League Players

Johnnyt

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
I was watching some league play being streamed today for a few hours off and on. APA I think it was. I came away with one conclusion. Nobody should be allowed to play in any competition until they can run at least 4 balls in a row and have some idea where and how to get the CB there for the next shot. They must play the ghost by themselves until they can beat the 3-ball ghost. I have no idea what an APA 4 is in terms of A< B< C< D ratings, but if an APA 4 is= to a D player I must have been born a “C” player because I can’t ever remember playing that awful. Now I see why they sell so many of those aiming systems.

And for the people that say they are just playing for the fun of it or to socialize…I didn’t see that on their faces. What I saw for the most part was frustration on their faces because they kept missing balls 6 inches from the pocket or scratching every other time they made a ball. No wonder most league players don’t watch and don’t know the names of the top pro players. They couldn’t handle the truth. Sorry league players. I know there are some very good league players out there some where, I just have yet to see any for myself. Johnnyt
 
I am a "B" player at 9-Ball, And a 8.5 to 9 point Average (With VNEA 8-Ball) not sure what that translates into a APA or BCA leagues. I am normally in the top 75 players in the area that I play. We have about 70 teams of 4.

And my trouble ball, is usaully right off the Break, If I get a ball in. After that then my Ghost ball is normally the 6th or 7th Ball. I probably run an average of 1 out of 10 racks (Yes, you can laugh :p ). My best is 3 racks in a row.

And I see alot of players that are just playing for fun and can't get past the 3rd to 4th ball. And will play all year with out getting one full run on a rack. Just as long as they have a good night and a smile on there face at night, I guess thats all that matters. :thumbup:
 
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Johnnyt, keep your bullshit opinions to yourself.

If it was APA, they have a handicap maximum so each team will have strong players and weak players. Combine that with them being nervous because of a tournament and then add on the pressure that they are being filmed.

Throw up a webcam and lets see how good you play under all that pressure.
 
Johnnyt said:
I was watching some league play being streamed today for a few hours off and on. APA I think it was. I came away with one conclusion. Nobody should be allowed to play in any competition until they can run at least 4 balls in a row and have some idea where and how to get the CB there for the next shot. They must play the ghost by themselves until they can beat the 3-ball ghost. I have no idea what an APA 4 is in terms of A< B< C< D ratings, but if an APA 4 is= to a D player I must have been born a “C” player because I can’t ever remember playing that awful. Now I see why they sell so many of those aiming systems.

And for the people that say they are just playing for the fun of it or to socialize…I didn’t see that on their faces. What I saw for the most part was frustration on their faces because they kept missing balls 6 inches from the pocket or scratching every other time they made a ball. No wonder most league players don’t watch and don’t know the names of the top pro players. They couldn’t handle the truth. Sorry league players. I know there are some very good league players out there some where, I just have yet to see any for myself. Johnnyt
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You will, I'm coming to fl. next year.
 
I have seen some league players ,when first starting, play pretty terrible. Just holding the cue looked like they was holding a football bat!!:D
But they do get better over time,,some made very big improvements just in one session.
Got to start somewhere,,,and IMO that is what the APA is for,,,learning pool,,, in a league,,, handy capped for weak players!! Although it not only the APA leagues that people start playing pool,,but it seems that is where most weaker players are.
 
Johnnyt said:
I was watching some league play being streamed today for a few hours off and on. APA I think it was. I came away with one conclusion. Nobody should be allowed to play in any competition until they can run at least 4 balls in a row and have some idea where and how to get the CB there for the next shot. They must play the ghost by themselves until they can beat the 3-ball ghost. I have no idea what an APA 4 is in terms of A< B< C< D ratings, but if an APA 4 is= to a D player I must have been born a “C” player because I can’t ever remember playing that awful. Now I see why they sell so many of those aiming systems.

