What's The Point Of It? Seriously . . . Brutal Honesty Required . . .

Kickin' Chicken

Kickin' Chicken

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"It" being what pretty much all of us here on az do, namely, play pool.

Did you ever think about just how much of our time is wasted chasing 2 1/4" plastic balls into pockets.

And we know that the absolute vast majority of us will never go any further than being a shortstop level player, and even that, if we're lucky.

Added to this fact is another even more troubling fact, which is let's say you are one of the very few who possesses incredible natural talent and you decide you're gonna do whatever it takes (huge sacrifices) to get to the top. What's waiting for you should you arrive? Post dated checks, broken promises, air barrels, dumps, a $10k check if you can beat Shane or Alex, etc., etc., and etc...?

I know of some very talented pool players who have decided to pursue pool as a career and it turned out to be a colossal waste of their time. Sure they can do *okay* at some local or even regional tourneys but they're not really posing any real threats on a national level, and certainly not globally.

Couldn't this time be much better spent doing something productive?

And what about the rest of us?

I want to know from you all exactly why it is you play pool. Please be totally honest about why.

If this thread goes to 25 responses, I will explain why I play and I'm going to warn you, it's going to be brutally candid. Totally honest, no candy coating at all.

This thread is not meant to be negative, but rather, it's intended to try to better understand why it is that we, a collection of bangers to A players, dedicate so much of our time playing this game.

So, why do we?

And please don't respond with 'because I love it'. You'll have to do better than that. :p

I'm gonna be real candid and so should you!

best,
brian kc
 
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I ask myself the same all the time, what is that I want to accomplish? I guess one perfection. I started getting serious about pool because I wanted to prove certain people wrong, yes I do love the game but I dedicate this collosal amount of time for selfish reason, I wanna be better than everyone else, it just feels good, the more that I get involved in pool the more people I meet that tell me "you will never make it" and I want to proof them wrong, and then there are many that have this incredible confidence is me, more then I do in myself, and I want to prove them right and not disappoint them... I wanna see how far can I really get, maybe in a few years I will be considered the best player in the world, or maybe I won't be much better than I am right now. But he have to try don't we? Efren tried, SVB tried and made it, just like hundreds of others tried and didn't make it. Personally if I don't strive to be the best at whatever I'm doing I feel like I'm wasting my time. Some people are happy where they are or just not very ambitious, I am in the other side of the espectrum. And I don't think there's nothing wrong either way.
 
I play pool because when I'm really into it nothing else exists. I don't think about work, money, the leaky bathtub faucet or the other people around me. The only thing I remember from the few break-and-runs I've had is that outside the perimeter of the table it was all black. I didn't see or hear anything; it was just me and the table and the indescribable pleasure of pocketing balls and putting the cue ball where I wanted it to go.

I play pool to try to recapture that pleasure and serenity.
 
Don't know if that's the kind of answer you are looking for. It's hard to really speak your mind about what goes inside your brain because you will be judge my this post, you can be considered a bad person or a dick or whatever based on this thread but in real life you are not that person, it's just how you see pool.
 
I play because I like to be the one who controls my own destiny.

I'm my own offensive coordinator and defensive coordiator.

I make all the decision, take all the key shots and get all the glory when I win and take the fault, when I lose.

It's the only game that can and will ever offer these opportunities.

I'm an under six foot white man that can't jump. Where else in life, was I going to get as far as I did playing another game?

I LOVE IT.

________________________

http://tommcgonaglerightoncue.com
 
OK I'll go. I've actually thought about this same thing. Sometimes playing a tournament or a money match a person gets tight, and I think, grown men or women with wood sticks, knocking balls into a hole... kind of a strange pursuit. Anyway, to your question. I play for the same reason I'm into the other things I do. I'm kind of a private person and for me I love things where I can just get away with my thoughts, use my hand/eye coordination, and compete, either against someone or just myself. That's why I can sit for hours in a deer stand with my bow, shoot baskets, hike in the woods, play my guitar... and play pool. My wife has come down to the basement and looked at me and said, "you must really have fun doing this", with that look of I just don't quite get it. She knows I'm passionate about things though and supports it.
 
