The positives of pool streams

Streams

JoeyA said:
The Livestreams haven't hit their stride yet. The best is yet to come.

I wonder how many of you send out an email, a tweet, or a text message to your friends who play pool to let them know that a particular match is on and what the link is?

The streams are great for different reasons for each of us. I like to see particular players matched up with particular players and the livestreams give us all a chance to see our favorite players.

I really like the idea that there are so many matches in archives by the livestreamers. I don't always watch the livestream but it is great when I can go back into the achives and view a match.

Yeah, the whiners sometimes get petty but some of them don't realize that they are stepping on the very toes of those who are bringing them the livestreams. It will never be a perfect world but I appreciate all of the people that make an effort to bring the pool matches to the world via live streaming.


JoeyA
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Best point made by Joey is we players must get on the bandwagon by e-mailing friends of the opportunity that many times has been FREE. And room owners can also stream matches for their customers. Pool halls need to reinvent themselves and do as much as they can to keep players in their rooms. Much like bars giving away hotdogs in the afternoon. People show for the free food and then stay and drink to wash down the dog. I got to see some local OKC heroes, Chip Compton and Joey Grey, play top notch players sitting in my man cave in my pjs. They even had Chip do some commentating!! All at the Ultimate 10 ball in Frisco, TX. Live streaming could be the type of thing that will stimulate our dwindling game. I am leery of the Pay to View concept. Can't really pay $10 every time I want to watch an event. I do take my hat of to these streamers. They are trying hard.
 
Nice post I agree. I hope the streamers aren't discouraged by angry posters demanding partial refunds and stuff like that. It really seems that streaming is more about love of the game than turning huge profits at this point.

Sometimes the issues are outside of their control - for example a hotel's internet. Remember they're not a huge corporate operation with their own I/T department, so I think they've done a commendable job.
 
Mr. Wiggles said:
Best point made by Joey is we players must get on the bandwagon by e-mailing friends of the opportunity that many times has been FREE. And room owners can also stream matches for their customers. Pool halls need to reinvent themselves and do as much as they can to keep players in their rooms. Much like bars giving away hotdogs in the afternoon. People show for the free food and then stay and drink to wash down the dog. I got to see some local OKC heroes, Chip Compton and Joey Grey, play top notch players sitting in my man cave in my pjs. They even had Chip do some commentating!! All at the Ultimate 10 ball in Frisco, TX. Live streaming could be the type of thing that will stimulate our dwindling game. I am leery of the Pay to View concept. Can't really pay $10 every time I want to watch an event. I do take my hat of to these streamers. They are trying hard.
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Thanks Mr. Wiggles. I've gone so far as to provide my local pool room with an old laptop that my son had laying around. A new cable and we hooked up one of the big screen TV's at the pool room, so that the pool room can watch some of the livestream matches and archived matches. :wink:

It is one way that the owners of pool rooms can amp up the interest in pool. Nothing like watching two titans have a go at each other.

JoeyA
 
JoeyA, in regards to your message behind the scenes - it's because this is something positive. Had this been a bashing streamers thread instead of praising them and simply being grateful for having the streams, the numbers would (sadly) be higher. :sorry:
 
Joining in the "Thank you for ALL streams!" bandwagon!


I like being able to see matches from the comfort (and cheap beer prices) of my own home, and also like to see players from further away who I would normally never get to see, neat stuff!



My favorites to watch though are the DCT events, they really need to get Garth and Jude to do all commentary though, after they have had 6 beers. :D
 
maybe we as pool players no matter what level if we enjoy pool need to support the sponsors more that support the game we love and if they were seeing the return we could actually watch it in the states live in the next five or so years
 
UrackmIcrackm said:
JoeyA, in regards to your message behind the scenes - it's because this is something positive. Had this been a bashing streamers thread instead of praising them and simply being grateful for having the streams, the numbers would (sadly) be higher. :sorry:
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This is what I spoke of in my post. I find it ironic such a series of statements is supposed to interject something constructive into the situation.

If you look at the world in a certain light, the world will camouflage itself.

I never said to ignore the negatives.
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I never asserted that claim. I have, however, asserted the claim that you are a bit enamored about the negatives, and that is putting a false shadow on all of the positive comments that are being strewn, and there are a lot. This thread creates a very false impression of the events.

I know the whiners bother you, but that's a fact of life, I'm afraid. People whine a lot. People react to their needs without attempting to understand the causes. That goes both ways, and that's a very significant point here.

