Some of Your Lowest Points in Pool
- Thread starter Fast Lenny
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I think I've felt the majority of the highs and lows of pool. The going broke part just happens and doesn't always have good timing. Getting second in tournaments really sucks but it makes you stronger and gives you more desire to win.
The thing that really hit a low with me was just in the past month, in Louisville. I've always had a soft spot in me that lets what people say to me get to me a little too much. There were a handful of people that came up and said things to me. Someone said to me, "I remember telling everyone to watch for you after seeing you a couple years ago, but wow, you are playing horrible." Others were a bit nicer about it and asked "what happened, you were playing so well." It hurt to have everything that I was thinking in my head solidified. Some people offered advice on what I was doing wrong, others just walked away after a comment. I know they weren't trying to be hurtful, it just kind of amazed me that people say things like that and also, would they go up to Efren or Johnny or Allison on a bad day and ask the same questions?
The other low about that was having to explain that working a real job cut into practicing, traveling, gambling, and so on. Then answering the question of why I got a job....because I lost a sponsor that paid for my health insurance.
Thanks for the rant and better luck to all of us out there that have the love/hate relationship with this game.
Sarah
The thing that really hit a low with me was just in the past month, in Louisville. I've always had a soft spot in me that lets what people say to me get to me a little too much. There were a handful of people that came up and said things to me. Someone said to me, "I remember telling everyone to watch for you after seeing you a couple years ago, but wow, you are playing horrible." Others were a bit nicer about it and asked "what happened, you were playing so well." It hurt to have everything that I was thinking in my head solidified. Some people offered advice on what I was doing wrong, others just walked away after a comment. I know they weren't trying to be hurtful, it just kind of amazed me that people say things like that and also, would they go up to Efren or Johnny or Allison on a bad day and ask the same questions?
The other low about that was having to explain that working a real job cut into practicing, traveling, gambling, and so on. Then answering the question of why I got a job....because I lost a sponsor that paid for my health insurance.
Thanks for the rant and better luck to all of us out there that have the love/hate relationship with this game.
Sarah
I think anyone who plays this game and takes it seriously and invest alot of time and money feels the highs and lows.Most average people cant relate to it and just think its a game,remember when you go to Barnes and Nobles its listed under Games not Sports.You did the right thing working,you cant put all your eggs in one basket thats for sure,and these days you need health insurance.For you to play as well as you do with a job is very commendable.sarahrousey said:
goes with the territory
Sarah,
When you perform in front of a crowd, advice and less than flattering comments just come with the territory. I used to receive tons of unsolicited advice from the folks that had been sitting in the stands as well as some comments that were none too kind although they weren't said with bad intentions.
You have to realize that the spectators that come up to you were involved watching you and your game and that is a compliment in itself. What they actually say is rarely important because the view is far different from the stands than it is from your perspective. I learned to nod my head and let things roll off of me, no sense explaining forty times what really happened.
Hu
Sarah,
When you perform in front of a crowd, advice and less than flattering comments just come with the territory. I used to receive tons of unsolicited advice from the folks that had been sitting in the stands as well as some comments that were none too kind although they weren't said with bad intentions.
You have to realize that the spectators that come up to you were involved watching you and your game and that is a compliment in itself. What they actually say is rarely important because the view is far different from the stands than it is from your perspective. I learned to nod my head and let things roll off of me, no sense explaining forty times what really happened.
Hu
sarahrousey said:
Memory is a funny thing
Why doesn't this surprize me??? Mike is one of the Pool Greats. But, in my experience with him...that's about as far as it goes. He has a great smile...but so does a Jackass eating briars.
I guess one of my lowest points in Pool has been subscribing to the "Cleavage" thread Hangthe9 started a couple of days ago! I haven't been able to hit a ball since. I just keep sitting here waiting on someone else to post a picture or something. Okay, so maybe it's one of the lowest points in my life! LMAO
Serously...lowest point in pool. I used to gamble a lot. About 8 years ago, I had just won a couple thousand in a race to 10 ahead 9-ball off a guy in his home pool room. When it's over, he walks over to the table with his "posse" and starts counting out the money.
As he is laying it out, he stops...looks me dead in the eyes and with a smile says "It took some elephant sized balls for you to come in here and do what you just did. But, let's see if you have the balls to actually walk out the door with the cash now".
I look around the table and there are about 15 guys staring at me now. I realized at that moment, that not only could I not handle any one of them. The fact that there were 15 of them, meant I was probably about to die.
