Tip of the week

When competing in a tournament or league play, toss all friendships out the window. Remember that there are no buddies during competition. Maybe I’m wrong to say this, but I know from experience that if you really want something in life no one should stand in your way of getting it. It may just be my competitive nature. Finishing in first place feels a lot better than finishing in second, even if it is second to a good friend. When it comes to competition, don’t let up for a minute! Don’t take it easy on anyone just cause they call themselves your friend. Your goal should always be to win, win, win! That’s what competition is all about! So when you shake hands with your opponent and they say something like,  “Now take it easy on me! Remember, I’m your buddy, your friend, your compadre!” You say, “Sure thing friend,” Then break out your “A” game and tear into them like a hungry dog tears into a soup bone!

Believe me, they will respect you after it is all over. If they don’t, then they were never your friend to start with.

 

Giving up too much weight could hurt you!

It was a cold and dark winter day when Eddie ‘The Fish’ Williams walked into the pool room.

They called him the fish because he had a full time job at the Fulton Fish Market in NYC, and

he always smelled like fish. He wasn’t a great pool player but he did have his moments when

he would get in the zone. On this particular day Eddie had just cashed his paycheck and was

looking for some action. Everyone who knew him was very much aware of Eddie’s gambling

fever. If he wasn’t playing pool for money he would be in the back room involved in a poker

game or playing on one of the many illegal poker machines that were hidden in that same

back room.

Because he was not such a great pool player he would always ask for ‘weight’, meaning a handicap of some kind. Pretty much what they do in APA pool today. If you ranked a six you have to win five games to two if the other player is a ranked a three and so on. He had an incredible gift for finding just the right amount of weight. He would go up against players whom by today’s rating would be considered a ten to his five, and he would more often win then lose. He would pick the best player in the house and challenge him to a game of 8-ball, with him racing to 4 and his opponent would need to win 9 games for one or two hundred bucks a match.

Of course the confidence of the better player would lead him to believe that this was going to be a piece of cake. Unfortunately for the more skilled cueist it would  end up being a nightmare instead;when he suddenly found himself at a score of 3 games to 5 with Eddie on the hill and just one game away from the money. One does not realize that no matter how good you think you are, if you give up too much weight, in the long run it could mean your demise. I think Eddie was the inventor of the APA rating system cause he sure was good at asking for just the right amount of weight. 

Bob (The Shark)