And for the people that say they are just playing for the fun of it or to socialize…I didn’t see that on their faces. What I saw for the most part was frustration on their faces because they kept missing balls 6 inches from the pocket or scratching every other time they made a ball. No wonder most league players don’t watch and don’t know the names of the top pro players. They couldn’t handle the truth. Sorry league players. I know there are some very good league players out there some where, I just have yet to see any for myself. Johnnyt
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I shot a hornets nest with a 30/30 one time just to see what would happen
 
Johnnyt said:
I was watching some league play being streamed today for a few hours off and on. APA I think it was. I came away with one conclusion. Nobody should be allowed to play in any competition until they can run at least 4 balls in a row and have some idea where and how to get the CB there for the next shot. They must play the ghost by themselves until they can beat the 3-ball ghost. I have no idea what an APA 4 is in terms of A< B< C< D ratings, but if an APA 4 is= to a D player I must have been born a “C” player because I can’t ever remember playing that awful. Now I see why they sell so many of those aiming systems.

And for the people that say they are just playing for the fun of it or to socialize…I didn’t see that on their faces. What I saw for the most part was frustration on their faces because they kept missing balls 6 inches from the pocket or scratching every other time they made a ball. No wonder most league players don’t watch and don’t know the names of the top pro players. They couldn’t handle the truth. Sorry league players. I know there are some very good league players out there some where, I just have yet to see any for myself. Johnnyt
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So you watch a little league pool on the internet and feel you're qualified to tell everyone else how to spend their leisure time?

Stick to robbing the tradesmen johnny....imo
 
Johnnyt said:
I was watching some league play being streamed today for a few hours off and on. APA I think it was. I came away with one conclusion. Nobody should be allowed to play in any competition until they can run at least 4 balls in a row and have some idea where and how to get the CB there for the next shot. They must play the ghost by themselves until they can beat the 3-ball ghost. I have no idea what an APA 4 is in terms of A< B< C< D ratings, but if an APA 4 is= to a D player I must have been born a “C” player because I can’t ever remember playing that awful. Now I see why they sell so many of those aiming systems.

And for the people that say they are just playing for the fun of it or to socialize…I didn’t see that on their faces. What I saw for the most part was frustration on their faces because they kept missing balls 6 inches from the pocket or scratching every other time they made a ball. No wonder most league players don’t watch and don’t know the names of the top pro players. They couldn’t handle the truth. Sorry league players. I know there are some very good league players out there some where, I just have yet to see any for myself. Johnnyt
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Johnny T i find you to have some very good post from time to time,this is not 1 of your good ones!
 
Apa

I saw an interview with their marketing head in a magazine and his quote was 'our target market is people who don't play pool'. It's a beginners' league, is marketed and designed as such, and I think it's the biggest league in the world. The players want to play, have fun, and drink a few adult beverages with their friends. They want to be there, the league wants them to be there, and you know the bar wants them to be there. Whether or not they can beat your 'ghost' is irrelevant. It takes more guts to stand up in front of everyone and do something when you know you're not good.
 
Around here a bar box is a toy!!! I shoot league and local tournaments and so on. Come up here and I will show you league players that can keep you in your seat for racks at a time. A friend of mine shoots league and also beat Larry Nevel in a local tournament. My nine ball team finished 3rd last August in the APA Vegas Nationals. I guess that means we can now shoot them a foot from the pocket and make them ;) If these people are doing their own thing and not bothering you, then don't worry about it.
 
DAMN ! the 1st post i have seen concerning the apa that wasnt bashing them other than the op. TAP TAP TAP to all of yall !

i was just raised to a 5 again for about the 3rd time in the last 3 sessions. cant seem to make up my mind if im a very good 4 or a lousy 5 lol. even as a 4 i can run 4-5 balls routinely and occassionaly 6 or 7.

i cant wait for randy g to get here and help my game improve even more. i got lessons scheduled with him in a few weeks.

back to this topic though. yes the apa is known for bringing new players to our sport , and we should be thankful. every bodys got to start somewhere.
 
Johnnyt said:
I was watching some league play being streamed today for a few hours off and on. APA I think it was. I came away with one conclusion. Nobody should be allowed to play in any competition until they can run at least 4 balls in a row and have some idea where and how to get the CB there for the next shot. They must play the ghost by themselves until they can beat the 3-ball ghost. I have no idea what an APA 4 is in terms of A< B< C< D ratings, but if an APA 4 is= to a D player I must have been born a “C” player because I can’t ever remember playing that awful. Now I see why they sell so many of those aiming systems.