Anyway, I smile right back at him and say "NO SIR, my balls are about the size of BB's right now. So, if you will allow me to pack up my sh**...not only will I walk out of here without the money, I will be happy to RUN out of here without the money"!
Well, I guess it could go without saying...I left without the money. I was mad and embarrassed, but alive!
I think about this from time to time and it doesn't bother me much anymore. It was a cheap lesson in humility and it also taught me a valuable lesson about gambling with strangers.
But, now that I am thinking about this again...if I ever see this guy again, I am going to kick his A$$!!!!! LMAO
Blackjack said:IWhat is even funnier is that though this was a major crossroad in my life and in my career in this game, when ever I bring it up to Mike and try to thank him, he has no recollection of anybody ever taking him to hill - ever.
Why doesn't this surprize me??? Mike is one of the Pool Greats. But, in my experience with him...that's about as far as it goes. He has a great smile...but so does a Jackass eating briars.
I guess one of my lowest points in Pool has been subscribing to the "Cleavage" thread Hangthe9 started a couple of days ago! I haven't been able to hit a ball since. I just keep sitting here waiting on someone else to post a picture or something. Okay, so maybe it's one of the lowest points in my life! LMAO
Serously...lowest point in pool. I used to gamble a lot. About 8 years ago, I had just won a couple thousand in a race to 10 ahead 9-ball off a guy in his home pool room. When it's over, he walks over to the table with his "posse" and starts counting out the money.
As he is laying it out, he stops...looks me dead in the eyes and with a smile says "It took some elephant sized balls for you to come in here and do what you just did. But, let's see if you have the balls to actually walk out the door with the cash now".
I look around the table and there are about 15 guys staring at me now. I realized at that moment, that not only could I not handle any one of them. The fact that there were 15 of them, meant I was probably about to die.
Anyway, I smile right back at him and say "NO SIR, my balls are about the size of BB's right now. So, if you will allow me to pack up my sh**...not only will I walk out of here without the money, I will be happy to RUN out of here without the money"!
Well, I guess it could go without saying...I left without the money. I was mad and embarrassed, but alive!
I think about this from time to time and it doesn't bother me much anymore. It was a cheap lesson in humility and it also taught me a valuable lesson about gambling with strangers.
But, now that I am thinking about this again...if I ever see this guy again, I am going to kick his A$$!!!!! LMAO
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ShootingArts said:
I love those who walk up and ask what happened when you missed this or that. I always avoid saying something like, "because I'm stupid as hell and dogged my nuts off you idiotic no playing no gambling nit." But now, I justlook at them and respond with,"why do you ask? Usually, they will just go away.
I was playing in a dive bar on Colfax a couple of years ago. I left the mountains just to find some action, and just about everybody was gone for a tournament in Tulsa, so I was trolling around when I heard about this place.
The guy told me "not to go alone, don't take your cues in, but there's alot of high rollers there". I thought I'd just found the promised land. What I found was a bunch of dealers and pimps playing craps and pool on four ragged out tables. Bars on the windows, no doors on the bathroom, hookers running all over the place and the first time I've seen anyone snorting coke on a toilet seat.... and I'm probably the only white guy in a cowboy hat in about two mile at least.
Anyway, I was up about $900, thinking this should be a good time to exit, they decided it was a good time to call. I'm about forty feet from the door with over $6grand on me and my cues in front of me, and a whole lot of people with cues and bottles, a knife poking me and a gun in my eye.
I can honestly say that was about the lowest point I've ever had since I picked up a cue.
There's a few guys from Denver, including cuesblues that knows the story and the results.
On the bright side, I also discoverd Tablesteaks that weekend on the way home!
But it was a good enough wake up call, that I stopped running the roads so much, and started spending alot more time running the roads with my kids. I have now seen every Zoo between Memphis and Vegas! lol
The guy told me "not to go alone, don't take your cues in, but there's alot of high rollers there". I thought I'd just found the promised land. What I found was a bunch of dealers and pimps playing craps and pool on four ragged out tables. Bars on the windows, no doors on the bathroom, hookers running all over the place and the first time I've seen anyone snorting coke on a toilet seat.... and I'm probably the only white guy in a cowboy hat in about two mile at least.
Anyway, I was up about $900, thinking this should be a good time to exit, they decided it was a good time to call. I'm about forty feet from the door with over $6grand on me and my cues in front of me, and a whole lot of people with cues and bottles, a knife poking me and a gun in my eye.
