, which I did not. Trying to cheat in a trophy league is stupid and a waste of effort and time. Anyways, I went from a SL3, to a SL4, to a SL5, and finished the session 7-2.

I found another team to play with, because I was tired of the "league player" and sandbagging crap. When the captain found out, the dude flips out, calls me a traitor and says never to talk to him again. Are all league players little nitty ninnies like that? I hope not.

I was told once from someone on these forums, "If you're in a league for money and trophies, you're in it for the wrong reason."

Maybe I should start wearing my APA patches, pocket chalker, and neon glove? :rotflmao1:
Click to expand...

No, not all league players are "nitty ninnies".

The real question is, are there any "real" pool players who aren't condescending *****s?
 
Not all of them are crazy but they just seem to outshine the others. I spent several sessions on some really bad teams until I finally found a team and chemistry that worked for me.

We all take it seriously at one time or another but that's just the way life in general is. I would say if the guy was that far off center then he probably isn't worth worrying about in the first place.
 
DAVE_M said:
I moved to another town, that is big on APA 8-ball & 9-ball. I decided to join in the league; For fun of course, playing 3's and 4's isn't exactly thrilling money matches. The captain of the team badgered me every night to sandbag, which I did not. Trying to cheat in a trophy league is stupid and a waste of effort and time. Anyways, I went from a SL3, to a SL4, to a SL5, and finished the session 7-2.

I found another team to play with, because I was tired of the "league player" and sandbagging crap. When the captain found out, the dude flips out, calls me a traitor and says never to talk to him again. Are all league players little nitty ninnies like that? I hope not.

I was told once from someone on these forums, "If you're in a league for money and trophies, you're in it for the wrong reason."

Maybe I should start wearing my APA patches, pocket chalker, and neon glove? :rotflmao1:
Click to expand...

If you want a free* trip to Vegas, sandbag or stay home.

Jeff Livingston

* There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch, so to get this "free" trip, you have to merely sell your integrity.
 
I was at a tournament once and gambling cheap ($5 game 9 ball), and beat a guy pretty soundly. I cant remember exactly but it was definately less than $50 total. We were playing even on a bar box and I was really playing to warm up for the tournament.

I think I was a SL3 or SL4 and this guy I was beating was at SL5.

Nobody knew me but they looked up the SL, for the calcutta and when they announced my name and my SL, this guy I beat started crying like a baby that I was sandbagging or whatever. So I had to play as 5.

The biggest deal was I started playing in a bigger town (Springfield, MO) and he was playing in burg where their handicaps were higher because of less players.

To me that pretty well typified league players....

Ken
 
Mostly I am only at the bar on Friday and Saturday nights, but one time on a weeknight I stopped in and it was pool league night, the visiting team had brought with all these little stuffed animals and had them all over the place? I asked the owner what was going on and he said they bring those as good luck charms. WTF:withstupid:
 
Maybe I am just lucky but everyone on my APA team is nice, honest and a team-player. Some take it a little more serious than others, but they are still all in it as a team. As much as I would guess that there are probably many guys like your friend there, I wouldn't give up looking for the right team to play on. Especially as a SL5 that can play. They are very valuable. Good luck.
 
JBB2388 said:
Maybe I am just lucky but everyone on my APA team is nice, honest and a team-player. Some take it a little more serious than others, but they are still all in it as a team. As much as I would guess that there are probably many guys like your friend there, I wouldn't give up looking for the right team to play on. Especially as a SL5 that can play. They are very valuable. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I will admit, our League Operator is one of the nicest people I've met. Truely a great man. But, some of these people are nuts. I've played in a cash league for 5 years and always got in the money, but even then it was people being nitty and complaining 24/7. I figured with the APA being a trophy league, people wouldn't be so crazy.

I've met one guy in the league, that claims to be in it for fun. We played one night (outside of league) and I beat him 4 straight. All I heard was complaining after.
 
Jeff hit the nail on the head, only the best cheating team wins. It hurt my game when I started playing league, It is also too easy to be higher handicap than you should be because of the dumping. I just talked to friend the other day and he told me a 3 man apa handicapped tourney he was going to banned him and his teammates because our area league is known for the sandbagging/under handicapped.
 
We had a guy on our team who played several nights a week on league. He was probably two levels below his skill level. We told him week after week to play his best. He continued to sandbag so we kicked him off the team. I can't stand sandbagging. What's the most you can win anyways if you go as far as possible and win in vegas. Not to mention other teams have their sandbaggers. The odds of winning it all is slim even if you cheat. So play your best and have fun. You not getting rich playing in leagues.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
jburkm002 said:
We had a guy on our team who played several nights a week on league. He was probably two levels below his skill level. We told him week after week to play his best. He continued to sandbag so we kicked him off the team. I can't stand sandbagging. What's the most you can win anyways if you go as far as possible and win in vegas. Not to mention other teams have their sandbaggers. The odds of winning it all is slim even if you cheat. So play your best and have fun. You not getting rich playing in leagues.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

That's my point of view. I can't make Vegas even if we won it all. Hell, I can't make the city cup stuff (Which we won entry to). I finished 7-2 in my first session, our team won first place and entry to City Cup. I never received a thank you, a pat on the back, or even a simple "good job!". Then the captain gets pissy when I quit. We had three players on the team with a win percentage of 18% or lower and we still managed to win first place. I don't want to be arrogant, but I'd like to think I had a part in getting to 1st.
 
Various leagues

Grinder313 said:
Jeff hit the nail on the head, only the best cheating team wins. It hurt my game when I started playing league, It is also too easy to be higher handicap than you should be because of the dumping. I just talked to friend the other day and he told me a 3 man apa handicapped tourney he was going to banned him and his teammates because our area league is known for the sandbagging/under handicapped.
Click to expand...

