league play

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chuckg

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I saw a lot of people knocking various leagues'and their quality of play so I have watched a few APA matches on the net . I last watched an 8 ball match with a pair of 7s .To me the level of play was poor ,no break and run and the patterns I saw was ? . A friend of mine who plays APA as a 3 came by the center I play at with his team captain and tried to recruit me . I played the captain ...an SL 7 some nine ball ,fast race to 7 with me winning 7 to 1. he said in his bar I would be a 6 . I am really not interested...play enough in the day....being 67 I do not have much interest in being committed to a league when I will be traveling over 90 days this year alone . I am tempted to go to the new sports bar here and play some on their Diamond bar boxes just to see how I could do . Any thoughts ?

Chuckg
 
Had just enough bourbon to reply to this. I am 63, to give my statements perspective.

I know two players, who have recently quit league to pursue tournament and gambling. In our area, that mostly means tournament, since most all the gamblers know each other and the locals speed. Crazy thing is, every tournament in our area is at least 70% players from league play. 70% from APA or BCAPL, which is my guess, and the two players mentioned can’t win shit.

League play absolutely does not make you less of a player. It makes you a player who is familiar with getting and giving a spot. Play league. Suffer the loss to Billy, Bob, Patty, Taylor, Rachel, that dick Jimmy, that c**t Brenda and learn how to live the pool life.

Tournaments and gambling, in my eyes, aren’t any different than league.


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Scratch85 said:
Had just enough bourbon to reply to this. I am 63, to give my statements perspective.

I know two players, who have recently quit league to pursue tournament and gambling. In our area, that mostly means tournament, since most all the gamblers know each other and the locals speed. Crazy thing is, every tournament in our area is at least 70% players from league play. 70% from APA or BCAPL, which is my guess, and the two players mentioned can’t win shit.

League play absolutely does not make you less of a player. It makes you a player who is familiar with getting and giving a spot. Play league. Suffer the loss to Billy, Bob, Patty, Taylor, Rachel, that dick Jimmy, that c**t Brenda and learn how to live the pool life.

Tournaments and gambling, in my eyes, aren’t any different than league.


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Well said. Winning is winning and pool is pool.
 
72yo. Play house league 9ball and APA 8ball on Tuesday. BCA 8ball Wednesday. House league masters format on Thursday.

APA is a friends and family thing around here. BCA is more competitive. The masters is for individuals. 9ball race to eight, and 8ball race to six.

If tournaments and gambling aren't for you, I suggest BCA
 
chuckg said:
I saw a lot of people knocking various leagues'and their quality of play so I have watched a few APA matches on the net . I last watched an 8 ball match with a pair of 7s .To me the level of play was poor ,no break and run and the patterns I saw was ? . A friend of mine who plays APA as a 3 came by the center I play at with his team captain and tried to recruit me . I played the captain ...an SL 7 some nine ball ,fast race to 7 with me winning 7 to 1. he said in his bar I would be a 6 . I am really not interested...play enough in the day....being 67 I do not have much interest in being committed to a league when I will be traveling over 90 days this year alone . I am tempted to go to the new sports bar here and play some on their Diamond bar boxes just to see how I could do . Any thoughts ?

Chuckg
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I'd suggest that you go watch a night or two of APA before you decide to sign on for a session. And by all means, please stay for the duration of the session if you do decide to join, you're part of a team on APA, and quitting mid session impacts your team.
I suggest watching a night or two because most of your time will be doing just that, watching. A typical night is 5 individual matches, and some of the lower handicap players miss a lot, and those games run into double digit innings without any safety shots.
If you do decide to join, share your knowledge with those that are interested, you'll know quickly who those ones are. Let the other ones play and nod and agree when they tell their tales of woe.
As was stated previously, it is more of a social activity for most, like bowling, and if that part isn't something that you'll go along with, then maybe not a good fit for you.
 
The only reason I play in league is because people I like play in league or run it LOL My son runs an in-house league, we have taught pretty much every player that is in that league creating a lot of PLAYERS from bangers, I play there 3 nights but 80% of my goal is to help the other players, not so much to play myself. I also joined a few leagues to help out friends that needed a higher-level player on the team. But just to play pool, in my area there is no need to be in a league. I am in a pretty dense pool hall/bar area where there are about 10 pool halls with decent equipment within a 90 min drive, and several within 45 mins, so I don't need to put up with league sandbagging or annoying drunks.
 
Leagues were fun but it is a challenge. Tournaments and leagues always end late. If it is a Friday or Saturday you are paying a premium to be there. The other days are work days, and you need to be up early. When you get home your mind is still wide awake so it is difficult to fall asleep quickly even after a shower. It is hard to do either with a career.

