pool.........a sport or a game????
- Thread starter vapoolplayer
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When you hit the same shot twice, same speed, english and stroke, you will get like results.mike said:
If you believe this, you have to disqualify any head-to-head competition. It is hard to compare greats of today with yesteryears heros. With equipment chages and the question "was competition tougher then, than it is now?". Baseball, football, basketball, boxing etc..., all fall short when held up to your "repeatable" standards. Even your 100m sprint example, when run at different altitudes and weather conditions, does not qualify.mike said:
Tracy
landshark77 said:
So would that be a "gort" or a "spame"?
I believe that Pool is a sport. You do have physical exertion when you break and maybe when you are leaning way out over the table on one toe, trying an impossible shot.
I played all kinds of games, when I was a kid. When I played Professional Golf for money, the word game was never heard.
But, whether it's defined as a game or a sport, it really doesn't matter to me. I'm satisfied that Pool & Billiards is the toughest activity to excel in. It may be the only activity that you can win over your opponent & your opponent didn't even get to participate in the event. By the way, there are venues out there that have a one game format.
When I was an All-Star Catcher (several seasons) in baseball, it was like falling off a log to do that. When I was a Golf Professional, that was easy too. Playing Pool is different. I can be cleaning up in the Friday night ring game and can't play dead on Saturday night. I will still play well, but playing in a ring game with 4 or 5 good players (9-Speeds) and coming out alive requires top performance.
When Pocket Billiards makes it to the Olympics, maybe recognition for our sport of choice will be given. Pocket Billiards was around long before there was Table Tennis or VolleyBall.
I played all kinds of games, when I was a kid. When I played Professional Golf for money, the word game was never heard.
But, whether it's defined as a game or a sport, it really doesn't matter to me. I'm satisfied that Pool & Billiards is the toughest activity to excel in. It may be the only activity that you can win over your opponent & your opponent didn't even get to participate in the event. By the way, there are venues out there that have a one game format.
When I was an All-Star Catcher (several seasons) in baseball, it was like falling off a log to do that. When I was a Golf Professional, that was easy too. Playing Pool is different. I can be cleaning up in the Friday night ring game and can't play dead on Saturday night. I will still play well, but playing in a ring game with 4 or 5 good players (9-Speeds) and coming out alive requires top performance.
When Pocket Billiards makes it to the Olympics, maybe recognition for our sport of choice will be given. Pocket Billiards was around long before there was Table Tennis or VolleyBall.
landshark77 said:LMAO...obviously you have never raced anything.I'm not sure about Nascar, but to race motorcycles you MUST be VERY fit.
Stock car racing requires a high degre of physical endurance and stamina. In motorcycles, at one time Motocross was consider the #2 most physically demanding sport behind soccer. Of course this was several years ago before all the Xtreme games/sports became popular.
I think this is one of those questions that some foks just love to use to argue. Reckon they have nothing better to do, like me
Later, Pel
The answer is...
Here you go. A very good answer to the (silly) question.
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=452797
Here you go. A very good answer to the (silly) question.
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=452797
mthornto said:
I read your link and it appears as though they are having the same debate with no clear concise answer. However, I did like this quote and I would LOVE to respond to it:
Google Thread said:
Ah, but I can "sport" a pair of shoes, pants, a shirt, a hat...does this make dressing a sport, a game, or just an activity? Hummm.....
T411 said:What about the Olympic games?
Exactly right, T411: Olympic "games."
Will we ever see our American pool players donning red-white-and-blue team jackets enter an arena with the rest of the world Olympians? When the game/sport acquires a larger fan base, then the American professional pool players will be able to showcase their talents. People will know more about the game/sport.
I'm not sure the GAME of 9-ball, the way it is played today, is what is going to get pool elevated to the status of a recognized sport in the eyes of the American media. It's going to take more than that, I think. Steve Mitzerk, Minnesota Fats, Willie Mosconi brought recognition to pool not by their pool-shooting capabilities alone. Each had their own unique traits: humor, perfection, and style.
