I've taken some interest in the 9-ball tournaments on ESPN. One thing I've never figured out - why don't the men and women play against each other? It seems to this novice that one sex has no real advantage over the other in this sport, though I could be wrong. Anybody know the deal?
The women can most certainly win. The only advantage a man might have is on the break. Pool is all about position and finesse. Jeanette Lee, Alison Fisher, Gerda Hoftstatter (sp?), Karen Corr, and Vivian Villarreal are the top professional women out there and I think they are all capable of beating men.
then why dont they play? i mean women have driven cars at the indy 500 and whatnot. it's the same reason why i've never seen women playing men in darts.... if they could beat men they'd play them cause i'm sure there's more money and prestiege invovled in the men's game
I was thinking that the reason may be just the opposite - that the women are too capable of beating the men and the men wouldn't like it. I've watched both - the women are every bit as good as the men. If anything, I figured women had the advantage in finesse sports like billiards and darts, they're supposed to have finer muscle control than men. I would think the only place they'd be at a disadvantage is on the break. Something appealing about a match that pits the 'Black Widow' against the 'Duchess of Doom'
It doesn't make sense. Perhaps it's because the pool(bad pun intended) of woman is smaller than the pool of men. Fewer women play, so fewer are going to be good enough to beat the top men. I don't know just a guess. I just want to add one more thought. In general, men have better spatial skills than women, so maybe that has a little something to do with it as well.