Is Someone That Competes at Pool Considered an Athlete

ENGLISH! said:
I think there is some confusion between strength & ability to move fast.

While a weight lifter or football linemen may be strong, I would bet that most of them could not hit an 85 MPH fast ball with a baseball bat or return a serve from maybe even a high school tennis player or break at a speed faster than Alison Fisher.

I don't think Willie Mosconi or Fats or many of that era would be thought of as strong men or even athletes.

Knowledge & technique are much more valuable in pool than strength.

JMHO
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Knowledge and technique are more valuable in just about any sport over strength. What good does strength do for you if you don't know how to use it?

I would find it funny if someone tried to argue that pool's greatest players are big, strong men.

CJ's question is whether or not a competitive pool player is an athlete. Do you think they aren't?
 
Pool players are not athletes. I'm going to say pool is a game. A person does not have to be athletic to participate. However being an athlete helps to endure which is essential in pool.
 
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CJ Wiley said:
I've heard the arguement over whether pool is a sport or a game all my life. Is the main issue whether you're an athlete if you play?

I looked up athlete to see if it was clear that athlete's played sports or games and this is what I found:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/athlete
Definition of ATHLETE: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina

So a professional athlete can play either sports or games. Does this mean it's now ok to call pool a game, or is there somehow more "status" in being a sport? I don't think the general public would include pool in their list of "sports"......what do you think?

'The Sport is the Teacher' ?;)or 'The Game is the Teacher'
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No. I love the game and it requires certain skills to play, but pool players are not athletes by playing pool.
 
I haven't read the entire thread, so if this has been said I'm sorry.

If it can be done while drinking and smoking it's not a sport.

I love pool, and Iove playing.... Bit it's a game, not a sport.



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Not many sports have as a legend (in that sport) with the nickname "Fats".
 
Hmm Sumo Wrestling, ice Curling, badminton, snow skiing, and race car driving (INDY and NASCAR) are all considered sports. Holding a football for someone to kick a field goal is also considered part of a sport. Call it what you want. Like anything else, you will find someone to argue with about it.
 
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evanlockhart said:
Knowledge and technique are more valuable in just about any sport over strength. What good does strength do for you if you don't know how to use it?

I would find it funny if someone tried to argue that pool's greatest players are big, strong men.

CJ's question is whether or not a competitive pool player is an athlete. Do you think they aren't?
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Evan,

You seemed to have been making a point that pool requires strength.
I don't think Ga-Young Kim is very strong in comparison to most Chess Players. Do you think Chess Players are competitive athletes?

Would you call pool an athletic competiton when for example a sick old guy like Earl Strickland can beat SVB in a race to 100 on a 10' table?

How long would it take the current Olympic Decathlon Champion to train in pool before he could ever beat Earl Strickland in pool?

Athletics implies a physical competition. Naturally, mental capabilities come into play in some competitions but not all. The 100 meter dash is basically about one thing.

Athletic competiton is predominantly about the physical. You could probably ressurrect Mr. Mosconi a year before his death & he could probably beat half the pros playing today. Is he a better athlete one year removed from his death bed than 1/2 the pros playing today. That's probably an exageration but I think you can see my point.

There are games that require athletics: running, jumping, & throwing. The three major sports do. Tennis, soccer, tract & field, etc. do.

Pool, Golf & Chess do not. If endurance is to be the defining factor, then anything can be turned into an athletic endeavor. Flag pole sitting, a spelling bee, checkers, computer research, reading books, baking cakes, playing poker, etc. Anything.

I love the game & there is a physical part to it but one might be able to beat SVB by moving the cue less than 1 mile an hour given the right strategy, expertise, & execution. How could you call that an athletic competition?

Pool player A might be able to do everything physical in pool better than pool player B & pool player B might be able to beat pool player A every time. Is that an athletic competition? Are they competing athletically?

Games are played competitively for the sport of it. Chess, Checkers, Poker.
Are any of them an athletic sport?

To answer your question, No, I do not think pool requires any real athleticism. The right strong willed person in a wheel could become World Champion.

Do you consider good hand eye coordination athleticism? If so, then I will concurr with you. Pool players are athletes.

Does pool belong in the Olympics? I don't really think so but if Curling is in, then yes it belongs in as much & more so than many others that are in.

Obviously all of the above are JMHOs.

Best Regards to You, &
 
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Strength, agility, and stamina .... the fine tuning of your stroke to control cue ball is some serious strength training. And the ability to distort are hands and bodies around the line of the shot accounts for agility. Stamina well we know that a session of pool can be an all day event or days. But i think the word athlete under values what a high level pool player is. I like to compare my abilities with a martial artist, a warrior. There is a level of body and mind relationship that a athlete does not have. I think i am a Jedi when I play pool. The truth is u will be a better burger flipper if ur in good shape and sports is how we promote people to stay in shape, we need better burger flippers but pool is more you have to train your mind to make decisions that a physics professor could not accurately explain. From a business point of veiw the analogy between a salesman and a hustler or a high powered negotiator are pretty cool. I think pool can also be called a religion and rev earl save us all.. i say we keep pool pool and i am a pool hustler trying to be a Jedi. Hi my name is tim and I am a pool hustler and proud of it.
 
