Breaking your cue; A right of passage?

[Reaper114]

Hmmm iv definately come close on a few occasions in the past but have seriously changed since then! This is the closest ive came to doing it! About 4yrs ago or so aged about 18, I Remember losing it big time after i lost a money match!!

Id Had two massive arguements earlier in the day before the match and it definately took its toll. The first was with a girlfriend over something silly and the other was with my mother about lodge.

Id already paid four weeks in advance about a week prior! was in the car going back to the house about 2 hours b4 the match when i was asked for weekly lodge and i went absolutly nuts, was told to get out of the car and dont come back to the house!! so i threw my wage packet (about ?350) at her and said keep it you greedy *****! Went to the pool hall where the match was to be played! I ended up losing when the guy had a unbelievable fluke to win it! At the time it was hill-hill for double or quits. Thats probably the worst feeling ive ever had! Feeling Sick and boiling to the brim i jus walked out and when i reached the stairs i just snapped mentally! Threw my Case with my ?300+ cue inside it, down the two flights of stairs! Thank God nobody was coming into the club as it would have done some serious damage!! Went down the stairs quite quickly to investigate as i jus realised what id done! I saw that my aluminum case had buckled on impact and spilt into the two halves where the joints had obviously broken this wasnt my concern! it was my cue and on close inspection, much to my surprise there wasnt even a sratch on it. hehe Only lucky break i got all day LOL!! Since then ive never even come to losing it like i did that day. Was definately part of my right of passage in growing up!!

 

[BillPorter]

So you lost all respect for Earl Strickland breaking his cue in that Youtube video? Really?

Please read my post again. I said I lose "a bit of respect" for the player when I see this. How on earth did you get from "a bit of respect" to "all respect???" Of course I didn't lose "all respect" for Earl as a result of that incident. But I SURE DID lose "a bit of respect" every time I saw Earl acting in an immature/childish manner. And as a result, I have more respect for Efren, not having seen him act out in childish and immature behavior, than I do for Earl. But am I correct in assuming that you have more respect for the cue breaking players than players who have never broken a cue? I think the problem we are having is that you, as a cue breaker, can be expected to look up to this kind of behavior, whereas I, as a non-cue breaker, see things quite differently. If it's OK with you, I will be glad to simply agree to disagree on this one.

 

[Gregg]

If anyone thinks having a passion for the game makes immature behavior acceptable......... they need to learn something about sportsmanship.... and how to act like an adult.
Chuck

Oh, I can't agree more; I loath someone who would demonstrate poor sportsmanship while playing.

Acting out in a way that would show you loosing your composure like breaking something (anything for that matter) in public is not something acceptable for a person to do.

I've NEVER broken a cue in public, and it was only one (that I will admit to ), and it was in the privacy of my own basement.

 

[Gregg]

Please read my post again. I said I lose "a bit of respect" for the player when I see this. How on earth did you get from "a bit of respect" to "all respect???" Of course I didn't lose "all respect" for Earl as a result of that incident. But I SURE DID lose "a bit of respect" every time I saw Earl acting in an immature/childish manner. And as a result, I have more respect for Efren, not having seen him act out in childish and immature behavior, than I do for Earl. But am I correct in assuming that you have more respect for the cue breaking players than players who have never broken a cue? I think the problem we are having is that you, as a cue breaker, can be expected to look up to this kind of behavior, whereas I, as a non-cue breaker, see things quite differently. If it's OK with you, I will be glad to simply agree to disagree on this one.

It's not OK to disagree since I AGREE with you; As an adult, I have NEVER publicly broken anything, including a pool cue, in public. It would be personally embarrassing.

It's a sad sight seeing an adult who can't control their emotions.

And sorry when I mistook what you said. Rep point to you for finding a common ground.

 

[Dead Money]

Sorry no matter how bad I **** up which believe me I **** up big time sometimes I refuse to let a game turn me into an asshole

 

[Gregg]

Sorry no matter how bad I **** up which believe me I **** up big time sometimes I refuse to let a game turn me into an asshole

No doubt it's a sad sight to see someone lose their cool.

 

[manwon]

I've seen it a couple of times....I'll quit the game if I ever do it...I got to think I'm pretty passionate about the the game...I'm equally passionate about my cues..And try to refrain from showing my ass like that.

Andy

Very well said Andy, I could not agree more!!!!

