This Makes Me A Little Sad

chefjeff said:
Everybody sing!!!...


...We are the World
We are the Children
We are the ones for a brighter day
So let's start posting...



Jeff Livingston
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There's a choice we're making
To start a worthwhilee thread
It's true we'll make a better day, just you and me
 
Brian,

Unfortunately, this happens in all forums, and not just pool related forums. Sometimes those posters just get burnt out. Not just from posting, but from every day life, and personal issues. It will eventually come back around.

Kickin' Chicken said:
Been coming to AZB for about 13 years, officially joined 11 years ago and it became part of my daily morning routine. A hot cup of coffee and tear into all of the great content - Scooter and co taking off car wash bill changers for the quarters, Dippy, Billy, Scott and the tush hogs, JB & Lou barking to make their big 1p game then the aftermath, "Dildo Hair" escaping out the bathroom window while down in her money match with OMGWTF, kvinbrwr acquiring Michaela Tabb's gloves from Matt & Pinklady, Charlie Williams hotel escapade, Smorg's gems, Derek Disco's Nazi and other spectacular animations, Aiming Wars, TAR, which cuemaker went the most sideways (Wheat, Sutton, Gracio, Zinzola, etc, etc) Bill Stroud's "Design Your Dream" (or Nightmare, as it turned out), the Geno & Rhea road tour, and on and on and on...

There seemed to be an endless variety of interesting and extremely entertaining topics going on all the time on AZB. I know times change and Facebook has taken a lot of contributors away but I do and always will have massive appreciation for the info and entertainment provided here. I wish it could remain the central clearinghouse for all things pool, from A to Z.

I see when scrolling all the way down to the bottom of page 1 there's not been much movement at all in the previous 24 hours. And not a monumentally entertaining thread for what seems like miles.

Can anything be done about this or do we just accept that change is imminent?

best,
brian kc <---- still prefers AZB above all others
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I've been a bit discouraged with both the game and the state of AZ/social media for a while now. I actually went almost a whole month without touching my cue. I even considered giving it up entirely for a few days...selling the table and everything. The fact that my kids just aren't interested in the game coupled with my own failures on the tables have put me in a melancholy mood.

I'm guilty of trying to use FB to talk about pool but I really don't enjoy that format. Forums are so much better for conversation. Unfortunately, FB isn't going anywhere any time soon but I think we are stuck with it's effects -- mainly the hit and run comments.
 
I agree completely.

kollegedave


lfigueroa said:
Brian, I think it was about a year ago I mentioned this very thing to MH.

AZ (and perhaps much of social media) has changed, evolved, and devolved over the last half dozen years. In the case of AZ it's been a dramatic change. Sure, not all are equally devoted to participating here. Posters come and go and for some it's not their cup of tea. Others try it out and find that, despite it being just a bunch of pool players here, the bar is relatively high for logical thought and writing skills.

There are two things I've noticed about how AZ has changed. First, in the majority of threads people don't talk to each other anymore. People's comments are stove-piped and fewer attempt to engage in a conversation, make a return comment, ask a question, offer a compliment or opposing view. That wasn't the case in years gone by when people were willing to talk, ask questions, and give and take a little heat. I know that's not universal across all threads, just in many more of them than before.

Another issue is the administration has chosen to cast out or alienate some of the bigger personalities that provided the spice to the stew here -- guys with opinions who aren't afraid to give them voice. Somehow, the distinction has been lost between an opinion and a base insult. As an example, in all the shots, arguments, and woofing he did I never put JB on Ignore because John had a unique perspective and an internal logic to his rants -- in his case it wasn't a matter of insulting just for the sake of insulting, like some others. So now we have a pretty bland, boring stew and if that was the goal, we got it.

Lastly, I don't know about others, but I personally feel less motivated to originate threads, write trip reports, and offer original stories like I used to just a few years back. I like to think those contributions to the forum made AZ a slightly more interesting place. I am not inclined to do much of that anymore.

