Is Billiards the toughest sport?

[Banker Burt]

I respect all professional athletes in their tenacity for excellence. I have played most bat and ball games my entire life, and at a fairly high level but not as a professional; with the exception of Billiards, and only because most of the open events around the country draw world class players and I have unavoidably competed against them, so dare I say this constitutes a professional level.
As a result of competing with players such Tony Ellin (God hold his soul), Kim, Miz, Santos, Kieth, Ronnie, Medina, Joiner, etc. (and might I add with some success in tournaments only, I wouldn't dare match-up with any of these guys), I think I discovered what seperates Billiards from all other sports.
I remember the first big tournament I played in was the 1993 LA Open put on by Jay Helfert, easily one of the all time premiere events on the west coast. I won my first two matches and then ran into Medina. We lagged, I won, I broke and failed to pocket a ball. The next time I stepped to the table the score was 7-0, and disposed of the 6-ball (that Danny had missed) and then the remaining balls. Now breaking at 7-1, I stuck the cue-ball with perfect control but again I failed to pocket a ball. The next thing I did was shake Danny's hand after he ran the remaining four racks - final score 11-1.
So, I made a winning lag, two solid breaks, one perfect run-out from the 6-ball, yet the majority of this match I spent sitting in my chair. Now ten years later, and after spending more time sitting in my chair, I have come to this conclusion - No matter how prepared you are, the balls may not allow you an opportunity to participate.
I may be wrong, but I can not think of any other individual sporting competition where all participants gets an equal chance to post a score. This may also elude to why players must overcome the emotional stress of competition first (sitting), before they can fully appreciate the opportunities that do arise in their favor.
In other words, I would like to see any other professional athlete (respective of their sport) withstand the test of competing, if in fact their oponent or the roll of the balls did not allow them to play. A quote comes to mind from a close friend of mine, also a notorious road-player, "In this sport, you gotta make the most of your chances. You can't win when you're sittin'."

 

[Duck]

I thoroughly enjoyed your comments about pool and the difficulty of accepting it's challenges that are probably unique to the sporting world. Right now the competitive level in pool is unsurpassed in the sports history,in the upper level of the regular tour there are at least a dozen "Tiger Woods" who can dominate a match in a breathtaking way only to be dominated by another of their ilk a few minutes later. As you age and play the senior tour, your own physical assets deteriorate so stamina and timing can greatly impact your performance and you become even more dependant on the experience and mental processes of the game. Ineveitably pool becomes enjoyable only when you can enjoy those moments at the table when your controlling those things that are controllable and enjoying the other challenges the fates or "pool Gods deal you". Obsessing on who's the best or Who's favored in one format or another is the stuff of small minds, or the musings of those who have never competed with true upper echelon players. Pool allows the great players a few moments at the zenith to taste the thrill of mastery and then takes back the priviledge to bestow on another so they can spend a lifetime yearning for that moments pleasure.Its a grand game with literally hundres of beautiful players to watch and how lucky we are if we experience one of those better moments it offers.. Shoot good and Duck well.

 

[Banker Burt]

Duck,
There is poetry in your writing. Thank you for elaborating on this post. I hope everyone reads what you wrote. It just might make a better player out of them, in the appreciation of what it means when we do get a chance to play.

 

[Rickw]

Banker Burt,

For you to have gotten up to make the 6 and out was impressive!! A lot of players would have already reached that coma state that often happens after watching your opponent run 7 racks! I believe I heard once that the pros were interested in finding another game to take the place of 9 ball for that very reason. Some of the top pro players don't have the ability to break, make a ball and control the cb so they can run out. There's no doubt about it, pool is a very tough game! I sure would like to see them come up with a game that would allow more participation of both players. I thought Offensive 9 Ball was going to make it but I guess not. Too bad!

 

[Joseph Cues]

I think this was why Buddy Hall was advocating alternate breaks.
Pool is tough. Rempe said it best. It's the only sport where you can compete and not participate
Tang Hoa made a great line about gambling in pool.
You miss one ball, you're broke. You miss two balls, you don't eat. lol

 

[Duck]

Thank You Banker

Thank you Banker Burt for your kind words. I hope we meet at a Senior tournament someday>I play Derby City and a few regular tour stops but I live for the senior events , where the freindship and competition is rich and inspiring. I appreciate your compliments more than I can express and should you ever travel to the Dallas Fort Worth area I will give you my number and we can meet play and enjoy some friendhsip, Your kindness means more right now tha you could know, Thank you, the Duck

 

[Banker Burt]

RickW,
Total Offense 9-Ball got good press and support by the players who participated earlier this year in Northridge, Ca.. Max Eberle probably liked it the best considering he won the event. From conversations I've had with some of the players and fans was that it did make the tournament totally equal but it lacked the suspense from the normal match-ups of one-on-one competition.

