"... I have come to the table at the end of the night to sign-off on the scoresheets and seen where the other teams scorekeepers have maybe marked three or four total safeties where I had about 20-25 marked. I can't count the number of times this has happened. So, when two teams play each other that neither one of them mark safeties, well.........."
Yes, and we APA LOs can see this too. One week doesn't prove anything but when teams insist on this pattern week after week the APA LO can, in fairness to the honest players, adjust the SLs of those players/teams who try to hide their true skill by such "creative" score keeping. This is to the benefit of the honest players as it is what we are paid to do.
Several times a week (for years now, it seems) some one will get on one of these threads and shout to the world how "that damn LO raised my SL for no reason at all, etc". Well, there is a reason and you know it. Try keeping score accurately and playing to win every game like you're supposed to. Your SL is a representation of your pool playing skill in relation to the other players in your area. The SL 6s, as a group, are better than the SL 5s; the SL 5s are better than the sl 4s, etc. The best half of your most recent nights are averaged together with an allowance made for your overall W-L record. The numbers are crunched by the software, reviewed each week by the LO and POOF - there's your SL. That's the short version of how it works.
To you honest APA players - THANK YOU for your participation. We LOs value your trust in us to do battle with the cheaters of the world. We strive to give you your monies worth of value for your recreational money and time you invest in your APA play.
To you APA sandbaggers - I can't catch everyone one of you on every night but eventually you always make it obvious what your real SL is. Those players on the other team just love to write up details for my files about you. When I get enough feedback, from different sources, and have reviewed your score keeping pattern - do you really think you are going to be getting much benefit of the doubt?
For many of us the APA is our only job and our only source of income. Do you really think we are going to screw it up just to make your life miserable for no reason at all? If you try to cheat my honest players I will eventually catch you and deal with you as I think fair.
Many of the contributors to these threads are VERY accomplished players and really take the game very seriously. I respect that. Many of you regular posters must realize how the APA is structured and what our league has to offer to players of your caliber. Many of you higher skilled players would be much happier playing BCA or some other system anyway. The APA is not after you as a paying player, though you are welcome as long as you abide by APA rules. The APA is designed to appeal to the lower skill players (typically SL 2,3,4 and some 5 and 6s) and protects those players by the 23 rule and enforcement of the sandbagging protection rules. It is not rocket science and it has never been a secret. It's in our rules for all to read.
The 23 RULE does not force teams to break up. When you have 5 to 8 individual players organize into an APA team you know exactly what kind of team mates you are joining. If your SLs finally get to a level which gives you issues with meeting the 23 rule requirement - you knew this was going to happen before the LO did. Seldom does a team sign up a total stranger with no idea what his SL will be (at least approximately) by play off time. No LO can force a player onto your roster that you do not want. If you find "damn, we can't meet the 23 rule anymore" it usually means you just can't play your favorite combination of players any more. You have to choose a new lineup to fit into that weekly zig saw puzzle of the 23 rule. If the APA system gets your individual players up to where your submitted score sheets show they should be - it's not the fault of the APA. It's your players being rated honestly accordingly to the APA system and review by the LO. Your weekly opponents have to deal with the same issue each week.
To those that wish to post here all kinds of annoyomous horror stories with no names, places, or details which would allow verification - don't you realize how obvious you are being to the rest of us? Whatever! I love you anyway.
FULL DISCLOSURE - I have been the APA LO in Jackson County Mo (much of greater Kansas City) since 1980. My name is Tom Campbell. My email is
TC99999999@aol.com. My players weekly match fee is $6. Last year I paid back over $32,000, more than any other billiard league in the greater KC area. And YES I do this for a living and I do make a profit, which is what I live on. My location owners do not give away beer or food for free - you pay for it. You have to put quarters into their table to play. If you want your own cue you have to buy it.
Few things in the world are free. Except the opportunity to get up here and proclaim to the world how "that damn LO raised my SL for absolutely no reason at all". Somewhere there is another sandbagger, who also isn't getting away with it anymore, willing to offer you his sympathy.
I shall vanquish it, someday, maybe starting tonite...:embarrassed2:
On a side question.. how big a range does your league/division cover out there?
