I was always good with the trophies . I got rid of a ton of them when we down sized. I never cared much about the money I won.. I guess gamblers care more about that because it’s how they measure who won lol I got a job for money.
I guess my favorite example is of all the tournaments I won there is one I won with 3 friends. It was a large tournament that took 3 days. It was exhausting but we all played great. We all made great shots or had tough outs when it was needed. I was younger and the feeling leaving that tournament was worth more then the stack of money I got for winning. I have no idea what I spent that money on but the picture I have of the 4 us standing at the table with our cues after we won it has been hanging in my pool room for years and thats worth more to me.
Trying to figure out why someone likes to gamble at pool is just a guess. there are too many reasons. Personally, I’ve never understood people with an “I love me” wall. I’ve never cared what others think.
I spent 30 years in the military and never hung a single award or medal up on a wall. When I retired, I tossed my medals in the trash. I kept the certificates my DD Form 214 that proved I earned them in a file somewhere. I could probably dig them up if I ever needed to but I can’t imagine why.
Funny thing is, I make and sell display cases for folks in the military who do want to show off their “I love me” items. I don’t get it… but to each their own. I’ll take $5 over a trophy any day. At least I can enjoy a couple of sodas with a friend.
When my mom passed a couple years ago, I was going through her boxes and found a trophy I’d won at a youth center 8-ball tournament on Fairchild AFB when I was 9. I hadn’t seen it since the day I won it in 1976. Even back then, the trophy didn’t mean much. What mattered to me was how easily I beat the older kids that I thought would win. The hardware never meant much to me. Maybe if it was a world championship or a Super Bowl ring I’d feel different… every little leaguer gets a trophy.
The funny part of all of that to me is, and I’m sure many pool players can relate to this… Pool was a huge source of tension between my mom and dad when I was growing up. I was extremely lucky to have two really unbelievably great parents and I believe happily married until the day my mother passed away. But if they were ever going to split, it would’ve been over his pool playing, and yeah it came close more than once. That’s what went through my head when I saw she’d kept that little trophy all those years.
I miss her every day.