I've seen several posts to the point that what occurs on a stream is not necessarily the direct action of the streamer. However, notice that those posts are almost always referring to situations that would be deemed negative? The same is true for situations that would be deemed positive. That bias is very important when it comes to managing expectations, and that's what this thread really is about.
 
I can't find any negatives at all about streaming It costed me thousands to learn in the early 90's playing for money and the few instructional VHS, prime network spots (at 2:30 a.m. when I had to go to work the next day)and limited good players that would share their knowledge for almost free. now if you put in the effort you can find all kind of info free some good some bad so what the streams don't always come in perfect or commentators are trying to entertain us when the match probably isn't it beats the hell out of the first videos I tried to watch(no description needed) and they made me pay for them too I would like to personally thank all that make me able too go to USTREAM and others to watch pool happy shooting,Bill
 
And it is not only that the streamers are out there pretty much volunteering their time and effort with 12 hours days, time off from their real jobs and families to bring us the best in live pool that they can, it's that we ALSO end up with a LOT of great recorded content to watch on demand whenever we feel like it.

One thing that's good about pool, at least from a fan's perspective is that there is plenty of incredible pool to be seen. I wish that this could somehow translate into more earnings for the players and for the streamers. This is unfortunately a rinkydink industry with not much appeal to the mainstream. So thanks streamers for essentially doing this as a labor of love to bring us great pool.
 
Professional pool used to be almost solely "performance art", meaning you had to be there to see it. Only Pat Fleming with his Accu-Stats coverage of a handful of major tournaments and the occasional ESPN event were available to be seen by pool fans around the world. All that has changed today thanks to the various "streamers." They have brought pro pool to the masses. It's a new day and we can thank the streamers for making that happen.

Pool remains an underground sports art form, but for those who follow the sport, it is no longer a hidden art form. If you want to see good (and sometimes great) pool, just turn on your computer and sit back and enjoy. The internet has saved the day and the streamers are the messengers of this good news.
 
brophog said:
This is what I spoke of in my post. I find it ironic such a series of statements is supposed to interject something constructive into the situation.

If you look at the world in a certain light, the world will camouflage itself.



I never asserted that claim. I have, however, asserted the claim that you are a bit enamored about the negatives, and that is putting a false shadow on all of the positive comments that are being strewn, and there are a lot. This thread creates a very false impression of the events.

I know the whiners bother you, but that's a fact of life, I'm afraid. People whine a lot. People react to their needs without attempting to understand the causes. That goes both ways, and that's a very significant point here.

I've seen several posts to the point that what occurs on a stream is not necessarily the direct action of the streamer. However, notice that those posts are almost always referring to situations that would be deemed negative? The same is true for situations that would be deemed positive. That bias is very important when it comes to managing expectations, and that's what this thread really is about.
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Are you Jack Handy?

I was whining about the whiners, so what? It is ok to lighten up once in awhile and not dissect & look so deeply into things. However you want to analyze it, the fact of the matter is that after a slew of negatives the last couple of weeks on the heels of two large streamed tournaments, I felt like pointing out some positives. :rolleyes:
 
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I'd like to thank the streamers that go out of their way to archive matches. This is often overlooked by many. I'm sure it takes time to chop and label these matches. These archives are a great resource. Before streaming it was hard to find great barbox matches. These guys changed the game for the better. :clapping::clapping:
 
I'm sure I'm am gonna restate some of what has been said already (I'm too lazy to read teh whole thread).

The biggest positive is that now, Pool can be viewed at home, in real time. For the diehards this gives you a chance to be a fly on the wall, at an event that you might not have a chance to attend. For me, that moment was the first time TAR streamed the Derby City Classic.

Another positive point is that some of the up and coming players that normally wouldn't make the finals/semi finals, can get some exposure to the masses. Imagine being able to watch SVB play 7 years ago, then seeing how much he improved 2 short years later?

My third positive is more of a big picture type of point. Streaming is a relatively new form of mass media. It is fairly cost effective and the barriers to entry are very low. That said, it is, in my opinion, the best and most viable way to bring exposure to Pool to a large group. In plain English, this is the only way we are gonna have cost effective, TV-like exposure. If the streamers begin to polish their presentations, and up their game from an amateurish production, to one that is more broadcast quality, then it could grow into something big. The two areas I feel need attention are the camera work/quality and the quality of commentators. These two areas can have the biggest impact on the viewers experience. It can be the difference of watching something polished or watching something that looks/sounds like a high school project.

I'm sure I have more thoughts on this, but this is my 3 minute brain dump.


Eric
 
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