Cheap matches on weekends or early evenings with friends, or simply playing by yourself to meditate and relax, is more schedule-friendly.
 
Rickhem said:
If you do decide to join, share your knowledge with those that are interested, you'll know quickly who those ones are. Let the other ones play and nod and agree when they tell their tales of woe.
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Amen. The woe is me crowd often won't take personal responsibility for misses on the table. It does not good until they figure out excuses and blaming luck are just hindering themselves.

Some people never learn that, on or off the table. IMHO you gotta own the mistakes as well as the makes to ever improve.

You have to clear your mind but doing so by quickly analyzing what went wrong and letting it go is more beneficial than blaming conditions, unlucky rolls, etc. One gives you info to fix the problem, one is just sticking your head in the sand.

Leagues can be a really fun time and they can also be terrible. It depends a lot on team chemistry. It's definitely a fun form of people watching. :)
 
Good advice all around...being as I am in full retirement/vacation mode I would hate to hinder a team with all my absences so I will not join a league team . i might go with my friend to watch him play league . Might even try to find a game with a better player .

Thanks, Chuckg
 
chuckg said:
I saw a lot of people knocking various leagues'and their quality of play so I have watched a few APA matches on the net . I last watched an 8 ball match with a pair of 7s .To me the level of play was poor ,no break and run and the patterns I saw was ? . A friend of mine who plays APA as a 3 came by the center I play at with his team captain and tried to recruit me . I played the captain ...an SL 7 some nine ball ,fast race to 7 with me winning 7 to 1. he said in his bar I would be a 6 . I am really not interested...play enough in the day....being 67 I do not have much interest in being committed to a league when I will be traveling over 90 days this year alone . I am tempted to go to the new sports bar here and play some on their Diamond bar boxes just to see how I could do . Any thoughts ?

Chuckg
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I'm sorry, I thought you said that you played an APA team captain who is an SL7 rated player and won a short race 7-1, that captain then said you would be an SL6 rated player. I am not familiar with APA rankings, is an APA SL6 typically a better player than an SL7 or do you need street cred to gain an SL7 rating???
 
fastone371 said:
I'm sorry, I thought you said that you played an APA team captain who is an SL7 rated player and won a short race 7-1, that captain then said you would be an SL6 rated player. I am not familiar with APA rankings, is an APA SL6 typically a better player than an SL7 or do you need street cred to gain an SL7 rating???
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The higher number is the better player. Maybe the captain let him win. Oh and in APA 9 ball, racks don't mater. It is scored by number of balls pocketed.
 
Why play in league if a an individual does not have the time or the desire to play in the sanctioned tournaments that league play allows?

On the other side of that coin, don't disparage those that do take part.
 
Rickhem said:
I'd suggest that you go watch a night or two of APA before you decide to sign on for a session. And by all means, please stay for the duration of the session if you do decide to join, you're part of a team on APA, and quitting mid session impacts your team.
I suggest watching a night or two because most of your time will be doing just that, watching. A typical night is 5 individual matches, and some of the lower handicap players miss a lot, and those games run into double digit innings without any safety shots.
If you do decide to join, share your knowledge with those that are interested, you'll know quickly who those ones are. Let the other ones play and nod and agree when they tell their tales of woe.
As was stated previously, it is more of a social activity for most, like bowling, and if that part isn't something that you'll go along with, then maybe not a good fit for you.
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This ^^^

And if you don't think you can commit to a full league schedule, some leagues allow substitutes, I believe. (Not APA) So that might be an option to stick your foot in and participate some, without impacting the team by not being there. Also, house leagues are usually a different beast, and they may also be more flexible, the last one I was in was like that.
 
We play two leagues. One a two person, and one a three person. Both are very well run. We have two sanctions in one and three in another as about 2/3 or more of the players play tournaments. Scoring is based on not only balls made but wins also. Don't ask me about how their handicap works, but they have some software based system where the league operator just plugs in the scores and it figures it out. I think it also is biased as to the level of player you play against. A league is only as good as the person running it. You can have a great venue, friendly players but without a good league operator there is no point in being in the league.
Anyway, we have met and have many friends because of these leagues. They are a commitment though, as the leagues run for 8 months, and there is no signing up and two months later deciding it's not for you. I guess if you quit, they couldn't stop you, but fortunately that hasn't happened. Also, as our two league operators run multiple leagues so there is an extensive sub list to fall back on and that is really nice.
 
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