I can honestly say that was about the lowest point I've ever had since I picked up a cue.
There's a few guys from Denver, including cuesblues that knows the story and the results.
On the bright side, I also discoverd Tablesteaks that weekend on the way home!
But it was a good enough wake up call, that I stopped running the roads so much, and started spending alot more time running the roads with my kids. I have now seen every Zoo between Memphis and Vegas! lol
reminds me of a Ron White story
That reminds me of a Ron White story. He was in hot water in a bar and they sent five big bouncers to take care of him. He said, "I don't know how many of them it would have took to kick my ass but I knew how many they were planning on using!"
I found myself in a similar bind driving a local delivery truck. I wasn't union and a moron VP at the company sent me to Kaiser Aluminum, a strict union site back in the early seventies when the teamsters were STRONG.
I'm way back near the river, over a mile from the gate and at least half that far from another human when this lil' fellow came up to my truck door and asked for my union card. Problem was the five guys behind him would have outweighed most of the linemen in the NFL. I was in a two ton truck sitting fairly high in the air so I had a slight advantage in position at least. I asked him if this was a union job to stall a little. When he said yes I told him that if he would let me turn this SOB around he would never see me in there again. They were agreeable which was just as well for all of us, I had my truck in gear and my feet on the clutch and loud pedal, I wasn't going down any easier than I had to.
Funniest part of that story was the little guy(actually medium sized but he looked like a midget compared to the guys behind him) anyway, the teamster steward and leader of the pack was the uncle and brother of two good friends of mine. That was the last card I was gonna play because I didn't figure it would help regardless. Oh yeah, I chugged two beers when I got out the gate in one piece, called my company and raised hell, and then when I got back to the warehouse I cussed out the VP and told him I would whip his ass if he ever did something that stupid again and I survived it!
Hu
That reminds me of a Ron White story. He was in hot water in a bar and they sent five big bouncers to take care of him. He said, "I don't know how many of them it would have took to kick my ass but I knew how many they were planning on using!"
I found myself in a similar bind driving a local delivery truck. I wasn't union and a moron VP at the company sent me to Kaiser Aluminum, a strict union site back in the early seventies when the teamsters were STRONG.
I'm way back near the river, over a mile from the gate and at least half that far from another human when this lil' fellow came up to my truck door and asked for my union card. Problem was the five guys behind him would have outweighed most of the linemen in the NFL. I was in a two ton truck sitting fairly high in the air so I had a slight advantage in position at least. I asked him if this was a union job to stall a little. When he said yes I told him that if he would let me turn this SOB around he would never see me in there again. They were agreeable which was just as well for all of us, I had my truck in gear and my feet on the clutch and loud pedal, I wasn't going down any easier than I had to.
Funniest part of that story was the little guy(actually medium sized but he looked like a midget compared to the guys behind him) anyway, the teamster steward and leader of the pack was the uncle and brother of two good friends of mine. That was the last card I was gonna play because I didn't figure it would help regardless. Oh yeah, I chugged two beers when I got out the gate in one piece, called my company and raised hell, and then when I got back to the warehouse I cussed out the VP and told him I would whip his ass if he ever did something that stupid again and I survived it!
Hu
ugotda8 said:Why doesn't this surprize me??? Mike is one of the Pool Greats. But, in my experience with him...that's about as far as it goes. He has a great smile...but so does a Jackass eating briars.
I guess one of my lowest points in Pool has been subscribing to the "Cleavage" thread Jay started a couple of days ago! I haven't been able to hit a ball since. I just keep sitting here waiting on someone else to post a picture or something. Okay, so maybe it's one of the lowest points in my life! LMAO
Serously...lowest point in pool. I used to gamble a lot. About 8 years ago, I had just won a couple thousand in a race to 10 ahead 9-ball off a guy in his home pool room. When it's over, he walks over to the table with his "posse" and starts counting out the money.
As he is laying it out, he stops...looks me dead in the eyes and with a smile says "It took some elephant sized balls for you to come in here and do what you just did. But, let's see if you have the balls to actually walk out the door with the cash now".
I look around the table and there are about 15 guys staring at me now. I realized at that moment, that not only could I not handle any one of them. The fact that there were 15 of them, meant I was probably about to die.
Anyway, I smile right back at him and say "NO SIR, my balls are about the size of BB's right now. So, if you will allow me to pack up my sh**...not only will I walk out of here without the money, I will be happy to RUN out of here without the money"!
