JBs Thread
- Thread starter Gerry Williams
- Start date
Reading these threads makes me sad. I'm not naive, I know that for a lot of people stirring up sxxt on the forum is their guilty pleasure, but lately it's gotten out of hand. What could have been an interesting read about someones preparations for playing a game for a lot of money has degenerated into childish namecalling and pure self-destructing by people that should know better. I made some jokes in earlier threads, which I regret now. Some poeople just don't take jokes that well, and sometimes the jokes are misunderstood. I thought they were funny, but looking back they may have been to harsh and less funny than I thought. Those threads have all been deleted, saving me the trouble of deleting my posts.
The mods are not stupid, they know that the minute CTE is mentioned the insults come flying. Thats why they must instantly move the threads every time that happens. The topic has been discussed to death to such an extent that there is not even any debating anymore. Usually what would happen was a debate which gradually heated up, someone would get slightly out of line and get banned rather unexpectedly. Now what happens is that the debate part is skipped (every aspect of aiming has allready been discussed to death) and everyone gets right to the insults. They knowingly go way over the line just to get the last word in before they get banned.
I was really excited about this matchup, and I think I will still watch it, but I don't think I will read the threads after the match is over...Good luck to both players, I hope whoever wins will be classy about it.
The mods are not stupid, they know that the minute CTE is mentioned the insults come flying. Thats why they must instantly move the threads every time that happens. The topic has been discussed to death to such an extent that there is not even any debating anymore. Usually what would happen was a debate which gradually heated up, someone would get slightly out of line and get banned rather unexpectedly. Now what happens is that the debate part is skipped (every aspect of aiming has allready been discussed to death) and everyone gets right to the insults. They knowingly go way over the line just to get the last word in before they get banned.
I was really excited about this matchup, and I think I will still watch it, but I don't think I will read the threads after the match is over...Good luck to both players, I hope whoever wins will be classy about it.
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I watched an interview with SJD on onepocket.org. It was really interesting, and he came off as a funny and genuinly nice person as well as someone who played really strong in his heyday. Seems like a great guy to be around! I am certainly not celebrating that he got banned, neither am I celebrating the other bans. Not one for Schadenfreude, except when it comes to crooks like Trudeau. SJD did not deserve the malicious attacks on his person, they were way out of line and I understand that he got mad. He is after all a HOF'er and should, for that reason alone, be given a minimum of respect, and he did get a lot of slack from the moderators, but less from other posters.
I laughed at some of SJDs posts, but you must admit that he didn't contribute a lot when it came to how to play pool. I bet he would have had a lot to offer on shot selection etc. but he chose not to, which is his right of course. In the end people were fed up with being told that they knew nothing and being ridiculed. Some people just don't take jokes and sarcasm very well, and someone of his age and experience and obvious intelligence should of course know that.
From SJD's posts I gathered that he believed talent to be the one true attribute of great champions, and that practise, theory etc had limited effect on people who lacked that trait. I may be wrong, but that is what I got out of it. That would of course explain his reluctance to give advice.. Not a very popular idea to be selling on here, even if he may be right. I hope he will be back.
Talent is wonderful, but hard work and dedication can be rewarded. I was a ham n egger pool player for 16 years. Just a bum shortstop. I became a player overnight at age 30. I had taken lessons for all that time without much result. Finally, I spent a week with Gene Skinner, a pretty much unknown, but great, great player, and he turned me completely around.
I believe to play natural is the absolute best way to play, however, I am also deeply grounded in systems and science, that's why I can still play a little at age 73. Also why so many players fall dead after they hit 40.
When you are shooting at the session ball, or any super serious situation, believe me it it awful nice to have a math and science background to use as a mental crutch that keeps your confidence up. To know in a bank shot that when you are coming out of diamond 4 on a cross-side with your cue ball and the object ball is lined up directly at diamond 1 3/4, and I am going to hit it firm with no english, that is going to provide me with a little extra cool out to my perhaps, jangling nerves.
Beard
Believe you, me, it is nice to know that you are doing the right thing.
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TheThaiger
Banned
You're British, presumably. Do you feel this forum has helped you play better pool in any way? If I'd have played pool rather than lounging about, wasting time on here, I'd be a far better player than I am now. No doubt SJD feels the same. No foul, there's just a limit to what a forum like this can achieve. What CAN he teach us, anyway? People need to quantify what they want or need.
This forum is for entertainment purposes only IMO. It's a zero-sum game. You might win in one respect but lose in another. Again, no foul, it's just how it is.
I GREATLY object to those who use this place to sell dreams to people who don't know any better. Sell them products but do not sell them the idea they will become better players simply by ingratiating themselves to pros. No one has ever become a great player through the written word.
Not British, but a snooker and pool player. I can understand why you would think that, though. We were taught English in school, and US English was not acceptable. Then, at University all the books were in US english, so I am completely confused language wise, lol.I have gotten some useful info out of this forum, some nuggets from here and there. Of course I would have been better if I just played instead of hanging around the forum. But I can't always go to the pool hall, so I sneak onto the forum during the daytime whenever I have 10 or 15 minutes available.
