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What is Sportsmanship?

1.        Your opponent is about to foul by shooting your category of balls. Do you: 

a.      Let the player shoot and call foul in a clear voice before picking up the cue ball and take ball-in hand.

b.      Stop the player and warn them that they are about to foul. Then let them change their shot.

c.      Let the player shot until he clears all of your balls off the table and then call foul and take ball-in-hand.

2.        It is your turn to shoot. You are about to make a shot that you know will be a close hit. You:

a.      Wait a reasonable amount of time for the opponent to call for someone to watch the shot.

b.      Shoot the shot as fast as you can before your opponent calls for someone to watch the shot. After all a dispute will go in your favor.

c.      Tell your opponent that this could be a close hit and that they might want to call someone to watch the shot.

d.      Call someone over yourself to watch the shot.

3.        Your opponent is not watching the table. You shoot and know you have made a foul. Do you:

a.      Walk away from the table and hope no one saw the foul. If the opponent asks if a foul has been committed, admit it and give them ball-in-hand.

b.      If a foul is called, deny that a foul was committed. After all, the opponent was not watching the table.

c.      Notify your opponent tat a foul was committed and let them know they have ball-in-hand.

4.        It is your turn and your ball is frozen to the rail. Do you:

a.      Wait a reasonable length of time for your opponent to declare the ball frozen. If they do not, do your best to make a legal hit.

b.      Declare the ball frozen yourself and alert your opponent to watch the shot to make sure you make a legal hit.

c.      Shoot the shot as fast as you can, so that the opponent doesn’t have a chance to declare if frozen.

5.        It is your turn and you decide to make a defensive shot. Do you:

a.      Shoot your shot and show your disgust at not making a ball.

b.      Declare that your shot was a defensive shot and make sure the scorekeeper marks in on the scoresheet.

c.      Shoot the shot and walk away from the table. It’s up to the scorekeeper to decide whether or not it was a defensive shot.

6.        It is the first few weeks of the session and you are up against a player who is showing ability that far exceeds his or her current skill level. You:

a.      Understand that it takes a few weeks for skill levels to equal someone’s ability. Watch for defensive shots and make sure that they are marked on the scoresheet. Make comments on the back of the scoresheet as the player’s ability such as use on English, cue ball control, etc.

b.      Call the league office as soon as possible to alert them to a potential sandbagger and insist on a review of their skill level.

c.      Play your best and know that you’ll get your revenge at the end of the session, when it really counts.

7.        You make an obvious foul. Your opponent goes up to the table and picks the cue ball up without calling foul. You:

a.      Let the opponent shoot. You’re not going to take the ball-in-hand back on a technicality.

b.      Call foul. The opponent must verify that a foul has been committed before the cue ball is picked up.

c.      Before any controversy arises, pick the cue ball up yourself after the shot and hand it to your opponent.

8.        You are up against a low rated player. They make an unbelievable attempt and leave you hooked on the ball before the 8. You:

a.      Curse their luck and try to leave them just as bad for their next shot because there is no way you’re going to make this ball.

b.      Commend your opponent for a great leave and attempt to make your next shot.

c.      Make sure the scorekeeper marks a defensive shot. This player is obviously under-rated and sandbagging. No one can get that lucky and be only a 2.

9.        You are the captain of your team. One of your players is playing badly and mouthing off, showing poor sportsmanship. You:

a.      Reprimand your player and let them know that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated. If the player continues, remove them from the team.

b.      Apologize to the other team for this person’s behavior and make some excuse for them.

c.      Let the whole thing blow over. It doesn’t happen all of the time, anyway. Everyone has a bad day.

10.      You are up against a team that is showing poor sportsmanship. Calling non-existent fouls, taunting the players on your team and showing poor sportsmanship. You:

a.      Give them a taste of their own medicine. Start calling fouls on them.

b.      Call the league office immediately and insist on a referee.

c.      Make the best of the situation. Write a statement on the back of the scoresheet describing the events telling the league office that your team would feel more comfortable with a referee at their match the next time you meet this team.

d.      Call the team captain outside to “discuss” the matter.

11.      It is the last week of the session. The team you are playing is tied with your team for 1^st place. The match is tied 2-2 and it is their turn to put up a player. They put up a player. You put up your player and then realize that they have broken the 23 rule. You:

a.      Tell your player to go ahead and lag. Once the balls have been broken, call the match and tell the opposing team they have broken the 23 rule. Notate this on the back of the scoresheet. Your team wins 5-0. At this point, even a new team should know the rules.

b.      Notify the other team that they have broken the 23 rule and allow them to choose another player to play the race.

c.      Notify the other team that they have broken the 23 rule. Make them forfeit the last race, but let them keep the points they have already won.