Personally, it has many levels. Being a B+ player, I am always shooting to be better...to work myself closer to that seemingly impossible perfection. Be it the perfect shot...perfect rack...perfect set. That day where somehow you just hit the "zone" and no matter what happens nobody can touch you. On a much more "meaningful to life" level, I have always been someone who needed that challenge, that thing to keep my brain occupied outside of my job. Pool always presents that. It's a puzzle thats constantly changing, and takes 100% concentration to execute correctly. All this being said, yes I have wanted to quit, throw/break a cue, throw things, etc. I think anyone who has ever "hit the wall" in any activity has had those moments. Hopefully this goes to answer your question a bit.
 
I used to practice so I could play a little bit better. Now, I only play to acquire funds. I don't hit a ball unless I'm gambling. Zero interest in getting better or to win tournaments at all.
 
I play pool for fun

I play pool for fun, not nessassarily for the wins. It's just an escape for me.
 
sorry chicken man...

but I love to play pool. I enjoy watching but I really would rather play. I have never paid to watch a match although if someone else pays, I'll watch. I don't gamble but I will play anyone. I just love to play.

I am 61, have won a few State Level Tournaments and finished well into the money in some National Events as well. I don't consider myself a super good player, just good enough to win more than I lose. I really don't practice too much...maybe cram some practice shots in before a big tournament that I might be struggling with, but I don't waist much time trying to get better. I play as well as I want to play. I agree that it would be pretty much a waist of my time to put more into it. I am quite satisfied right where I am. Sometimes I wonder how good I could get if I threw 40+ hours a week into practice, then I wake up and realize it would just be a waist of my time. I look at some of the 'pros' and I see suitcases in their hands and wrinkled shirts on their backs. Doesn't look all the glamorous to me.

I just love to play pool. That's why I play most of the Leagues in my home town. I really don't even care about the competition. When my opponent is shooting, I'm just waiting for my turn at the table. Should he win, then he wins...that's it and now I have to wait until my next match. I'm not sure, if I lost more than I won, if I would find the game so intriging, but I'd probably still play.

The game offers a challenge in itself. I have never seen the same layout twice. I don't really need an opponent to enjoy myself...the ghost is a great opponent. Of course, I've met lots of friends and constituents while playing pool and that has to be a plus. But there are plenty of goof balls out there too. I can usually pick them out pretty quickly though.

Simply put, I just love to play pool. Don't know what else to say.

L8R...Ken
 
As I yell at my 19 year old son for playing that dang XBox for hours on end, I ask myself if it's really any differnent that what I'm doing when I'm at the table, or all the time I spend playing????

Be MORE RESPONSIBLE!!! DO SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE!!!!!! YOU DONT SEE GROWN MEN SPENDING ALL DAY AT A VIDEO GAME!!!!!!


I play because I love the competition and I absolutely love to win. therefore I practice at home so I can win more. Never any asperations of being good enough to do anything past a local level, but would like to be able to beat anyone in our vast area of players.
 
Been through this a bunch of times already.
I am not the type of person that enjoys doing something half assed. I enjoy excelling at what I set my mind to.

I also enjoy competition immensely, at basically anything. Even if I totally suck at it.

In my first experience watching pool, I saw someone make an easy shot, saw several people throw large amounts of money at the guy, and saw him go back to his seat, where he was surrounded by a bunch of hot girls.

I instantly thought to myself that "heck, I could do that" and started playing the next day.
Putting myself in that position, was the driving force behind me going to practice.
And eventually, I WAS in that position.

As for the game itself, I am not someone who loves the game.
I hear of these people who talk about love of the game and I do not identify with that mentality at all.
I loved what the game did for me, i.e., easy money, girls, etc etc. Pool was just a tool.
But to get to a higher level, you basically have to do nothing else for a period of time.

