Benefits of joining an APA league?
- Thread starter BD23
- Start date
I feel that I would play fine, after playing for 5-6 months or so, but I am definitely not very competitive at that level right now. I have not played (except a few times), over the last 5-6 years.
I had cataract surgery and lasix, and that was great, for a while. Then, I had a detached vitreous detachment (Right vitrectomy), where the doctor said he repaired 9 tears in the retina, and removed/replaced all the vitreous material. That turned out pretty good... right eye not as good as before, but ok. However, now I have developed a "macular pucker" in that eye... it is all just a factor of aging... lots of other medical issues, too.
I definitely enjoyed the camaraderie.
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I expect that complicates the process...you'd have to get St. Louis involved, I suspect. If they made it too easy and simple, it would be abused, because, well...people suck. And then that makes it more difficult for those who it genuinely applies to.
It's a shame, all around.
Coos Cues
Coos Cues
We only have BCA league here but I go primarily to share in the joy 350 fargo players exhibit when they win a single game of 9 ball against me. I also enjoy the long waits between games it builds the excitement to a fever pitch! Drunkenness all around me is very relaxing. But the biggest thrill of all is after playing 20 weeks or so getting that $90 payout!
Then I get to be eligible to go to the regional event and go two and out now that I have to face actual competition. If I play really well and have a big event I can sometimes recover 20% of the cost of attending. Live for that stuff!
League play rock!
Then I get to be eligible to go to the regional event and go two and out now that I have to face actual competition. If I play really well and have a big event I can sometimes recover 20% of the cost of attending. Live for that stuff!
League play rock!
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For me, the only benefit was spending time with friends. The sister of one of the guys on my team used to stop in to see him on league nights before she went out with her friends. She was a good shooter herself and played a few sessions with us. We have been married for almost 14 years now.
If you want real competition, you will find it in one of the other league formats imo. Also, in the other leagues, you can play on teams with your fiends regardless of your skill levels. In APA that is not the case if you and your friends are advanced players. The APA league model is to split up teams and create more teams as the skill levels of the players increase. Rarely does an area have enough highly skilled players to support a masters league. Maybe things have changed in the last 20 years though.
In any case, it was a net positive for my non-pool life, and a net negative for my pool life.
If you want real competition, you will find it in one of the other league formats imo. Also, in the other leagues, you can play on teams with your fiends regardless of your skill levels. In APA that is not the case if you and your friends are advanced players. The APA league model is to split up teams and create more teams as the skill levels of the players increase. Rarely does an area have enough highly skilled players to support a masters league. Maybe things have changed in the last 20 years though.
In any case, it was a net positive for my non-pool life, and a net negative for my pool life.
Coos Cues
Coos Cues
Nice story James.
If you have been married for 14 years now I don't need to ask if she still goes out with her friends.
APA League to improve your game will be exactly what you make of it. A few teams will have 1 maybe 2 players dedicated to getting better, absorbing and sharing all the knowledge they can find.
Then you will have near Fargo 700/APA 7s that just have 30 experience playing, can't explain anything to you, and they are usually the biggest pre-Madonna assholes and find any reason to cry when they miss position or you beat them.
It won't take you long to find and gravitate towards the players you are looking for. Honestly, just talk to the league owner/operator, they will help accelerate your end goal.
Then you will have near Fargo 700/APA 7s that just have 30 experience playing, can't explain anything to you, and they are usually the biggest pre-Madonna assholes and find any reason to cry when they miss position or you beat them.
It won't take you long to find and gravitate towards the players you are looking for. Honestly, just talk to the league owner/operator, they will help accelerate your end goal.
As a type 2 diabetic with heart problems (10 prescription pills daily), I no longer drink alcohol. My wife and I eat out on league nights before heading to the bar to play pool, so we don't buy food at the bar.
What we do is take a bottle of Coke Zero (since the bar doesn't have it) and a Yeti cup, give the waitress five dollars to fill the cup with ice and let her keep the change (which essentially is the whole five dollars). Every so often my wife will have a draft beer in a frosted mug.
Best I can do under my circumstances.
My League Operator told me that I had to present them with a note/letter from my doctor saying I had issues with performing day-to-day activities before they would consider lowering my skill level. This was shortly after my stroke.
I don't have issues with day-to-day activities, I just have issues with mental focus and stamina. And I am NOT going to bother a heart surgeon for a note to appease some league operators. That's so grade-schoolish.
I am no longer playing in an APA league after 17 years of it. At age 70 and with so many physical things causing me discomfort, I don't tolerate BS anymore, and IMHO my LO's demands were pure BS.
I will however continue to keep going to the bar to give support to my wife and her team. A lot of people up there I like to call my friends, many that prayed for me when I was in a bad way last year.
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Because I had forever heard that one could get their skill level lowered by the League Operator if ever a medical emergency arose preventing one from being able to play equitable to their current skill level. It just wasn't so.
No disrespect taken.
I played in APA a few years. Quite a few of the older players in masters division talked about how their skill level was "locked" and they couldn't get it lowered even though "insert old player problems".
Seemed such a common thing I assumed it was the same everywhere and common knowledge.
With all those years in league did you meet others that had their SL lowered or was this just something you had heard?
Do you have a masters division available? No handicaps to worry about.
As far as I knew, it had to be done at the national office.
I never heard of that, but it seems that it would be difficult. I am a 100% rated disabled veteran. Getting "letters" from doctors is difficult, at best.
Don't get me wrong... I am not overly bitching about APA not lowering ratings, etc. I have never asked them to. I had planned to play again, a couple years back, and renewed my APA membership. At that time, I was told my SL was locked... I never "appealed" it, etc.
I had a good friend who was a SL7... he had diabetes, and lost a leg... continued playing as SL7, in a wheelchair. At some point, I feel APA could become proactive in the matter.
I played Master's Division for quite a while... both of my Master's teammates have passed away... another problem with "aging".
Not necessarily because I am playing apa, but a fellow league player keeps sharking me . First he broke the balls right in my face. I just lifted the rack about 6 inches off the balls, then BAM! He often stands in my line chalking his stick. He got an azz chewing for the break from both sides, and I had to stand back up, give him a dirty look, regroup for my shot. He doesn't realize that this has motivated me to beat him, as I have for the two matches we played . What a jerk!
Innings, innings, innings. At the basic level in APA the less innings you have the higher your skill level. If you're beginning to have ball runs higher than normal or starting to play more safeties, that will show up in your skill level. Generally speaking it means you have moved to that next level but haven't identified it yet. I suggest you pay attention to shots you miss (bring a notepad to league night) and then take an hour out of your week and practice those shots and see what happens. Did you miss a low left shot, a long straight shot, a back cut, a long rail bank, a short rail bank, inside English, outside English, etc. Start learning why you lose.