Lou Figueroa
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BasementDweller said:
I've been a bit discouraged with both the game and the state of AZ/social media for a while now. I actually went almost a whole month without touching my cue. I even considered giving it up entirely for a few days...selling the table and everything. The fact that my kids just aren't interested in the game coupled with my own failures on the tables have put me in a melancholy mood.

I'm guilty of trying to use FB to talk about pool but I really don't enjoy that format. Forums are so much better for conversation. Unfortunately, FB isn't going anywhere any time soon but I think we are stuck with it's effects -- mainly the hit and run comments.
Click to expand...

You said a lot of what I have been thinking lately. I've pretty much given up 9 ball and playing outside of my own home. Just doesn't seem worth the effort any more. I don't think I'll give it up, I decided I had quit the game enough and love it too much to give it up entirely. I post on AZ very seldom these days and even less on FB, though that was why I got on FB in the first place, because JAM and Joey A encouraged me to, it just hasn't worked out like I thought it would. I agree, AZ kinda died out and happened LONG before 2017. I've been here since 2006 myself. Usually just log in, do a quick scan of the same tired threads that I have absolutely no interest in and I'm logging out. I miss a lot of folks who are gone, some died, some just left, and some don't post hardly at all, though they are still around. Lot of nonsense posts by people that really just don't get the game at all but that's not all that unusual, I guess.
Sad.
 
One of the issues inherent in this type forum ( given its been around awhile, and AZ qualifies as such ) is, there are only so many things to be said. Granted, there are plenty never mentioned here but that said, there are TONS that have. And said again. And said again. The greatest issue in preventing that is a lack of a magic ability to simply know, going in, what issues / comments / stories, etc, etc, have already been posted on. But that isn't possible. Of course, one can do a search ( if one is so inclined, thinks about it, or knows how if one does think of it ) before posting on a given subject. I think it's safe to say, most people would not be that collectively considerate or simply disinclined to do so if again, it even occurred to them. So, from what I've seen, many newbs come in, post on something of interest to them and immediately get shot down by the a few oldsters ( forum-wise, not age-wise ) with comments such as "been there done that" or "oh boy! another thread on tip-shapes!" or the old standby "man... only the 2,482nd time we get to discuss LD shafts...". This, as one would imagine, is a bit disheartening, not to mention possibly embarrassing, to said newby who ( most likely ) innocently enough, posted said subject for the 2,482nd time. And many of them just say, "well, bye..." and never post again.

In MHO, and I mean that sincerely, I think we all would benefit from more stories. And, yeah, I get it that many aren't so inclined, or are uncomfortable typing out more than a sentence or two, or don't feel they have command enough of written language to put themselves out in front of a public gathering and take the chance of being ridiculed for a lack of grammatical expertise or spelling acumen. I get that. And I don't blame anyone who feels as such. But, surely, with the collective experience we have here, with the literally tens of thousands of hours spent in our lives in pool rooms or bars or whatever, we have an almost unending supply of thought-provoking or funny or interesting or exciting stories to share. And, sure, if nothing but those stories were posted, it would get old pretty quickly. But what an entertaining road it would be to follow before it became tired and uninteresting. Stories are almost always interesting to some degree and enjoying them rarely if ever is predicated on "length-of-service" on a table or in a poolroom, level of talent, or the particular game one likes best. Being entertained by a good story is an innately human characteristic. And the history of both telling and enjoying them dates far back into the very genesis of the human experience.

Simply my .02.
 
Last edited:
Michael Andros said:
One of the issues inherent in this type forum ( given its been around awhile, and AZ qualifies as such ) is, there are only so many things to be said. Granted, there are plenty never mentioned here but that said, there are TONS that have. And said again. And said again. The greatest issue in preventing that is a lack of a magic ability to simply know, going in, what issues / comments / stories, etc, etc, have already been posted on. But that isn't possible. Of course, one can do a search ( if one is so inclined, thinks about it, or knows how if one does think of it ) before posting on a given subject. I think it's safe to say, most people would not be that collectively considerate or simply disinclined to do so if again, it even occurred to them. So, from what I've seen, many newbs come in, post on something of interest to them and immediately get shot down by the a few oldsters ( forum-wise, not age-wise ) with comments such as "been there done that" or "oh boy! another thread on tip-shapes!" or the old standby "man... only the 2,482nd time we get to discuss LD shafts...". This, as one would imagine, is a bit disheartening, not to mention possibly embarrassing, to said newby who ( most likely ) innocently enough, posted said subject for the 2,482nd time. And many of them just say, "well, bye..." and never post again.