Having played in twelve different league systems since 1966, I believe that playing in most of them, especially NPBA, VNEA and BCA, improved my game substantially. Not so much with the APA...
 
I quit playing league pool in '97 for the same reasons the OP stated. I could wax my team captain like a freakin' candle and he was a six, but they started me out as a 3 and I managed to somehow stay at that level. It was so bad that they even dissuaded me from playing on the practice tables so I would not reveal my strength.

It sucked.

I played one season and quit. Moving from ATL to FL made that easy, but I had no intention of playing with that crew again.

After moving to FL,I took up other hobbies and put away my pool cue for 15 years. Living in an area where the nearest pool hall worth a crap was a 45 minute drive away helped keep me away, but a recent move to an area with several pool halls close is all it took to get the itch again... I joined a team with a very, very good group of people with the understanding that I would not tolerate anyone coaching me to lose.

APA still had record of me as a 3. After going "rackless" against a 5 the first night and beating most of the team captains on the practice table that night, they bumped me two levels to a 5, then to a 6 the next week. It's only a matter of time before I hit the max there. Oh, and don't get me started about the stupid "slop counts" 8-ball rules, and the fact that if you make one ball on the break you have to pick that group, even though the others might be the easier run out. Stupid, stupid, stupid....

My two losses so far this season came to players who were CLEARLY sandbagging. It was really obvious to me (stall stroking when lots of balls on table, leaving good safeties to maximize innings, etc...). Straight up, I would have beat both of those guys handily, but seeing it go on in front of me like that pulled me out of my game a bit, and at that point I didn't care if I lost so that it might make them move up a notch closer to what they "should" be handicapped.

Now my team is really top-heavy and we will need to disband anyway. Handicap leagues suck. I think I'm just going to ride this out and join the pool hall's in-house Monday night 14.1 straight pool league instead. Players are more serious and there's a money payout.

I've been to Vegas... would rather go on a cruise or to Europe or something more exotic anyway.
 
Last edited:
With all the posts on this thread looks like the problem lies in the league system (handicap).
 
There are many threads on here that bemoan the death of pool and what can be done to save it. Yet whenever a thread about leagues come up people tend to kill them on here.

From where I sit leagues seem to be pretty successful. Once, twice, three times a week many people go to their local bar or pool hall and plunk down their cash to have some fun.

People are just messed up no matter what the sport. You have your cheaters and whiners, you have some really terrible players, you have some very good players but overall what you see is a microcosm of our society.

I think that leagues, whether it be APA, NAPA, TAP or any of the others, deserve the support of the top level players and anyone interested in seeing pool succeed. It's where the masses are, the very market that needs to be engaged for the industry to grow.
 
mattb said:
Not all of them are crazy but they just seem to outshine the others. I spent several sessions on some really bad teams until I finally found a team and chemistry that worked for me.

We all take it seriously at one time or another but that's just the way life in general is. I would say if the guy was that far off center then he probably isn't worth worrying about in the first place.
Click to expand...

^^^this.

We have some "characters", but fortunately no one that is flagrantly bagging. I wouldn't put it past some folks, and there are times that I raise my eyebrows a bit, but no one here is way off where they should be. If they are cheating, they ain't doing it very well, we haven't had a team from here make it Vegas in many years. :p

On the other hand, occasionally there are some who take it too seriously, but as a percentage of a hundred-plus players, its a very small number. They can cause a scene tho... :-)

I'm fortunate to play in a good area. That's why i will defend it, based on my experience. All the while realizing other areas might not be as fortunate as we are
 
pogmothoin said:
There are many threads on here that bemoan the death of pool and what can be done to save it. Yet whenever a thread about leagues come up people tend to kill them on here.

From where I sit leagues seem to be pretty successful. Once, twice, three times a week many people go to their local bar or pool hall and plunk down their cash to have some fun.

People are just messed up no matter what the sport. You have your cheaters and whiners, you have some really terrible players, you have some very good players but overall what you see is a microcosm of our society.

I think that leagues, whether it be APA, NAPA, TAP or any of the others, deserve the support of the top level players and anyone interested in seeing pool succeed. It's where the masses are, the very market that needs to be engaged for the industry to grow.
Click to expand...

Spot on, very true
 
I've come across my share of bad characters and teams, but not all are like that. I would like to think that I'm not like that. From time to time you find the good people. Recently, I was playing a team that one of the other team members loaned me his practice cue since I was having trouble with my own. I went on to beat his teammate with it. No one had any regrets and we've been good playing friends since (both the cue loaner and the teammate I won against). I would return the favor to them in a heartbeat. I like to be competitive, but not cutthroat. If the pool community was more like this, It would help remove the bad reputation it has for hustlers and gamblers, and bad influences in general. Not everyone who plays is morally corrupt.
 
pogmothoin said:
There are many threads on here that bemoan the death of pool and what can be done to save it. Yet whenever a thread about leagues come up people tend to kill them on here.

From where I sit leagues seem to be pretty successful. Once, twice, three times a week many people go to their local bar or pool hall and plunk down their cash to have some fun.

People are just messed up no matter what the sport. You have your cheaters and whiners, you have some really terrible players, you have some very good players but overall what you see is a microcosm of our society.

I think that leagues, whether it be APA, NAPA, TAP or any of the others, deserve the support of the top level players and anyone interested in seeing pool succeed. It's where the masses are, the very market that needs to be engaged for the industry to grow.
Click to expand...

Great post.

The closest poolroom to me is an hour drive but I can stay in town and play in leagues 4 nights a week. If the leagues were to disappear tomorrow, how many of those players would still come out and play? Damn few.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top