To have a sport/game with such diversity. Last night I went to the pool room and I taught the Chinese house pro there how to play one pocket and I gave him 10:6 and we played for $3 a game. He shoots VERY straight, takes all the WRONG shots but makes them and so it's a very tough game for me. He beats me out of 10 games so we up the bet to about $8 a game bringing score to -4 in games and switch the spot to 9:6 and he continues to win - we play some more and I am finally getting warmed up and start putting 7s and 8s on him and get the score to -2 games.
But now he wants to switch to 9 ball and I say no and agree to 10 ball where I am still at least 2:1 the underdog. We play a set double or nothing for what I am down and he wins easily and I quit and head home.
At home I started to think about it a little bit and came to realization that I have no idea what cloth is on the table at the poolroom. The tables are Gold Crowns but I don't know which ones nor do I care.
I don't know what kind of tip is on my cue, what "hardness" it has, I have no idea what my ferrule is made of or what the taper is on my shaft, I don't know the pivot point of my cue. Nor do I know these things about my opponent's cue.
We played for about four hours and had a great time battling for lunch money. Just two guys moving balls around trying to outsmart each other and come with the shots when it's our turn.
Fatboy lamented that he misses Stevens cloth. I don't even know what that is. I am sure I must have played on it somewhere at some point but I never knew when. I was trying to think about when I became aware of cloth brands and it was probably when I started reading magazines about pool. I don't know when I started caring about cloth brands as a player. Actually I think that I still don't really CARE about what brand of cloth is on a table as I have to deal with it if I have to play on that table anyway.
Which brings me to the lucky part. How cool is it that we have a sport where we have such a wide range of really competitive games that can be played by anyone able to hold a cue regardless of age, physical shape, gender and economic status?
How cool is it that we get to play on a wide variety of playing environments from pristine tables which are perfectly adjusted and have clean consistent cloth with perfectly balanced balls to ratty places with duct tape on the tears and one loose rail and we can still enjoy the game equally in both situations.
Some of the most fun I have had is overcoming the conditions on the outdoor tables in some backwater place in China and other countries or the one lonely bar on the back country two lane road in Louisiana.
How cool is it that you can battle a guy for hours in one game and then switch games or play someone else another game right away?
What other sport/game offers so much diversity and challenge? Poker/Cards has that I suppose but not the same really as with pool/billiards you have to master the physical realm as well as the emotional one.
In no other sport do we have as much choice in implements to play it and surfaces to play it on with as much ease. None, it's not even close.
Think about it. In most cities you can play pool until the wee hours of the morning in a variety of places. You can seek out any level of opponents, you can play in tournaments of any size or match up for pride or cash.
You don't even need to bring any equipment as it's all provided in most places, with varying degrees of condition of course. Don't need to have special pool clothes or follow any particular protocol.
The rules are flexible from place to place and can and are changed constantly from match to match and tournament to tournament.
So I thought about this and thought about all the fun I have had and continue to have with this diverse sport.
I consider myself lucky that I am halfway decent at it and can appreciate all the facets.
But now he wants to switch to 9 ball and I say no and agree to 10 ball where I am still at least 2:1 the underdog. We play a set double or nothing for what I am down and he wins easily and I quit and head home.
At home I started to think about it a little bit and came to realization that I have no idea what cloth is on the table at the poolroom. The tables are Gold Crowns but I don't know which ones nor do I care.
I don't know what kind of tip is on my cue, what "hardness" it has, I have no idea what my ferrule is made of or what the taper is on my shaft, I don't know the pivot point of my cue. Nor do I know these things about my opponent's cue.
We played for about four hours and had a great time battling for lunch money. Just two guys moving balls around trying to outsmart each other and come with the shots when it's our turn.
Fatboy lamented that he misses Stevens cloth. I don't even know what that is. I am sure I must have played on it somewhere at some point but I never knew when. I was trying to think about when I became aware of cloth brands and it was probably when I started reading magazines about pool. I don't know when I started caring about cloth brands as a player. Actually I think that I still don't really CARE about what brand of cloth is on a table as I have to deal with it if I have to play on that table anyway.
Which brings me to the lucky part. How cool is it that we have a sport where we have such a wide range of really competitive games that can be played by anyone able to hold a cue regardless of age, physical shape, gender and economic status?
How cool is it that we get to play on a wide variety of playing environments from pristine tables which are perfectly adjusted and have clean consistent cloth with perfectly balanced balls to ratty places with duct tape on the tears and one loose rail and we can still enjoy the game equally in both situations.
Some of the most fun I have had is overcoming the conditions on the outdoor tables in some backwater place in China and other countries or the one lonely bar on the back country two lane road in Louisiana.
How cool is it that you can battle a guy for hours in one game and then switch games or play someone else another game right away?
What other sport/game offers so much diversity and challenge? Poker/Cards has that I suppose but not the same really as with pool/billiards you have to master the physical realm as well as the emotional one.
In no other sport do we have as much choice in implements to play it and surfaces to play it on with as much ease. None, it's not even close.
Think about it. In most cities you can play pool until the wee hours of the morning in a variety of places. You can seek out any level of opponents, you can play in tournaments of any size or match up for pride or cash.
You don't even need to bring any equipment as it's all provided in most places, with varying degrees of condition of course. Don't need to have special pool clothes or follow any particular protocol.
The rules are flexible from place to place and can and are changed constantly from match to match and tournament to tournament.
So I thought about this and thought about all the fun I have had and continue to have with this diverse sport.
I consider myself lucky that I am halfway decent at it and can appreciate all the facets.