 

[cuetechasaurus]

Show me a pool player, and I'll show you someone who has, at one time or another, broken a cue.

The cue I broke definitely had it coming. Sometimes you may feel trapped with your cue, and there is no way out, or you are forced to defend yourself, and in a pinch break your cue in half in order to use as a weapon. Other people can't come to grips with how far away their game is from their expectations, and in turn let their cue have it. It's even possible that you are afraid that people are laughing behind your back, because you show up to league night with a Cutec, Scorpion, or a pink ribbed Stealth, and you want people to understand that you mean business.

And if you say you didn't, your either lying or your not as passionate about the game as the rest of us.

That's an absurd statement. Are you trying to follow suit of Walt Frazier's earlier threads (before he was outed)?

Efren's the best player in the world, and I highly doubt he's ever intentionally broken his cue.

Breaking your cue has nothing to do with being passionate about the game.

It's got everything to do with lying to yourself. Your ego won't let you blame yourself for making the mistake. So you take it out on your cue to make you feel better. It's a silly and childish thing to do.

 

[bagofpaper]

Think of it this way - Do you think it is cool for Earl the Pearl to beak his cue on TV? Do you think he is an example to follow when he does this? I don't. Although you may feel like breaking your cue or punching the wall, etc. people will think of you as they think of the Pearl. He/you are a total asshole for doing something like this.

Huh?? It's his cue! Who cares if he breaks his own cue? You ever see a baseball player smash the bat against the ground after striking out? You think it's cool? huh? what? come again? I still don't get it..

damn, even in golf players break clubs regularly.. who cares.. it's funny. plain and simple.

 

[Gregg]

Huh?? It's his cue! Who cares if he breaks his own cue? You ever see a baseball player smash the bat against the ground after striking out? You think it's cool? huh? what? come again? I still don't get it..

damn, even in golf players break clubs regularly.. who cares.. it's funny. plain and simple.

Come to think of it, I had a guy break his cue playing against me, who wasn't winning. This usually means he is a really, really bad shooter.

Personally, I didn't think much of it, and in no way took it personally.

 

[Gregg]

That's an absurd statement. Are you trying to follow suit of Walt Frazier's earlier threads (before he was outed)?

Efren's the best player in the world, and I highly doubt he's ever intentionally broken his cue.

Breaking your cue has nothing to do with being passionate about the game.

It's got everything to do with lying to yourself. Your ego won't let you blame yourself for making the mistake. So you take it out on your cue to make you feel better. It's a silly and childish thing to do.

Are you being for real with this post? Comparing me to Walt Frazier?

I could never live up to that posters standards.

 

[Klopek]

0000000000

 

[buck15]

broken cues

Show me a pool player, and I'll show you someone who has, at one time or another, broken a cue.

The cue I broke definitely had it coming. Sometimes you may feel trapped with your cue, and there is no way out, or you are forced to defend yourself, and in a pinch break your cue in half in order to use as a weapon. Other people can't come to grips with how far away their game is from their expectations, and in turn let their cue have it. It's even possible that you are afraid that people are laughing behind your back, because you show up to league night with a Cutec, Scorpion, or a pink ribbed Stealth, and you want people to understand that you mean business.

And if you say you didn't, your either lying or your not as passionate about the game as the rest of us.

i was going to say not every player has broken a cue, but i rememberd about 20 years ago i accidently broke a shaft. i went to move the coin past the side pocket on a bar table and hit the tip just inside the pocket under the rail. i was at the breaking end. it snapped the shaft right at the joint. a huebler sneeky. i loved that cue. i was young though. i didn't get a shaft for it as i recall. i just went and bought another cue. after that repressed memory, my cue collecting sickness now makes more sense lol. it started early. but i never broke one on purpose or in anger.

 

[poolnut]

While I think it is each player's right to break their own cue if they so choose, I have not and will not ever intentionally break one of mine. If I make a mistake, I know that I am at fault for the mistake, and not my cue.

For the cue breakers: I wonder what you do for your cues when you make excellent shots, if you bust them over your knee when you make bad ones???

 

[Jimmy M.]

Show me a pool player, and I'll show you someone who has, at one time or another, broken a cue.

The cue I broke definitely had it coming. Sometimes you may feel trapped with your cue, and there is no way out, or you are forced to defend yourself, and in a pinch break your cue in half in order to use as a weapon. Other people can't come to grips with how far away their game is from their expectations, and in turn let their cue have it. It's even possible that you are afraid that people are laughing behind your back, because you show up to league night with a Cutec, Scorpion, or a pink ribbed Stealth, and you want people to understand that you mean business.

