APA - What a Rip Off.

[CocoboloCowboy]

NOT YOU IN PARTICULAR, BUT GROUPS OF GUYS LIKE YOU, ARE THE REASON THERE IS NO MONEY IN POOL. IF YOU AREN'T WILLING TO SPEND ANY MONEY, THE SPORT DOESN'T GENERATE MONEY.

FAST_N_LOOSE I think you are 50% but I think 85% of pool Players are “B” or “C” Players, and the one thing iI do not understand these people as a group spend money on, be it during recreation play, league play, or tournament play on Beer & Alcoholic beverages in the Bar/Sports Bars, and Pool Rooms that serve alcohol.

Here is Arizona the alcohol industry does not support pool from what I see except may Anheuser-Busch putting up a sign with a bottle of bud say “join a pool league”. but the pool Player sure support Anheuser-Busch.

 

[frankncali]

FAST_N_LOOSE I think you are 50% but I think 85% of pool Players are “B” or “C” Players, and the one thing iI do not understand these people as a group spend money on, be it during recreation play, league play, or tournament play on Beer & Alcoholic beverages in the Bar/Sports Bars, and Pool Rooms that serve alcohol.

Here is Arizona the alcohol industry does not support pool from what I see except may Anheuser-Busch putting up a sign with a bottle of bud say “join a pool league”. but the pool Player sure support Anheuser-Busch.

This is the attitude that has gotten mens pro pool where it is today. When Mackey stood there and told players that the industries would come after them and that they should not bow down to any of them its the same.
The industries that pool players support do not OWE pool or its players anything. We are small and have NOTHING to offer. Now the APA has been sponsored by the beverage industry a few times. THEY have something to offer and even then sponsorship has not been steady. That should tell everyone something.

Pool players need to realise that we are a super small subculture in terms of attractiveness. Now if WE, the pool community, had something to offer like a long running and well supported tour and unity then our attractiveness would skyrocket.

I also want to make it clear that I use the term, POOL PLAYER, for guys like all of us here and the minority of pool players that take the game more seriously than others. The MAJORITY of pool is played by individuals who get something totally different from the game than "pool players" do.

 

[Jason Robichaud]

I posted here this morning and it is gone... Did I post something out of line and do they warn you if so?

 

[CreeDo]

Jason: I haven't heard of a specific post getting quietly nuked by mods, and if they can do that they'd prolly tell you.

Maybe you did it in the other thread ("Not a rip off")?

Or you thought it went through but it didn't? Forgot to click the button or clicked it but the site timed out? Anyways... wouldn't sweat it.

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

This is the attitude that has gotten mens pro pool where it is today. When Mackey stood there and told players that the industries would come after them and that they should not bow down to any of them its the same.
The industries that pool players support do not OWE pool or its players anything. We are small and have NOTHING to offer. Now the APA has been sponsored by the beverage industry a few times. THEY have something to offer and even then sponsorship has not been steady. That should tell everyone something.

Pool players need to realise that we are a super small subculture in terms of attractiveness. Now if WE, the pool community, had something to offer like a long running and well supported tour and unity then our attractiveness would skyrocket.

I also want to make it clear that I use the term, POOL PLAYER, for guys like all of us here and the minority of pool players that take the game more seriously than others. The MAJORITY of pool is played by individuals who get something totally different from the game than "pool players" do.

Again I will say 1/2 right, and maybe I will add one more thing to the MIX, Pool Players might be a SMALL MARKET for say Anheuser-Busch, but if Pool Player stopped drinking Anheuser-Busch, and switched to Miller or Coors Products when they go to play recreationally, league, or tournament play. Do you think it would get the attention of the local Anheuser-Busch distributor?

Here is the Valley of the Sun we have (2) Anheuser-Busch (Franchisees) Hensley (McCain's Wife), and Golden Eagle. I had actually asked the Promotion person at Golden Eagle years ago when they did noting for Pool.

The answer surprise me in that it all start with the Room/Bar/Sports Bar Owner asking their Anheuser-Busch Salesman for support or sponsorship. Than apparently than the salesmen goes to the Promotions Manger, and the Promotions Manger sees what they can do. The person I talked to at Golden Eagle said they had had NO REQUEST FROM BAR OWNER to support pool.

In fairness to Golden Eagle they have only a very small pert of the Valley of the Sun, and that part is the Western End, where few Pool Bars are located!

As I understand it BCA has 60,000 League PLAYERS, playing in pool League at any point in time weekly. I sure would love to have a $.10/Beer they drink weekly during league!

 

[stikapos]

Again I will say 1/2 right, and maybe I will add one more thing to the MIX, Pool Players might be a SMALL MARKET for say Anheuser-Busch, but if Pool Player stopped drinking Anheuser-Busch, and switched to Miller or Coors Products when they go to play recreationally, league, or tournament play. Do you think it would get the attention of the local Anheuser-Busch distributor?

