I'm not sure that's how Pool originated, but if it did, perhaps it happened something like this:
Person A: This snooker is just too difficult. You have to be so accurate to pot anything!
Person B: You're right, it's taking you far too long to pot anything. OK, next time we'll use a
'junior' snooker table which is smaller and has nice big pockets.
A: Great! But I still don't know which colour ball I'm supposed to pot...
B: Either a red or a colour, depending on what you were supposed to pot last time.
A: I can't remember what I potted last time. Anyway, what do you mean 'red or colour'?
Isn't red a colour?
B: Oh, forget it. Let's get rid of the colours, except for the black. I like black. In fact, why
don't we say whoever pots the black wins-
A: Ah, that's much better. Now all I have to do is pot one ball!
B: -after they've potted all the reds.
A: Oh. Now I'm really confused. If I pot a red, then I'm closer to potting the black, but so
are you! Why should I bother?
B: You could keep count of the reds you've potted...
A: What if I have to count past 10?
B: Hmmm... I know! We'll take a red off, then say half of the rest are yours, and the other
half are mine.
A: That's no good... I'm never going to remember which are yours and which are mine.
B: OK, we colour half of them red and half yellow. Now you pick which half you want by
potting one of that colour.
A: One last thing. I never understood how fouls worked in snooker...
B: Oh come on, anyone can- . Fine. If one of us hits or pots the wrong ball, the other gets
a free shot. And if either of us pots the black at the wrong time, it's all over. Black =
sudden death. Got that?
A: At last! A game I can actually play!
Person C thinks to himself: A and B look like they've thought of a great game there. I could
be a multi-millionaire if I market it in the States! I just need to change things a bit to make
it sound good. Not enough meaningless numbers for the Americans... I'll just have to number
all the balls. Then I'll need to jazz it up a bit... how about a blue table, and making the balls
multi-coloured and stripy and stuff! All I need now is a good name...
Hmm...
Does American football really have simpler rules than rugby? The
rules of American football have always seemed pretty complicated and
arcane to me-- perhaps the most complicated of any major sport.
And by the way, Americans don't like Indy Car racing. They like
NASCAR!
the rules may not be simpler, but it seems easier... most men never
have to run more than 10 yards, and then they take a break to get
their breath back. And you get to wear full body kevlar armour. And
don't get me started on the men who's single job is to kick the ball -
and you need 2 of them per team!!!
Jon - who's been applying to be a kicker for years
I can remember hearing this many years ago and have managed to
find it on the net:
Explanation Of Cricket
You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.
Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he
comes in and the next man goes in until he's out.
When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's
been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out.
Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him
out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and
goes in.
There are two men called umpires who stay all out all the time and
they decide when the men who are in are out.
When both sides have been in and all the men have out, and both
sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including
those who are not out, that is the end of the game!
