Best in the world? Or just in your town...

Michael Andros

Michael Andros

tiny balls, GIANT pockets
Silver Member
When I was 18 or 19, my best friend at the time and I were driving around, getting our attitudes herbally reconditioned and at some point, I said "I want to be the best player in the world." He gave me a look and said "You're out of your f'ing mind." And I replied "Maybe... but you can bet on this, anyone who ever GOT to be best in the world, thought they were going to be pretty early on..."

Now... as everyone knows ( or should ), merely thinking or believing you're going to be the best in the world in no way means you will be. But I firmly believe, in order to become the best in the world, you have to believe you will be. I don't think anyone ever got to be the best by accident. And part of what it takes to become the best, besides the endless hours put in and many other other things as well, is to firmly believe you're going to be. Or that you are. That said, there are infinitely long lines of people who will be glad to tell you "You're out of your f'ing mind..." They're the ones who will all too readily say "You'll be lucky to be the best in this town." And, sadly enough, I think the larger percentage of people believe that when they hear it.

So whaddaya think? Is believing you'll be the best really mean you're "out of your f'ing mind."? Or is that one of the needed steps in actually becoming the best...
 
Hell with believing it. I know I'm the best...

in my household...

most days...










...the dog can probably give me the 8.
.
.
 
I'm the Okayest.
 

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Wouldn’t you have to be a little out of your mind to want to be the best at pool?

That’s like saying you want to be the best in the world at hopscotch.
 
couldnthinkof01 said:
Wouldn’t you have to be a little out of your mind to want to be the best at pool?

That’s like saying you want to be the best in the world at hopscotch.
Click to expand...

I had a friend that said I dont care if I'm the best in the world at shucking clams,I just want to be the best at something.
 
Michael Andros said:
And maybe the 10% of those Meuccis that are still straight ( which would include mine, thank you very much ).
Click to expand...

You are a lucky person.
I only have that in my signature because back in the '80s i bought a great looking and playing Meucci and it warped in 6 months,and i took good care of it.


You out there Bob?
You owe me a cue!
 
measureman said:
You are a lucky person.
I only have that in my signature because back in the '80s i bought a great looking and playing Meucci and it warped in 6 months,and i took good care of it.


You out there Bob?
You owe me a cue!
Click to expand...

I had a brand new one back in 75 or so that I loved. The ferrule cracked after @ a month. And it got stolen a few months later ( right after I got a new ferrule, of course ) so I never got to see if it would've warped. My 73 is straight as an arrow. I bought it in 78. I've sure heard about them warping, though. I think mine's safe, however ( knock wood ). If it's still straight after 45 years, it's a good bet to stay that way.
 
Michael Andros said:
When I was 18 or 19, my best friend at the time and I were driving around, getting our attitudes herbally reconditioned and at some point, I said "I want to be the best player in the world." He gave me a look and said "You're out of your f'ing mind." And I replied "Maybe... but you can bet on this, anyone who ever GOT to be best in the world, thought they were going to be pretty early on..."

Now... as everyone knows ( or should ), merely thinking or believing you're going to be the best in the world in no way means you will be. But I firmly believe, in order to become the best in the world, you have to believe you will be. I don't think anyone ever got to be the best by accident. And part of what it takes to become the best, besides the endless hours put in and many other other things as well, is to firmly believe you're going to be. Or that you are. That said, there are infinitely long lines of people who will be glad to tell you "You're out of your f'ing mind..." They're the ones who will all too readily say "You'll be lucky to be the best in this town." And, sadly enough, I think the larger percentage of people believe that when they hear it.

So whaddaya think? Is believing you'll be the best really mean you're "out of your f'ing mind."? Or is that one of the needed steps in actually becoming the best...
Click to expand...
More important is having a plan to get there.
 
Over my lifetime, I’ve had the good fortune to encounter and know a number of successful, respected people. Quite the range, from skilled trades to craftsmen, from business people to doctors, musicians, etc.

All shared a belief in themselves. A STRONG belief. They had a vision which was entirely their own. Many encountered adversity and were encouraged by those ahead of them on the path to turn away, as they did not “have what it takes”. Most did not even bother to wave as they passed the naysayers along the path.

But, not every story is a success story. At some point, given enough time and enough reality cues (no, not that kind of cue), it’s important to pick up on all those and realize who you are and whether it’s to your advantage to adjust your vision.

Just read that and it’s true but probably not appropriate for a pool forum. Home with the wife after she had day surgery. All is fine (until the anesthetic wears off), so I’m on my second large Bourbon and waxing poetic...
 