Then you get caught in that black hole, that is being a "pool bum" where you do nothing but play pool.
Sure it was nice for a while.
But when the steady mealtickets run out and people wised up, and you are forced to decide if you want to continue or not, I realized that pool could never give me the standard of living which I wanted.

Gave up on trying serious pool right then and there.
Now, pool is something I do when I feel in the mood to do it.
I still like challenging myself. Still like competing and making or losing money through pool as pool by itself in completely boring.
But pool is just a part time hobby now.
Nothing more.
 
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The question about why we play pool may be found in the admiration and respect we receive when we defeat a tough opponent or beat the toughest guy in town on a regular basis. We drill people in 9 ball, 10, ball, straight, one-pocket and 3 cushion and perhaps the answer of it all is pride.
We do it because of the insatiable desire within us to feed our ego and drink from the cup of acceptance. When others think highly of us, we then think highly of ourselves as well.
More valuable than a world cup 10 ball trophy, is being admired for your character, not your ability at pool.
 
There is an element of self-mastery. I am in complete control of my destiny and the amount of concentration required eliminates all other worldly problems. For me playing pool is a way to relax as I get lost in the game. It is a fascinating study in self-control and mental development.

But then I also enjoy other solitary pursuits such as painting, sculpture, and writing. Playing pool is the only one that, for me, has more of a social element.

I used to enjoy the intense concentration required to write computer software. Over time, and many software packages later, I have lost interest in this area. Playing pool and software development are very similar activities. But I suppose that unless you have taken up computer programing as a tool for creating new things you would not know that.
 
Cracktherack said:
The question about why we play pool may be found in the admiration and respect we receive when we defeat a tough opponent or beat the toughest guy in town on a regular basis. We drill people in 9 ball, 10, ball, straight, one-pocket and 3 cushion and perhaps the answer of it all is pride.
We do it because of the insatiable desire within us to feed our ego and drink from the cup of acceptance. When others think highly of us, we then think highly of ourselves as well.
More valuable than a world cup 10 ball trophy, is being admired for your character, not your ability at pool.
Click to expand...

What he said
 
I started playing pool a few years ago, at a rough spot in my life. I like the sound the balls make when they hit each other. Relaxed me for some strange reason. After about a Month of finding different places to shoot I stumbled into the Dakota Cue Club, and got a little direction from some of the locals. Just continued playing oblivious to if I was getting any better. This is when I enjoyed pool the most, BY FAR!

After a few more months and to the best of my knowledge, quite a bit of improvement in play, I started playing the weekly tournament a little. Shortly there after I just fell into the regular routine. Started finding cheap action, more tourny's, got picked up by a league team, and the game slowly lost it's fun. I was taking things way to serious. It was like a drug I couldn't walk away from. Took about a year for all this to happen. I sorta backed off, stopped playing almost altogether for about 4-6 months.

Wondered in to a different pool hall one day, and met a different group of guys, with a different view of pool, and how to approach it. Made it fun again. Started shooting with these guys once in a while down there. Started having fun again. Saw a different kind of challenge. One that my brain won't let go. Some days I feel a compulsion to hit balls, that is so strong it ridiculous!

Now I play only for my own satisfaction. It's the challenge of the game. I want to beat the game. I want break and run every rack. I chase perfection. (I'm so far from perfect it's stupid.) I've seen GREAT pool, and that's what I want to play. I might not ever get there, but it's a challenge that I can atleast step to, and maybe even accomplish.

In short, it's something to do in the middle of no where...


best,

Justin

best,

Justin
 
Pool fascinates me. Period. I do not gamble or enter big tournaments. It's all about fun. Every time I step up to the table it's a new experience. I can play all afternoon...eat dinner...and play a few more hours afterward. I'm far from great but play good enough to have fun. I met a lot of people through pool and enjoy their friendship. Pool is creative. It's a work or art. What's the point of it?...for me it has been a life time of fun and still going. Playing since 1962.
 
I've been playing [there's the key word] about forty year's. Made more friends and acquaintences than I can count. It's like being in a fraternity, brotherhood,etc. Plus everybody calls you by everything but your first name. Good times.
 
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