 

[Rickw]

Banker Burt,

Do you think Total Offense has a chance then? Sounds like there are some wrinkles at the very least. I hope they work them out! I'm always hoping that something will come along and catapult this great game to the level that it deserves!

 

[Banker Burt]

I think Total Offense has a future, but like all attempts to promote billiards it will take time for a complete package to be put together before sufficient sponsorship will embrace our games.
The underlying idea of this post is suggesting - maybe if the promoters out there were to sell the idea of the unique competitive elements of our sport to sponsors (beyond billiard products) they may be able to increase the general audience for their products, because this sport is so incredibly difficult. I don't know, just a thought...

 

[locki]

the hardest sport for me would be basketball, although its one of my favorites, my body can not keep up with the game,i am a relatively thin boy and i have very little stamina that i cant even complete a whole 12 min quarter...yep im good at driving to the hoop ala allen iverson, yep i can drop those bombs beyond the arc...but my body cant do it longer than 3 mins...

billiards is pretty easy to learn, but is very hard to master.

 

[Reno]

From what I heard, this is what a sign said as you entered a certain poolroom:

"Don't think you can come in here and miss a ball and still win. Because others have come before and NOT missed a ball, and still didn't win."

Like I said, it's just a story I heard. But it sure sounds like a big time poolroom.

 

[Banker Burt]

I think this is relative -
A young excellent local player and I have tangled many a times, and we are probably about even in the W-L column.
We were talking one time and he said, "I know I can beat anyone, anytime." My response was, "Yes, on any occasion this is possible, but do not think for a moment you're going to walk into this poolroom and win every time. Think about it, how many times have you lost playing me?"
I followed with, "It is a tough game, and no one will ever totally dominate the next opponent that they meet, but they can dominate their game whether they win or they lose.
My thinking was, our youngsters need to understand reality. I can say this, I'm a dad. Shoot, I'm a grandpa! I hope I'm figure some of this stuff out by now. If not I'm still having trying.

 

[Reno]

Banker Burt, great post.

In my opinion, I realize I'll never be the greatest pool player out there. This I know. But the reason I practice, and compete, and gamble, and fall asleep thinking about the three ball that I rattled two days ago, is for the opportunity. The opportunity to be "In the Moment".

On that Sunday at Pebble Beach at the US Open when Watson and Nicklaus were playing for the jug...Tom Watson said he recalled a moment with Jack. I don't recall the exact facts, but it was something like...on the sixteenth tee they were tied for the lead on Sunday in the final pairing. Tom said he took the opportunity to speak to Jack as a fellow competitor "In the Moment". Tom went up to Jack and said something like, "You know Jack, this is what it's all about". Jack's response, "You'd better believe it." Watson ends up chipping in on 17 for bird. Jack shakes his hand on 18 like the champion he is while congratulating him.

Like I said, that's what I play for. The opportunity to feel what it's like to face that shot with everyone watching. As I like to say, you really don't have to look around the room, instead, you can "feel" the eyes watching. I don't know about you guys, but that's why I play.

 

[bruin70]

,,, ,,,
In other words, I would like to see any other professional athlete (respective of their sport) withstand the test of competing, if in fact their oponent or the roll of the balls did not allow them to play."

which, imo, is pool's weakness. the chance that a player might never see a turn at the table is ridiculous.

i don't think the game is too tough,,,it is too easy. THAT leaves the door open for lesser players to win. this doesn't elevate the game, it lessens it.

 

[Rickw]

I think you're missing the point Bruin. There are very few sports where you can lose and not even get a chance to play. Knowing that sitting in your chair watching your opponent run rack after rack is very difficult to do. Most sports do not put their athletes through that kind of torture. Most athletes would probably have a difficult time dealing with this dilemma.

 

[allie]

Burt, I too appreciate your post. I thought you made some fine observations about pool. One other fact besides not being able to get a chance (I once played in a weekly tournament with a format of race to five, I lost the flip, and my opponent broke and ran the set out!) is that as far as I know, pool is also the only sport in the world where you can get directly punished for your opponent's making a mistake. I realize that in other sports there is luck also (for instance, a golfer accidentally hits the 'right' side of a tree and the ball ends up right in the middle of the fairway, etc) but in pool, you directly have to deal with what your opponent left you at the table, say, if s/he misses a ball and accidentally hooks you where you can only kick at it 4 rails. Or, if /he misses the two ball so badly that the cue ball goes around the table and knocks the nine ball in. I think those two factors do make pool one of the most difficult, if not THE most difficult, sport, at least mentally.

 

[ceebee]

QUOTE: Some of the top pro players don't have the ability to break, make a ball and control the cb, so they can run out. There's no doubt about it, pool is a very tough game!

REPLY: Even Pros won't practice the Break Shot, that's why their Cue Ball is running all over the table. Very few people practice the Break Shot, but that's changing now. Players are learning they can start planning for position on the first shot, not the second shot.

