Does Efren Owe America Or The World?

JoeyA

JoeyA

Efren's Mini-Tourn BACKER
Silver Member
Cuetechasaurus stimulated this thought with one of his threads about how much money Efren has won since 2000.

Efren is truly a philanthropist in his own country and while I, like many others appreciate his generosity in his own country and tout his skills as a pool player, I would like to see him give back something to America.

I think Efren owes us a pool instructional video maybe for starters how he thinks about shots and situations in one pocket or something down that line.

And if an interpreter is the problem, we can solve that for him too. We've got a fluent Tagalog speaking/English speaking, GOOD pool player where we play ready to translate for Efren AT NO COST TO EFREN or PUYAT.

Other athletes go on to give back to the sport that made them millions. Shouldn't Efren who is so generous in his own country be willing to give back to America and the other countries where he has received so much?

Please don't interpret this the wrong way. I think Efren is a fine human being, talented, humble, generous in his own country and well off financially. But what I don't see is him giving back to the sport. Now that he admits that his prime is over and other poolplayers are challenging his crown, do you think it is THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

What do you guys and gals think about my idea?

Does Efren who has won so much and reaped so much from the bounty of aplenty owe the world and or at least America anything?

Please don't say that we should appreciate his genius at pool and that is thanks enough or I might have to give you bad rep. ;)
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This is an edit by the poster.

Good points and responses by everyone. I guess the title could have been worded better. Didn't mean it to sound so egocentric or to contain megalomania. If it came out that way it wasn't the intention.


River City expressed it better. "Every champion OWES the game".

I think Efren should not be excluded from that debt. He doesn't owe America or the world but he does have a debt to the game. When he pays or if he pays is a personal decision but I think he owes the game.
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JoeyA
 
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The only way he would owe someone is if he didn't actually earn his winnings. And what does America have to do with it? Was he financed by U.S. taxpayers?

We should appreciate his genius at pool and that is thanks enough.
 
I dont think "owe" is the right word. The money he has taken out of this country was there for the taking to whoever was good enough to do so. So no, I wouldnt say he owes anyone anything for that.
As far as the game goes....... I think the true measure of a champion is giving back to the game itself. It could be sponsering young players to help them get started, coaching etc or even making videos. Although I would be concerned about the content of said videos...... Efren strikes me as someone with a huge amount of skill and talent....... but doesnt really know what he is doing as far as being able to teach it. He just knows what to do, and has the skill to do it consistantly.
But back to the original question.......... no, he doesnt owe America anything. He in my opinion owes the game though, as all champions do.
Chuck
 
Efren is truly a philanthropist in his own country and while I, like many others appreciate his generosity in his own country and tout his skills as a pool player, I would like to see him give back something to America.

He already did.
He put fannies in the seats.
Paid his taxes and his main backer is an American.
He's already given a ton of lessons to those who wanna play him one pocket. He plays cheap sets all the time.
 
Efren owes the US nothing. Sure he made a lot of money here, but so what, that's how he made his living. He owes the Philipines nothing for that matter, but it is his homeland and he chooses to do philantrophic things there. Tiger Woods makes money all over the world playing golf, does he owe them something? I don't think so.
 
JoeyA said:
Cuetechasaurus stimulated this thought with one of his threads about how much money Efren has won since 2000.

Efren is truly a philanthropist in his own country and while I, like many others appreciate his generosity in his own country and tout his skills as a pool player, I would like to see him give back something to America.

I think Efren owes us a pool instructional video maybe for starters how he thinks about shots and situations in one pocket or something down that line.

And if an interpreter is the problem, we can solve that for him too. We've got a fluent Tagalog speaking/English speaking, GOOD pool player where we play ready to translate for Efren AT NO COST TO EFREN or PUYAT.

Other athletes go on to give back to the sport that made them millions. Shouldn't Efren who is so generous in his own country be willing to give back to America and the other countries where he has received so much?

