Shane was doing that to some extent with his match with Earl in the TAR studio. When he was losing in the 10 ft table match with Earl, he expressed his frustration differently by just slumping in his chair, whereas with Earl in the TAR match, he started physically expressing his frustration.
I noticed in the TAR podcast on Thursday, he seemed a bit distant staring off into space like he was preoccupied with something. He also said he he had taken a break from pool lately and that he was unhappy with his break.
I also read in Jay's thread that he went on a date while at Jays. What happens if Shane falls in love? hehe, we all know what happens to a guy when he gets involved with a woman
I'm not able to watch the match with Johnny, so I can't remark on his actions tonight, but I'm thinking he has something going on in his life right now, which is causing him to act out a bit. We all know the incredible high standard he sets for himself, he believes he should win every tournament and when he doesn't play to his standard, he is starting to act out.
If he is preoccupied with something, or something is bothering him, him not playing well is going to make him pretty upset. Plus he really believes that he should be beating Johnny, so with him being behind most, or all of the night, that has to trouble him greatly.
As with any great athlete, the tremendous pressure that they feel to perform to the high standards that the public expects of them and that they expect of them, can be overwhelming and something most of us cannot even begin to understand. One has to learn how to deal with all of that and he's still young and learning I'm sure.
I just hope he can control his emotions and use them to his advantage. It would be sad to see him take the easy road and just act out on them thru banging sticks, throwing balls, *****ing and moaning and the other things a lot of us do ourselves. We can do them and only a few people see them, but when a person of his stature does them, the are magnified and quite possible seen by hundreds if not thousands of people. Most of us will never know what it feels like to be playing with all of the pressure to win by their fans and themselves, and to have a camera trained on us while we're battling those emotions. Having it shown live to a audience and to have fans discuss it instantly on the Internet.
I have the greatest respect for Shane, for everything he has done in his life. I am impressed by how he has handled everything up to this point and not succumbed to the vices and pitfalls that so many of us do. He doesn't do drugs, doesn't get drunk, and handles himself professionally, so he has a lot of things going right for him. Everyone slips now and then and I hope he catches himself before it becomes a habit. He has to learn how to channel his emotions and use them to his benefit. Everyone needs to release frustration and steam, we all do it differently. It's healthy to get rid of it. At the same time, there's right ways and wrong ways to do it, and this slamming sticks on the table, slamming balls, pissing and moaning is not a good way to go. That's going to cause a lot more grief which adds to everything else.
He's set the bar so high for himself, that it's got to be very difficult to live up to. That can be good and that can be bad too. I don't want him to turn into a guy that's happy when he's winning, but turns into a angry spoiled brat when he's not. We have enough of those people:smile:
I think the close confines of the TAR studio brings out emotions a little easier then other locations. It's one thing to be in a huge tournament room with 100 other players playing in close proximity to you, where the attention is not all focused on you, but spread out amongst many other people. Even when you get to the finals and all eyes are on you, the room is so huge. In the TAR studio, you have a bunch of people in a small room so that it feels like your playing among 20 people, not a huge room with hundreds watching you. I know my actions would be different off in a corner in the pool room, as opposed to having hundreds of people watching me in a arena.
We're all wired differently and we all let off steam differently. I just don't like that lately we're seeing the norm of players acting out with all the slamming of sticks on the table and such. That's going to turn off everyone except the people that like to see people implode.
Best of luck to you Shane in everything in your life, not just pool.
Greg
