I Think I did the Right Thing

NewStroke said:
Even though I lost, I didn't feel bad at all about it. My thought is what's right is right. I think if I won, I'd be feeling pretty crappy.
Click to expand...

I was playing a match in an 8 ball league last season (just a regular night, not the tourney or anything) in which I ran down to the 8, and had basically a hanger straight into the side for the win. I was cueing off the rail, and someone walked behind me and bumped my cue. My ferrule nudged the cue ball and it rolled all of an inch. I touched nothing else, and the cue ball touched nothing at all.

My opponent said, with a very a-hole tone about him, "Man, that sucks. It's a foul though." He took ball in hand, and with a wide open table, ran his remaining four balls, and the 8, for the win.

Did I foul? Yep, technically I did. I just put myself in his shoes, and every single time, I see myself looking the other way on the foul and allowing my opponent to shoot. Everyone on his team told me they would have let me replace the cue ball and shoot the shot as it was before I was interfered with. I just happened to run into a hard-nosed jerk that day.

What I'm trying to get at here is this: That COMPLETELY changed my opinion of that guy for the worse. Had he done the stand up thing, and not been so by-the-book about it just for the sake of a win, (a win that truly had no bearing on the overall standings), it would have been looked at as a nice sportsmanship move.

I think your sportsmanship is admirable, and I hope you are on the receiving end of such an event some time.
 
NewStroke said:
My opponent and I were playing a race to 3 in nine ball. It was tied 1 to 1 and he was shooting the 5. He made the 5 and began cueing the 7. I stopped him and told him he was shooting the incorrect ball. He ended up running out and winning the match. I don't feel any regret doing that. How about you guys?
Click to expand...


You followed your conscience, which imo is always the right thing to do. :clapping:
 
Neil said:
Aah... now, you see, this is two totally different things. First off, you should learn the rules. What happened is called "outside interference". And, the balls should be replaced as they where, and the shot played over.

Either he didn't know the rules, or he did and stuck it to you. And.... there is a HUGE difference in outside interference and someone not paying attention enough to shoot the right ball.
Click to expand...

I know Neil, I was just trying to make the correlation between CreeDo's experience and mine with regards to doing the "technically right" thing as opposed to doing what your conscience is probably telling you is right. That's all.

And on a separate note, as soon as I got home that night, I looked up the rule about outside interference, and familiarized myself with it.
 
Neil said:
Aah... now, you see, this is two totally different things. First off, you should learn the rules. What happened is called "outside interference". And, the balls should be replaced as they where, and the shot played over.

Either he didn't know the rules, or he did and stuck it to you. And.... there is a HUGE difference in outside interference and someone not paying attention enough to shoot the right ball.
Click to expand...


It is difficult enough to learn the lessons of this game, but when a lesson is cheapened by your opponent telling you the rules or how to play when you are competing that just makes me wonder.. how does anyone learn?

What is so important about wining a game of pool? that is a very personal question.. if it isn't important to you, why are you playing?

The rules are to keep quiet when your opponent is shooting. If he fouls and you feel you must ignore the foul.. then that is up to you .. but don't let them loose the lesson of table management/rule learning/knowing what ball to shoot next...

Integrity? or whatever you want to say that makes you feel better... why don't you just coach the dumb ass on every shot... not just the ones that make you feel better...


IMO if you want to have 'integrity' let the opponent learn on their own. You'll feel better about abiding by the rules 100% of the time.

BTW the definition of integrity is;
"100% Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code" not just in pool but everything... do you live up to that statement 100% of the time? or just when you play pool?

Off my little sand box..
 
I am just curious , if the guy was being a total jerk, would you have told him. How many pros, would tell his opponent during a match? I wonder if any would be as honorable as you. But then again, it is what they do for a living.
 
irock said:
I am just curious , if the guy was being a total jerk, would you have told him. How many pros, would tell his opponent during a match? I wonder if any would be as honorable as you. But then again, it is what they do for a living.
Click to expand...

Yeah it has a lot to do with the circumstances of the match. If it were for big money, or a big tourney, or big time league ramifications, the outcome may have been different. But when it's just another match, I support what CreeDo did.
 
there's two ways to look at this.

There's no right answer here but there are two main ways you can look at this.

1) You were a good man for bringing the potential of a big stupid careless mistake and it was a honorable thing to do. kudos.

