Can non-pool players ever undersrtand me???

Jaden

"no buds chill"
Silver Member
The more I think about it, the more I think that non pool players or NPP's can NEVER understand what it is like to love this game....

I think that the only people who can come close are heroin addicts.

I am NOT being facitious here. It's almost like a first crush when you can't think about anything but that person.

At work, at home, on the forums, on the table, it seems that all I can think about (with some exceptions) is pool.

I sometimes even find myself fantasizing about playing pool while making love. J.K. but it almost feels like I would.

I"ve talked to people that are obsessed with other things, but they just don't seem as dedicated to them as the pool addicted people.

I really think that there is nothing more addictive than excellent pool.

I wanted to start exercising again......

so what do I do. I set up a work out regimen. 50 pushups, run tywo or three racks of nineball. 50 situps, run two or three racks of nineball. browse AZ for a few minutes. run two or three racks of nineball.

Start over, next set.

It's almost crazy......

And of course I have to deal with an NPP wife, so it can be difficult to explain because to her it seems like I care more about the game than her, and in some ways I just might.....:sorry: :sorry: :confused: :confused:

Oh well....

Jaden
 
i agree, when i wasnt playing for a few years I knew the "player" in me never left, like any addict thats clean.
 
Jaden said:
The more I think about it, the more I think that non pool players or NPP's can NEVER understand what it is like to love this game....

I think that the only people who can come close are heroin addicts.

I am NOT being facitious here. It's almost like a first crush when you can't think about anything but that person.

At work, at home, on the forums, on the table, it seems that all I can think about (with some exceptions) is pool.

I sometimes even find myself fantasizing about playing pool while making love. J.K. but it almost feels like I would.

I"ve talked to people that are obsessed with other things, but they just don't seem as dedicated to them as the pool addicted people.

I really think that there is nothing more addictive than excellent pool.

I wanted to start exercising again......

so what do I do. I set up a work out regimen. 50 pushups, run tywo or three racks of nineball. 50 situps, run two or three racks of nineball. browse AZ for a few minutes. run two or three racks of nineball.

Start over, next set.

It's almost crazy......

And of course I have to deal with an NPP wife, so it can be difficult to explain because to her it seems like I care more about the game than her, and in some ways I just might.....:sorry: :sorry: :confused: :confused:

Oh well....

Jaden

I stopped caring what people think long ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDq36YD1ESM&feature=related
 
Fatboy said:
i agree, when i wasnt playing for a few years I knew the "player" in me never left, like any addict thats clean.


True statement. It may go into remission but it is always there. ;)

BTW Fatboy, are you going to be at the Swanee?
 
I think you and dogsplayinpool are right....

pwd72s said:
Or...a "car guy"


I think you are right but only if they equate those sports with pool. I think most people just don't take pool seriously and REALLY don't understand what it takes to play at the highest levels of the sport. Even those like golfers that DO understand what it takes to play at the highest level of that sport...

Jaden
 
I think that anyone with a very high drive can understand it.....the problem is that very few people have a very high drive. I've had a very high drive in every facet of my life.

While I was in powerlifting I worked out 7 days on and 1 off. I'd spend the off time thinking about what I was going to do the next day and if that day was as productive as I felt it could be. My eating and sleeping routines were all about that 2 hours in the gym. If I got hurt I would pop a vicodin and two nupros or other prescription anti-inflammatory and get back in the next day. I did it because I wanted to see how far I could go.

I also played softball at the same time. I'd take BP twice a day on my days off hitting 300-400 balls a day which is a ton. Most people felt that hitting 50 was the most they could do. I had a soft toss pitching machine which lobbed em at me from about 2 feet away. I wasn't going to be happy until I hit 10/10 out of the park. I only got up to 7/10 before my joints were in so much pain from lifting and softball that I couldn't deal with it anymore. The whole time I took that BP I only saw two other people hit a homer off of it though which may tell you how hard it is to do.

Now I am back playing pool and I am the same way. Sadly I don't have the time to play every day for hours. When I do get to play I am in the moment just like any other thing I've done. I'd compare it to taking BP at night. I'd be out there alone with the lights on and it was like field of dreams. When I'm not playing I am thinking about playing. Luckily I won't have to worry about my joints hurting unless they require use of a 200lb cue so I'll be able to do this for a long long time.
 
