First of all, let me clarify my feelings on sports in general.
It's basically a matter of the biggest, fastest, strongest, meanest ape gets the banana.
I feel it is a statement about society in general that sports figures get paid the astronomical amounts that they are, and they are held to be in high regard, yet probably 15% of the population knows off the top of their heads who Jonas Salk was. Or who Leeuwenhoek was. Both of these men have impacted humanity more than Michael Jordan could ever hope to.
Granted, these are historical figures who were not alive in today's economic climate. Doesn't matter. Scientists today are just not respected as in years past. And they don't get paid what they are worth.
Now, on to men's payouts. Get over it, "Pros". Very very very few of you would be pros if you didn't spend every waking moment as teens practicing, with no responsibilities. You made a choice, way back then. You chose a game over school. If you could have had both, then you should have made the effort to excel at both school and pool. If you could not commit the time to both school and pool because pool took too much practice time, then... well, I guess you made your choice.
No whining! Pool hasn't been a profitable profession for more than about 3 or 4 Americans at any time that anyone who is alive can remember. If you chose to forego the preparations of "real life" in order to practice for a game, well, take what the world is giving you. Or quit playing pool and get a real job.
There are probably about 10 American poolplayers who make enough money to support a family, what with health insurance costs and whatnot. Note I said that actually make enough to support that family, whether they actually have one or not.
Yet we see these same pros gambling 10K-20K at the DCC. And they are not always winning. Even our BEST players are still acting irresponsibly with the money they have been lucky enough to win.
Charlie Williams is one of the rare exceptions. I've heard he's already put a sizeable amount down on a house, and has actually used his success to invest, and now has side income coming in. In effect, he is now just as much a businessman as a player.
I have ZERO sympathy for the players out there who have not been able to make a living even though they are in the top 20. It's a GAME. I think ALL games should be played for the love of the game. Yes, Basketball, baseball, soccer, football, golf, pool, etc. If that were true, we wouldn't have all the high dollar production values, or we might not be able to see every NBA game the whole season.. Oh boo-hoo, that would be a shame.
And I have even LESS sympathy for the players who have had great success in the recent past and then go and ****ing blow the money gambling with another player. That is just incredibly stupid. Danny Diliberto once said about Alex Pagulayan that Alex likes to gamble, could have $20,000 one day and broke the next. But Danny made it seem like this was something to be ADMIRED? And guys like Danny D. are mentoring tommorrows's players? Dog help us all!
For the pros out there who have to make sacrifices to play the game, sorry, no sympathy. Pool would have still been there if you had waited 4 years to get your college degree. And then you'd have something to fall back on. You knew there was no money in pool. You made the decision to play because it was fun at that particular time, and you had no responsibility. Be happy promoters take the time to get together ANY major tournaments, and be happy if the winnings allow you to pay your trip fees. A lot of fans pay the same costs just to WATCH the tournaments, and have no way of making the money back. Of course, they are the ones who TRULY love the game.
Russ
It's basically a matter of the biggest, fastest, strongest, meanest ape gets the banana.
I feel it is a statement about society in general that sports figures get paid the astronomical amounts that they are, and they are held to be in high regard, yet probably 15% of the population knows off the top of their heads who Jonas Salk was. Or who Leeuwenhoek was. Both of these men have impacted humanity more than Michael Jordan could ever hope to.
Granted, these are historical figures who were not alive in today's economic climate. Doesn't matter. Scientists today are just not respected as in years past. And they don't get paid what they are worth.
Now, on to men's payouts. Get over it, "Pros". Very very very few of you would be pros if you didn't spend every waking moment as teens practicing, with no responsibilities. You made a choice, way back then. You chose a game over school. If you could have had both, then you should have made the effort to excel at both school and pool. If you could not commit the time to both school and pool because pool took too much practice time, then... well, I guess you made your choice.
No whining! Pool hasn't been a profitable profession for more than about 3 or 4 Americans at any time that anyone who is alive can remember. If you chose to forego the preparations of "real life" in order to practice for a game, well, take what the world is giving you. Or quit playing pool and get a real job.
There are probably about 10 American poolplayers who make enough money to support a family, what with health insurance costs and whatnot. Note I said that actually make enough to support that family, whether they actually have one or not.
Yet we see these same pros gambling 10K-20K at the DCC. And they are not always winning. Even our BEST players are still acting irresponsibly with the money they have been lucky enough to win.
Charlie Williams is one of the rare exceptions. I've heard he's already put a sizeable amount down on a house, and has actually used his success to invest, and now has side income coming in. In effect, he is now just as much a businessman as a player.
I have ZERO sympathy for the players out there who have not been able to make a living even though they are in the top 20. It's a GAME. I think ALL games should be played for the love of the game. Yes, Basketball, baseball, soccer, football, golf, pool, etc. If that were true, we wouldn't have all the high dollar production values, or we might not be able to see every NBA game the whole season.. Oh boo-hoo, that would be a shame.
And I have even LESS sympathy for the players who have had great success in the recent past and then go and ****ing blow the money gambling with another player. That is just incredibly stupid. Danny Diliberto once said about Alex Pagulayan that Alex likes to gamble, could have $20,000 one day and broke the next. But Danny made it seem like this was something to be ADMIRED? And guys like Danny D. are mentoring tommorrows's players? Dog help us all!
For the pros out there who have to make sacrifices to play the game, sorry, no sympathy. Pool would have still been there if you had waited 4 years to get your college degree. And then you'd have something to fall back on. You knew there was no money in pool. You made the decision to play because it was fun at that particular time, and you had no responsibility. Be happy promoters take the time to get together ANY major tournaments, and be happy if the winnings allow you to pay your trip fees. A lot of fans pay the same costs just to WATCH the tournaments, and have no way of making the money back. Of course, they are the ones who TRULY love the game.
Russ
