Winning. Being a champion. Becoming the best player you can be are all reasons why people play pool or billiards. I am a working stiff with a family and will never reach the highest level of any discipline, I have never reported to be more than a B player on a good day. I have had some modest achievements playing pool and carom that I am proud of but would not brag about. For me the greatest reward is getting together with friends, imbibing a bit, talking some world class sH$t and generally having a good time. My friend Dan Bennicas had me out to Hilton Head and we did just that. We got together and shot some 3 cushion billiards and had a great time. I have learned a great deal about the game of 3 cushion over the last 2 days and have put together a few patches of points. For all of you who feel like the game is getting to be a grind just step back and remember what is the best thing about it. Its your friends....:thumbup:
I think everyone finds different elements within the game to appreciate and even love. Not many of us have the eye sight, hand-eye coordination, drive, mental strength, and time to devote to achieving skill at the highest levels. And so instead we noodle along, always just trying to get a little better. Of course this is a moving target (think carrot on a stick and string hanging out in front of a donkey) but we plod along nonetheless as though it is something we will be able to finally grab hold of and savor.
There are folks that find joy in the camaraderie the game can offer, while at the other end of the spectrum there are those that lock themselves in their basements or game rooms and endlessly toil away at their home table, like a monk in a monastery, striving for some idealized version of their game. Others aspire to be the best in their locale or maybe just beat a particular player that torments them with repeated defeats at the weekly tournament. I know some guys who find pleasure in collecting the artifacts of the game, both present and past, choosing to assemble collections from billiard artisans.
Personally, I find joy in the simple, perfect, geometric purity of the game: shinny multi-cored orbs, a table twice as long as it is wide, and a slim, taper, ornamented weapon to propel the balls on the table. I mean, personally, I think there are few things in life as beautiful as a set of polished, racked pool balls sitting on fresh Simonis, but I'm funny that way. And I love the way the balls sit there and silently beckon, "Come on big boy. Show us what you got" and then doing what I can to bend those little sumbeeatchs to my will. It's like the greatest New York Times crossword puzzle of all time.
And so, I don't think there is one answer to your question -- it's different for all of us. We all find our own reward within the game.
Lou Figueroa
