Pool Cue News and Review

What can you say… five years is a long time in this day and age. According to a press release, the APA and Allison Fisher are kaput. Naturally, there’s lots of speculation on why this happened, most of it going toward the camp of “the APA must be in trouble”. Neither Allison nor the APA had any comment on the matter, so I’m going to give you my own viewpoint on this matter and its not nearly as doomsday or jaded as my opinions normally are.

The APA is filled with people like me: C and D Players (yes folks, I am a pretty poor excuse for a pool player). Typically, as you get better, you leave the APA behind for the BCAPL and VNEA. Casual players don’t know or care about Allison Fisher. If you asked them to name a pro pool player, most of them will likely cite [shudder] Jeanette Lee as the most recognizable face of pool. After five years, they probably finally came to the realization that Allison isn’t a good match for the league. Either that, or they were just really uncomfortable with the idea of giving Allison some wood for their 5 year anniversary.

The doomsdayers are going with the theory that the APA is on the ropes, but even with pool being in the proverbial crapper, the APA is still rolling with 200,000 or so members. As I see it, this is all about putting a new “face” on the APA. The APA even said this in their release “citing a desire to redirect market dollars outside the industry in an effort to reach new pool players”. In my opinion, Allison has never been a good fit for the APA. I don’t even think she’s a good fit for Cuetec for the exact same reasons as why she wasn’t a good fit for the APA, but that’s for another day.

So what will the APA do with the money they’re saving? If they’re serious about spending it outside the industry, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some ads on other “sporting” events that pool players like, namely poker, bowling, fishing and NASCAR.  I’m keeping the Threat-o-Meter at yellow for now, but I’ve got my eye on you APA.

With the BCA Nationals just around the corner, I thought I’d let you all know about one of the coolest cats in the biz. When you hit the show, between sleeping through your match calls, dropping Jacksons at the blackjack table and getting hammered at the Splash Bar, take a couple minutes and stop by the PoolTees booth. For all you cynics out there, no, Jake isn’t dropping any coin with me to get some pimpage. I just think his shit is the balls. Seriously, how can you not throw some karma at a guy who last year hosted a fat guy wet t-shirt contest at the APA’s?

If you’re one of the three people that reads this blog on a regular basis, you’ve seen the picture of Jasmin kickin’ it on her ride wearing one of Jake’s shirts, but I don’t just dig his stuff because he can convince a smokin’ hot blond to wear his shirts for free. The reason his gear kicks ass is because he’s quickly becoming the Palmer Cash of pool. My only gripe? Dude needs to come up with more designs. He’s got 10 right now, but it seems like they’ve been the same 10 for a while now.

By the way, if you’re going to buy a funny non-pool shirt, buy it from T-Shirt Bordello instead of Palmer. They pay me a commission and I seriously need some lettuce to pay my $100 per year hosting fee.

So after a few weeks of not really dieting and sort of going to the gym, I’ve found that my fat factor has held firm at 198 lbs. I’ve tried the shortcuts… green tea extract (lame), hoodia (total waste of dough) and even Alli (ugh, you don’t even want to know) but after watching the other guy from Charles in Charge and freakin’ Tina Yothers drop like 30 lbs each in 8 weeks on Celebrity Fit Club, I’ve got no excuses left. Shit, even Screech lost like 25 lbs. By the way, can I say that I totally dig Tina Yothers. She seems like just about the nicest chick on the planet and is miles away from being that weird teenager walking around with live beetles for jewelry.

So anyway, I’m doing the Fat Smash diet (hate you Dr. Ian!) and working out daily now. No grains, just fruits and veggies with a little meat for like the first two weeks. This shit is way lame, but if I’m gonna rock my board shorts and Tom Selleck chest mullet this summer at APA Nationals (like I’m good enough to play anything but APA), I can’t be chasin’ the ladies off shakin’ my gut like a giant bowl of pudding.

So anyway, I felt like I was gonna pass out at the gym today thanks to my hearty breakfast of egg whites, onions, peppers and salsa but vanity (or the desire to not be called “bitch tits”) always seems to win out.

I was trolling the old AZ Billiards Forums this morning and found a great thread.  Apparently pool players [gasp] sandbag in the APA.  This is one of the worst kept secrets in pool, but the thread is turning into a pretty entertaining venting session.

Really though, it isn’t surprising that people take advantage of the flawed handicapping system of the APA.  If you can make it to Vegas, there’s some serious jack to be won.  In theory, I really do like the APA.  It gets casual players interested in pool and does its part to help grow the game.  Other leagues like the VNEA are not even remotely friendly to new players and the BCA Leagues are somewhere in between.  If the APA would fix their broken system, they might find themselves having a nice little surge in membership and revenue.

am·a·teur [am-uh-choor, -cher, -ter, am-uh-tur]
–noun
1. a person who engages in a study, sport, or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons. Compare professional.
2. an athlete who has never competed for payment or for a monetary prize.

pro·fes·sion·al      [pruh-fesh-uh-nl]
–adjective
1.    following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain.
2.    following as a business an occupation ordinarily engaged in as a pastime.

So when is an amateur not really an amateur? Why in the world of pool of course! All around the US, there are “amateur” events where players win cash prizes. Take the upcoming Super Billiards Expo as an example. The Amateur Open pays $5,000 to first place. Considering the fact that a $5,000 prize is larger than the top prizes for most of the regional tournaments, is this really an “amateur” event?  Even the APA has these end of  the year tournaments where everyone treks to Vegas for a shot at winning bigger cash prizes than you’ll see at pretty much any pro tournament.

Granted, no one can really make a living as a professional billiards player, which is why you see names like Karen Corr and Johnny Archer showing up at podunk tournaments taking down giant $900 cash prizes.  Hell, Karen can’t even get herself a sponsor!  Face it, if you’re a second tier pro player like Megan Minerich who will be lucky if she sees a TV round a few times in her lifetime, you need to find a second job.  Some become instructors, which is pretty cool in my opinion, while others don’t stray far and become card dealers or just make a living hustling suckers out of their hard earned cash.

Are pool players amateurs or pros if they get paid to play?  Since they don’t get paid much, lets just call them pros and semi-pros.