And for the people that say they are just playing for the fun of it or to socialize…I didn’t see that on their faces. What I saw for the most part was frustration on their faces because they kept missing balls 6 inches from the pocket or scratching every other time they made a ball. No wonder most league players don’t watch and don’t know the names of the top pro players. They couldn’t handle the truth. Sorry league players. I know there are some very good league players out there some where, I just have yet to see any for myself. Johnnyt
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Well, if Strickland, Reyes, Souquet etc watched you play (or most of us) they'd come to the conclusion that you shouldn't be allowed to play in a competition!
 
Johnnyt said:
I was watching some league play being streamed today for a few hours off and on. APA I think it was. I came away with one conclusion. Nobody should be allowed to play in any competition until they can run at least 4 balls in a row and have some idea where and how to get the CB there for the next shot. They must play the ghost by themselves until they can beat the 3-ball ghost. I have no idea what an APA 4 is in terms of A< B< C< D ratings, but if an APA 4 is= to a D player I must have been born a “C” player because I can’t ever remember playing that awful. Now I see why they sell so many of those aiming systems.

And for the people that say they are just playing for the fun of it or to socialize…I didn’t see that on their faces. What I saw for the most part was frustration on their faces because they kept missing balls 6 inches from the pocket or scratching every other time they made a ball. No wonder most league players don’t watch and don’t know the names of the top pro players. They couldn’t handle the truth. Sorry league players. I know there are some very good league players out there some where, I just have yet to see any for myself. Johnnyt
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I own a Pool Room in Lakewood, Washington and I current have a number of APA teams, BCA Teams, and a APA Children's League that play out of my Room. I understand what you are saying, but everyone has to start some where. Most of these league players love pool, and they take it seriously and try to do well, however, in most cases growth is slow. This is not because they don't care, or use league night as another excuse to go out and drink ( Some Certainly do ), I kinda think that in many cases it is a case of the blind leading the blind and improvement is not stressed by the powers that should.

What I am trying to say above is that these league operator's do not care how well the player plays, only that they do play because that means income. In most cases and in most locations League play is mainly played in Bar's, so from the beginning league play has been alcohol related and driven with little or no education on the finer points of the game. I mean look at the rules, they are not designed to foster improvement. They are only designed to make the games easy for anyone who can hold a cue to play. This keeps the players coming back and it creates the problems you are talking about.

In most cases the average team captain is not allot better than many of the players on their team, so with that in mind who really teaches them how to play better. The league operator's at least in my location do not offer clinics or instruction unless it is designed to help a team understand the league rules. In my room we offer and help many of our league players, I have a number of locals who invest their time to provide instruction all the players have to do is come in and spend some time.

We also started the Children's league for the same reason. Most of younger players are the children of league members, but that is not a requirement in itself. To date this has been successful in many ways, and I have personally seen improvement for many of the players who take advantage of what is offered, however, pool is not for everyone some people just don't get it no matter how long they play.

Last, these league players are major supporters of Pool at all levels from National to Professional events, and without them I do not want to think how bad things would be for everyone involved in this sport. While few may ever play at a high level, they wish to improve as much of any of us do, so lets not bust their balls.:)

JIMO
 
Mr441 said:
Well, if Strickland, Reyes, Souquet etc watched you play (or most of us) they'd come to the conclusion that you shouldn't be allowed to play in a competition!
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They would love Johnnyt to play in their tournament - more money for them!

You have to understand that there are very low skill level players in the APA. They generally play each other and have quite a battle and they also play as hard as you do.
 
