cigardave said:
BINGO
so why bash it ?..........
great post btw cigardave
No More Drunkards, Druggies, and Thieves
- Thread starter JAM
- Start date
BINGO
so why bash it ?..........
great post btw cigardave
mullyman said:
wait a minute, you mean he did'nt give buddy hall the 7 ball and beat him ? what a bummer
.I agree, the article did read like he was cole dickson reincar or something . The only bullard i know of is erman (not sure of the last name spelling)
poolhall maven said:
I admit it is a harsh stereotype that we have to overcome. I can't say that it isn't deserved, but I'm sure it is very painful to those who make a living from the game. Sometimes it takes pain to foment change. Hopefully that is where we are at now.
IMO it is all centered around the gambling issue. I know that is a sore spot for many here and in the sport so I'm sure that I'll get bashed for that view. Until the newbies can learn without having to "pay the dues" by losing their lunch money, and until the better players stop looking to "score" off all the newbies or by "hustling" things won't change. I really don't care if people gamble, it's their money after all.....I just see so many ways that it has a negative outcome that there are very few positive things that result. The people that are attracted to this environment tend to share personalities that lend themself to stereotypes also IMNSHO. I know....I'm in there too.
As to the stereotypes.......you've started (from the sound of it) the change by making a positive statement with your example and your kids, I'll try with mine. It will take 10 good examples to outweigh the 1 bad but we're on our way and I do wish we could move faster.
I am happy though as I said before to see anyone "better" themselves in any way whether it's career, health, motivation, etc. But I do agree the words could have been chosen more carefully in the writing to not disparage so many.
Thanks for posting the article by the way JAM!
Good luck with you and yours.
td
Let the bashing begin........
Hey give Bullard some credit , he can play because he beat Allen Hopkins, Kieth Bennett and Mike Fuller this weekend among others in Wilmington NC.
He has to play pretty good to beat some of NC's best.--Leonard
He has to play pretty good to beat some of NC's best.--Leonard
We should all believe the media! Ha Ha
The media likes to make a story sound juicer then it realy is. I find it hard to believe that any player with talent would bury the pool world as a whole. The conception of the public is that we play in bars and smoke filled rooms so we must drink. That includes the media. Where was the interview conducted? Probably a bar. Whenever John Daly won a tournament where was he interviewed at? On the 18th hole or in front of the club house. Ten minutes later he was bellied up to the bar. I live in South Dakota and I have yet to see a news paper article about SVB in our paper. On the other hand a local golfer does anything he is praised and interviewed with a beer in his hand. It's not fair but it is what we have to live with until perceptions can be changed.
The media likes to make a story sound juicer then it realy is. I find it hard to believe that any player with talent would bury the pool world as a whole. The conception of the public is that we play in bars and smoke filled rooms so we must drink. That includes the media. Where was the interview conducted? Probably a bar. Whenever John Daly won a tournament where was he interviewed at? On the 18th hole or in front of the club house. Ten minutes later he was bellied up to the bar. I live in South Dakota and I have yet to see a news paper article about SVB in our paper. On the other hand a local golfer does anything he is praised and interviewed with a beer in his hand. It's not fair but it is what we have to live with until perceptions can be changed.
This site is really going downhill. All the threads about various players, tours, cuemakers, etc., have nothing but negativity in them (granted, some of it is richly deserved), and I for one and becoming more and more sick of it. Normally, I could care less since I have no vested interest in most of these threads, but this particular thread really pisses me off (that's not a reflection on you, Jennie - I'm taking exception to the sucker punchers hiding behind screen names who don't know what they hell they're talking about). For people to take potshots at a guy they don't even know is ludicrous, but to base such stupidity on a podunk small-town newspaper article takes that to a level of just plain retarded. Unfortunately, that's become de rigeur here on AZBilliards.
