As I wrote in my personal blog, I helped my friend and fellow pool player Cristina De La Garza move to Switzerland last October. Little Marco and her needed a travel companion because of the long flights and layovers, as Cristina gets motion sickness and would be traveling with her 8-month son and a lot of luggage. Since it wasn't just a "trip" (she was moving from Texas to Switzerland) she had her hands full. If you wish, you can read about my amazing venture (get your hanky).
While I was in Switzerland, Cristina's fiance', pro player Marco Tshudi, showed us around the city and we ventured to pool rooms (you can view my video tour of the pool room Billiardino) and I also went to a private pool club which I will explain soon.
But what fascinated me most was the culture of Switzerland.
Cristina recently wrote about this in her blog, and it reminded me I had written a similar blog entry about the differences between the U.S. and Switzerland, but had not published it yet. After you read her well-written thoughts, here are my startling revelations:
Basically, I had NO idea about the culture. The country, and it's surrounding neighbors, are EXTREMELY very honest people. Honest to the point that when you visit after growing up in the States, you are alarmed and shocked!
As we drove around one day, Marco pointed to a large strawberry field, where people could just take strawberries and leave however much money they seemed appropriate.
What?
Or, the acre of flowers, people could just pick fresh flowers and then deposit cash in a box - all on the side of the road, unmanned.
What?
I noticed that people would leave out candles on their porches, and maybe flower pots or other personal important things.
Huh?
I had my bicycle stolen from the THIRD floor on a BALCONY in Fort Worth, Texas in a GATED apartment complex, and over there people were leaving all sorts of things on their first floor porches - where others could just walk right up and touch/grab/take. But, people just wouldn't do that in Switzerland.
In this extremely clean city (Zurich), it's very common to take the buss/train to get around the city - and you pay by the honor system. No one is there to take your money to ride the train. Or to ensure you paid your money.
Honor System.
Something that is nonexistent in America, IMHO.
Marco then shared something very intriguing to me about pool and honesty. And now it makes sense, b/c I have seen how true the honor system is in their country. This is how everyone is raised. It's their belief system.
So, imagine when Marco came to America for a spell a few years ago and he ran into the U.S. road players. He was shocked at their demeanor and rudeness. He even wrote about one of his tournaments in the US and you can read his frustration here in his blog entry from about a year ago.
But it's because of his upbringing and his surroundings that make some of the U.S. players seem very rude.
Marco shared that in Switzerland (and the surrounding countries) that if a person racks and accidentally gives a bad rack, the player feels very embarrassed about it.
Why? Because of their unwritten honor system, it's not proper to give a bad rack. So, they genuinely feel bad about it, even if it's an accident.
Then he comes to America and runs into players that deliberately put "the rack" on their opponents. He is seeing a side of pool he had only heard of. And because these actions go against the way he was raised, it upsets him.
I can only appreciate, truly, how he felt because I understand now about the honor system over in Europe and how everyone is raised.
If I hadn't any knowledge of just how much honor and honesty is engrained in their culture, I would not begin to understand why a bad rack could be embarrassing, or why a deliberate bad rack would upset him so much.
We (in the U.S.) run into dishonest people all the time. We see bad racks, sharking, intentional fouls, theft, cheating, etc. Of course we do. We live in a society that locks their bicycles up on the third floor\balconies, wont leave anything on their porches, and holds our purses tight against our bodies as we walk in the daylight.
I am still so very impressed about their culture! It was an eye opener for sure. Glad I was able to experience it, too!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Scotch With a Twist
Last weekend there was another Scotch Doubles tourney in the area that I played in, but this one was very different.
I'm really enjoying getting out and playing in these type of tourneys. Gets me out of the house among friends and allows me to test my skills on the table. And being 8ball, I love it even more!
This time we played at a new place, and the tourney was strictly held for a purpose: to raise money for a league team. I liked the idea, actually. They took money out of each entry and also sold food to raise money for the team. And yummmm - the tostadas were EXCELLENT!
We arrived at 11:30 but I don't think play started til about 1pm. Next time we will show up at noon, the designated time, and not be so early. As we waited for the tourney to start, I noticed that I didn't recognize a lot of the players. So, I thought it was possible my boyfriend and I would place well. But I also know in a race to 2, ANYTHING can happen.
Turns out it was APA rules (and that made more sense why we didn't know most of the players, b/c we don't play APA). Besides slop counts, the rules were only slightly different than what I'm used to, but not much. My main worry was scratching on the 8ball - that was a "loss of game" whether making the 8ball on the break or if missing the 8ball last and scratching. This rule made me a little nervous!
Only ten teams played. We didn't know how much money they were taking out of each $30 entry to raise money for the team, but they were paying two spots.
Our first match went 2-1. CLOSE! The next match almost went 2-1. A race to 2 was pretty tough! We got our groove though as we normally do and found ourselves in the hotseat. :) We barely won that 2-1 and waited for the finals.
