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Opinion
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:: Arizona Pool Scene www.azpoolscene.com
| Arizona Pool Scene |
| www.azpoolscene.com |
Opinion
I was in Alexander’s the night of the 2006 Bob Klimas Memorial Tournament and
overheard a conversation between an out-of-state player (who now calls AZ home) and
some locals about how AZ players would never get to his level. No offense meant and
no offense taken but since I’ve had this conversation about 50 times with 50 different
people I have a very broad opinion about the topic. There’s no doubt we would have
stronger players if it weren’t for the ratings system. Just like in California and Texas,
there was a time when AZ didn’t have a rating system and believe it or not, many of the
10s and above in this state are from that era, which goes to show you how this system
has affected the caliber of players. Another thing to keep in mind is that Arizona is full of
“working class” pool players that are 10s or above which should say a lot about the
talent in AZ. How many pool players do you know that reach that level and hold down a
40hr/week job all of their lives? Most players from out-of-state that play at that level or a
little better don’t have jobs and possibly never had a job. Unfortunately, this system has
branded its way into AZ pool and has done so for over a decade now. Who knows if we’d
even have enough players to run a good tournament if it weren’t for this ratings system?
Shoot, we may not ever be as good as a ‘true’ pool player but how much does a true
player have in their 401K for when he/she can’t see the other end of the table any
longer? Thank God we have pool room owners like Ron at Alexander’s that prove an
open tournament with no handicap is possible, which in turn opened the door for the
AZ State All Around tour. Just my opinion...
Tony Confalone
I was in Alexander’s the night of the 2006 Bob Klimas Memorial Tournament and
overheard a conversation between an out-of-state player (who now calls AZ home) and
some locals about how AZ players would never get to his level. No offense meant and
no offense taken but since I’ve had this conversation about 50 times with 50 different
people I have a very broad opinion about the topic. There’s no doubt we would have
stronger players if it weren’t for the ratings system. Just like in California and Texas,
there was a time when AZ didn’t have a rating system and believe it or not, many of the
10s and above in this state are from that era, which goes to show you how this system
has affected the caliber of players. Another thing to keep in mind is that Arizona is full of
“working class” pool players that are 10s or above which should say a lot about the
talent in AZ. How many pool players do you know that reach that level and hold down a
40hr/week job all of their lives? Most players from out-of-state that play at that level or a
little better don’t have jobs and possibly never had a job. Unfortunately, this system has
branded its way into AZ pool and has done so for over a decade now. Who knows if we’d
even have enough players to run a good tournament if it weren’t for this ratings system?
Shoot, we may not ever be as good as a ‘true’ pool player but how much does a true
player have in their 401K for when he/she can’t see the other end of the table any
longer? Thank God we have pool room owners like Ron at Alexander’s that prove an
open tournament with no handicap is possible, which in turn opened the door for the
AZ State All Around tour. Just my opinion...
Tony Confalone
| Dated 7/21/06 |