I miss Patrick Johnson.....sharp and literate.....calls a spade a spade.
...yeah, he doesn’t suffer fools gladly...maybe you could tone it down a bit, PJ....
....tell a man he’s full of it more like Oscar Wilde would.
Just so you know...PJ is no longer banned. He just chooses to not post much. That said, I'm with you. PJ is my friend, and I enjoy playing with him every time I come to Chicago.
Been coming to AZB for about 13 years, officially joined 11 years ago and it became part of my daily morning routine. A hot cup of coffee and tear into all of the great content - Scooter and co taking off car wash bill changers for the quarters, Dippy, Billy, Scott and the tush hogs, JB & Lou barking to make their big 1p game then the aftermath, "Dildo Hair" escaping out the bathroom window while down in her money match with OMGWTF, kvinbrwr acquiring Michaela Tabb's gloves from Matt & Pinklady, Charlie Williams hotel escapade, Smorg's gems, Derek Disco's Nazi and other spectacular animations, Aiming Wars, TAR, which cuemaker went the most sideways (Wheat, Sutton, Gracio, Zinzola, etc, etc) Bill Stroud's "Design Your Dream" (or Nightmare, as it turned out), the Geno & Rhea road tour, and on and on and on...
There seemed to be an endless variety of interesting and extremely entertaining topics going on all the time on AZB. I know times change and Facebook has taken a lot of contributors away but I do and always will have massive appreciation for the info and entertainment provided here. I wish it could remain the central clearinghouse for all things pool, from A to Z.
I see when scrolling all the way down to the bottom of page 1 there's not been much movement at all in the previous 24 hours. And not a monumentally entertaining thread for what seems like miles.
Can anything be done about this or do we just accept that change is imminent?
best,
brian kc <---- still prefers AZB above all others
Also, another issue is the ease of posting and reviewing posts. AZB was the primary hub of communication for a while. That all changed when different forms of social media appeared and became the favored medium of social interaction on the internet. Many people who have AZB accounts also have social media accounts. With billiard related content groups on social media, the need to log into AZB has been less.
I don't understand how it is possible to have a long discussion about anything on FB. The nesting of posts and resulting skipping around of timelines of posts makes confusing. Youtube is even worse with the backwards sequence of posts. I'm reading replies to posts before I can even find the original one. Maybe it's just me. I find the AZ format far easier for communication.
Az has been on a cycle and many things have led to it's current state. One of the main problems that AZ has always had is that anytime a top player or Pro comes on the site they get shouted down by internet Warriors who think they know more and can't be cordial.
Patrick Johnson was one of those people I don't know why people liked his post he was a ***** and he should have been banned a long time ago permanently.
He had some good knowledge but that knowledge was always predicated upon his attitude which sucked. He also wouldn't acknowledge whenever he was wrong there were many times that we disagreed on something and then he'd later say the same thing that I said change his mind completely on fractional aiming is one of those things he was like a huge Hal houle supporter and then one day oh no that's just bs when talking about pro one and fractional aiming.
Then you had people that would constantly harp on players that weren't really well-known but we're great players one of which was Demetrius jelatis who just what finished fourth in the Turning Stone?
People would ask questions and some players would answer them and then the harping would start. It just discourages players from posting and prevents good discussion.
Jaden
I like having pros around as much as the next guy. But what I have observed over the years is that most often the pro does not know how he does what he does anymore than prodigies or naturals at any other sport. And so, you end up with guys trying to describe and explain how to play pool and often (usually) those explanation don’t resonate or are based in faulty logic, or can even be proven to be flat out wrong.
One of the things I love most about pool discussion boards, going back to RSB, is to hear about and discuss how players from divergent backgrounds find their way up the mountain that is playing pool. Players with backgrounds in carpentry, to plumbing, to academia, the military, students, medicine, cops and robbers, and engineers all bring their unique perspective to the discussion and that is great. Because it’s the guys that have done something other than pool their entire lives that I can identify with.
I also find it rewarding when I can describe my own travails and someone will post in return something like: you know, that really resonated with me or, that really rang true to me.
I like having pros around as much as the next guy. But what I have observed over the years is that most often the pro does not know how he does what he does anymore than prodigies or naturals at any other sport. And so, you end up with guys trying to describe and explain how to play pool and often (usually) those explanation don’t resonate or are based in faulty logic, or can even be proven to be flat out wrong.
For me, I’d rather read what any number of other guys -- who bring a wealth of varied experience, knowledge and intelligent discussion to the table -- rather than hear from a pro who will not tolerate questioning while fans wring their hands wailing, “Oh please don’t harass him -- you’ll drive him away.” And what is that “harassment?” More often than not it has been polite questioning and the proffering of divergent opinions and scientific explanations. And my observation has been that, as a group, the pros hate scientific explanations and proofs. Their responses have often been bumper sticker logic and fortune cookie insights and to those of you that like that stuff I say: mazel tov.
But many of us like a little more substance than that. So wail away if you must. But please remember: people can and should disagree here -- it’s a discussion forum and as long as it’s polite, all points of view should be welcome.
Lastly, I think it's poor form to attack someone who cannot defend themselves. PJ is on temporary hiatus and will be back, I believe around the beginning of Oct.
Lou Figueroa
First off in regards to Patrick Johnson he put himself in that position so many times it's pathetic he should have been Perma banned a long time ago. Now I see the second it's not about whether the pros know how they do what they do or can explain it better than other people or even right it's about the attitudes that people have that drive them away from the site.
It's also not just the pros it's just the way that people discuss things with each other on this site me and Colin colenso used to get into disagreements all the time and we did it in a cordial way and we ended up talking about the same thing in different ways most of the time.
Jaden