When John Shmoe plays pool (8 ball, call shot)...does he wear a suit? No, he wears bar attire typically. Maybe he's with a lady he wants to impress and has a nicer shirt on, but mainly it's casual dress.
When Jane Shmoe plays pool does she dress conservatively? Does she make sure not to curse? Does she demand the room be dead quiet, with even the slightest sneeze by a nearby watcher making her so angry she can barely continue to play?
How many times have you seen Mikey McRegularGuy out shooting some pool (8 ball, call shot), and he acts stately and proper, never "damaging' his image or those around him in this prim and proper billiards establishment (probably a bar)?
What the hell has gone wrong (at least in America) that has made most people seem to think that people who play it well should do the following -
- Play 9 or 10-ball, or any game other than 8-ball. Or at least MAINLY 8-ball
- Play on 9 or 10 foot table with tiny pockets
- Wear suits and conservative dress
- Be completely silent and demand everyone around them be completely silent, lest it hurt the level of play and "integrity" of the game
"Pool", as the general public knows it is -
- 8-ball
- Call shot (yes, shot)
- Usually on a bar table
- Dressed casual
- Played in a loud place with music and lots of activity going on
- Hootin and hollerin and cursin and having a good time
Why would this game EVER appeal to the fans if it's not something they recognize. Ask anyone who isn't a "pool player" to watch a pro match and it'll be completely foreign to them. Sure, modify some rules and equipment here and there for pro-level, but leave the essence of the game intact and recognizable to everyone everywhere.
Why do we think we know better than the ENTIRE PUBLIC and that we're protecting the "integrity" of the game, like we're talking about something that demands "integrity". That line of thinking is all wrong and why the game is disappearing.
It's a GAME where you poke balls around into holes. Does the game where they dribble the ball around and throw it through a hoop demand "integrity"? Is that game recognizable by the fans as basically the same game they play? There are a million examples here but the point is....
Stop with the pool "image" and "integrity" thing, you've got it all wrong.
When Jane Shmoe plays pool does she dress conservatively? Does she make sure not to curse? Does she demand the room be dead quiet, with even the slightest sneeze by a nearby watcher making her so angry she can barely continue to play?
How many times have you seen Mikey McRegularGuy out shooting some pool (8 ball, call shot), and he acts stately and proper, never "damaging' his image or those around him in this prim and proper billiards establishment (probably a bar)?
What the hell has gone wrong (at least in America) that has made most people seem to think that people who play it well should do the following -
- Play 9 or 10-ball, or any game other than 8-ball. Or at least MAINLY 8-ball
- Play on 9 or 10 foot table with tiny pockets
- Wear suits and conservative dress
- Be completely silent and demand everyone around them be completely silent, lest it hurt the level of play and "integrity" of the game
"Pool", as the general public knows it is -
- 8-ball
- Call shot (yes, shot)
- Usually on a bar table
- Dressed casual
- Played in a loud place with music and lots of activity going on
- Hootin and hollerin and cursin and having a good time
Why would this game EVER appeal to the fans if it's not something they recognize. Ask anyone who isn't a "pool player" to watch a pro match and it'll be completely foreign to them. Sure, modify some rules and equipment here and there for pro-level, but leave the essence of the game intact and recognizable to everyone everywhere.
Why do we think we know better than the ENTIRE PUBLIC and that we're protecting the "integrity" of the game, like we're talking about something that demands "integrity". That line of thinking is all wrong and why the game is disappearing.
It's a GAME where you poke balls around into holes. Does the game where they dribble the ball around and throw it through a hoop demand "integrity"? Is that game recognizable by the fans as basically the same game they play? There are a million examples here but the point is....
Stop with the pool "image" and "integrity" thing, you've got it all wrong.
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