PoolBum Gets Personal

The December PoolSynergy is a wrap. The general topic is an inspirational article relating to pool. Many of the best and most commited owner/operators of pool websites are contributors to PoolSynergy. You can find a complete list of all of the posts at this month's host, Samm Diep's Pool Tip Jar. You can read PoolBum's contribution here or by clicking the "read more" below. Enjoy, read them all and get ready to be inspired.

In 2001, I attended my first BCA National Amateur Championship in Las Vegas. I had been diagnosed with a serious and chronic illness in March of 2000. During the year that followed my diagnosis, I was pretty much obsessed with thinking about my health… except I discovered, when I was playing pool. The focus that is required to play well overshadows everything else. You can’t allow your head to be filled with thoughts about anything, not your health, your taxes, a recent traffic ticket or even something as simple as what you want for dinner and expect to play well. So, as you might imagine, I starting practicing and playing (money matches and local tournaments) as often as I could. This amounted to between 6 and 10 hours everyday. Playing became like mini vacations from my situation but even more so from my thoughts about my situation.

My father was enthusiastic about horseracing. In fact, starting from the age of ten my Dad would take me to the racetrack. Sort of a gambler’s version of a father/son outing. My friends would go fishing, we went to Arlington Park. By twelve, I could decipher the racing form and attribute much of my acumen in math to this. It may be unconventional but it has served me well.

During the last 10 years of my father’s life, walking became very difficult for him. When I was visiting him in Florida, of course we went to the racetrack. I fully expected that I would be the designated errand boy, making the many trips to the betting window (not only to place our wagers but hopefully to cash our winners, lol). But as he often did, he surprised me. He marched with a spryness I hadn’t seen in years, back and forth to the window over and over. It seems that the combination of enthusiasm and adrenaline combined with his intensity of focus helped him forget everything else, even his chronic pain.

My love of pool and desire to excel was a driving force with the same effect on me as the racetrack had for my Dad. Everyday I would hurry to the pool hall. I got some coaching and regularly matched up as a big underdog. My game improved a lot that year and I ended the BCA season with the 3rd best win percentage in the league. In the Open Singles event at the BCA Nationals in Las Vegas I made it to the “Big Board” and finished a respectable 97th out of the 1,870 players.

These and other small successes and even the sweet sponsorship deal that came soon after weren’t a result of anything I purposefully did. Really, there was no sacrifice on my part at all. I simply did what I loved and was inspired by. We all have challenges but by focusing on something we’re passionate about can make the difference between a rich and fulfilling life and one of self pity and settling for something less.

I also saw something that year in Las Vegas that would have a lasting impact on me. A player with only one arm was playing on the table next to mine. Fortunately, he was fairly tall. On most shots he was putting his foot on the playing surface and using the creases in his shoe as his bridge. And he played good! I was reminded of an old Arabic saying: “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.” I vowed to never use my circumstances as an excuse for a poor performance or for that matter, anything else in my life. I haven’t.

This month's PoolSynergy theme is an inspirational pool related article. PoolSynergy is a cooperative undertaking by many of the best and most committed pool website operators. Click this link to access all the PoolSynergy articles for December. This month's host is Samm Diep at the Pool Tip Jar.