JohnnyT I will bet you a $100 bucks that you have moments when you do play that awful . I bet you had that moment in the last month of play.
Just add a little extra pressure and you will crack. Since, you have played for a long time you will recover sooner or later but you will crack again.
Anyway why do you care?
I have participated in charity scotch doubles tournaments where I have been paired with people that don’t know how to hold the cue but we all had fun and everyone learned something and everyone tried hard. :)
 
I kinda agree with him but mostly disagree for one thing, im not foolish enough to believe i live in the only area in the united states that has strong league players, but we do, VERY strong league players we have players like tony piazza, mark haddad, atm, mike helmer, robert rodriguez, chris onesky, rich cunningham, james hilzner, louie salazar and many many more and any one of the aformentioned players would toast most "good" players and a few of them play apa. The thing that really bothers me about apa and this is where i start to kinda agree with him, is MOST apa players think they are king tut hot shit. the problem with the apa ranking system is lets use 2 players from my local area, brian, and mike both 7s...mike was on a vegas masters open winning team and finished in the top 10 in 8 ball and 9 ball in masters...and while brian on the other hand can run maybe 1 or 2 racks out of 10 if he is lucky...so my point is if your going to play in a "beginners" league then dont act like your cock of the walk cause apa is exactly that, a beginners league. jmho
 
I had quite an interesting experience playing in the APA league this past winter. I'm not a very good team player. I'm used to playing in tournaments. I would prefer to try a masse shot rather than play a safety like I should for the sake of the team.

This particular league has been in existence for many years. It's mostly the same teams and same players year after year. Everybody gets to know everybody. They even have barbecues over each other's houses.

My team captain is a seven and I'm a six. So we need twos and threes on our team, so we don't go over the maximum number. Each week we play a different team. Usually the twos and threes will match up on the earlier matches. A race to two might take them an hour and a half. The team captains seem to all like to play each other, so there is some real action for the team captains. Meantime all the beer heads are roaming around talking at the top of their voices. They like to laugh a lot.

I miss the old time pool rooms. Now it seems like they're all sports bars playing the head banger music.

At the time this APA league was the only game in town. Our team shut down for the summer because we had alot of no-shows. Now that I'm rated a six nobody wants me. I would have to sandbag my way back down to a two to get back in action.

I put my name on the list for "player looking for team" on the APA website. I got a reply from someone named Coolhand, saying he needed a six for his Wednesday night team at Babes in Silver Spring, MD. It turned out that Coolhand was the manager and not a captain. There was only three players that turned up for his league.

My team captain is extremely boisterous. But I don't think he can help himself. He might've been dropped on his head as a kid.
 
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> I have no problems with "league" players,so to speak. The only ones that fit into this generic description are the ones that have to hold things up by going for a beer in between shots,etc. To me,those people play in a league,rather than being a league PLAYER.

Most of the people I know that are players that play in the various league systems are not consumed by pool,but are hard-core hobbyists in a broad sense. They almost always work full-time,and usually in a decent to good paying job,are passionate about it,spend good money at it,are particular about their equipment as well as the tables,and most can run out at least occasionally,and can lay down some crafty moves if dedicated to learning,and most are. Some are QUITE strong as players,close to elite level in a couple cases. Unfortunately,none live in my area.

I love the competitive side of it,and the general idea of the various league systems. What I don't like is the sandbagging shit,whether it's the player laying down themselves,or players that allow themselves to be pressured into it,and people that put their players in spots like that. That is NOT intended to be confused with a player that takes coaching,just ones that are told to miss wide open shots with a runnable rack and do it.

What has always perplexed me is how disparate 2 players of same rating in same system can be depending on where they live and play.

For example,I have seen a female APA 3 that only ran 2 full racks in close to 40 games of 8-ball,but played safeties and took intentional fouls that had ME scratching my head at times. I've seen another female player that plays a typical bar player style based on pure offense. Sometimes,she runs out from the break,and is particularly effective at running out after her opponent misses,comes up dry,etc. She is a 6 in the league she plays in but couldn't beat the girl as a 3 in her league if they played long enough.

Another example,I've seen guys rated as the original poster's suggested APA 4 that might give me problems if I play a little off,due to their exp in tactical areas. I don't get to see a lot of the stuff they've been exposed to due to the fact that I've only got to play ball in hand 8 ball locally once in 15 years,LOL.

I've also seen guys rated as a 6/7 in that same format and as a 9 in 9 ball in their particular league that I've spotted and beat. I'm sure there are players that have maintained a 6/7 rating for years that I can't beat over the long haul,or would get weight from in their league system. Tommy D.
 
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