Can we raise the bar?

Posted by Samm D
October 9, 2006

(An open letter to the Colorado pool-playing community.)

Recently I’ve observed several arguments and displays of poor sportsmanship during local pool tournaments.  This is nothing new, but the recent events, a couple of which were leveled in my direction, have left me with a sick feeling in my stomach.  Enough that I was motivated to write this letter in the hopes of generating discussion and possibly even some positive change within this sport that I love so much.   Are problems like this inherent to the local pool scene?  Can we and should we do something about it, and why? 

I’ve been playing pool in Colorado for twenty-three years.  During that time I’ve been witness to, and victim of, the typical litany of pool hall shenanigans: hustling, sharking, cheating, lying, insulting, stiffing (refusing to pay), arguments, aggressive behavior, destructive behavior, and even outright theft.  Now, it can be argued that, historically, these types of shenanigans have given rise to pool’s colorful characters and stories, and this has been the major source of interest in pool by the general public, i.e. the movie The Hustler and the most widely know pool character, Minnesota Fats.  But how much respect and how much money has the shady image of pool generated for our sport?

We all love to play pool, don’t we?  Otherwise, why would we do it?  From playing leagues, local tournaments, the Las Vegas tourneys, playing for a few bucks with your friends or even $100 sets with another good player, we have all chosen to play pool.  There are a million other activities that we could participate in.  But we choose to spend our money on pool cues and cases, chalk holders and tip-tappers, league and tournament fees.  We spend hours practicing alone on the corner table and meeting friends every week for a few games.  Why?  Because we love it!    

So if you are doing something you love, something that you do not have to do (you have chosen to participate), why are their arguments?  In my opinion, the answer is because pool is competitive and everyone wants to win.  Simple as that.  Emotions can run high.  And so I would (humbly) like to attempt to interject a new paradigm into the pool-playing consciousness: “You can be a professional and have fun, no matter the outcome.”  Everyone wants to win, but how do you win?  I suggest that a win is an accumulation of successful matches, which is an accumulation of successful games, which is an accumulation of successful shots.  So ultimately, a player cannot set out to “win” any contest, but only to repeatedly execute the shot that lays in front of him/her – now.  And that is where the “fun” is derived.  In other words, when your focus is performance-oriented rather than outcome-oriented, you will gain the most satisfaction from your game no matter the outcome.  AND you will be giving yourself the very best chance to accumulate enough successful shots to possibly WIN.  And remember that any one individual contest does not prove who is the better player, but only who played better at that moment.

Can we all take a cue from the (arguably) best living pool player to ever hold a cue, Efren Reyes, who when he misses – he giggles!  Being a professional is not something that only the top players need to do.  Being a professional means showing respect to the game, to your opponent, to the tournament or league, to the other players in the room and to yourself.  If you complain about a shot you missed, doesn’t that diminish the value and the satisfaction your opponent deserves for pocketing six difficult shots after your miss?  Don’t you want that satisfaction and fun when you run out?  Can you give your opponent respect and praise when they win?  Isn’t that what you want when you win?  Think about it

So when your focus is performance-oriented, and you are respecting every aspect of the game (which includes behaving honestly and fairly), you are having fun whether you win or lose – AND all reasons for disagreements and arguments disappear!  But I think it goes much further than that.  Unless you have been hiding under a very large rock lately you are aware that the International Pool Tour (IPT) has introduced the largest prize funds in the history of the cueing sports.  And the IPT has established a new level of professionalism for a pool tour.  At the players meeting for the North American Open in Las Vegas, IPT founder Kevin Trudeau actually lectured the players on what it means to be a true sports professional.  The key word in Kevin’s lecture was “responsibility”.  Kevin’s point was if you want to participate in this professional pool tour and have a chance to earn a real living playing pool, you must take responsibility to conduct yourself as a professional. 

In order for our sport to receive recognition and respect from the general public, as well as prize-funds comparable to professional golf and tennis, both the tour and the players must be first-class professionals.  The appeal of the tour will be the quality of play, rather than the hustling and story-telling antics of the old days (i.e. Minnesota Fats).  The pool stars of the future will all naturally be this type of professional.  They will be this way ‘naturally’ because they will have learned to play in this type of environment.  There will always be hustlers and fast-talkers and cheaters everywhere.  They exist today in the sport of golf, for example.  But a young player who wants to learn golf today will have no trouble whatsoever avoiding the hustlers and spending his entire golf career in a professional and fun environment.  Isn’t it our responsibility to help create this type of environment in the local pool scene?  Isn’t a professional environment at the local level necessary if the cueing sports are ever to receive real recognition from the general public as well as paydays comparable to other professional sports?  Can we all support and encourage and praise each other in victory and defeat for the purpose of uplifting the entire sport?

Can we raise the bar?

Bob Keller

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