As I write this there have been 53 messages posted to this thread since it diverged from the original "Stance question". And in these 53 posts, I haven't seen any outright trolls or from-the-hip responses like "FPs rule, MPs drool". We've stuck to the subject at hand, and not once has anyone stopped being polite and respectful of other peoples' opinions. This has got to be some kind of record.

I could spend the next few hours replying, one at a time, to the dozen or so messages that that been posted here since I last logged on - and I congratulate Ken B. on having the patience to do just that - but I'm taking the lazy way out and just replying to the group.

Being an FP does not mean that you lack knowledge or maturity. I don't think the MP who first suggested this meant any insult, but if someone suggested to me that my game was ignorant and/or immature to my face I would certainly take umbrage. I'd put my pool knowledge up against just about anyone, I just access that information differently than a typical MP would. As for an FPs game being immature, well that's one of those words that's insulting without being too specific, but again I have to disagree with the spirit of statements like that. How do you define maturity in a person's pool game? One way I define it is "Using knowledge, temperament, and ability to locate and execute the best shot in any given situation." Anyone who's progressed far enough has that ability, whether they're FP, MP, or whatever.

There has been some discussion here regarding memory. Some MPs have expressed the opinion that FPs lack the ability to recall shots, runouts, etc. I completely disagree with this. That fact that my mind is not focused on kinesthetic details for each shot means that I'm able to use those extra neural circuits for an awareness of the table that, IMHO, your typical MP simply does not have. I may not be able to decribe how I hit a certain shot with anything other than vague generalities, but I'll never say "Duhhh. What six ball?", and if you set the shot up for me again I'll not only tell you how I hit it, but I'll be able to hit it again, almost exactly much the same way, without needing to go through any choreographed steps to assure proper alignment, english, etc. How is this worse than an MP's ability to recall the shot in extreme detail? How does an MP objectively accurately explain shot speed, amount of spin, and amount of "punch" in a stroke? The answer is that you can't, and neither can an FP. The knowledge is, however, still there for the player's future use. Any inherent difference between MPs and FPs regarding memory is, IMHO, nonexistent. Some people remember things, and make use of that learned knowledge later, and some people don't.

Well I've managed to miss-hit a key and my browser is stuck in full-screen mode, so you people get a break for now. I'll cut this post short.