12.      The opposing team is short a player. The captain of the other team let you know early in the match that they expect the player to be there by 9:00. Things go extremely well and the 4^th race is completed at 8:30. You:

a.      Wait 15 minutes and tell the opposing team that they must forfeit that last match because play must be continuous and you have made your team wait long enough.

b.      Demand that the other team forfeit the last match because play must be continuous.

c.      Wait until 9:00, maybe a little longer and if the player still doesn’t show, declare the match.

13.      You are playing at a location that is a nightmare. The tables aren’t level, the music is too loud and it is so crowded you can hardly move. There is no way that your team can have their best match under these conditions. You:

a.      Notify the management of the establishment that the playing conditions are unacceptable and refuse to play. Also notify the league office.

b.      Discuss the conditions with the other team captain. If you both agree, move the match to another location. Call the league office to let them know that you have moved the match.

c.      Understand that the opponents have to play under the same conditions and try to make the best of the situation.

14.      The opposing coach calls a time out for his player. The coach has already used all of the time outs for this game. You:

a.      Call foul and your player gets ball-in-hand.

b.      Politely inform the coach that they don’t have anymore time outs. Play continues. No foul.

c.      Let the timeout happen. Sportsmanship must prevail.

15.      You make an unbelievable shot and the cue ball takes a bad roll and hooks you behind your opponent’s ball. You try to make the best shot you can and end up scratching. Your opponent takes advantage of the situation and ends up wining the race. You:

a.      Call attention to the bad roll and make sure that everyone sees that either the table is not level or the cue ball is warped.

b.      Walk away from the table and let your opponent shoot, knowing full well that the table roll is the reason you lost the match.

c.      Congratulate your opponent on a good match and know that some days the rolls will go your way.

16.      You are in an intense match, playing for a spot at regionals. Your opponent has a case of the jitters and accidentally gives you ball in hand. You:

a.      Let out a victorious whoop and confidently go up to the table and finish the match.

b.      You give your opponent condolences on their bad luck, all the while trying to keep the huge smile off your face.

c.      You honestly are sorry for your opponent’s bad luck and miss the next shot on purpose, so they won’t feel so bad.

d.      You give a sincere condolence to your opponent for a tough break and shoot your best shot.

17.      Your opponent calls a foul on you, when you know that you didn’t foul. You:

a.      Stand your ground, you know that you made a good hit and no one is going to take that away from you.

b.      Let them have the ball-in-hand and call foul on them as soon as you get a chance to get even.

c.      Ask the two captains and coaches for their opinion of the shot. If no one can agree, re-rack and play the game over.

18.      You accidentally move a ball while you are lining up for a shot. You:

a.      Insist that the opponent put the ball back where it was.

b.      You move the ball back to where it was.

c.      It doesn’t matter who moves the ball back, as long as both players agree on the placement.

d.      Leave the ball where the ball was moved to. After all, it was an accident and it won’t affect the game either way.

19.      You feel best about a match when:

a.      You played your best and were able to use the rules to your advantage.

b.      Both you and your opponent played their best games and win or lose, you know it was a good match and could have gone either way.

c.      Your opponent gets some bad rolls and misses a few easy shots and you are able to take advantage and win.

d.      Your opponent is shooting real badly or is just not a match for you.

e.      You got a ruling in your favor that was decisive to the match.

20.      You have lost a decisive match; you didn’t play well, missed some easy shots and feel bad that you let your team down. How do you react?

a.      I shake my opponent’s hand and congratulate them on their win, being sure to point out all the lucky breaks they got.

b.      I don’t shake the opponent’s hand, if I hadn’t missed that straight in shot, they wouldn’t have won. They didn’t deserve the win.

c.      I control my temper, put my cue away and leave the building without saying a work to anyone.

d.      I shake my opponent’s hand and congratulate them on their win. Then I go to my team and apologize for my poor performance.

e.      I shake my opponent’s hand and congratulate them on their win, knowing that I will do better next time.

f.      I protest the match, because someone on their team distracted me and that is why I couldn’t shoot well. If I make a big enough fuss, I know that we can replay the match and I can win.

21.      What is the best definition of Sportsmanship?

a.      Play honestly and by the book. That way no controversies can arise.

b.      Use the rules to my advantage. Make sure you have the rule book handy in case anything comes up.

c.      Play my best game, within the limits of the rules. I know others are intimidated by my ability and I use that to my advantage.

d.      Play within the spirit of the rules, using them as a guideline to keep the match honest. Give my opponent my best game and recognize that sometimes things will go my way and other times they won’t.

e.      Do everything in my power to be fair, even if the other team takes advantage of this. Avoid controversy at all cost, even if the other team is being poor sports and cheating. You don’t want the reputation of being unsportsmanlike.

f.      Give the other team a break when the results don’t really matter, but when it really matters, you have the rule book to fall back on.

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