Watching pool today is perfection at its finest, with some of the top players. Humor and style are the missing ingredients. The majority of the American public wouldn't know the difference between Alex Papulayan and Earl Strickland, two world chamipion title-holders. However, they sure do have their own unique set of traits, which seems to be "entertaining" to most of us.
Outside of a new pool movie or Earl breaking Alex's arm before a match a la Tanya Harding, there has got to be a better way to get these players NAME-BRAND RECOGNITION. JAM
JAM said:
pool backers seem to be under the misguided assumption that acceptance as an olympic sport will bring recognition and "legitimization". i don't think one will necessarily follow the other.
there are dozens upon dozens of olympic sports that no one knows about and get zero coverage in the US. pool in the olympics would be in the same basket as those sports(except maybe in taiwan and the phillipines). in the grand scheme of things, pool's image will not change, and the only coverage it will get will be here at az and in the pool mags.
bruin70 said:
Why is it that "pool backers" think this way? Just curious.
bruin70 said:
Whether pool is a "game" or a "sport" isn't the problem, and recognition or legitimization by the Olympic committee isn't even on the horizon. However, the current pro players, promoters, industry members, pool organizations, and media are the ones who can effect (with an "e") change. Working together, instead of creating division, would be a start in the right direction.
JAM
http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/recognized/index_uk.asp <--- Look under the heading "RECOGNISED SPORTS LIST". Apparently someone else out there thinks pool is a sport.
Jimmy M. said:
Well, here's a mouthful: "In order to promote the Olympic Movement, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) may recognise as International Sports Federations (IFs) international non-governmental organisations administering one or several sports at world level and encompassing organisations administering such sports at national level."
Looks like they have the same writers as Members of the United States Congress, i.e., "may" recognise. May? Shall? Maybe? LOL.
JAM
JAM said:Why is it that "pool backers" think this way? Just curious.
JAM
by pool backers, i mean those very same people you mention(current pro players, promoters, industry members, pool organizations,),,,and i think they think this way because as a sport/game floundering in a sea of nonrecognition, pool year after year searches for legitimacy, and having met dead ends and road blocks, they have little else to pin their hopes on pool's future but to piggy back on the olympics. it is a last hope measure. the recognition pool seeks must be manufactured, because the game is intrinsically boring to the general public. that is one reason why no one(not even the sports page) gives pool the time of day. the olympics is what they hope will be one way to manufacture a larger audience....and as i said, i don't feel this will happen.
i'm talking, of course, about pool in the USA. pool on the world stage will advance much faster since "small" sports have a better chance elsewhere than here.
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bruin70 said:
The industry members currently hold the majority of the purse strings, i.e., monies invested in pool. The professional pool player can only hope for a nice platform to display their talent and skills. The promoters, most of them, are hoping to break even. They continue to create the platforms because of their passion for the game because they sure ain't getting rich off of it. Some industry members will not provide service(s) due to political reasons. This year, the lady pros are prohibited from attending the Derby City Classic. One pro did not compete in a high-profile event because the promoter(s) didn't want to pay the HUGE hourly appearance fee. All of these things, when taken in context, sure don't help matters much.
The sad reality of it is, I think each one of these entities wants to see pool flourish, but to create division and stop signs isn't the way to go (IMO).
JAM
JAM said:
industry members, and those who hold the purse strings(including pool room that hold tournaments) are no different than the players, imo,,,,only on a different level. yes, the long term benefits greatly outweigh any current strife they must endure, but they are still in it for the buck and look out for themselves. it is not large monies, but it is still monies nonetheless.
yes, they are only breaking even. holding a tournament is merely one more way to keep afloat. i only have to point to how local rooms and promoters fight tooth and nail for their piece of the pie when they are faced with giving what they have up when anyone tries to organize. i don't think they're all that "passionate about the game". they want what they feel is theirs.
they all want to see pool flourish because it benefits all. but first things first,,,,they need to survive. it is a catch-22
azbicyclis85376
Banned
Both I think....