No More Drunkards, Druggies, and Thieves

Cannonball55 said:
All good points indeed . But theres one thing no one has mentioned, pool is the only sport/game thats image is defined by the sum of it's worst and not it's best . I think this is in part due to what you mentioned above, but i also think that the pool playing community has been given a bad rap in general .
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Very true but keep in mind also that pool tables are found in every bar across the United States, upscale bars and back water dives so many people associate pool with drunken revelry while golf, tennis and other sports are played in an outdoor pristine setting which people associate with good clean fun and health.

We all know that there are more drunks on a golf course than at a pool tourney but the general public doesn't perceive it that way.
 
bigshooter said:
We all know that there are more drunks on a golf course than at a pool tourney but the general public doesn't perceive it that way.
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You are so right on that one .
 
bigshooter said:
Very true but keep in mind also that pool tables are found in every bar across the United States, upscale bars and back water dives so many people associate pool with drunken revelry while golf, tennis and other sports are played in an outdoor pristine setting which people associate with good clean fun and health.

We all know that there are more drunks on a golf course than at a pool tourney but the general public doesn't perceive it that way.
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IM always surprised at the lack of drunks in pool halls with bars. Ive seen fights in pool halls but never a drunken one and that seems odd to me.
 
Life has been good but with out pool in my life it would of been pretty boring ... There is nothing like the thrill or vicory or the agony of defeat on the table. I was in the finals against a young kid who has alot of mouth last week in a tourny ... The kid travels with us and we are friends in fact he reminds me of me when I was younger and at his age ... Full of tallent and potential and just a plain old cocky ...

Well I broke and all my stripes are tied up and I don't have a shot , I see that the kids small balls are laid up in the pockets for a easy run out so I shoot one my stripes into a few of his solids and run one of his balls into a tie up with my balls so he cant get out ... The kid runs the table and leaves one ball on the table ... Well I run the table breaking out my balls as I go and on the ball before the eight missed a long cut shot that rattled in the pocket ... The kid is smilling and brimming with confidence and as he approaches the table walks over to me and ask to shake my hand and I do so after which he replies I just wanted to thank you for another shot and starts to laugh ... His shot is straight in the side and as the kid shoots the o.b hits both tits of the side pocket and comes back out to the midle of the table... I could'nt help myself I walked over to the kid and shook his hand and told him "tits are great are'nt they ... Thanks for another shot "... I than walked to the table and took a few seconds to get in my rythem and pocketed the last two balls to win ...

After that the Kid just got pissed and started telling me I somehow play some great games and get some good wins ... But that I was no good and just plain lucky ... I never seem him so mad ... I told him come on Andrew we are suppose to be friends and we travel together. Of course this is the 4th tourny I beat him in this past week... He was fuming and running off out the mouth when I walked over to him and told him I use to be just like you with just as much talent and potential ... I was cocky like you too ... As you grow and mature you will find it better to finish the game and act with class even in defeat people will think more of you ... I can still play and walk the walk and talk the talk but choose not to most times ... And I've probably forgot more then you have yet to learn. It's not that I'm a better shot maker then you I beat you with experience something you won't get running your mouth and show boating ... Think about the game in it's entirety from start to finish it not always about making the ball...

Niether of us drink , do drugs nor are we thieves ... And it is stories like this that will last me a life time ... And I use to be the kid with more experienced players telling me what I told this kid ... Talk about de ja vu ...

On another note my G.F. is in a bowling league last week one of her team members a older man fell dead on the lane from a heart attack during league. Man that is the way I want to go out doing something I love ... I hope his last ball was a strike and my last shot is one that wins the game ...
 
Speaking of daughters...

Johnnyt said:
Great article Jam?thanks for posting it. I have been guilty of calling pool players all those things. What a hypocrite I am. I did the same damn thing as them. Although only on the road for 20 months (I went broke at the same time the Army decided I wasn't 4-F anymore) I continued playing pool for money for the next 40 years when I came home. And yes I hustled, drank like a fish, did almost every drug that was around.

But those 20 months on the road gives me some of the greatest memories in my 67 years on this earth. It's right up there with the birth of my three daughters'. I think in away I was lucky not to be good enough to make it on the road. I would have never met my wife of over 40 years or had enough money to retire on. In fact I'm sure I'd be dead or in jail a long time ago.

For all the road players past and present, I understand why you do/did it, and if you haven't ever done it you probably can't understand the thrill. Johnnyt
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How is your girl doing after her accident? Well, I hope. Did they ever find the guy?

Sorry to all for going off topic, but you understand, I am sure...

Dwight
 
Great story King. Thanks for sharing.

The King said:
I was cocky like you too ... As you grow and mature you will find it better to finish the game and act with class even in defeat people will think more of you ...
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About 2 years ago I was teaching my 5 girls to play and I got to the part of the lecture on ethics and I told them there was two things I always wanted them to do: "Always loose with dignity, and Always win with humility. If you do this then people will always want to play the game with you."

After a few minutes the 10yr old and the 11 yr old came back and said that they really didn't understand the part about the dignity and the humility.

I told them it means, "When you loose, never let them see you cry. And, when you take all their money,,,,,,,,,don't do the happy dance until you have left the building." :)
 
mgregory said:
....don't do the happy dance until you have left the building." [/SIZE] :)
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That is kind of like what Fast Eddie did in "The Color of Money" after he beat Vincent at the Resorts in Atlantic City. He walked out of the ballroom with humilty, and as soon as he got out in the hallway, he walked outside on the boardwalk and let out a loud victory scream! :)

I saw that doorway at the Resorts when I was in AC not so long ago. It hasn't changed much! :D

JAM
 
I met Bruce at a tournament in Wilmington at Breaktime and later at the US Open. Very nice guy and a terrific player. I hadn't heard of the Strickland connection.

