Pool, Self Respect and Tournaments

[Black-Balled]

...The concept of hustling is based on deceit. Sometimes pool seems like a circus. Clothes cannot heal a system wide issue. Clothes cannot make a man act mature. Irving Crane dressed the part, but word is, he was also a true gentleman to boot. Can the same be said for the modern players?

A: Do not demean the Circus!
2: Irving Crane is not pool.

I don't get the impression that pool- at least since the 20th Century- has ever been a 'classy' sport. We see photographs of folks in suits, but that is just a ribbon on a rock...whipped cream on a hotdog, as it were.

For every Crane there is a McGoorty, then and now.

 

[NewStroke]

All male pool players should wear capes and top hats. Women in full evening gowns.

 

[Lance Link]

All male pool players should wear capes and top hats. Women in full evening gowns.

Capes ??!!?? Holy tilted rack, Batman !!!

 

[Scott Lee]

Marie's husband...I agree with you about calling your own fouls. However, when some of the top pro players in the game refuse to acknowledge their own fouls, it is unlikely that most amateurs will learn to do the "right thing" too...a sad commentary on our times.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

It has been 7 or 8 yrs since I went to one of these events and I dont think they had a dress code at that time but I may be wrong. I was lucky enough to attend the NW BCA I thought the same thing...."never seen so many pool players with collared shirts on".

I do agree with you on dressing more professional will make a person act more professional. But, even with the WBCA enforcing the collared shirt rule, a lot of players walked a fine line with that rule by wearing collared shirts under T-shirts, or wearing a sweater that has a half turtleneck type design that looked more like a workout sweatshirt than a dress sweater. Regardless a higher dress code would be nice, but what does the younger generation actually think about that is another question. I am 40 and rarely see teens or mid 20's wear anything but jeans and sneakers, so I doubt half of then even own anything except that.

As far as how the players acted during this particular event. I didnt see one conflict or incident between players and really didnt hear about any either and I was there just about 12-14 hours a day. I did have one incident where I called a foul on myself. I barely touch the cue with my tip getting ready to shoot so I picked it up and gave it to my opponent. My opponent was very surprised that I did that because he didnt see it and he commended me for it. I was surprised and still am and it makes me think about what type of players he must play against. I just dont think I should have been commended for doing the right thing. Maybe its from my background of playing competitive golf during my high school years that instilled the integrity of playing by the rules and understanding that winning by deviating from the rules makes you the biggest looser. I would rather loose every game I ever play before I give up an ounce of my integrity.

 

[blah blah]

I completely and totally agree that dressing well will make the sport much more presentable and more highly regarded by the players, the audience, sponsors, and outsiders.

But dress codes should be very carefully written and enforced. If they are either too vague or too detailed, they can either be ignored or they can affect the actual poolplaying in terms of comfort, level of playing, and of stupid, petty arguments and forfeits.

As for behavior, though, I still don't think a dress code is going to substantially change anyone, especially with the pressure, excitement, ego effects, and monetary concerns of a big tournament. We're all still going to be our own selves- we'll just look better doing it.

To change actual behavior, there must be clear rules and immediate, fair punishments for bad behavior. Again, those have to be well- written and enforced: either too loose or strict, and they will negatively affect the players and the game. But they have to be clear. I think that's much harder to think about than a dress code.

 

[one stroke]

Playing in tours like planet pool they have a collerd shirt rule that is only inforced on the second day of the tury ,, same people differant cloths act know differant,, like lipstick on a pig,

Pool is not golf, polo or Crockett where the majority come from white collar and up its majority is blue collar down , just the basic fact.. so just like the 3big sports its going to have its share of people from lower class sectors and that will not change any time soon



1

 

[Marie's husband]

Marie's husband...I agree with you about calling your own fouls. However, when some of the top pro players in the game refuse to acknowledge their own fouls, it is unlikely that most amateurs will learn to do the "right thing" too...a sad commentary on our times.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Scott,

I do watch a lot of streams of the top players and it is a shame that some of the top players do not have the integrity to call a foul on themselve or have the integrity to act like a professional no matter what the situation is. Honestly, I hope one day that the top players can become united and actually have a Professional tour so that they can actually hold players accountable for there actions, sorta like golf does. If a golfer signs his scorecard and an its found out that he did make a mistake either by him not knowing the that he did it or by him knowing, he is disqualified. Prime example is back in the late 80' or early 90's the "Walrus" laid a towel down on the ground beneath a tree that he had to get down on his knees to hit his ball out from under. He successfully got his ball out and didnt get his pants all dirty while doing it, thought it was a pretty smart move to do that. Well, A TV viewer called the PGA and notified them that that is considered improving your stance and its illegal which the viewer was correct. Needless to say, he already signed his scoresheet and he was disqualified from the tournament. I bet that he and every other pro learned from that incident.

Now if the top player actually did have a united organization that was mananged by a panel that would make these type of decision then I think it may only take a few incidents before the top players understood that they better act like professionals to be treated like one.

I am amazed at some of the antics that has been going on lately by some of the players and yet, they still accept them and actually invite them back for future tournaments.

I dont want to hijack this thread, so I need to stop now, but you are right, it is a sad commentary on our times but I do feel that it can be fixed as long as we all try and fix it and not leave it up to one person to solve the problems within the pool world.