Well, I guess it could go without saying...I left without the money. I was mad and embarrassed, but alive!
I think about this from time to time and it doesn't bother me much anymore. It was a cheap lesson in humility and it also taught me a valuable lesson about gambling with strangers.
But, now that I am thinking about this again...if I ever see this guy again, I am going to kick his A$$!!!!! LMAO
My lowest point in pool was when I tried to comeback to it again at 63 yo after a 4-5 year layoff. I practiced and played 5 days a week, sometimes 12 hours in a day for a little over a year. I just couldn't overcome all the aches and pains, the eye site, and I couldn't make more than 1 out of 3 long shots to save my wallet.
One night I was giving up the 7&8 wild to a kid that 5 years before I'd have crushed. After losing 3 sets in a row I unscrewed and went up to the counter and told John the owner I was calling it a career and to sell all my cues and cases. It was a very sad day for me. Johnnyt
One night I was giving up the 7&8 wild to a kid that 5 years before I'd have crushed. After losing 3 sets in a row I unscrewed and went up to the counter and told John the owner I was calling it a career and to sell all my cues and cases. It was a very sad day for me. Johnnyt
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ironman said:
Posts like this keep me looking at the forums all day, nice story.
ugotda8 said:I guess one of my lowest points in Pool has been subscribing to the "Cleavage" thread Jay started a couple of days ago! I haven't been able to hit a ball since. I just keep sitting here waiting on someone else to post a picture or something. Okay, so maybe it's one of the lowest points in my life! LMAO
That was me that started the thread, not Jay
And it ended up in a bit of a different direction than I meant when I started it hehe.
ugotda8 said:Why doesn't this surprize me??? Mike is one of the Pool Greats. But, in my experience with him...that's about as far as it goes. He has a great smile...but so does a Jackass eating briars.
I guess one of my lowest points in Pool has been subscribing to the "Cleavage" thread Jay started a couple of days ago! I haven't been able to hit a ball since. I just keep sitting here waiting on someone else to post a picture or something. Okay, so maybe it's one of the lowest points in my life! LMAO
Serously...lowest point in pool. I used to gamble a lot. About 8 years ago, I had just won a couple thousand in a race to 10 ahead 9-ball off a guy in his home pool room. When it's over, he walks over to the table with his "posse" and starts counting out the money.
As he is laying it out, he stops...looks me dead in the eyes and with a smile says "It took some elephant sized balls for you to come in here and do what you just did. But, let's see if you have the balls to actually walk out the door with the cash now".
I look around the table and there are about 15 guys staring at me now. I realized at that moment, that not only could I not handle any one of them. The fact that there were 15 of them, meant I was probably about to die.
Anyway, I smile right back at him and say "NO SIR, my balls are about the size of BB's right now. So, if you will allow me to pack up my sh**...not only will I walk out of here without the money, I will be happy to RUN out of here without the money"!
Well, I guess it could go without saying...I left without the money. I was mad and embarrassed, but alive!
I think about this from time to time and it doesn't bother me much anymore. It was a cheap lesson in humility and it also taught me a valuable lesson about gambling with strangers.
But, now that I am thinking about this again...if I ever see this guy again, I am going to kick his A$$!!!!! LMAO
I don't think that was your low, it was the low of the guy that said that to you. I would have left, then come back and broken all of his windows.
Got to love the edit button though.
hang-the-9 said:
Oh, you can bet I wanted to. My heart wanted to fight for it my A$$ wanted me to haul it. It was clear to me on that day...A GOOD RUN WAS BETTER THAN A BAD STAND.
I could hear Kenny Rogers singing COWARD OF THE COUNTY in my head as I headed to the door. I can assure you that it never got to the part about stopping and locking the door though. So, yeah...I felt pretty low.
I agree...that was pretty low of him too. My guess though, he doesn't have the character to realize it.
Tater Salad
Was that from "They call me Tater Salad"? I love Ron White. He's a hoot and I do recall his story now that you mention it.
I laugh every time I think about the $300.00 sunglasses!
My Dad was a Teamster and you are a very lucky guy. I remember some of his strike stories. Not pretty!
ShootingArts said:
Was that from "They call me Tater Salad"? I love Ron White. He's a hoot and I do recall his story now that you mention it.
I laugh every time I think about the $300.00 sunglasses!