I've also been interviewed by media people and it doesn't always go as intended. Don't be certain that Bruce said everything that is written. He was as nice after I beat him late in that tournament as he was for the two days before, which tells you a lot about the character of a pool player. Congratulations to him for his latest victory.
 
Cannonball55 said:
All good points indeed . But theres one thing no one has mentioned, pool is the only sport/game thats image is defined by the sum of it's worst and not it's best . I think this is in part due to what you mentioned above, but i also think that the pool playing community has been given a bad rap in general .

I ask myself this question : why do people snicker and make stereotypical and negative remarks when/if they are informed that your profession is that of a pool player ? The term "Professional" does not carry the same degree of seriousness/importance when applied to someone that plays pool for a living . The "professional" pool player ( or cueist ) carries a stigma that is not shared with other sports "professionals" ie golf, football, basketball, but yet and still, they are professionals in every since of the word because they are highly skilled at their craft and it is their means of income .

I don't mean to ramble on, but here again i think that it's unfair ( society perception of pool players ) and guys like Bullard don't make it any better
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I've always said that anybody that likes Cannonball cannot be all bad. This post proves it! :thumbup:

"Dis-here" stuff that the story is built around has made the life of many a pool player even more difficult.

Thanks Jam for the story and thanks "Cannonball" for "dat-dare" stuff that you posted.
 
Gregg said:
Why? Can you debate this?

"It wasn't that he thought he was better than anybody else. He simply aspired for a better life.

Besides, a man could hardly make much money shooting pool, with the exception of hustling the occasional out-of-town hot shot. A man who could control a golf or tennis ball could aspire to earn thousands, maybe even millions. A pool shark, on the other hand, had nowhere similar to ply his trade."
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Yes Greg I can debate that.
I have been in the pool world for 30 + years, I am neither a drunk, a theif or a druggie. I have worked in a poolroom all of those years raised 2 sons with scholarships to college (one also a poolplayer) and they are also not, drunks, druggies or theives.
Have I seen some of the above? Of course but, it isn't fair to lump all poolplayers and poolrooms in the same category. The media does a great disservice to the sport we love when they perpetuate the old school attitudes.
I have met all of the above people when I worked for a fortune 500 company...
 
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Cannonball55 said:
I don't mean to ramble on, but here again i think that it's unfair ( society perception of pool players ) and guys like Bullard don't make it any better
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I STRONGLY disagree. I love to see anyone who learns how to make their own lives better, unless it harms someone else in some way. It seems to me the guy is a good guy who made a life the way that worked best for him, why disparage him? Do you know him?

All of those that are jumping on the bandwagon in bashing this story must have not been around in the 70's, 80's or have been wearing blinders all of their lives. Drugs, theives, gambling.......noooo, those never happened.

td
 
Cannonball55 said:
Do you know how many guys that use the ole "pool is corrupt" spiel ? I'm sick of it actually. I understand that you want to do something else with your life and that is your prerogative, but don't act like pool breeds the worst type of people, like you're mother theresa or something, that's just a chicken $hit excuse. There are far more thieves and dishonest people on the golf course i promise you that! Now, i'd have more respect for him if he said/admitted that he had a problem with drugs/alcohol/gambling and that the pool hall just made it convenient for him to do his thing . That's his own problem . But don't label the entire pool community as seedy drunkards and thieves . This is a slap in the face to all the pool players that live good clean lives and do their part to try to clean up the image of pool . A direct slap! . There is good and bad in every field of endeavor and only a fool would think otherwise

This guy is a hypocrite because he bashes the very thing that he has profited from . yeah, he still gambles but yet he's holier than thou . pleeeez! Mark Tad tried that years ago and nobody bought it from him either because all the while he still gambled on poker and still did other stuff . Now, you see he's back again huh ? pool could'nt have been that bad and filled with sinners and all of that other crap

Just admit your problems mr. bullard . People will respect you more .

p.s. no disresrect to you mark, whatever you do don't quit pool again because you are something special, but in this illustration you were the perfect example . IMHO
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What a great post!!! You nailed it, IMO
 
BigDogatLarge said:
How is your girl doing after her accident? Well, I hope. Did they ever find the guy?

Sorry to all for going off topic, but you understand, I am sure...

Dwight
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She's home and rehabing great. Thank you for asking Bigdog. Johnnyt
 
grindz said:
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I STRONGLY disagree. I love to see anyone who learns how to make their own lives better, unless it harms someone else in some way. It seems to me the guy is a good guy who made a life the way that worked best for him, why disparage him? Do you know him?

All of those that are jumping on the bandwagon in bashing this story must have not been around in the 70's, 80's or have been wearing blinders all of their lives. Drugs, theives, gambling.......noooo, those never happened.

td
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it did harm, and it harms all of us who try to make a living from pool.
We didn't say it never happened, there are bad apples everywhere, we're just sick of it when that old stereotype is replayed over and over. No matter how hard we try, we are always pulled back into the gutter.
 
JimS said:
I've always said that anybody that likes Cannonball cannot be all bad. This post proves it! :thumbup:

"Dis-here" stuff that the story is built around has made the life of many a pool player even more difficult.

Thanks Jam for the story and thanks "Cannonball" for "dat-dare" stuff that you posted.
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you're welcome friend
 
They make this no name sound like he was the greatest that ever lived. They mention that he tutored Strickland. Didn't it say he was 20 at the time and Earl was 6 years younger than him? That would have put Earl at 14. Not impressed. Then he made the top 45 out of 200 in the US Open? Wow, he won like 2 or 3 matches. Whoopty doo! He probably played against no names.

Thanks for the read, Jam. Not knocking your end of it at all.
MULLY
 
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