The line about "drunkards, druggies, and thieves" isn't a direct quote from Bruce Bullard. That is a characterization from the author of the article. If you anonymous Internet sucker punchers have an opinion about that line, send your anonymous sucker punch to the author of the article - don't post your retarded conjecture and assumptions about Bruce here on AZBilliards.
Anyone who knows Bruce and how he plays wouldn't think he's not a world-class player. When Tony Watson lived in Wilmington, Bruce beat Tony plenty of times in tournaments. I've been a personal witness to a few of these matches. I also have been a victim of Bruce's. I've been goose-egged twice in my life. Once was right after I broke my collarbone to a guy whom I'd feel comfortable giving the 7-out. I don't like to count that one, but it did happen. Anyway, the only other time was to Bruce, and I never missed a ball. He won the lag and ran out the set on one of Breaktime's Diamond Pros (the Camel Pro Billiard Tour one, actually). The only times I got out of the chair were to rack and to shake Bruce's hand. At the time, I didn't know who he was. I got a chance to talk to him after that match, and he struck me as being a really nice guy. I've talked to him a few more times since then (but I haven't seen him in a few years since I don't make my way down to Wilmington very often anymore). He's a family man with a full-time job, and he doesn't spend every waking moment in a pool room. He's humble and down-to-Earth. I've seen him get pissed off - he's not perfect and he's no angel. He'll often go weeks or months without hitting a ball, but he still snaps off tournaments. He's one of the best players in NC, and he'd be more well-known if he didn't rarely play outside of Wilmington. Make no mistake, the man is a PLAYER.
I hate to see bull$h!t posts like the ones in this thread characterizing a man who doesn't deserve the negative criticism. If you don't know Bruce, and you can't tell the difference between what he said and what the author of the article said, then shut the f*ck up about Bruce. Take out your frustration about the sorry state of pool on the media and/or the leadership (or lack thereof) of professional pool - Bruce doesn't deserve to be the target.
-djb
The line about "drunkards, druggies, and thieves" isn't a direct quote from Bruce Bullard. That is a characterization from the author of the article. If you anonymous Internet sucker punchers have an opinion about that line, send your anonymous sucker punch to the author of the article - don't post your retarded conjecture and assumptions about Bruce here on AZBilliards.
Anyone who knows Bruce and how he plays wouldn't think he's not a world-class player. When Tony Watson lived in Wilmington, Bruce beat Tony plenty of times in tournaments. I've been a personal witness to a few of these matches. I also have been a victim of Bruce's. I've been goose-egged twice in my life. Once was right after I broke my collarbone to a guy whom I'd feel comfortable giving the 7-out. I don't like to count that one, but it did happen. Anyway, the only other time was to Bruce, and I never missed a ball. He won the lag and ran out the set on one of Breaktime's Diamond Pros (the Camel Pro Billiard Tour one, actually). The only times I got out of the chair were to rack and to shake Bruce's hand. At the time, I didn't know who he was. I got a chance to talk to him after that match, and he struck me as being a really nice guy. I've talked to him a few more times since then (but I haven't seen him in a few years since I don't make my way down to Wilmington very often anymore). He's a family man with a full-time job, and he doesn't spend every waking moment in a pool room. He's humble and down-to-Earth. I've seen him get pissed off - he's not perfect and he's no angel. He'll often go weeks or months without hitting a ball, but he still snaps off tournaments. He's one of the best players in NC, and he'd be more well-known if he didn't rarely play outside of Wilmington. Make no mistake, the man is a PLAYER.
I hate to see bull$h!t posts like the ones in this thread characterizing a man who doesn't deserve the negative criticism. If you don't know Bruce, and you can't tell the difference between what he said and what the author of the article said, then shut the f*ck up about Bruce. Take out your frustration about the sorry state of pool on the media and/or the leadership (or lack thereof) of professional pool - Bruce doesn't deserve to be the target.