Please don't interpret this the wrong way. I think Efren is a fine human being, talented, humble, generous in his own country and well off financially. But what I don't see is him giving back to the sport. Now that he admits that his prime is over and other poolplayers are challenging his crown, do you think it is THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

What do you guys and gals think about my idea?

Does Efren who has won so much and reaped so much from the bounty of aplenty owe the world and or at least America anything?

Please don't say that we should appreciate his genius at pool and that is thanks enough or I might have to give you bad rep. ;)

JoeyA
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His presence enough has showed us appreciation. Or better yet... COLOR OF MONEY challenge. Efren has told us enough about how he lived his past about of playing - which is playing pool since he was young, Carom when nobody wanted to play him, and unexpected Snooker. Does he need to give any "How to.." on how to do what he does... only if he desires to. JoeyA, if you really want to know what he's really of, just perfect (of course) Pool, Carom, and Snooker; nuff said there.

Efren Reyes is a Hercules of billiards.
 
He doesn't owe anybody a thing.

The only thing a competitor owes a fan is that when the fan pays money to see him, the player gives it his best. That is all.

Efren's skill, time, and money are his and his alone. He can do with them what he chooses. If those choices include helping people one way or another, bully for him.
 
JoeyA said:
Cuetechasaurus stimulated this thought with one of his threads about how much money Efren has won since 2000.

Efren is truly a philanthropist in his own country and while I, like many others appreciate his generosity in his own country and tout his skills as a pool player, I would like to see him give back something to America.

I think Efren owes us a pool instructional video maybe for starters how he thinks about shots and situations in one pocket or something down that line.

And if an interpreter is the problem, we can solve that for him too. We've got a fluent Tagalog speaking/English speaking, GOOD pool player where we play ready to translate for Efren AT NO COST TO EFREN or PUYAT.

Other athletes go on to give back to the sport that made them millions. Shouldn't Efren who is so generous in his own country be willing to give back to America and the other countries where he has received so much?

Please don't interpret this the wrong way. I think Efren is a fine human being, talented, humble, generous in his own country and well off financially. But what I don't see is him giving back to the sport. Now that he admits that his prime is over and other poolplayers are challenging his crown, do you think it is THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

What do you guys and gals think about my idea?

Does Efren who has won so much and reaped so much from the bounty of aplenty owe the world and or at least America anything?

Please don't say that we should appreciate his genius at pool and that is thanks enough or I might have to give you bad rep. ;)

JoeyA
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It's stuff like this that makes so many nations hate the U.S. So many citizens here believe the world owes us something. So what if he won so much money here? How many Americans have gone overseas to win alot of money in another country? Do they owe that country? Hell No!

It would be nice if Efren would give back to the game. Instructional videos were suggested- how many Americans do you think would buy his videos? Would he still owe the U.S. even more because we're making him even richer? Hell No!

Efren does owe the U.S jack
 
I spose his US earnings are taxable here. Don't see what he would "OWE" us.

Would say he easily pulls his weight contributing to pool while being a very likeable guy.
 
We owe him. For all the hours of watching the greatest player play. I would like to see a video of his ideas and his commentary on shot selection, but those are his trade secrets, just like coke they dont make the formula public.So perhaps thats why no video.

The $$$ he has given to the PI is good they need it more than we do, he earns his money by winning, not stealing, although it looks like stealing because its so easy for him(sometimes)

nobody owes anything to anyone except their parents-assuming they had good parents.
 
how about Effie brushing up on his english so can better entertain you on and off the table.

Id volunteer to be his speech coach.
 
justnum said:
how about Effie brushing up on his english so can better entertain you on and off the table.

Id volunteer to be his speech coach.
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he dosent have time to learn english, he is too busy shooting and not sitting down watching someone beating him ;) you know it takes a while to run an 8-pack on someone. ;) Or perhaps he uses his english on the cue ball-bad joke.

