Is playing late at night really better?

JC

JC

Coos Cues
Just got back from the Western BCA 8 ball event and as usual it was mostly a blast. Unfortunately as usual the match scheduling left me shaking my head. Team play started Friday morning and by Saturday night the bracket in the open men's had shaken out to just two left on the winners side. Fast forward to the end of the final bracket and you can see the championship match will play at 6 pm on Sunday after the 2-3 match on the losers side takes place at 3:45 PM after the rest of the B side finishes. So what do they do? Instead of sending these two teams who had just ground out 6 consecutive wins to bed and bringing them back at noon or one to play for the point they feel the need to settle it that night. What you then have is two teams playing crappy pool in the middle of the night in front of zero spectators not seeming to really care who wins or loses. Of course even the ugliest matches eventually have a winner. BCA blames Bad Boys but no one seems to be owning this nonsense. The women's masters were also playing for the point at the same time. Yes some matches have to be played late at night to make a tournament work. These were not them though and it was really a damned shame to all the teams involved. I went directly to my room after the match was over and it was almost 2 am. And the sad part is this has been going on up here for years and they never seem to learn. It seems common sense is not common in the Western BCA.
 
I agree. I was there also and it's nothing new. As you said, been going on for years.
I love how a day after all the main events begin, everyone is waiting for their next match only to wait hours while tables galore are being practiced on.
Won the second chance tourney, so I left a happy guy:thumbup:
Maybe next year.:rolleyes:
 
You call that late???

At Valley Forge we stop playing at 5am while they clean everything up, go eat breakfast, and then start playing again at 7am.

If we need to rest for an hour or two we go back to the room, and then get back up again to play more.

We're there to shoot pool, not sleep!!!!!!
 
I see this type of scheduling as one of the major problems for attracting normal people to play. I have played many all nighters but the average guy does not want to do that.

Events coordinators should limit the field to a size they can manage efficiently within their given time slot. Both players and tournament officials would benefit from this. If the demand is so great for a tournament then maybe they should hold it for a longer period of time or make it into two separate events. They should do whatever they can to give the players a chance to sleep normal hours...if the sport is to grow that is...
 
Okie said:
I see this type of scheduling as one of the major problems for attracting normal people to play. I have played many all nighters but the average guy does not want to do that.

Events coordinators should limit the field to a size they can manage efficiently within their given time slot. Both players and tournament officials would benefit from this. If the demand is so great for a tournament then maybe they should hold it for a longer period of time or make it into two separate events. They should do whatever they can to give the players a chance to sleep normal hours...if the sport is to grow that is...
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The problem here wasn't a lack of time. It was a lack of organization and common sense. This was a week long event with five months to plan for it. Somehow year after year they keep hoping that matches can be played in the time they allot for them and it just never happens. So by the end of every day they are at least 2-3 hours behind. What is it Einstein said about insanity? Something about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
 
metmot said:
The problem here wasn't a lack of time. It was a lack of organization and common sense. This was a week long event with five months to plan for it. Somehow year after year they keep hoping that matches can be played in the time they allot for them and it just never happens. So by the end of every day they are at least 2-3 hours behind. What is it Einstein said about insanity? Something about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. It happens in Oklahoma as well. They aren't blind to the fact it takes longer. It is a choice they made so they could get more players (aka more $) into the event while trying to maintain the illusion it will happen in a timely fashion.

Just my opinion...
 
It was completely ridiculous and even more ridiculous is how unbending tournament officials are when you try to offer reasonable solutions to the problems. In the women's masters, tournament officials were approached and asked if the hot seat match could be played in the morning and players were told absolutely not -- without any reason. There were plenty of tables the following morning. There were three losers bracket matches that still needed to be played, so it wouldn't slow anything down. Instead, players didn't finish up the match until nearly 2:30 p.m. and officials in the room were threatening to add games due to "slow" play rules.
 
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Another problem with late finishes it doesn't help the venue either because no one wants to stick around to watch the late stages and the final if they know it's going to drag on late into the night. And if it's being streamed late finishes hurt the viewership numbers.
 
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