-djb
DoomCue said:
I was hoping somebody who actually knew Bruce Bullard would come on this thread. In fact, I think I actually posted that on this thread somewhere earlier.
Actually, I think this thread is very revealing about the American pool culture. I must say, though, I was pleasantly surprised to read the posts from members of this forum who found this phrase offensive. That gave me a little spark of sunshine! :smile:
If the author of the article did create that term "drunkards, druggies, and thieves," it speaks volumes about what this American media person thought of pool when he was interviewing Bruce Bullard. Can somebody say "STEREOTYPE"?
When I was younger, all of the pool rooms in my area never served alcohol. The only places that served alcohol were the bars, but the bars usually only had one or two pool tables, unlike the rest of the country.
When I went on the road in the '70s down South and entered the bars with 20 and 30 pool tables in them, I thought I had died and went to heaven. I loved it down South, and the pool action was plentiful. :grin:
The person I was on the road with who was THE pool player looking for action tended to never want to gamble in the bars. He wanted to stick with the pool rooms. He knew that gambling and alcohol didn't mix, and he was right. I soon found that out when I had a gun pulled on me in Dalton, Georgia, side-betting.
My last road trip came about because of an incident that happened in Rome, Georgia. We went into this joint, looking for action, and the bartender called in the local champ. This older man, maybe in his forties -- hey, forties was old to me back then :grin: -- came to play, with his stick in tow, and it was let the games begin, with the two players sparring, giving it their all.
When the dust settled, my friend won the cheese. As we were exiting the premises with our pockets full of the other man's cash, I saw that 40-ish man sitting outside on the ground by his car, weeping his eyes out. I never went on the road again hustling pool after that incident. To this day, I can't get that sight out of my mind of that man crying in the parking lot.
That's not to say I don't like action. I still enjoy a good game of high stakes, but I prefer it to be a fair contest. Okay, okay. I'll admit that I somewhat do like it better when my horse has the best of it. :grin:
Today in the year 2008, I have seen both sides of pool, the action genre and the tournament soldier era. Those are the two subcultures within American pool, and they each have their warts and shining stars. :wink:
JAM
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There's no doubt in my mind that a stereotype is being perpetuated. That's been going on for decades. I, too, take exception to the terms in the article. I know, though, that's what the perception of our sport is, and I know the media has done, and will continue to do, its best to perpetuate that image. I have to wonder why it's ok to perpetuate that image for pool, even though there is a lot more robbing and hustling happening on the golf course than in any pool room. Unfortunately, the stereotype for pool, like most stereotypes, does have some basis in fact. I can hate the stereotype, and I can do what I can to dispel the myths and misinformation, but to some small extent, we poolplayers deserve it.JAM said:
I work in the high-tech industry. It's fairly routine in my line of work to change jobs frequently. Over the past 10 years, the longest tenure at a position I've held was about 2 1/2 years. As a result, I get to meet a lot of new co-workers, especially since most of the places I've worked have hundreds or thousands of employees. Invariably, when I meet these new co-workers and they find out I play pool, the first question I'm asked is, "Are you a hustler?" The question is asked of me so often that I actually have a stock answer. I've found, though, that trying to explain the difference between "hustling" and a "pool player who gambles occasionally" to a layman is pointless - their minds have been shaped by years of watching movies and TV episodes where pool always involves a hustle. Every once in a while, I'll get, "Are you a pool shark?" The looks on some of their faces when I say, "I've never sharked anyone on purpose in my life" is both comical and sad to me, because they look at me like I just spoke Klingon.
-djb <-- wishes golfers were treated the same way
I Guess I Could Drive A Cab
"No More Drunkards, Druggies, and Thieves"
SO, just where are we supposed to go............ and what are we supposed to do with our leisure time ?
Doug
.
"No More Drunkards, Druggies, and Thieves"
SO, just where are we supposed to go............ and what are we supposed to do with our leisure time ?
Doug
.
DoomCue said:
Good Post.