Brandon is a strong semi-pro player who has devoted endless hours and travel around the country pursuing mastery of this game we all love. Unfortunately in our sport there is only room at the top for a very small few, and for many reasons most players are left by the wayside. Partly it is because the new breed start younger, practice with more discipline, and have better examples of how top play should look.
I think this thread is a bit hard on him. So he isn't cashing in international events lately. Well, it is such a negative return for a player around that speed to spend a week and a few thousand dollars to play against the Fillers and Changs I can't really blame him. I'd bet that if he was winning 1-2 local tournaments a month and making money in his local pool rooms playing $50 sets and $30 one pocket he'd take a shot, but let me bring you up to speed. Probably no one local wants to play him anymore, he's kicked out of all of the <699FR tournaments (or has to give up prohibitive handicaps elsewhere), and he probably hasn't won anything in his own state border for a few years. So without any cash flow coming in from his regional play, he probably doesn't have the surplus funds to fire at the international events, nor the confidence of having just won a bunch of tournaments.
So now after the game evolves past him at the higher levels and everyone at the lower levels won't come near him with a nickel, he's finally beaten down, realizes that his pool path doesn't lead much further, and while he still probably loves the game and plays now and again, he's no longer going to fight the universe on this one.
Listen, there is no disrespect in an objective conversation about where someone's game is rated, as long as the tone is right. If we are just debating how strong he played one pocket that is fine with me. But I was starting to feel that he was being diminished, disrespected, and eye rolled a little. Maybe I took something wrong. But this road we're on is a super hard one and while it's true no one forced him to pick this path, I have a lot of compassion for those who gave their all. He's a pool player, one of us. He never claimed to be the greatest in the world, just someone trying their best along the path we all share.
I think this thread is a bit hard on him. So he isn't cashing in international events lately. Well, it is such a negative return for a player around that speed to spend a week and a few thousand dollars to play against the Fillers and Changs I can't really blame him. I'd bet that if he was winning 1-2 local tournaments a month and making money in his local pool rooms playing $50 sets and $30 one pocket he'd take a shot, but let me bring you up to speed. Probably no one local wants to play him anymore, he's kicked out of all of the <699FR tournaments (or has to give up prohibitive handicaps elsewhere), and he probably hasn't won anything in his own state border for a few years. So without any cash flow coming in from his regional play, he probably doesn't have the surplus funds to fire at the international events, nor the confidence of having just won a bunch of tournaments.
So now after the game evolves past him at the higher levels and everyone at the lower levels won't come near him with a nickel, he's finally beaten down, realizes that his pool path doesn't lead much further, and while he still probably loves the game and plays now and again, he's no longer going to fight the universe on this one.
Listen, there is no disrespect in an objective conversation about where someone's game is rated, as long as the tone is right. If we are just debating how strong he played one pocket that is fine with me. But I was starting to feel that he was being diminished, disrespected, and eye rolled a little. Maybe I took something wrong. But this road we're on is a super hard one and while it's true no one forced him to pick this path, I have a lot of compassion for those who gave their all. He's a pool player, one of us. He never claimed to be the greatest in the world, just someone trying their best along the path we all share.
