I’m going to blog this week about why I love to play pool. I guess you can tell the first reason is going to be that I enjoy the game. It’s one of those games where no matter how your health or age change you can always keep getting better at pool as long as you play. It is a great stress reliever, if you’ve had a horrible day and you’re in a bad mood go play some pool and slam the balls around a while and you will start to feel better. The game of pool is a great way to improve your hand eye coordination, as you get better at the game it helps your critical thinking skills by planning 2 to 3 shots ahead before taking your first shot, and it helps your social skills because it is a very social game that you can play with anybody at any time. You meet all kinds of new and unique people when you go out to the bar or pool hall and jump in on a game with someone. I personally play pool leagues on Wednesday and Friday nights and it’s a lot of fun. I met all kinds of new friends over the years and I learned how to be a good sport during healthy competition.
Most people think that pool is just a game for drunk people because it is generally played at bars but that couldn’t be more untrue. Pool is a game that can be played by anyone of pretty much any age, as long as you’re tall enough to see on the table you can learn the game. In pool leagues there is a handicap system that makes it fair for people of all skill levels to play. In 9-ball leagues that I play the handicaps are based on a point system ranging from a handicap of 1 that has to get 14 points to a handicap of 9 that has to get 75 points before that match is won. The points go by the balls you make. The first eight balls are worth one point a piece and the 9-ball is worth two points making ten points per rack. If you make a ball then scratch (the cue ball “white ball” goes in the pocket) the ball you just made is counted in the dead ball column and the point goes to nobody. So if a three handicap “that goes to 25 points” is playing against me “with my handicap of five where I have to get 38 points” and he gets to 25 before I get to 38 then he or she wins that match.
It is a lot of fun to play pool and it is just that much more fun to play leagues. It is a great way to get out of the house for a while and have a great time. I have been playing pool for 11 years now, when I started out playing I hated the game but as I started improving my love for the game formed and has been growing ever since. It is part of my life that I strive to become better at every time I get to the table. The best part is no matter how good you get at pool there is always something new to try or learn. People think you just go out and hit balls into the pockets but there are many different kinds of games in pool, there is 8-ball, 9-ball, trick shots, carom, and snooker to name some of the games. Pool is a game that I thoroughly enjoy and I believe that you will too.
I first learned to think more about pool when Chad wrote a couple of his papers.
ReplyDeleteIn this post you are using a lot of different rhetorical strategies to support your claims. Let's chat about this in person sometime. I want to point out some of the strategies you used and think about the consequences of them in formal argument.