My Dad was a Teamster and you are a very lucky guy. I remember some of his strike stories. Not pretty!
heard him tell it on TV
I heard Ron tell that on TV, no idea what CD it is on. Funny thing about the teamsters at the time, a steward was one of my best friends and in my pit crew, Grady P and his family were customers of mine, Don stopped in now and then. A lot more connections too.
Thing was I honestly didn't know that was a union plant. We had a union driver to handle those runs and he and I both handled the other runs. There was a little one day job in Kaiser and I had dropped off materials and equipment that morning on the job site and nobody said a mumbling word. When I went back to pick up the equipment and left over material that evening the reception committee was back there on the river waiting for me and everyone else was gone, which was unusual in itself.
Unless someone had a gun there was gonna be a helluva mess before things were over because nobody was getting me out of that truck very easily and I knew if the poop hit the fan I was fighting for my life. There was a good chance that I'd never have been seen again with the Mississippi River right there.
All of one family were teamster stewards and they all looked pretty much the same. When I saw one I didn't know walking towards my truck with a goon squad behind him I knew what the deal was and had a few seconds to prepare. My doors were locked and I hadn't rolled the driver's window down but a few inches to talk. As I mentioned, the truck was in gear, running of course, and I was ready to dump the clutch. I didn't want to hurt anyone in the B. family but at the same time those boys were all going to have to be stepping quick if I had to get out of there because they were standing on the only hard clear ground I could make a U-turn on. CB was ten or fifteen feet from my truck with his boys behind him another ten feet. Much closer and I was making the first move.
That was about the same time that a couple of guys "accidentally" fell into a lime pit. That happened with flat ground for hundreds of feet all around and a six foot fence plus barbed wire on top of a little levee around the pit!
Tons of stories about the teamsters and AFLCIO workers from those days, it was pretty hairy sometimes and sometimes just silly. Not having a father in a union I couldn't get in. I worked non-union most of the time or occasionally with an AFLCIO permit.
Hu
ugotda8 said:
I heard Ron tell that on TV, no idea what CD it is on. Funny thing about the teamsters at the time, a steward was one of my best friends and in my pit crew, Grady P and his family were customers of mine, Don stopped in now and then. A lot more connections too.
Thing was I honestly didn't know that was a union plant. We had a union driver to handle those runs and he and I both handled the other runs. There was a little one day job in Kaiser and I had dropped off materials and equipment that morning on the job site and nobody said a mumbling word. When I went back to pick up the equipment and left over material that evening the reception committee was back there on the river waiting for me and everyone else was gone, which was unusual in itself.
Unless someone had a gun there was gonna be a helluva mess before things were over because nobody was getting me out of that truck very easily and I knew if the poop hit the fan I was fighting for my life. There was a good chance that I'd never have been seen again with the Mississippi River right there.
All of one family were teamster stewards and they all looked pretty much the same. When I saw one I didn't know walking towards my truck with a goon squad behind him I knew what the deal was and had a few seconds to prepare. My doors were locked and I hadn't rolled the driver's window down but a few inches to talk. As I mentioned, the truck was in gear, running of course, and I was ready to dump the clutch. I didn't want to hurt anyone in the B. family but at the same time those boys were all going to have to be stepping quick if I had to get out of there because they were standing on the only hard clear ground I could make a U-turn on. CB was ten or fifteen feet from my truck with his boys behind him another ten feet. Much closer and I was making the first move.
That was about the same time that a couple of guys "accidentally" fell into a lime pit. That happened with flat ground for hundreds of feet all around and a six foot fence plus barbed wire on top of a little levee around the pit!
Tons of stories about the teamsters and AFLCIO workers from those days, it was pretty hairy sometimes and sometimes just silly. Not having a father in a union I couldn't get in. I worked non-union most of the time or occasionally with an AFLCIO permit.
Hu
Johnnyt said:
I suspect that many of us can relate to thisone and it can be painful.
Since playing again, I have had occasions where I played pretty well and felt pretty good about things. It felt great too andreally fueled something inside me. On the other hand though I've had days where Ithought Iwas impersonating myself and played like anabsolute blooming ididot. Sometimes I would miss shots that were harder to miss than make.
I blelieve that after a certain age, we set ourselves up with somefaulty expectations and just refuse to settle for our limitations. I understandthisinothers, but refuse to listen to my own advice. In a way, I'm glad, as I'm stillpretty competitive, but ithas it's price.
Just like you, sometimes the aches and pains are just horrible and I hate admitting it to anyone.
After 35 years though, Ithink I havefigured itout,,,,,,, I just need a little more experience!!!!!!!!!!!