Jason Robichaud said:
...Maybe if Jam knows a pro player, she could ask. Does pool start fun and then switch to something else. Does it start to feel like work? Does practice time drop?....
I think everybody's situation is different, but I will throw out a few pool tidbits I have accumulated.
Desire is imperative for any sports competitor. It is important to remember that "Spanish Mike" LeBron was 54 years old when he won the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship.
Some players will always shine, after hitting millions and millions of balls in their lifetime. It is kind of like getting on a bicycle after you haven't ridden one in a long time. When Keith McCready came in third place in the 2003 U.S. Open, he hadn't hit a ball in over a month!
Anybody who knows me, especially my work associates, is well aware that I have always had a passion for pool, long before I met Keith McCready. When I did hook up with Keith and began to follow the American professional tournament trail, attending two, three, and four tournaments every single month, I was in pool heaven!
Going to the U.S. Open for the first time was like a kid going to Disneyland for me. I had a permanent smile on my face and enjoyed every single minute of that week-long event.
During this time, I spoke to Ronnie Allen on the telephone, a good friend of Keith's that I had never met. I asked him, "Ronnie, why aren't you at these pool tournaments? You should be here with the rest of the players. How could you have no passion for pool anymore?" Ronnie's response to me, "When you've been beaten up by pool the way I have, you lose your passion to play."
I did not understand that reply one bit and was extremely disappointed in Ronnie Allen at that juncture. However, fast-forward 7 years to today, I understand where he's coming from completely.
Keith McCready is full-blooded American pool legend. Every single event we have attended, people come up to speak to him, sometimes asking for a picture or an autograph. When he's in action or in competition, his table will always been crowded by onlookers because Keith's whole game is about connecting with the audience. He is a true entertainer at heart, and he can play pretty good, too!
The rewards for being a good pool player do not afford one to live a decent lifestyle. In order to play pool competitively in the States, you must have a sponsor, live at home with your parents, or have a girlfriend/wife like me who loves pool.
I understand only too well why Fabio got frustrated at SBE when he was playing Gabe Owen. I have driven hundreds and hundreds of miles myself to attend events with $500 entry fees, $1,000-plus hotel costs, travel costs, miscellaneous expenses, and loss of income for me being at events instead of at work, only to see Keith eliminated at the beginning of a tournament. Even when Keith came in first place, we were always stuck from the expenses of other tournaments we went to.
I won't even get into the occupational hazards of being a full-time pool player, but most of the ones I know do not eat properly, usually getting fast food because it is cheap. They sleep on the floor or in cars to save monies on hotel expenses. It is not unusual to see four and five players sharing one hotel room at pool tournaments, and then there is the substance abuse.
Can you just imagine what it was like for pool players to attend IPT events with a green room? Even if you came in dead last at an IPT event, the last-place monies covered the expenses. Never in the history of this sport have pool players been treated like professionals in this manner. Some have difficulty understanding why there are/were IPT supporters. Though the business plan was flawed because pool sucks in the United States, the players who did get a chance to attend had pride, some of them for the first time in many, many, many years. If you are a player by trade and have been one in these United States for decades, you'd get it.
I don't care if Keith never hits a ball again. I love the man, not the pool player. Pool will bankrupt your soul, if you let it.
JAM
