Why I Quit APA Team Pool

Last night marked the end of APA team pool for me.
I'll play out the city championships for 8 and 9 ball,
and the remainder of the session of Triple Play format,
as a courtesty to my team mates,
but after that, I'm done with playing on APA teams.

This has been coming for a while,
and I actually quit once before,
but just when I thought I was free,
I let myself get pulled me back in...

Last night was a real good example,
of why I'm leaving the APA.

I drive through the last of rush hour traffic,
to be on time for the start of team play at 7pm.
And my match started at midnight!

Jeff needed 10 points and I needed only 2,
but he safed me good for ball in hand,
and ran 10 points out for a well-deserved win.
Lesson of the evening:
The fragility of a slim lead.

So bottom line on APA team pool:
It is a sub-optimal use of my time.
Last night, including travel,
I invested 7 hours of my life
to play pool for one hour.
And I spent those 7 hours
in a VERY sub-optimal environment.
A smoky, over/under-airconditioned,
dirty, LOUD bar without food.

More reasons? the tables are
undersized, poorly maintained,
and the balls are a joke!

I can get my pool groove on elsewhere,
at far less cost in time,
in MY CHOICE of location
at MY CHOICE of time
with MY CHOICE of opponents.

The APA offers a social environment
"where everyone can play, and anyone can win"
as they say in their ads.
Well, I'd prefer to avoid that social experience.
My goals go beyond meeting new people and having fun.
I shoot pool to learn the art of pool.
To learn the secrets of life through pool.
To create a thing of beauty through pool.
To be the best pool shooter possible.
And I want to do it on my terms.

As you can see plainly from the last sentence
in the previous paragraph, I am a soloist.
The APA is all about teams.

Team members count on you to win,
to show up according to schedule, (a commitment!)
at the start of every match,
whether they actually play you or not,
to be available to play at a moment's notice,
to keep score for other players' matches,
to stay interested and focused on the
play in progress,
and to coach when/if needed.
That's a lot of baggage I prefer to do without.
I prefer to eliminate the extra pressure of team play.
I just want to shoot pool.

Hey, it's right there on my home page:
plain as day: "hermit".

Now let me be perfectly clear:
Brian and Jill do a great job
running the local APA franchise.
They get high marks from most players.
And the APA is a great format for most players,
as their rapid growth has surely proven.
They do a great job of introducing new players to the game.
And I wish them the very best of continued success.

I enjoyed meeting
the many colorful characters of the APA.
It has been an extraordinary rush of sensations for me.

In my future solitude,
on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights,
I will, from time to time,
think of all of you and smile, and wish you well.

Thanks for the memories...