Honestly I think he is shy.
 
catscradle said:
Efren owes the US nothing. Sure he made a lot of money here, but so what, that's how he made his living. He owes the Philipines nothing for that matter, but it is his homeland and he chooses to do philantrophic things there. Tiger Woods makes money all over the world playing golf, does he owe them something? I don't think so.
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Does Tiger provide golf clinics for the less fortunate? Although I'm not a golfer and don't keep up with a lot of what goes on in golf, I believe he does. He is giving back to the game. I would be suprised to find out that it is exclusive to his home town or even America.
JoeyA
 
Efren has given more than anyone else at his level

Joey,

The truth is that Efren has given more than anyone else at or near his level. True he has shared mostly with his countrymen but it is because they naturally spend the most time together especially when far from home. Look at most legends of the game and they are doing their best to hoard their knowledge to maintain their standing in the pool community as long as they can.

Then look at Bustamonte and six or eight more of Efren's countrymen all the way down to Manalo. Efren has lost tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands because of what he has taught others and yet continues to share. What he learned from others or the hard way is being passed on. With a little luck his greatness of heart is being passed on too.

He owes nothing to anyone or the sport that he hasn't already more than repaid. I, like you, hope he will give even more. One problem with gaining much of his knowledge is that it isn't so much the knowledge of how to do certain shots, it is the seemingly intuitive knowledge of how to solve problems.

There is no amount of instruction that lets someone jump from having to consciously think of how to solve a problem to seeing a problem and solving it on a subconscious level without giving it a thought. Enough repetitions of working through to the right decision and one day it becomes a totally subconscious process. Once someone reaches that level at anything they are truly as some have said "in another galaxy" than those that can't operate on that level.

Hu
 
Effren owes the sport and farewall speech and party.
 
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ShootingArts said:
Joey,

The truth is that Efren has given more than anyone else at or near his level. True he has shared mostly with his countrymen but it is because they naturally spend the most time together especially when far from home. Look at most legends of the game and they are doing their best to hoard their knowledge to maintain their standing in the pool community as long as they can.

Then look at Bustamonte and six or eight more of Efren's countrymen all the way down to Manalo. Efren has lost tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands because of what he has taught others and yet continues to share. What he learned from others or the hard way is being passed on. With a little luck his greatness of heart is being passed on too.

He owes nothing to anyone or the sport that he hasn't already more than repaid. I, like you, hope he will give even more. One problem with gaining much of his knowledge is that it isn't so much the knowledge of how to do certain shots, it is the seemingly intuitive knowledge of how to solve problems.

There is no amount of instruction that lets someone jump from having to consciously think of how to solve a problem to seeing a problem and solving it on a subconscious level without giving it a thought. Enough repetitions of working through to the right decision and one day it becomes a totally subconscious process. Once someone reaches that level at anything they are truly as some have said "in another galaxy" than those that can't operate on that level.

Hu
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I completely agree. Instructional videos from Efren would probably be no more valuable than from other great players. I'd be very surprised if he could actually explain his thought process. Efren is the kind of guy that just sees the shot, much like Michael Jordan sees the court. Don't ask them to explain it because they won't be able to. This isn't something that can be taught. It's just raw talent. Either you're born with it or you aren't.

From what I can tell, Efren is an all-around great guy. I can't think of anybody else who can fulfill the title of "the greatest pool player." He plays to play and loves the game. If he happens to make a few bucks along the way, awesome.

If you think that he hasn't given us something special already, you are mistaken. Efren showed us that playing pool in itself is rewarding enough. Though he may have gambled once or twice in his lifetime :D :D, he hasn't reduced himself down to some kind of conman always looking for the easy money. There's enough cockiness in the sport to go around, and Mr. Reyes doesn't seem to possess any of it. I could never see him complaining about his cuetec or cheating. Win or lose, he keeps his dignity. Earl misses and breaks a cue. Efren misses and laughs. If there is one thing we should learn from him, it's the sportsmanship.

Come to think of it, most of the top Filipino players are the same way. I wonder why they're so good.

Efren...the Roberto Clemente of pool.
 
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