I mapped Cue Ball locations, for dozens of Tournaments, the resting place was literally all over the Table. When a player's Break Shot is ON, they play well, when their Break Shot is sour, they don't.

 

[Banker Burt]

The whole point of my post is about toughness in playing this sport, and what your opinions are about why this may or may not be true. Contraversy produces knowledge from how we see things in different ways. It is my belief that because of the unforseen and uncontrolable circumstances that can arise in any given game of Billiards, whether it be Carom, Pocket or Snooker, is that it takes very strong focus to overcome these obstacles. It would be like a golfer hitting it stiff and a brick falls out of the sky and lands directly between their ball and a 1 foot putt to the hole. How tough would this golfer have to become, just to play the next hole knowing this could happen again?
9 holes in golf, 9 balls in 9-Ball. I play both games very well, and if I get on a roll on the golf course against a higher handicap opponent it is very likely that my score will win. Can I say that in 9-Ball? No way! This is also the reason my game preference is one-pocket. Now this game seems easier to me, because I will get more chances; even though my opponent will be virtually dropping bricks in front of my hole on every shot.

 

[JPB]

Banker Burt, great post.

In my opinion, I realize I'll never be the greatest pool player out there. This I know. But the reason I practice, and compete, and gamble, and fall asleep thinking about the three ball that I rattled two days ago, is for the opportunity. The opportunity to be "In the Moment".

On that Sunday at Pebble Beach at the US Open when Watson and Nicklaus were playing for the jug...Tom Watson said he recalled a moment with Jack. I don't recall the exact facts, but it was something like...on the sixteenth tee they were tied for the lead on Sunday in the final pairing. Tom said he took the opportunity to speak to Jack as a fellow competitor "In the Moment". Tom went up to Jack and said something like, "You know Jack, this is what it's all about". Jack's response, "You'd better believe it." Watson ends up chipping in on 17 for bird. Jack shakes his hand on 18 like the champion he is while congratulating him.

Like I said, that's what I play for. The opportunity to feel what it's like to face that shot with everyone watching. As I like to say, you really don't have to look around the room, instead, you can "feel" the eyes watching. I don't know about you guys, but that's why I play.

Not to be too nitpicky, but I think the event you are talking about is the 77 Open Championship at Turnberry. Paired together the last 2 rounds, Watson shot 65-65 on the weekend to beat Nicklaus who posted 65-66. They left the field in the dust, and at one hole Watson said something like what you say. At the '82 US Open, Watson and Nicklaus were not paired together. Nicklaus watched Watson's shot on 17 from the TV tower.


Pool is not the "toughest" sport, at least how I define toughness. Sports are physical, so to be considered the toughest, it must be physically demanding and in fact dangerous. There must be a real risk of death and/or permanent crippling injury for a sport to be considered the toughest, (not the best) IMO. And I mean at the hands of a fellow competitor as opposed to accident or misfortune. I.E. NASCAR isn't the toughest sport. I don't care to participate in any such event and prefer games like pool and billiards. I don't want to get in any toughness contests. As it has been said, boxing is the sport to which all others aspire. This is because hurting your opponent is the point, but competitors develop exacting physical skills to do just that. And there is a real risk of death or permanent injury, even though it is a sport and not a true fight. The other sportfight events could be lumped in for these purposes. Football is another where competitors can expect at the least a lifetime of pain from their participation. I would not want a kid of mine to box and end up an imbecile or a football player and end up an arthritic cripple with a short life expectancy. I am glad I never played a lot of football and never got hurt in the other contact sports I played. And boxing was out of the question. But I watch these sports and think the competitors are a little tougher than somebody who has a six pack dropped on him by a great pool player. Other competitive endeavors require the mental toughness of pool. Pool is a great game and requires a blend of physical skill and mental toughness. I like it obviously and would hope people took it up. But it isn't unique and it isn't the toughest.

 

[Banker Burt]

May I rebutt toughness, in the sense of phyiscal contact. We are talking about individualized competition requiring each player to post a score; not where you have other teammates covering the playing field, or two combatants such as boxing, wrestling, karate, etc.
With this said, I would like to suggest that billiard competition brings a toughness to the soul of the player that must, without personal contact, attempt to play under circumstances that may not allow them the opportunity to participate.

This seems unique and from an athletic viewpoint - tough.

The other thing I would like mention is about the physical control, or should I say intricate bodily motion, and how it must be delivered with near perfect execution every single shot. This expresses the magnitude of a relaxed physical state, in order to achieve (this may be the primary reason the majority of good pool players never become great). I agree that this attribute is opposite of the brawn in sports, but then compliments the spectrum of physical development.
I think this is being proven this weekend in the Skins Game, with Annika leading Mickelson, O'Meara and Couples. This was also the case a few months back where Corr won against Rempe.