Here is the Valley of the Sun we have (2) Anheuser-Busch (Franchisees) Hensley (McCain's Wife), and Golden Eagle. I had actually asked the Promotion person at Golden Eagle years ago when they did noting for Pool.

The answer surprise me in that it all start with the Room/Bar/Sports Bar Owner asking their Anheuser-Busch Salesman for support or sponsorship. Than apparently than the salesmen goes to the Promotions Manger, and the Promotions Manger sees what they can do. The person I talked to at Golden Eagle said they had had NO REQUEST FROM BAR OWNER to support pool.

In fairness to Golden Eagle they have only a very small pert of the Valley of the Sun, and that part is the Western End, where few Pool Bars are located!

As I understand it BCA has 60,000 League PLAYERS, playing in pool League at any point in time weekly. I sure would love to have a $.10/Beer they drink weekly during league!

Leaping Lizards, CB! Just a tension breaker, had to be done. LOL. Isn't the deal here that leagues are just a fill in to a bar's overhead ? I'm not a firm believer in booze advertising anyway, but it not like there will be a huge decrement in a company's profits if pool players do or do not buy a brewer's products, is it ? Now, if you could get exclusives at the APA Regionals and Finals, that might be the ticket. Unfortunatly, what might have to be done is for players and league officials to take an action like not drinking busch products for a month at league in order to demonstrate the impact of leagues on the bottom line of bud. It would be a strain, but I think I could find enough russian rocket fuel to get me through a night's matches.

best,
tim

 

[frankncali]

Again I will say 1/2 right, and maybe I will add one more thing to the MIX, Pool Players might be a SMALL MARKET for say Anheuser-Busch, but if Pool Player stopped drinking Anheuser-Busch, and switched to Miller or Coors Products when they go to play recreationally, league, or tournament play. Do you think it would get the attention of the local Anheuser-Busch distributor?

Here is the Valley of the Sun we have (2) Anheuser-Busch (Franchisees) Hensley (McCain's Wife), and Golden Eagle. I had actually asked the Promotion person at Golden Eagle years ago when they did noting for Pool.

The answer surprise me in that it all start with the Room/Bar/Sports Bar Owner asking their Anheuser-Busch Salesman for support or sponsorship. Than apparently than the salesmen goes to the Promotions Manger, and the Promotions Manger sees what they can do. The person I talked to at Golden Eagle said they had had NO REQUEST FROM BAR OWNER to support pool.

In fairness to Golden Eagle they have only a very small pert of the Valley of the Sun, and that part is the Western End, where few Pool Bars are located!

As I understand it BCA has 60,000 League PLAYERS, playing in pool League at any point in time weekly. I sure would love to have a $.10/Beer they drink weekly during league!

I totally understand where you are coming from but it becuase I have been there. I have gotten small amounts of money and discount for pool tourneys in the past but nothing within the last 8-10 years.

Its still very simple... we lack numbers. If all the pool players stopped drinking for a month I dont think any distributor would notice. And its simply due to numbers.

We cant count every individual that plays pool in our group and in the proposed boycott. Most would simply not play pool and head to a bar to drink. They would play trivia or darts or shuffleboard. Pool is not important to most. Now if we take the true pool players and had them boycott the beer distributors would not even get a blip on the radar.

Most of the time pool players and pool room owners dont have a legit plan or event setup for a distributor to profit from either monetarily or from exposure. There are many other avenues available to them that would be a better fit for their advertising dollars than a one or two day event where
50 might show up and 25 of them are going to buy one coke or ask for a glass of water.

PS-- I wish they would do more but its just not there. Right now I have been talking here in SoCal about some sponsorship for a Blues Festival I am having. Its amazing how different the responses are for this rather than a pool tourney.

 

[Joel Chue]

I played APA for 23 years, I played because I love the game ,I played BCA, and Valley also. Not all area's are as bad as stated .having played for that many years I know what players have issues with. We just started being League operators,and it is a lot of work. I work a full time job other than the league, The League is my passion not my lively hood. ,far from it.5-10 years from now maybe. try working your jobs for virtually nothing and see how long you survive. The main thing with the leagues are: Are you having Fun? Do you enjoy shooting Pool, I agree with a few of the posters. DO Not Trash The league, If you do not like it do not play.Funny thing is The APA is THE WORLD"S LARGEST POOL LEAGUE AND PAYS OUT OVER $1,500,000.00 at their National Tournaments.Over 250,000 members.How many people play in tournaments and never never CASH out? The APA is for everyone to have fun and play.with the equalizer handicap system, and brings more people into playing the game.Other leagues are for mainly the upper echelon players, without the others players pool halls and local bars will not survive in todays economy. Needless to say If you do not like it Do not play, BUT DO NOT BASH SOMETHING THAT IS HELPING THE GAME.!