And if you say you didn't, your either lying or your not as passionate about the game as the rest of us.

I wound up and javelined one across the room when I was a teenager. Amazingly, it didn't break. I later broke one on the floor. I think I was still a teenager at the time. Apparently it doesn't take much force to snap a cue if you whack the tip on the floor.

Fortunately, I outgrew that phase!

 

[Tokyo-dave]

When I was 14 years old, I dreamed of being a guitar player one day. We weren't poor, but family rules in my house meant that my folks put a roof over my head, and food in my mouth.....................anything else I wanted, I had to pay for with what I earned through various odd jobs. It took me a whole summer of mowing grass and landscaping to earn enough to buy my first Fender Strat. And that guitar meant the world to me. I remember older videos of Hendrix and others trashing their guitars and other gear on stage before I could afford my own, and I remember how disgusted I was. To me, that was like taking poor and hungry kids on a tour of an all you can eat buffet and telling them "you can look, but you can't touch/eat."
I never attained my dream of being a world class guitarist, but I did spend about 12 years working in various bands and as a studio musician on the Tokyo music scene, and I have never purposely mistreated any of my gear in any way on stage in front of people, because I have never forgotten that there might be somebody out there that would die for the gear that I have at my disposal.
THE SAME GOES FOR CUES, golf clubs, baseball bats, and even soccer shoes. Disrespecting the tools of the trade shows a total lack of respect for the trade as well as the fans.
Sure I understand Earls frustration, and his breaking his cuetech in the middle of a rage, but take it from me...............there is always somebody out there that would die to get his hands on one of those cuetechs with all the glitter filled decal inlays and carbon covered shafts!!!
dave

 

[blackeee]

I've been playing pool{sometimes as my only source of income} for over 40 years and I've NEVER broken a cue , by accident or on purpose,although I have made a couple of people break their own.

 

[Drew]

Oh wow...let's see.

Five broken shafts
Countless cracked ferrules
One cracked buttcap
One bent pin
Two torn bumpers
One cue used as weapon against valley table.

 

[JesPiddlin]

Accident

I view cue breaking not as passion for the game but as a rather immature emotional outburst. I lose a bit of respect for the player who displays this lack of self-control.

There are accidents that happen that nobody expects. For instance, my first special pool cue (a really cheap production cue)... I was playing pool at a local family pool hall and we were all having a great time. Unfortunately, someone had put one of the taller tables a little too close to the table we were at. I had bumped it before, but usually just tried to work around it. I was playing a great game and when I got to that end of the table for a shot, I pulled my cue back and

WHUMP!!!!!!

My cue hit the bottom of that table... not even very hard. However, it was hard enough at just the right spot. Unfortunately, the wrap on my cue covered a knot in the wood. I obviously hit the stress point of that knot and the back end of my cue fell off. I watched helplessly, as the wrap rapidly unraveled itself onto the floor.

My heart broke when my cue broke, but I was lucky. I have a cuemaker that can make anything right. He fixed it for me and I still have that cue. I have other cues I play with on a regular basis, but I keep that original cue, because it was my first special cue.

Nope. It wasn't any immature emotional outburst that broke my cue. It just happened. (Although I felt like having an immature emotional outburst afterward.)

 

[JesPiddlin]

House cue! House cue!

...THE SAME GOES FOR CUES, golf clubs, baseball bats, and even soccer shoes. Disrespecting the tools of the trade shows a total lack of respect for the trade as well as the fans...

Hey Dave,

I can relate to your story. We raised our kids to have respect for their tools of the trade, too. We had a big enough family there was often a wanted item that we couldn't afford. So, we taught the kids how to raise money to buy their own items that were above and beyond the "need" list, when necessary.

One day, we were at the local family pool hall during a 9 ball tournament. Some of the family was already playing when I walked in. They told me there had been a bit of a fight for just a minute, before the guy was tossed out of the place. In the beginning of the fight, I guess there was a rather expensive cue or two broken by the angry player(s). We couldn't imagine anyone just throwing their money down the drain, like that. Our whole family has custom cues and we treasure them.

From that day forward, we always had a family joke that if we ever got that mad at a GAME, we need to think "House cue! House cue!!"