ATHLETE: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games

sfleinen said:
Carson J:

In order for a pool player to be considered an athlete, the activity itself must first be considered a sport. Unfortunately, much of the public doesn't consider pool a sport, but rather a game. (A view of which I personally disagree with -- I think pool and any cueing discipline is a sport.)

Look at it this way -- the Olympic committee considers Curling a sport, and its participants "athletes."

If curling -- yes, curling -- is considered a sport by the Olympic committee, so too should the cueing disciplines! And yes, players at the top levels of pool and the other cueing disciplines are athletes.

-Sean
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you "must" be kidding


http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/athlete
Definition of ATHLETE: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina
 
.what determines what it is is the manner in which it is played

pt109 said:
I kinda like this explanation, Sean.

Personally, I feel billiards can be like some musical instruments...
...a violin is also a fiddle...
..what determines what it is is the manner in which it is played.
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That's hitting it "right on the button"....Pool (pocket billiards) can certainly be either one depending on the circumstances.
 
It's comes down to common vocabulary, or "Popularity". Have you ever heard anyone say How's your "game"? Of course. It's never...how's your "sport"?

ESPN...which is now FOX Sports in Asia airs spelling bees and dog shows? With much fanfare.

Shit...the IOC just swept wrestling into the dustpan of Olympic competition???? It's based on Roman games....? I grew up in the next school district to Perry OK...the Maroons...the youth/High School wrestling capital of the USA... Stillwater, and OSU is about a 30 min drive away where the wrestling hall of fame is? Danny Hodge...the God Father of Perry Wrestling...The Old man can still crush an apple with his hand, ever try that? I used to live a couple blocks from him....ten years ago he could break a pair of pliers with one hand. I've seen him do it. NO SHIT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j850TSvnHjY

I'm pissed off. Pool is lucky...it's never reached sport status...and then been kicked to the curb>
 
CJ Wiley said:
I've heard the arguement over whether pool is a sport or a game all my life. Is the main issue whether you're an athlete if you play?

I looked up athlete to see if it was clear that athlete's played sports or games and this is what I found:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/athlete
Definition of ATHLETE: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina

So a professional athlete can play either sports or games. Does this mean it's now ok to call pool a game, or is there somehow more "status" in being a sport? I don't think the general public would include pool in their list of "sports"......what do you think?

'The Sport is the Teacher' ?;)or 'The Game is the Teacher'
Click to expand...

Sports Illustrated named Willie Mosconi one of the top 100 athletes of the century. Wide World of Sports featured pocket billiards many times. I would say that they show it on ESPN which used to stand for ENTIRELY SPorts Network.....but now they show the spelling bee and poker on ESPN as well as video gaming and hot dog eating.

Jeanette Lee has been honored by the Women's Sports Association if I remember correctly. Billiards is a medal sport at the World and Asian Games and is was being considered for inclusion in the Olympic Games after they recognized the World Confederation of Billiard Sports as an acceptable entity to petition the IOC for inclusion.

So pool is recognized as a sport by those who deal in sports.

And anyone who participates in a sport with regularity is known as an athlete. Sumo wrestlers and weightlifters are fat. Anyone who can play all day and night, especially at a high level, is an athlete.

Also, if one looks up currently studies on health one would find that a lot of fat people are actually healthier and on the inside than a lot of skinny people. For those that think fat people can't be athletes.

Pool is a game when played recreationally and a sport when played competitively. Remember that we play games of basketball, baseball, and football.
 
FAST_N_LOOSE said:
I haven't read the entire thread, so if this has been said I'm sorry.

If it can be done while drinking and smoking it's not a sport.

I love pool, and Iove playing.... Bit it's a game, not a sport.



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Anything can be done with drinking and smoking.
 
JB Cases said:
Anything can be done with drinking and smoking.
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I was waiting for that exact comment from someone...... Yes, anything "can be done" but the top level won't be reached by a smoker.
I'm sure you'll give me plenty of reasons why I'm wrong, but I don't consider pool players athletes. Hell, I'm in better shape than half of them.
 
Pointless semantics... It seems like whenever this question comes up, all the "it's a sport guys" are fishing for people to give pool a little extra respect, and all the "it's a game" guys are like "screw you, I'm not giving it that respect."
 
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
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I don't really see the point in this discussion. Not because it's been recycled so many times, but in the actual goal. What happens if it's classified as a sport instead of a game?

Does it really matter?

I suppose we could look to the government for the answer... when JA or SVB file their taxes, how do they claim the money they win at tournaments?
 
I Googled "sport" and got as a hit "places for sport near Amsterdam, NY". Lo and behold, there was a location flag for Sharpshooters, my local pool room.

Google does not lie, therefore pool must be a sport.
 
FAST_N_LOOSE said:
I was waiting for that exact comment from someone...... Yes, anything "can be done" but the top level won't be reached by a smoker.
I'm sure you'll give me plenty of reasons why I'm wrong, but I don't consider pool players athletes. Hell, I'm in better shape than half of them.
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What does conditioning have to do with it? Babe Ruth smoked, drank, and ate like a pig. Look at the legacy he left behind. C.C. Sabathia couldn't run a hundred yards in a race to the potato salad, but just try to get a swing on his fastball. Is baseball not a sport?
 
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