As we waited, one of the girls asked us if we "came to hustle their tournament." My b/f and I just laughed and replied, "no, no." I shared that we played in a scotch doubles tourney just last weekend and only placed 4th (implying there was no guarantee we would win). She was a really sweet lady and told us we were welcome back. I was happy she said that and explained to her I like to help teams raise money, and we like to test our scotch doubles skills, so it was great she would like to see us again.
As we walked back to our table to wait for the finals, I really did wonder if most of the people wanted us back, tho. My b/f and I play pretty sporty together and they may not want us back again. I know *I* wouldn't want us back again.
I know how I feel when I walk into a tourney and the best players in the city showed up, also. I figured I had a chance til I saw them, lol.
However, I also feel that we can help these players. We will give them motivation to strive for better play and to practice, I'm hoping. If we win some more, they will want to beat us even more. That means they will work on their game and that will help them in the long run.
We ended up winning the tournament and I had to come with a long rail kick on the 8ball and the whole place went crazy! It was so sweet and awesome. They really seemed very enamored with our play and sincerely meant it when they said we played good.
We found out they took out $10 PER entry to raise money, so that only left $200 for the payouts. But, the bar added $75! That was an awesome surprise! We made $165 for First Place :)
I hope they let us play again - it was a lot of fun meeting genuine people and playing the game we love.
I'm really enjoying getting out and playing in these type of tourneys. Gets me out of the house among friends and allows me to test my skills on the table. And being 8ball, I love it even more!
This time we played at a new place, and the tourney was strictly held for a purpose: to raise money for a league team. I liked the idea, actually. They took money out of each entry and also sold food to raise money for the team. And yummmm - the tostadas were EXCELLENT!
We arrived at 11:30 but I don't think play started til about 1pm. Next time we will show up at noon, the designated time, and not be so early. As we waited for the tourney to start, I noticed that I didn't recognize a lot of the players. So, I thought it was possible my boyfriend and I would place well. But I also know in a race to 2, ANYTHING can happen.
Turns out it was APA rules (and that made more sense why we didn't know most of the players, b/c we don't play APA). Besides slop counts, the rules were only slightly different than what I'm used to, but not much. My main worry was scratching on the 8ball - that was a "loss of game" whether making the 8ball on the break or if missing the 8ball last and scratching. This rule made me a little nervous!
Only ten teams played. We didn't know how much money they were taking out of each $30 entry to raise money for the team, but they were paying two spots.
Our first match went 2-1. CLOSE! The next match almost went 2-1. A race to 2 was pretty tough! We got our groove though as we normally do and found ourselves in the hotseat. :) We barely won that 2-1 and waited for the finals.
As we waited, one of the girls asked us if we "came to hustle their tournament." My b/f and I just laughed and replied, "no, no." I shared that we played in a scotch doubles tourney just last weekend and only placed 4th (implying there was no guarantee we would win). She was a really sweet lady and told us we were welcome back. I was happy she said that and explained to her I like to help teams raise money, and we like to test our scotch doubles skills, so it was great she would like to see us again.
As we walked back to our table to wait for the finals, I really did wonder if most of the people wanted us back, tho. My b/f and I play pretty sporty together and they may not want us back again. I know *I* wouldn't want us back again.
I know how I feel when I walk into a tourney and the best players in the city showed up, also. I figured I had a chance til I saw them, lol.
However, I also feel that we can help these players. We will give them motivation to strive for better play and to practice, I'm hoping. If we win some more, they will want to beat us even more. That means they will work on their game and that will help them in the long run.
We ended up winning the tournament and I had to come with a long rail kick on the 8ball and the whole place went crazy! It was so sweet and awesome. They really seemed very enamored with our play and sincerely meant it when they said we played good.
(click to enlarge)
We found out they took out $10 PER entry to raise money, so that only left $200 for the payouts. But, the bar added $75! That was an awesome surprise! We made $165 for First Place :)
I hope they let us play again - it was a lot of fun meeting genuine people and playing the game we love.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Video CLip: Daz, World Champion
My friend Darren Appleton (Daz) from England just won the World 9Ball Championship in Qatar last week. In the finals, he was up 11-3, then 12-6 in a race to 13. Slowly, China’s Lee He Wen (Daz's opponent in the finals) came back and tied it 12-12!
Sometimes a close match will make you savor the love of a win even more!
If you haven't seen the video yet of the final rack, I offer you the link below so you can see what a tough out it really was under that pressure! And Daz's emotional reaction afterwards if priceless!
Rumor is, pool is boring to watch. Not with this crowd. Not with this excitement! Who wouldn't be joining Daz in celebration from their couches if this was on tv!?
Congrat's Darren!
Sometimes a close match will make you savor the love of a win even more!
If you haven't seen the video yet of the final rack, I offer you the link below so you can see what a tough out it really was under that pressure! And Daz's emotional reaction afterwards if priceless!
Rumor is, pool is boring to watch. Not with this crowd. Not with this excitement! Who wouldn't be joining Daz in celebration from their couches if this was on tv!?
Congrat's Darren!
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