2) It is not your place to stop your opponent from making a mistake that won't get him hurt. the consequences of mistakes are how we best learn.

Now, in some things you wouldn't want to not act. Someone about to walk in front of a bus or train, you'd probably want to stop.

Someone not paying attention to the lowest numbered ball on the table??? not so much.

The questions about why not correct him before every mistake is a valid point.

Answer me this.

If you see someone looking for shape on the eight instead of the six when looking to shoot the five, would you tell him that the six was still on the table?

It's really not your place, let them learn from their mistakes it's part of the game.

If you're shooting around with a friend, BAM (by all means) go ahead and warn them. shooting for competition???? let them make the mistake.

Jaden
 
9BallMarksman said:
I was playing a match in an 8 ball league last season (just a regular night, not the tourney or anything) in which I ran down to the 8, and had basically a hanger straight into the side for the win. I was cueing off the rail, and someone walked behind me and bumped my cue. My ferrule nudged the cue ball and it rolled all of an inch. I touched nothing else, and the cue ball touched nothing at all.

My opponent said, with a very a-hole tone about him, "Man, that sucks. It's a foul though." He took ball in hand, and with a wide open table, ran his remaining four balls, and the 8, for the win.

Did I foul? Yep, technically I did. I just put myself in his shoes, and every single time, I see myself looking the other way on the foul and allowing my opponent to shoot. Everyone on his team told me they would have let me replace the cue ball and shoot the shot as it was before I was interfered with. I just happened to run into a hard-nosed jerk that day.

What I'm trying to get at here is this: That COMPLETELY changed my opinion of that guy for the worse. Had he done the stand up thing, and not been so by-the-book about it just for the sake of a win, (a win that truly had no bearing on the overall standings), it would have been looked at as a nice sportsmanship move.

I think your sportsmanship is admirable, and I hope you are on the receiving end of such an event some time.
Click to expand...

Dude, no offense, but you're comparing apples and oranges. Outside interference is something completely different. I would have let you move the cue all back and shoot again. Actually, if the 8 was hanging I might not even make you shoot it.
 
Stopping your buddy for funsy is one thing but a competition is a competition.

If we stopped our opponnets everytime we noticed a mistake that they were making in our competition then why are we competing.

When playing chess do we stop the player from making a move that will cause him to lose?

Why help the opposition?

Cheating is wrong and bad but not helping your opponnet is not wrong.

Calling a foul on yourself should be done. If you foul you foul.. call it.
 
NewStroke said:
My opponent and I were playing a race to 3 in nine ball. It was tied 1 to 1 and he was shooting the 5. He made the 5 and began cueing the 7. I stopped him and told him he was shooting the incorrect ball. He ended up running out and winning the match. I don't feel any regret doing that. How about you guys?
Click to expand...

The replies you already have are excellent. Obviously there are different views - but the bottom line is it's the shooter's responsibility.

I just want to say that I was proud of Max Eberly in the recent Mezz 10 ball tournament. He kicked at a ball and it was a close spilt hit - too close to call. His opponent shrugged and Max could have easily kept shooting. Instead, he handed the guy the cue ball and smiled. That told me a lot about Max.

Chris
 
Last edited:
Neil is correct. When you are playing, play to win and by the rules.
It has nothing to do with integrity.

If you were watching two players gamble and one was going to shoot the wrong ball---would you tell him? You could get hurt.
 
This happen to me about 10 to 15 years ago.I was playing in a tournament 'it was
a team tour,,.Anyway the guy i was playing was a good player out of Omaha.
The Match was close with very few match's left.The Guy breaks and makes the 8'
The 8 dosn't count on the break so i walk towards him and i say i will go get the ref to open the table.

Anyway as im coming back with the ref to open the table my opponents standing there with this weird smile like look on his face.

He didn't realize he made the 8 on the break and when i walk by him he didnt here me.
He ran the table with no 8 ball on the table.
The ref say's to me it's a loss of game for him or i can rerack and let him break again.
I had the choice.
A couple of player's on my team where already going alright we don't need but a few ball's and we got this rapped up.

I couldn't do it ' i wasn't going to win like this. So i go ahead and let him break.
I can already here some of my teammates talking $hit.What do think he does?
Yep he broke and ran out on me.Now im getting treated like i have the worse disease known to mankind.
Anyway we still managed to win the match.
Anyways after the match this gentleman that i could of called the match on comes up
to me and tells me something that i will never forget.
Not only did this person earn some respect from me but i learned alot about myself that day .

