You know, I have a friend who loves one pocket and 14.1. He says they're a true measure of ability, while 9 ball is just for bangers and people with no thought process. He also happens to be a damn fine player of both one pocket and 14.1. I very rarely play with him because I don't know the moves for one pocket, and 14.1 can get to be boring with so much waiting between turns. When I do play with him, though, he'll usually whip me in one pocket (I never play one pocket except with him, as I don't really care for the game), and we'll split the straight matches. However, in 9 ball, I NEVER lose. Never. Why is that, especially since he's a superior player in those other two games, he's a good thinker in those games, and 9 ball is for "people with no thought process?"
Answer: because 9 ball requires DIFFERENT thinking, not NO thinking. All pool games are different, requiring different strategies and PATTERNS (yeah, I said it). There is nothing that makes any one game better than any other, and being good at one doesn't mean you'll be good at another. I saw Scott Frost whoop Bustamante's behind at the 2003 US Open in one pocket over and over, but I seriously doubt Frost would've played head up with Busty at 9 ball. Since Frost whipped Busty at one pocket, does that mean Frost is a better pool player in general?
As far as THE SILENCER's (heh, that makes me giggle for some reason) opinion that 8 ball is superior to 9 ball, it's only an opinion, and I would guess that out of real players (not casual bangers), it's in the distinct minority. Eight ball is for the masses, hence it's popularity in pool leagues. Look at the numbers for membership in the APA. Many, many, many more people play in their 8 ball leagues than 9 ball leagues. The reason is that most 8 ballers ranked 5 or lower can't play 9 ball worth a lick because of some of the tough position plays necessary for 9 ball.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying 9 ball is a better game than 8 ball. I don't think there is such a thing as one game being better than another, since that would be an absolute and I believe in very few absolutes. My point is that all games should be shown equal respect as they all require different tactics, strategies, and pattern recognition.
I would wager to guess that THE SILENCER is a lot like my friend who loves one pocket and 14.1. THE SILENCER loves 8 ball because he's good at it, he understands it. I'd bet he hates 9 ball because he sucks at it (which must be true since he can't recognize the patterns in 9 ball). I don't like one pocket because I suck at it. My friend doesn't like 9 ball because he sucks at it. We all have dislike for what we don't understand, but that doesn't mean that we should declare that those things we don't understand to be invalid.
In any case, the only way to determine a true pocket billiards champion is to have the players play all pocket billiards games. The closest thing we have to that is the DCC, and for that I'm very thankful.
-djb