There Is Nothing Wrong With Pool
Posted 03-09-2011 at 01:51 PM by gunzby
Over the two years and some odd months that I have been a member on this site (I am quite sure that it has been going on longer than that) I've seen many a thread with titles such as, "What's Wrong With Pool", "What Is Wrong With This Game" and others along that line. I suppose that I am an eternal optimist, which is certainly something of myth in this vast sea of self hating billiards pessimism when I say this:
There is nothing wrong with pool.
The last time I checked, and for as long as I have been alive pool has been played on a table of varying sizes, with varying numbers of balls depending on what game you were playing. The game has had six pockets, a cue and a cue ball for a lot longer than anyone on this particular site has been alive. If nothing has really changed about the game what is wrong with it?
Still nothing, nada, zilch, zero.
There is a poetic mastery to this game that amazes us. The clicking and clacking of billiard balls can make time stand still because they clicked and clacked long before I was alive. The hypnotic trance of balls falling into pockets and the cue ball ambling its way around the table makes us forget about everything that isn't happening under that light. When we witness mastery of this game it can be as riveting as any sport being played on this planet.
We seem to wonder why in the world do other people not see what I see? My answer is because we have a very refined palette for billiards. If someone gave me a glass of the finest wine the world had to offer and a glass of wine bought at Wal Mart there is a darn good chance I wouldn't know the difference. On the other hand when I see someone make a full table shot to draw the cue ball a half inch, and only a half inch to get the only shot they could make on their next ball I can easily recognize that as a fantastic shot. Some may recognize a kickshot to be just three to hit the object ball and see that as a good shot. Someone who is consumed by this game may see the same shot as hitting three rails with aim, speed and spin to hit the object ball for a precise safety.....a fantastic shot.
A hundred years from now there still won't be anything wrong with this game. The tables will most likely still have six pockets, a cue, a cue ball and various object balls. If more people today explain the nuances of this great game and help others refine their palettes maybe more can see the great poetic mastery that we see happening below that light.
There is nothing wrong with pool.
The last time I checked, and for as long as I have been alive pool has been played on a table of varying sizes, with varying numbers of balls depending on what game you were playing. The game has had six pockets, a cue and a cue ball for a lot longer than anyone on this particular site has been alive. If nothing has really changed about the game what is wrong with it?
Still nothing, nada, zilch, zero.
There is a poetic mastery to this game that amazes us. The clicking and clacking of billiard balls can make time stand still because they clicked and clacked long before I was alive. The hypnotic trance of balls falling into pockets and the cue ball ambling its way around the table makes us forget about everything that isn't happening under that light. When we witness mastery of this game it can be as riveting as any sport being played on this planet.
We seem to wonder why in the world do other people not see what I see? My answer is because we have a very refined palette for billiards. If someone gave me a glass of the finest wine the world had to offer and a glass of wine bought at Wal Mart there is a darn good chance I wouldn't know the difference. On the other hand when I see someone make a full table shot to draw the cue ball a half inch, and only a half inch to get the only shot they could make on their next ball I can easily recognize that as a fantastic shot. Some may recognize a kickshot to be just three to hit the object ball and see that as a good shot. Someone who is consumed by this game may see the same shot as hitting three rails with aim, speed and spin to hit the object ball for a precise safety.....a fantastic shot.
A hundred years from now there still won't be anything wrong with this game. The tables will most likely still have six pockets, a cue, a cue ball and various object balls. If more people today explain the nuances of this great game and help others refine their palettes maybe more can see the great poetic mastery that we see happening below that light.
Total Comments 0
