Can Pro players get jobs and still compete?
- Thread starter PETROBOY
- Start date
Not too sure. I don't go anywhere anymore, not because I can't afford it, but because I can't get away from my work. :frown:
When you buy a brand-new 2007 car in 2007 and in 2014, there is only 11,000 miles on it, that speaks volumes of my lifestyle today.
JAM,
i guess i am not sure what you want from this forum.
Alot of people do have great stress & pressure in there lives.
You talk about the stresses of being a pro player.
From stories i have heard, if when the tourney was over if all involved had just gone home or back to the hotel, they would be a lot better off.
No one forces the winner, or the guy in 50th place to hang out all night & gamble away his winnings.
Sometime the blame falls on the ones who bring it upon themselves.
I am not trying to insult anyone.
Why is it everyone elses fault that pros cant a living at pool?
To me it seems that no one has ever made a good living at pool.
SLIM
i guess i am not sure what you want from this forum.
Alot of people do have great stress & pressure in there lives.
You talk about the stresses of being a pro player.
From stories i have heard, if when the tourney was over if all involved had just gone home or back to the hotel, they would be a lot better off.
No one forces the winner, or the guy in 50th place to hang out all night & gamble away his winnings.
Sometime the blame falls on the ones who bring it upon themselves.
I am not trying to insult anyone.
Why is it everyone elses fault that pros cant a living at pool?
To me it seems that no one has ever made a good living at pool.
SLIM
You seem to stereotype pro players that all gamble after the tournament concludes. This is not true of all players.
Nobody says it is everybody else's fault, either. What I am saying is that this forum continues to demean pro players as no-good, disgusting, bottom-feeding bums. I happen to disagree. You can continue to think all pro players are hustlers, scufflers, and addicted gamblers, but you're dead wrong. My opinoin? A lot of people on this forum are stone-cold knockers.
See, this is where you're putting words in people's mouths. Not one pro player came on this forum yesterday or today and asked for sponsorship at the Derby. Not one.
Reality is demeaning.
Pool players have it easy compared to others: pool players work hard, compete in a tournament and win money if their score is better than their opponent's score. Easy.
How about writers? Begin your writing journey in junior high school. Later, lock yourself in a room for years writing the great American novel. Then you can't even get a publisher to read it. No one will even give you an chance. If it were only as easy as paying a $500 entry fee! (BTW, if you are a writer you must write every day...at least 5-6 hours...otherwise your skills will deteriorate)
Musicians? Hundreds of thousands of super-talented musicians (as good, if not better, than any you've heard) who couldn't pay a cable TV bill much less the rent. Yet they continue to practice 4-6 hours every day. But Lady Lucky didn't shine on them like it did for other less talented musicians. Like pool players, they hit the road for months at a time, playing in dive bars where the owner reneges on paying them...and they come home with less money than they started with.
Is the life of a professional pool player easy? No, but it's a lot easier than it is for lots of other folks who pursue a dream.
I like this post. :wink2:
If you don't want to stake a Pro when asked just say no.
But why is everyone trying to tell these Pros who've put
their whole lives into this sport what they should or shouldn't
do?
I as a pool fan wonder much more about how and why this
great sport has come to this dismal point, it's not the players
fault either ( so please save me that BS)
I find it interesting why some people seem to be more critical
of the players, but those same people fail to feel the need to
Hold the BCA's feet to the fire or any of the rest of the industry?
Well perhaps it's as in nature, much easier to go after the lone
lame than the pack!
But why is everyone trying to tell these Pros who've put
their whole lives into this sport what they should or shouldn't
do?
I as a pool fan wonder much more about how and why this
great sport has come to this dismal point, it's not the players
fault either ( so please save me that BS)
I find it interesting why some people seem to be more critical
of the players, but those same people fail to feel the need to
Hold the BCA's feet to the fire or any of the rest of the industry?
Well perhaps it's as in nature, much easier to go after the lone
lame than the pack!
He must have been in another country other than the US. I was in the business in the late 60's in the US and it was not nearly that high. I remember being in a little gas war in 1968 and the price of regular got down to 19.9 per gallon. Regular prices at that time were in the thirty two to thirty nine cent range in my town for full service, wash the windshield, check oil, and even sweep out your floorboards inside and check tire pressure if requested. We always got the windshield, without a request and the back glass too if it needed it.
I was there! :grin-square:
Man, I don't know who you are, but I like the way you think. You hit the nail on the head. :yes:
Come on, man. Surely, I don't have to spout of names, do I?
Okay, let's see. Tommy Kennedy for one.
I am a loss.
When sponsors are chased off, who's fault is it?
BCA? The fans? George Bush? or the player that broke his cue down before finishing the finals while the sponsors were watching and considering sponsoring the Mens tour years ago?
Ken
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Can Pro Players get jobs and still compete?
I lived in So. Calif in 1989 and decided to move back to Oregon (I was single at the time). So the last month on my full time job there I decided to play every night 3-4 hours and on the weekend 6-8 hours. I was playing around 25-30 hours a week and got a lot better. I played in a tournament on 9' tables and took 2nd loosing to Morro in the finals. I knew then I could play at a high level if I continued to play 25-30 hours a week and even better if I played 40-50 hours a week. The bottom line is working 40 hours a week and playing 30 hours of pool on top of that is very exhausting.
As much as I love pool I soon realized that I couldn't support a family (to include interacting with them) and play pool as a professional player and maintain a full time job. So I made the decision to play pool as a hobby. The bottom line is you cannot compete as well with a full time job. There is not enough hours in the day.
I'm sure there is some resentment from Azers because many feel they could play with the pros if they had time but instead work a full time job supporting a family. We all make choices in life and playing as a professional pool player is extremely difficult and not very effective in supporting yourself let alone a family. There are always exceptions however.
I lived in So. Calif in 1989 and decided to move back to Oregon (I was single at the time). So the last month on my full time job there I decided to play every night 3-4 hours and on the weekend 6-8 hours. I was playing around 25-30 hours a week and got a lot better. I played in a tournament on 9' tables and took 2nd loosing to Morro in the finals. I knew then I could play at a high level if I continued to play 25-30 hours a week and even better if I played 40-50 hours a week. The bottom line is working 40 hours a week and playing 30 hours of pool on top of that is very exhausting.
As much as I love pool I soon realized that I couldn't support a family (to include interacting with them) and play pool as a professional player and maintain a full time job. So I made the decision to play pool as a hobby. The bottom line is you cannot compete as well with a full time job. There is not enough hours in the day.
I'm sure there is some resentment from Azers because many feel they could play with the pros if they had time but instead work a full time job supporting a family. We all make choices in life and playing as a professional pool player is extremely difficult and not very effective in supporting yourself let alone a family. There are always exceptions however.