Of course not, someone LOST the $5. So although to you it seemed free, someone else paid.

ok, thats a good point Dean,

but take the following scenario then,

You go to Burger King, order a BK stacker value meal, they tell you, it is on the house today and you dont owe a thing, thus your meal is free.

this is free lunch right?

Sorry Ryan it's still not free. BK had to purchase the products they gave to you so they paid.

Those of us that have taken Economics the term "theres no such thing as a free lunch" doesnt only apply to Deans point that it would cost BK to give you a free lunch. We must also take "opputunity cost" into the equation. Wiki definition: opputunity cost or economic opportunity loss is the value of the next best alternative foregone as the result of making a decision.

for example: in your choice to go to BK you lose the oppurtunity to go play pool.

And now you know the rest of the story...

ok ok ok... right right right..

Both points are well taken.

Burger king would be out the expense for the meal they had provided you that was "on the house" thus not making it free.

However, I do not agree with Ben's point that I lost the opportunity to do something else because we are eating (your example was playing pool), but my argument to this is, we have to eat at some point!


so please give me your thoughts of the following scenario of "a free lunch"

I walk to the back dumpster of Burger King of Brooklyn Park where they throw out their surplus of food for the day, and start gorging face with BK stackers and fries.

now I beleive this would be a free meal,

1. you are not incurring any expense
2. Burger King is not incurring any expense, as they were throwing out this food anyways.

thoughts?

they still bought the food they through in the dumpster....lol

yes Jeff, I realize they still bought the food, but it is a surplus, and they had just thrown it away never planning on using it again for any financil benefit.

I really think this is considered a free meal. Any arguments to this?

What worries me most is that you know they throw it int the dumpster. lol

I can see how my knowledge of that would seem a little odd yes..

but it would be considered "a free lunch" though wouldn't it?

Only if you walked all the way there, otherwise you have gas money to get to Burger King.

If you want a free lunch, go eat some wild berries, no one paid for them to be there, but walk!!

I don't think so. You have a certain amount of energy expended to dig the stacker's out of the dumpster that you wouldn't have had if you just went in and paid. I think you also incur some expense in passing up 3 Mcdonald's dumpsters to get to the gormet BK dumpster.

PatH...thinks there may be energy used in expelling dumpster food too

ok ok ok.... expended energy.. so technically it is not free. thats a good argument.

then take this following scenario:

you get in a very bad car accident and are rushed to the hospital where you are in a coma. You are fed through a tube down your throat, that was put there by a robot (no expended energy). Now the robot would have been built by man, however! It would be for the reason of an experiment to use Robots for war, because the first robot did not work out and they found it would not be suitable to make additional robots for the means of war, they donated to the local hospital. The Robot operates on solar energy, which is free.

This my friend!! is a free lunch.

the hospital is still charging you...lol

It depends on what you are going to spend on medication after you get sick from that free lunch. Maybe it won't be so free after all ....

Ryan, Haven't you ever heard the old saying, "nothing in life is free." This is the truth. So quit making up scenarios.

I find it ironic that I put a post up asking for help from pool players to give me advice, suggestions about a new pool publication and somehow everybody wants to talk about a free lunch. This might be the very reason why you don't have one but remember Rack'em will be a regional publication and will happen with or without your help.

I wish you success on the new publication and hope it helps pool, but I don't appreciate you shaming the people that participated in this thread by implying that they are what is wrong with pool. If you want some ideas on how to spread your publication I'll drop two notes into the suggestion box:

1) Don't critisize your audience
2) Have Ryan write a column on the robot wars; although not pool related it would help things get off of the ground.

I would suggest trying to contact the people in this area that have published the magazine in the past for Minnesota and the surrouding states. They would probably be the best sources to find out what worked and didn't work in this area. That would be John Stitch, Kelly Larson, Dean Bradley and Toni Johnson. I know that all of these people look at this website except I am not sure how often Kelly does, so it should be easy to contact them.

I think that there would be people out there that would be willing to send in results and pictures if you asked. Most people are pretty helpful. I would be willing to help get that information at the tournaments I attend.

June
I have been in touch with Toni, Dean and John and all have given positive feedback and were willing to send results from tournaments. I do not know Kelly and I have in this thread asked for players to send results, article and photos.

I would be glad to get results and an article from you and photos if possible. I appreciate the help.

I was also looking for what players would like to see in Rack'em articles about instructional, trick shots, etc. Something that they would be interested in reading.

thank you, Don Akerlow, Publisher, Rack'em

We had a publication called Rack'em in the south/central Wis. area a few years back. It was published by Scott Herbeck and lasted maybe 3 or 4 years. Scott also ran a pool tournament tour affiliated with the magazine. Alas it went the way of may other such publications due mostly to lack of funding I think.

PatH

Pat,
Do you have a copy of the Rack'em publication for central and southern Wisconsin? Or do you know Scott Herbeck's phone number or address? I appreciate your information and have already contacted locations and league operators in Wisconsin. My youngest son was born in Madison while I was going to school.
Anybody else knows of any publications or independent leagues and tournaments please email me or post them. I want to thank those of you who have given information it has been helpful and will also help in the success of Rack'em.
Thank you again, Don Akerlow rackemmag@aol.com