How to improve pool
- Thread starter Neil
- Start date
Neil, I like your suggestions. I especially appreciate that they don't include cheapening pool. It's a beautiful game and should be left that way.
Perhaps following up on your sheep comment, there are some insanely talented marketers. As Mickey points out, look as some of the pap on TV today. I have little doubt that the right marketing group could put pool back in the spotlight.
Perhaps following up on your sheep comment, there are some insanely talented marketers. As Mickey points out, look as some of the pap on TV today. I have little doubt that the right marketing group could put pool back in the spotlight.
Me neither...and like Bruce, my wife and I watch a lot of tv too! Thanks Rufus! I like that commercial. As a sidenote, one of Jeanette's biggest sponsors is Bass Sports...and fishing has nothing to do with pool! Jeanette is personable, articulate, great looking, and shoots a mean game of pool to boot!
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Charlie...Marcus Norwood (mnorwood here) has an after school program involving several dozen middle school kids in the Houston area. He does a wonderful job exposing them to pool. Real King Cobra (Glen) donated some tables and set them up for him, in an extra school room. I was just there last month, to visit with the kids and put on a demonstration! I'm going back again in Feb. We all need to do something like this, in our own communities.
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
I have a large window graphic (see avatar) on my car. When I travel I can look at my web site and see that people in areas I have driven visit my site. I know seeing pool balls racked up gets them thinking about pool. Three people I worked with bought tables after hearing me talk about it with passion.
I had a pool program at the Jr High I worked at, however a back injury, followed by staff reductions at that school caused me to shut down the program. I had 24 kids and would have had more but several did not know that Billiards club = Pool.
I do think it can be brought up to the American Concious with gentle nudging in the right direction.
Mark
Sarah Rousey and Jason Klatt had helped me out a few times.
I had a pool program at the Jr High I worked at, however a back injury, followed by staff reductions at that school caused me to shut down the program. I had 24 kids and would have had more but several did not know that Billiards club = Pool.
I do think it can be brought up to the American Concious with gentle nudging in the right direction.
Mark
Sarah Rousey and Jason Klatt had helped me out a few times.
Great ideas Neil. While not wanting to play devils advocate here, I do see some major bumps in the road. First and foremost is convincing any sponsor with money enough to afford TV commercial time, that a pool player vs any entertainment celebrity, is appealing enough to the masses. Other than the oft mentioned Jennette, I know of no one with a PR rep that could make that sale......I do wish this could become a reality and hope someone develops this idea into a viable product.....but it really does appear to be the " impossible dream " for now.....Dan
This, the public wants to see incredible run-outs, great shots, and over the top personalities......this safety play, overly slow boring pool we get to watch makes me want to throw up....
troof
youth pool
Thanks, Neil. I have thought about this in the past, but not recently. You jogged my memory!
I have some ideas for marketing youth pool ... I think parents would buy in if it's done well enough.
If someone can run with this, fee free to do so.
I'd like to see graphics for posters and/or t-shirts targeted at kids: something like I study physics (or math) at such and such pool room (or youth league, school, etc.).
The graphic could be a diagram of a difficult shot along with a physics formula. Another idea is a list of physics terms that we use and how they relate to pool. I could go on and on....
Hopefully that's enough to get the creative juices flowing.
Karl
Thanks, Neil. I have thought about this in the past, but not recently. You jogged my memory!
I have some ideas for marketing youth pool ... I think parents would buy in if it's done well enough.
If someone can run with this, fee free to do so.
I'd like to see graphics for posters and/or t-shirts targeted at kids: something like I study physics (or math) at such and such pool room (or youth league, school, etc.).
The graphic could be a diagram of a difficult shot along with a physics formula. Another idea is a list of physics terms that we use and how they relate to pool. I could go on and on....
Hopefully that's enough to get the creative juices flowing.
Karl
What little I know of commercial making usually involves the ad agency contacting a modeling agency and previewing portfolios, both still shots and video. And then making a selection for a "cattle call" . Then a top few are chosen for a screen test, which is then shown to a target audience. Perhaps there are some "Pro" players that maintain portfolios with some of the high end agencys, but logic dictates otherwise to me.....I still hope this is doable.....butttttttt...........Dan
aces805
non iphone user
It will take a very special type of personality to crossover into the mainstream in order to bring more attention to the game of pool. Only an exceptionally dynamic person (male or female) can pull it off. This point cannot be stressed enough.
During casual conversation, if I mention that I play pool to someone who doesn't know anything about the game, they still kind of know who Jeanette Lee is. Some even know her nickname. The point is that Jeanette transcends the game of pool itself.
It is going to take someone with a ton of charisma that WANTS the spotlight and media attention. They would have to seek the cameras instead of run away from them. They would have to sacrifice their privacy for popularity. It would also help to be good-looking. Oh, and by the way, have the game to walk the walk as well. These type of people don't grow on trees, not to mention, most physically beautiful, charismatic people don't shoot pool for several hours a day, grinding and grinding in order to improve their pool games so they can win the next 9-ball tourney. They are trying to get into the entertainment business.
IMHO, it is going to take someone extremely rare indeed.
