Tuesday, March 24, 2009

i wonder what the difference between pool and billiards is. and who was the first person who thought it'd be fun to knock some balls around with a stick? but it's one of those games that i enjoy, even though I'm not very good. since i started playing weekly, I've improved slightly; i can now aim the white ball that it actually hits the balls i want to hit. actually steering them towards a pocket will take some more time. it is said that you can use math skills to succeed in this game. the only person i know whoever used trigonometry (is that the math of the triangle?) is my grandfather, who can play pool with himself for hours on end. i don't know how he does it, but i think he envisions triangles on the table. (and i say this in the most un-weird way possible) but i still find it fun to play. that is, when I'm not getting kicked out of pool halls for being too young. the only thing i gotta learn, is not to rest my chin on the top of my cue after I've chalked it up. i always leave pool games with a blue chin...

7 comments:

harry-er than them all said...

also, not a good date activity if the girl has never played. you can't teach it without touching....

Cacti Don't Cry said...

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Billiards_vs_Pool ;)

Maybe I'm an exception to the rule, but I actually learned how to play pool without being touched by the person who taught me. (That's not why I suck at it, that's just because I suck at it in general!)

%Shocked% said...

I had a math teacher in grade 9 (Ya, I'm from Canada. We say grade 9, not 9th grade.) who used his math brilliance for everything. He was a big hockey player and would often take an extra second before shooting. When we asked him why, he said he was calculating the angles. 'Jeez!!' was our response. But darn, he could he shoot a puck/ball. And yes, just like in hockey, of course there is math in pool. It's all about the angles. When you hit the white ball into another ball, unless you put a spin on it, it will bounce off in a 90 degree angle. If you're bouncing the white ball off a wall before it hits your ball you have another angle to calculate. I'm not sure why you're grandfather uses triangles, but the math part makes sense. And ya, pool is fun lol. It's awesome playing by yourself. No pressure to go quickly, which means you're more likely to be more patient and play better. Good times. And lol about your blue chin. ;)

(And harry-er, as cacti pointed out, you can in fact teach a girl/him how to play pool without touching her/him. Pointers on how to hold the cue, aim, etc can be just as effective as helping them by actively 'holding their hand' through the shot.)

EsPes said...

i love shooting pool! but u go EVERY WEEK?!?! i dont know if i love it THAT much lol

nmf #7 said...

Heh, I'm one of those who use trig. It makes it a lot easier, especially if I'm playing against someone who is stronger at I am. They can aim and hit the ball, but I can figure out the bounce angle!

Oh, and Harry- Mr. NMF and I played pool on a date, but I knew how already. Maybe that's a good date question.

Anonymous said...

Its not trig its logic!!!!
Saying that math helps you in sports is just a myth that teachers worldwide use to try to get us to actually pay attention. im not great at pool but i can usually tell how the ball will move and i guarantee you never once did sine, cosine, tangents, etc cross my mind. Its a conspiracy, one of those things they teach u in teacher school. Im not sure if that happens before or after the IQ deducting process. Id have to guess after, cuz otherwise theyd never believe it themselves. Not that teachers always believe wat they think...but anyways, math and playing any sort of sports dont mix. Please dont contaminate sports. I beg you.

%Shocked% said...

the logic used is math! we don't think of it as being math; we just try and guess where the 'x' ball would go if we hit the white ball into it. they envision the triangle and probably see it better than we do because they've done so much work with triangles and the like. they just do a better job of using the 'logic' that we do. and y is it contamination lol.. it makes it better in my opinion