One is graded by what they *do* to correct the scene, not by what they say
Porcospino:
Although a little on the pointed/corrugated side, Shawn's replies to you were trying to share some valid points.
1. Your post initially did come off as a question, but as it apparently turned out, was not really a question, but more of a statement with an implied/attached plea to the readers as to whether they agree or disagree with your synopsis. It was almost like a plea for a round of "h*ll yeah, I agree with you!" buddy back-patting sessions. Like a "battle cry" or "call to arms" to a legion of troops, troops of which see this on these boards all the time, with none of these "callers to arms" actually stepping up to *do* something about it.
2. Shawn was trying to point out to you that you have to make do with what you have, instead of whining about it. If your area does not have good tournies and/or a good league system, instead of whining about it, what are you yourself *doing* to fix it? Have you tried to start up one of your own (league and/or tourney) to address the problems in your area? *Plenty* of AZB'ers here on this board have done just that -- and even post here to solicit input/criticisms/recommendations from the populace. (Just do a search here on these boards, and you'll see who these members are.) These are people trying to *do something* about the lackluster tourney or league situation in their area, instead of whining about something that will not fix itself. (And no, posting critically here on these boards about the APA, et al., is not going to "rally the troops" to fix the problem. Just do a search on here, and I'm sure you'll come to the same conclusion that folks have done this for *years* and nothing's ever come of it.) You are graded for what you *do*, not for what you say. Otherwise, you are just another pundit, and lord knows the world's got enough of those.
3. Posting critically about the U.S. pool scene on a pool/billiards forum, and "rallying the battle cry" about it does absolutely NOTHING for a problem that is now largely economy-fed. (BTW, your post did not break any new ground -- anyone who's been on these boards for a while has seen their fair share of 'em, so when yours came along, it was almost like, "yeah yeah, tell us something we don't already know.") Granted, the pool scene in the U.S. was not exactly spectacular before the economy went into the dumpers, but this is a sport/pastime that is *directly* affected by a poor economy. If people are pinching pennies these days, *of course* leisure activities like going to the pool hall are going to take a hit!
4. "Observing" that pool halls are closing down, action diminishing left and right, leagues suck, tournies suck, pool rooms won't post flyers about events at "other" establishments because they're seen as robbing their own business, et al., and then posting those details here is an exercise in editorializing. In a word? Ranting. Now if you just wanted to bend folks' ears and rant, you should've said so, instead of disguising your post as a plea for opinions. You definitely got some opinions, but it appears that if someone posted something that disagreed with your points, you got all over them, rebutting why that wouldn't work in your area, or why that was wrong, or why that won't change things, etc.
5. Finally, I'm a veteran as well (8 years USN, high technology). Been all over the world, and observed the pool scene in many, many other countries. I'm 43 years old, and I can hit 'em pretty good, if I don't say so myself (133-ball high run in 14.1, and I've been known to put some decent packages together in 9-/10-ball). To back up Shawn's point about the age thing, when I was in my 20s, I was a big subscriber to the "battle cry" movement -- trying to be the "unique" person to create a battle cry that got folks moving. Once some experience and wisdom was attained by putting some years under my hat, it occurred to me that these efforts, although rewarding at the time because it helped me to exercise my writing and pundit chops, were actually futile. Nothing got done. Took me a while to learn that one gets what one puts into something -- if I wanted something to change, *I* had to be the person to architect, plan, initiate, execute, and babysit the process. Only afterwards, when others could come onboard after seeing the positive results, could I take a step back, and *see* what *I* did. No battle cry, just pure execution. "By the happenstance fact of noticing something wrong, one owns the issue of getting it resolved. Battle cries or calls to arms don't count -- they're just noise."
On that note of execution, there are folks doing something about it. Look at Allen Hopkins; at the many fine folks behind the Galveston Classic (of which I'm sure you're seeing posts about); at Greg Sullivan and the fine folks at Diamond; at Corey Harper and the fine folks at Tiger; at the fine folks behind Predator; Justin Collett and the fantastic folks at The Action Report (TAR); Mark Griffin and the BCAPL; ...etc, etc. And although very controversial, at Charlie Williams and Dragon Promotions (some may argue about bringing his name/company up in this respect with the much-discussed controversy, I think he/his company deserves mention for no other reason than to add to the list of folks at least trying to do something about the pool scene).
So to summarize, although some of the responses you've received were, well, shall we say "corrugated" in nature, please take from them the points they're trying to make. You're somewhat new here, so hopefully you've picked up a couple things about stirring the pot without any substance.
Personally, I see that you are quite well-written, able to get his point across succinctly and lucidly. You appear to be a decent writer, and these boards welcome good writers. Hopefully you'll stick around and we'll see more posts from you, with some exercised control.
Respectfully,
-Sean