Jaden said:
I think you are right but only if they equate those sports with pool. I think most people just don't take pool seriously and REALLY don't understand what it takes to play at the highest levels of the sport. Even those like golfers that DO understand what it takes to play at the highest level of that sport...

Jaden
You underestimate people. Any person that has trained to play a game at the highest level can understand your drive. They, of course, dont understand the game from all angles but thats how it is for anybody looking from the outside.

I personally think I learn games quicker because I know how it is to push for a goal. When I played racquetball I trained over 40 hrs a week. At one point I played 56 games in one week just for the fun of knowing I played 8 games a day for 7 days straight. And that was at a high level of play not just banging the ball around or running over weak players.

I must admit I never dreamed about racquetball when I was gettting service from the girlfriend, that is over the top for sure.
 
That's why you see people of the same sport, trade, and profesion hanging out in groups with their own kind. Police hang with police, firemen hang with firemen, nurses hang with nurses and docotors hang with other doctors. It's because people not doing the same job they are don't have a clue what the ones I just mentioned days is like. It's the same with poolplayers and non-poolplayers. It's just the way it is. Johnnyt
 
Jaden said:
I think you are right but only if they equate those sports with pool. I think most people just don't take pool seriously and REALLY don't understand what it takes to play at the highest levels of the sport. Even those like golfers that DO understand what it takes to play at the highest level of that sport...

Jaden


This is changing somewhat the question posed in the your original post, which was can a NPP understand our love for the game? I think that most people who truly love a game or a sport, be it golf, tennis, etc., can appreciate someone else having a love of their own sport. Bear in mind too that some people just don't have that addictive gene. I play golf pretty seriously and I love the game, but I don't eat, breath and sleep golf like some golf-nuts do. There is a difference between loving the game of pool and being a pool "nut".

As far as appreciating the difficulty, that may be difficult for someone who does not played the game to fully understand.

But I can tell you, for example, that playing golf at it's highest level is exceedingly difficult. Any serious golfer knows that there is light years of difference between the scratch golfer (shortstop if you will) and a tour pro. Because of this, I think a serious golfer, if told by a serious pool player how hard it is to play world class, could intellectually appreciate the difficulty in mastering pool without having first hand knowledge because they understand it in their own sport.
 
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I always say that pool is the high you can't buy. When you are in dead punch it's better than any drug. But you have to earn it you can't buy the high like you can with drugs.

No, people who don't play can't really understand what it means to be in control of the universe like we feel when we make the balls do what we want them to.
 
Of all my friends, I don't think any of them are NPP's now that I think about it. I guess the saying about birds of a feather flock together rings true. :wink:

I just don't care if NPP's get me or not. :rolleyes:
 
Other than for those who play pool for a living, pool is a hobby.

For the diehard pool player, their hobby is a passion that consumes a huge amount of their time and attention. Countless people have a leisure-time pursuit that consumes a huge amount of their time and attention.

It won't always be possible to grasp why others get such a rush out of their hobbies. Some are passionate about rock-climbing, cooking, or deer hunting. Though there is no fascination for me in any these pursuits, I'll can fully appreciate the rush that others get from these passions, as I have one of my own called pool. Others can, similarly, appreciate the concept, but not the fabric, of my fascination with pool..... but only a person fascinated by pool will be able to appreciate what makes pool majestic, and there's really nothing wrong with that.
 
Well put, SJM. Folks with obsessive hobbies should understand each other in some way. Those who don't have them? Like many of our wives? They think we're half insane.:)
 
DogsPlayingPool said:
True statement. It may go into remission but it is always there. ;)

OMG....I'm positive again! For the past 5-6 years for various reasons my game has slipped (not that it was ever good) to like a low C level. My only playing was once a week APA. I putzed around Joe Tuckers site one day and for the heck of it I started doing some of his drills. I don't know what it was, but my game almost is back to where it was. I can't stop thinking about playing pool. For the first time in years and years I am going to Valley Forge. If I start playing so I won't totally embarrass myself I might even play in the summer turning stone event. Even as I type I am trying to figure out how I can get out of the house today (yeah, yeah, I know...but you single guys just don't understand) to play.
 
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