Kato Lin – JaneChalks.com

Kato Lin is one of my alltime favorite players to play with.

It is ALWAYS the FUNWAY and he has the BEST ATTITUDE and no matter what the skill level of his opponent everyone is GUARANTEED A GOOD TIME!
#goodsportsmanship #greatleadership

Kato brought me into the APA in 2006. My first season, we were “Cueless” and played out at Yankee Doodles in Woodland Hills. At the time, I lived on the westside, and I really considered that to be BFE. It was a haul to get out there, but I absolutely loved playing with the team in the APA format. We were fortunate to make it to Vegas for Nationals. Making Nationals my first season was a big deal, that I didn’t realize was a big deal until I played for a few more years and made it back in 2012. If not for him, who knows if or when I would have found the APA.

Kato is the King of Diplomacy. He can diffuse just about any situation with his level head, expertise, and humor. He has taught me to always be respectful, gracious and to really enjoy the game. We all win. We all lose. Depends on the day and it happens to everyone. He and I love to go rounds making difficult fun shots and cheering for shooters and shots rather than demonizing opponents. You never know if your opponent could someday be your teammate.

Sportsmanship matters

This isn’t a game for big money. Everyone puts in so much time and effort. It isn’t worth it if you have to cheat for it – poisoned wins never feel as exhilarating as when you win righteously. When I close my eyes at night it is with a clear conscious and smile – that I either did my best and won — or did my best and witnessed folks that pulled off better shots than we did and maybe I learned something. Either way, I’ll be back again, and since I have the shortest-short term memory ever, I won’t remember if I won or lost last time — but I will remember how you made me feel. It pays to be a good sport.

Sportsmanship includes calling fouls on yourself. If you are a high-level shooter (6+), you know. You know when you double hit it. You know if you knicked an opponents ball or didn’t get a rail. Sportsmanship — even if it costs you the game — matters. Your integrity is invaluable and once you start lying, or omitting or any shady behaviors, you start to lose credibility. There are players out there that I will not play with. I refuse to purposely expend valuable time and energy playing people that I know are that shady. Don’t be surprised if you see a poor sport that waited an hour to play me, and just before they are up, I hand the table over to a 2. Hopefully a really old lady that lines up every shot and takes her time missing and accidentally safety-ing said poor sport for an hour. Now that I might enjoy.

Kato and I have been friends for many years and I am grateful for his attitude, advice and unique perspective. He also is one of the ultimate coaches and gives timeouts like a champ while his management/strategy game is off the hook.
See some of the fun shots Kato is famous for:

#katolin

終戦日、病み上がりのカトリン
ロンリートレイン
ありがとう！

#松屋町LAMP #カトリン #cafeandlivebarlamp #KATOLIN
ラブソングはやっぱ沁みますね。
とか言ってみたい。ほな