All in all i guess it boil's down to what type of person you are what your playing for and what type a person your playing.
 
Last edited:
Well, we can look at it as in integrity thing, and some would say that's misplaced guilt I feel if I beat the guy cuz he had a brainfart.

Or you can look at it as preventing a foul because you want the game played out correctly and foul-free. Most fouls we can't prevent, we can only call them after the fact when the table has been changed.

It doesn't have to be an effort to correct the opponent's mistakes, help them beat you, assuage a guilty conscience, or hope for a karmic reward later. You simply wish for the game to proceed by the book, with all rules followed, and whoever shoots best wins.

I'll also warn a guy if he's about to do a push foul and that doesn't even feel like some integrity thing. I just want the game play out without fouls or other incident.
 
NewStroke said:
My opponent and I were playing a race to 3 in nine ball. It was tied 1 to 1 and he was shooting the 5. He made the 5 and began cueing the 7. I stopped him and told him he was shooting the incorrect ball. He ended up running out and winning the match. I don't feel any regret doing that. How about you guys?
Click to expand...

I do depending on who I'm playing. Know a few guys that I play that won't call fouls on themselves. If I make a bad hit, regardless of where they at, who is watching, I give them ball in hand. Those that do for me, I'd tell. The ones that you have to constantly watch over a 10 dollar race to 3 don't get such cutesy of me telling them they are missing a ball. I still give up the ball in hand when I mess up though.
 
So you were the only one that noticed the 8 ball was off the table? both team members didn't notice?
You told your opponent you were going to get the ref to open the table to get the 8. He didn't hear you and continued to shot?

Your team mates didn't notice you were gone.

Your opponent didn't notice you were gone?

What rules were you playing under that gave you the option of letting your opponent break or taking the loss? Never heard of that rule before. and why weren't you at least given the option of breaking?

Strange situation with so many stupid players doing dumb things... Glad you weren't included in that little fiasco.



8pack said:
This happen to me about 10 to 15 years ago.I was playing in a tournament 'it was
a team tour,,.Anyway the guy i was playing was a good player out of Omaha.
The Match was close with very few match's left.The Guy breaks and makes the 8'
The 8 dosn't count on the break so i walk towards him and i say i will go get the ref to open the table.

Anyway as im coming back with the ref to open the table my opponents standing there with this weird smile like look on his face.

He didn't realize he made the 8 on the break and when i walk by him he didnt here me.
He ran the table with no 8 ball on the table.
The ref say's to me it's a loss of game for him or i can rerack and let him break again.
I had the choice.
A couple of player's on my team where already going alright we don't need but a few ball's and we got this rapped up.

I couldn't do it ' i wasn't going to win like this. So i go ahead and let him break.
I can already here some of my teammates talking $hit.What do think he does?
Yep he broke and ran out me.Now im getting treated like i have the worse disease known to mankind.
Anyway we still managed to win the match.
Any way after the match this gentleman that i could of called the match on comes up
to me and tells me something that i will never forget.
Not only did this person earn some respect from me but i learned alot about myself that day .

All in all i guess it boil's down to what type of person you are what your playing for and what type a person your playing.
Click to expand...
 
Tom In Cincy said:
So you were the only one that noticed the 8 ball was off the table? both team members didn't notice?
You told your opponent you were going to get the ref to open the table to get the 8. He didn't hear you and continued to shot?

Your team mates didn't notice you were gone.

Your opponent didn't notice you were gone?

What rules were you playing under that gave you the option of letting your opponent break or taking the loss? Never heard of that rule before. and why weren't you at least given the option of breaking?

Strange situation with so many stupid players doing dumb things... Glad you weren't included in that little fiasco.
Click to expand...

Yes the player's on my team saw it.I thought he saw it go in but he didnt.
Player's on your own team cannot approach the table or say anything to you while your playing.And he didnt care two cent's where i was until he got on the 8 ball and it was gone.
 
Good call on your part to let him know he was shooting the wrong ball. I do the same thing all the time. The only time I won't is if the guy I'm playing is a real a$$hole. Then it's "fkk him and the horse he rode in on" Playing some jerk I will pray for something like that to happen so I can stick it to him. But, under normal circumstances, definitely tell them.
MULLY
Yes, I know it's their responsibility to watch the balls.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top