During casual conversation, if I mention that I play pool to someone who doesn't know anything about the game, they still kind of know who Jeanette Lee is. Some even know her nickname. The point is that Jeanette transcends the game of pool itself.
It is going to take someone with a ton of charisma that WANTS the spotlight and media attention. They would have to seek the cameras instead of run away from them. They would have to sacrifice their privacy for popularity. It would also help to be good-looking. Oh, and by the way, have the game to walk the walk as well. These type of people don't grow on trees, not to mention, most physically beautiful, charismatic people don't shoot pool for several hours a day, grinding and grinding in order to improve their pool games so they can win the next 9-ball tourney. They are trying to get into the entertainment business.
IMHO, it is going to take someone extremely rare indeed.
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The majority of these shows have a common thread : the viewer can relate to the show in some way. And I'm willing to wager that each of us can think of at least one friend of relative that should be on one of those A&E shows :thumbup:
I'd venture a pretty good guess that most people have picked up a pool cue at least once in thier lives. And more than likely they know someone who either has thier own cue, plays pool well, or both. I can see it now.....
For example, take the scene in "The Color of Money" where Vince is dumping when he's playing Grady.
Can you imagine that scene playing out on an A&E show ? Fast Eddie explaining to the director (and the viewers) what a "spot" is, and why he wants Vince to lose... "I wouldn't even tell him to do it unless the payoff was phenomenal".
Carmen talking to the camera crew about Vince "laying down now, so he's a super-nobody in Atlantic City, and the odds on him will drop to nothin' "...
Or the guy in the turtleneck behind Grady (Keith) when Grady says, "Fine by me" in response to Vince wanting to play heads up. The turtleneck guy saying into the camera that the "kid in the flannel shirt's gonna get his a$$ handed to him with no spot".
"Hey, (so-and-so) should be on that 'Mosconi' show, s/he can play pool pretty good. Probably wouldn't need that "spotter' thing that the Eddie guy was talking about, either".
Again, just my $.02...
I agree with Neil, and I like most of the positive comments people have made so far. The one thought I have to add is this:
People watch Poker on ESPN. If watching people play cards... agonizingly... slowly... is exciting enough for sports television, why isn't pool? Three answers: announcers, switching tables, and personalities.
Poker announcers spend equal amounts of time talking about the history of the game, past records of the people involved (either celebrities playing or long-time winners in now-televised tournaments), and the strategies of the plays going on at the time. If pool's announcers were equally committed to maintaining an interesting dialogue, I don't see how we couldn't be at least as interesting.
Every pool match I've seen on TV has covered one table at a time, because they only ever cover the "final table" (to borrow a phrase from poker). If they ever had coverage of a complete tournament, set up in such a way that they could actually move from shot to shot and table to table (even golf does that!), then pool might actually become interesting enough for the ADD generation.
Personalities... that pretty much goes without saying. There are people who are phenomenal, people who are insane (or just loud), and people who are both. Poker players have nicknames, pool players have nicknames, so use them and get them into the public consciousness.
To get back to the original post, absolutely you have to get pool players on TV, any way you can do it. Cameos in TV and movies, interviews on talk shows, trick shot demos, whatever. Get the game into the public eye. I even like the reality show idea, 'cause at least it's something. Whoever's doing the moving and shaking needs to also understand that the final format also needs to be worth watching.
People watch Poker on ESPN. If watching people play cards... agonizingly... slowly... is exciting enough for sports television, why isn't pool? Three answers: announcers, switching tables, and personalities.
Poker announcers spend equal amounts of time talking about the history of the game, past records of the people involved (either celebrities playing or long-time winners in now-televised tournaments), and the strategies of the plays going on at the time. If pool's announcers were equally committed to maintaining an interesting dialogue, I don't see how we couldn't be at least as interesting.
Every pool match I've seen on TV has covered one table at a time, because they only ever cover the "final table" (to borrow a phrase from poker). If they ever had coverage of a complete tournament, set up in such a way that they could actually move from shot to shot and table to table (even golf does that!), then pool might actually become interesting enough for the ADD generation.
Personalities... that pretty much goes without saying. There are people who are phenomenal, people who are insane (or just loud), and people who are both. Poker players have nicknames, pool players have nicknames, so use them and get them into the public consciousness.
To get back to the original post, absolutely you have to get pool players on TV, any way you can do it. Cameos in TV and movies, interviews on talk shows, trick shot demos, whatever. Get the game into the public eye. I even like the reality show idea, 'cause at least it's something. Whoever's doing the moving and shaking needs to also understand that the final format also needs to be worth watching.
I like your thoughts on this. The only thing I would suggest is that they at least show one rack at a time. If it's one shot at a time you can't get emotionally tied into the matches. If you show one rack from start to completion and give the score and then switch to another table it has the "cliff hanger" effect. You've just created a "cliff hanger" moment that draws people in further so they will watch longer to see the next installment / next rack in the match that hooked them.
I think we should all request the IPT back. If we get the entire country to write a channel expressing our fondness for the show, we'll get to watch pauly shore, shannon elizabeth...and a handful of other pool players clown around with our guys. The whole idea was well thought out and put together. If it goes, I'm sure the main problem---funding---will be fixed. We will blow up like poker...maybe even more.