Michael Andros said:
When I was 18 or 19, my best friend at the time and I were driving around, getting our attitudes herbally reconditioned and at some point, I said "I want to be the best player in the world." He gave me a look and said "You're out of your f'ing mind." And I replied "Maybe... but you can bet on this, anyone who ever GOT to be best in the world, thought they were going to be pretty early on..."

Now... as everyone knows ( or should ), merely thinking or believing you're going to be the best in the world in no way means you will be. But I firmly believe, in order to become the best in the world, you have to believe you will be. I don't think anyone ever got to be the best by accident. And part of what it takes to become the best, besides the endless hours put in and many other other things as well, is to firmly believe you're going to be. Or that you are. That said, there are infinitely long lines of people who will be glad to tell you "You're out of your f'ing mind..." They're the ones who will all too readily say "You'll be lucky to be the best in this town." And, sadly enough, I think the larger percentage of people believe that when they hear it.

So whaddaya think? Is believing you'll be the best really mean you're "out of your f'ing mind."? Or is that one of the needed steps in actually becoming the best...
Click to expand...

michael
to me the best have this in common
the drive to prove the doubters...WRONG
the drive to practicE
and

the talent to achieve it
and a mentor to help you along the way
 
Korsakoff said:
Over my lifetime, I’ve had the good fortune to encounter and know a number of successful, respected people. Quite the range, from skilled trades to craftsmen, from business people to doctors, musicians, etc.

All shared a belief in themselves. A STRONG belief. They had a vision which was entirely their own. Many encountered adversity and were encouraged by those ahead of them on the path to turn away, as they did not “have what it takes”. Most did not even bother to wave as they passed the naysayers along the path.

But, not every story is a success story. At some point, given enough time and enough reality cues (no, not that kind of cue), it’s important to pick up on all those and realize who you are and whether it’s to your advantage to adjust your vision.

Just read that and it’s true but probably not appropriate for a pool forum. Home with the wife after she had day surgery. All is fine (until the anesthetic wears off), so I’m on my second large Bourbon and waxing poetic...
Click to expand...


The thing about believing you can be the best, for me, anyway, is this: if you're positive you'll be the best and it doesn't happen? At least you went down swinging...

Hope the wife feels better soon.
 
I like kaizen. I figure if you try to get a little better everyday
you may eventually be the best at something, maybe.
 
If you work on becoming the best player in the world, you will be as good as you can be, which will be enough to be good and maybe the best player in your town. If you set a goal far ahead of everyone else, even if you don't reach it you can still go further than many.

The guy shooting next to you could be happy playing 2 hours a week at league night. His goals are the end of his nose. You want to play with SVB and battle him even, even if you go just a bit to that goal, you are ahead of the person next to you.

People I play with often wonder why I miss or lose when I can play pretty well, often I just get lazy when I see the rack as finished, but I am OK if I lose since I know that my goal is not to win but to play as best as I can. If I made several shots I know are tough, I am happy with the match. If I have 30 hangers in front of me and I miss half of them, I am also OK since I know those are not that important to my game. I know I can make them or I know I can win the rack or beat someone, so I don't have to. I only get worked up over messing up a tough shot where I need to play perfect position to the next ball. Once I get there, if I miss the ball or not, I'm still OK with the shot. If I miss an easy shot, oh well. Which may be the reason I don't play for money past $10 or 20 and don't play in high entry fee events LOL
 
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Believing you're gonna be the best doesn't mean you're out of your mind. It means you believe in yourself.
 
Okay, six bourbon’s in now. Long past ”waxing poetically”. Wife is good, so the last couple are just being selfish, which is not bad on occasion.

Long time ago, a Mentor told me, “You got to figure out the answers to two questions in life, ‘Who are you?’ and ‘‘What do you want?’”.

Sounds easy, until you think about it.

So, if the answers are, “I’m a pool player.”, and “I want to be the best in the world.”, then you should definitely go for it. Unfortunately, from my perspective, that pursuit lacks a clear path as there is a real lack of clarity there, as discussed in another current thread.

There are “Road Players”, “Tournament Players”, and for many, a bit of both. Same as Poker Players being “Cash Players’ vs “Tournament Players,”

My comment here relates to the difficulty of keeping reality in perspective. How long does the “what do I want’ - “be the best player in the world” hold up in the face of reality?

To me, the endgame here is happiness. The more your understanding of “Who am I” meshes with “What do I want”, the happier you are.

And who doesn’t like a happy person?

Gawd, that’s awful. No future bourbon infused postings - promise.
 
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