Are aiming systems allowed in the APA?

Haha I suppose it was just a matter of time before someone did something like this.

My official answer is this: Only if the league operator is out to get you, and everyone else is sandbagging against you. So that should encompass everyone who posts about the APA.
 
I will never forget this story.

One year we had a booth at the APA Nationals and this guy comes in and he is fuming. He had taken a lesson with Dr. Cue the day before and Tom had fixed his stroke and taught him to draw his ball. He was a 4 prior to the lessons.

Well the next day his team was playing in the match and an APA observer saw him pull off a couple shots like drawing the ball table length and concluded that he should be a six and so they raised him to a six - which disqualified the team as they accused him of sandbagging.

That blew me away and my wife at the time had been heavily involved in the APA and was employed a few times as an observer and she confirmed that this is what they do.

So the answer is no. Anyone who wants to remain in the APA should do the following. NEVER EVER accept instruction of any kind. Do not read any books or watch any videos of how to play better. Never practice. Make sure your tip is in terrible shape and don't chalk often. If you can do it without harming yourself wear glasses that you don't need when you play.
 
I will never forget this story.

One year we had a booth at the APA Nationals and this guy comes in and he is fuming. He had taken a lesson with Dr. Cue the day before and Tom had fixed his stroke and taught him to draw his ball. He was a 4 prior to the lessons.

Well the next day his team was playing in the match and an APA observer saw him pull off a couple shots like drawing the ball table length and concluded that he should be a six and so they raised him to a six - which disqualified the team as they accused him of sandbagging.

That blew me away and my wife at the time had been heavily involved in the APA and was employed a few times as an observer and she confirmed that this is what they do.

So the answer is no. Anyone who wants to remain in the APA should do the following. NEVER EVER accept instruction of any kind. Do not read any books or watch any videos of how to play better. Never practice. Make sure your tip is in terrible shape and don't chalk often. If you can do it without harming yourself wear glasses that you don't need when you play.

So your wife at the time was an APA LO? All of the observers are league operators. APA has NEVER raised a player's skill level from 4 to 6 at nationals on the word of an observer. Maybe over the course of 24 hours (which could actually be 3 or 4 matches) he went from a 4 to a 6, but it wouldn't have been because Dr. Cue taught him to draw. When a team gets DQ'd there's a lot more going on than a lesson from Dr. Cue.
 
I have some Popcorn Popping I think this thread has become serious, well I think it is done aren't Microwave Ovens great!!!!!

I suspect that this thread is going to get interesting!!!!:smile:
 
So your wife at the time was an APA LO? All of the observers are league operators. APA has NEVER raised a player's skill level from 4 to 6 at nationals on the word of an observer. Maybe over the course of 24 hours (which could actually be 3 or 4 matches) he went from a 4 to a 6, but it wouldn't have been because Dr. Cue taught him to draw. When a team gets DQ'd there's a lot more going on than a lesson from Dr. Cue.

My wife was the "right hand man" of the local LO when she was involved. And perhaps there was more going on - I only had one side of the story, his, and my wife's testimony that people get raised if they appear to be better than they are rated.

Her name was Jayne Rowley when she was an observer and either she lied to me about it or she really did do the job she said she did. She only mentioned it to me because I thought it was a silly thing for a guy to raised up because he made a few good shots. If it's important to you and you can find out then feel free to look it up.

Still though if I went to the APA nationals then I wouldn't be taking any lessons from anyone until we were done. Not only that I'd forbid my teammates from taking lessons or buying any instructional material, just to be on the safe side.

And if I were the APA headquarters I'd fine every league operator $5000 per team that got DQ'ed. That would put more responsibility on the LOs to send properly handicapped teams to Vegas.

But that's a whole other can of worms.

I still find the guy's story entertaining. Boy was he pissed.
 
Aiming systems only allowed on the Houle-igans team. And the Itsy-Bitsy-Spideys. And most definitely on the JBeasts.
 
I like the idea of a fine to the LO of a team who gets DQ'd for sandbagging. It is ultimatley the LO's fault that these teams make it that far before getting caught. I think that the APA does a pretty good job on the merits of what they have at all levels. That is coming from someone with a great LO, good people in the league, and been to Las Vegas 3 times with only a few problems.
 
APA wtf
CTE wth
APA + CTE ftmfw!
I'm not sure what you just said, but I don't think it's very nice.

The Wisconsin Tourism Federation recently had to change their name. It seems that everyone was laughing at them and they didn't understand why. Google has the details. The are now the Tourism Federation of Wisconsin.
 
Here's What you Don't Know

1. The National APA has developed a standard pocket marker made of Chucknorium, the toughest element in the universe.
2. If a person is caught using an aiming system, the player must play with this pocket marker balanced on his head.
3. In the event of any dispute, both Chucknorium Pocket markers are placed on the table to duke it out until one pocket marker dies. The winner wins the dispute.
4. If your pocket marker dies, you must buy a new one for $500 from the LO.

All of this can be overwritten in by-laws, but that just might p1ss Chucknorium off.
 
1. The National APA has developed a standard pocket marker made of Chucknorium, the toughest element in the universe.
2. If a person is caught using an aiming system, the player must play with this pocket marker balanced on his head.
3. In the event of any dispute, both Chucknorium Pocket markers are placed on the table to duke it out until one pocket marker dies. The winner wins the dispute.
4. If your pocket marker dies, you must buy a new one for $500 from the LO.

All of this can be overwritten in by-laws, but that just might p1ss Chucknorium off.

sounds par for course
 
Back
Top