In MHO, and I mean that sincerely, I think we all would benefit from more stories. And, yeah, I get it that many aren't so inclined, or are uncomfortable typing out more than a sentence or two, or don't feel they have command enough of written language to put themselves out in front of a public gathering and take the chance of being ridiculed for a lack of grammatical expertise or spelling acumen. I get that. And I don't blame anyone who feels as such. But, surely, with the collective experience we have here, with the literally tens of thousands of hours spent in our lives in pool rooms or bars or whatever, we have an almost unending supply of thought-provoking or funny or interesting or exciting stories to share. And, sure, if nothing but those stories were posted, it would get old pretty quickly. But what an entertaining road it would be to follow before it became tired and uninteresting. Stories are almost always interesting to some degree and enjoying them rarely if ever is predicated on "length-of-service" on a table or in a poolroom, level of talent, or the particular game one likes best. Being entertained by a good story is an innately human characteristic. And the history of both telling and enjoying them dates far back into the very genesis of the human experience.

Simply my .02.
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As usual, Michael, I like your post.
I hope I never lose the patience to answer a beginner’s or a new comer’s questions.
....even when I was a smart-ass kid, I never sneered at the neophytes....I picked on
people that knew their way around.

And when old questions get answered anew....sometimes an epiphany happens...
...and something new is actually discovered.

And we all have a unique perspective on this game...and life itself...even the followers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0aoVkdeYqw

....hopefully, we can all loosen up a bit...and speak our minds.
 
pt109 said:
As usual, Michael, I like your post.
I hope I never lose the patience to answer a beginner’s or a new comer’s questions.
....even when I was a smart-ass kid, I never sneered at the neophytes....I picked on
people that knew their way around.

And when old questions get answered anew....sometimes an epiphany happens...
...and something new is actually discovered.

And we all have a unique perspective on this game...and life itself...even the followers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0aoVkdeYqw

....hopefully, we can all loosen up a bit...and speak our minds.
Click to expand...


Tap tap tap.
 
1. If one takes the time to look beyond his immediate need and consider the big picture:
-duplication of effort
-scattered information
-unnecessary clutter

Search first: many forums will ban folks for not doing so.
eazyace said:
1. I've seen countless times when newbie joins and ask a question they get the -> "Search button would help"
Why not just answer the question and begin a new topic ?

2. There is only so much "pool talk" that you can come up with. New innovations would have to happen to spark new threads/ new posts/ new comments etc..

3. First was maple shafts, talked to death about it / then came LD and sparked a whole different conversation which is now been talked to death, and with REVO yet another but not different then previous 2.

4. Perhaps if pool actually changed, maybe a new game? Prob wont happen and we are going in a different direction. Now its 8ball, 9ball, maybe 10, and 1 pckt / no more banks talk, or straight

then again i have no clue i dont play league or nothing
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Ghosst said:
Be careful what you wish for. :D
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Well, I’m certainly never going to make a game with you....you @#$&$# bandit.
...the ghosst never misses...
..and he won’t even rack for his opponents...:angry:
 
Want to know what's really good about this forum? Just check out the thread about the New Viet 3C Record. I love seeing stuff like this on here!
 
jay helfert said:
Want to know what's really good about this forum? Just check out the thread about the New Viet 3C Record. I love seeing stuff like this on here!
Click to expand...

It rocks, that's what! To quote a tiny piece of a long, rambling, easily-made-fun-of 60s diatribe:

"With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world."


... and so is this forum. I'm pretty grateful for it.
 
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