A great player could have something to teach you, you never got any coaching? I got coached by a professional British snooker coach who taught me shots and strategies I never would have picked up on my own, as well as work on my fundamentals. The shots could have been shown in writing, but of course this man makes a living from teaching them and I would not betray his trust. I am not a pro, and never will be, but I'm a lot better and enjoying the game more, both pool and snooker. That is all I want out of it. This forum gives me enjoyment and laughs and sometimes useful info, thats what I get out of hanging around here.
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TheThaiger
Banned
No, nor read a book or watched a DVD, either, nor do I know anyone that has. Maybe that's why I'm crap lol.
Things are different here in the UK, it took me a long time to figure it out. Here, almost everyone who is a serious player today will have started relatively young, would have learned on their own, and will all play in a very similar manner. People who have not experienced it will not understand this but it is true: there is a completely natural way of playing that develops organically, and only outside intervention can louse it up.
Take two 8 year old kids and give them the same equipment and playing time. Lock them in a sealed room for a decade and don't let them out. They will be virtually identical players by the time they are 18, although one will be marginally better than the other, obviously. They will both look like snooker players.
No books, no coaching, no TV, no systems, no nothing. Yet they will play the game identically.
From what I can gather Americans often start to play the game later in life, as a social activity. This leads to a totally different perspective on the game, hence a fascination with teaching, secrets, systems et al.
I don't know anyone in the UK who first picked up a cue aged 20 or over. It just does not happen. You either start young at home or you start when you're 16-18 and going to the pubs for the first time. You do not take up cue sports when you're 55 and looking for a new challenge.
And I hear you on American English lol. I actually agree with them on dropping the superfluous 'U's, but don't tell them.
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You don't even bother to actually read what I write OR you deliberately ignore it just to be contrary.
Systems do not make anyone great. They are tools just like ghost ball is a tool or Freddy' s banking methods are tools.
A great hammer doesn't make the carpenter great but it does make the carpenter's job easier.
No player will ever say they became great because of a system but some will give credit to techniques that have made their tasks easier.
As for your continued claim that I do bad what is your criteria for being good?
Is it running racks? Winning tournaments? Give us your scale from sucks to star and I will tell you where I fit in.
Everywhere I have ever been I am one of the better players...not the best but not too far below them either. I am not at all helpless.
But please give us something to compare to so we can understand how high your standards are.
Also, a placebo is when there is zero physical influence but a change in feeling is reported. In other words if I repackaged some Masters and asked you which chalk brand is better, Masters or the new brand and you said the new brand is better then that would be a placebo effect.
If I tell you to do something physical and you get tangible improvement then that is not a placebo.
No different than if you told me to adopt a snooker stance and I started pocketing balls better. That is a physical change in approach. Because you believe that a snooker stance is better then you would say of course the increased skill is because of the new stance.
Yet if someone here develops a different way to get into the shot you dismiss it without even trying it.
Why?
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A genuinely great player is highly respected for his accomplishments. Great players who participate here are always welcome until they become insulting and demeaning. That applies everywhere in life.
Imagine the loss if Dick had spent his time sharing stories from his time, sharing insight from the trenches of high level combat...then people would be mourning his absence more.
Placebo can also be when I tell you to do something physical... like take a sugar pill to cure an ailment... and you get tangible improvement because of your belief that you have taken the cure.
just incase someone didn't know "The Beard" is also a HOFer... just sayin' :grin:
Banks
Banned
I'm a bit surprised he lasted as long as he did and couldn't agree more about both of those statements.
Not the same. Taking a pill is not a physical activity where you alter your method.
Taking a pill is a psychological trigger.
If you are a runner and I tell you to alter how you run then that is a physical change and if you then run consistently faster then you can attribute it to the new physical approach.
If I give you a pair of track shoes and tell you that they are engineered to give you more speed but they are exactly the same as your old shoes then that is a placebo and has zero physical change. If you then actually run faster then it's because of some psychological trigger.
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Mine came through fascination. Lots of free play with zero instruction. Gambling with no instruction.
Then some instruction and diligent observation of better players coupled with a ton of focused practice.
Then structured competition in Germany in leagues and tournaments coupled with more instruction and practice.
Then with aiming systems and more focused practice and deliberate study of strategy.
That's how I got to where I am at.
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years ago SJD played 1 pkt out west in the 60's 70's (write-up on onepocket.org hall of fame members list-- in 2012 he was elected into the 1 pkt Hall of Fame.... I can not find a post which would be of benefit for an up and coming player or adds any sort of value. :scratchhead::shrug:
GW -- plays at a semi-pro/short stop level currently -- seems to do nothing but support furthering the knowledge of the game on this forum and actively works to grow the game outside of the forum. He threw a zinger (a very good one) at SJD :killingme: -- and SJD spit out his oxygen tubes :barf:-- it was beautiful (IMO) :groucho: --- and deserved a free 1-year gold membership NOT a ban! :clapping:
Gerry ... head on over to onepocket.org .. ... many of the threads there are very educational in both bank pool and 1 - pkt. :dance:
A change in method can simply be psychological too. If the benefit comes from the belief instead of the method then the method was just placebo.