Scott frost has retired from professional pool

[iusedtoberich]

...snip.... The truth is exactly what Royce said it is: amateur pool and the industry are doing fine; it's the pro players, who have separated themselves from the amateurs and rest of the industry, that are hurting. ...snip.....
Roger

I didn't read the whole thread.... but this quote I think is way off. The amateur pool scene is NOT doing well. Pool halls are closing left and right all over the country, and others are just barely holding on. When I started playing about 20 years ago, they were all packed with waiting lists every weekend night year round, and most weekday nights during the summer. Now those same places are empty most of the time, or closed up. None of us followed any of the pros, we just wanted to beat each others brains in on the table.

 

[Hungarian]

You need an aiming system kid.

LTR

Left to Right

I think I might teach
If I charge what gene does that's good money


1 man and no aiming system

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

I didn't read the whole thread.... but this quote I think is way off. The amateur pool scene is NOT doing well. Pool halls are closing left and right all over the country, and others are just barely holding on. When I started playing about 20 years ago, they were all packed with waiting lists every weekend night year round, and most weekday nights during the summer. Now those same places are empty most of the time, or closed up. None of us followed any of the pros, we just wanted to beat each others brains in on the table.

I do not know what goes on in the Pool World outside of Maricopa County AZ, but in the almost 20 years I have lived in the County I would say a lot of Pool Rooms, and Bars that catered to Pool have closed.

Alexanders is gone

Click's is gone

Northern Lounge is gone.

Uncle Charlie's is gone

Pappy's is gone, or should I say changed to the point the place in unsafe to set into.

Add to that list another 50 Little Bars with 2-3 Pool table that are gone.

Shoot the Bull aka the House of Cue on Indian School Road in Metro PHX, IMHO the place that has the best selection of Cues, Cases, and Pool Accessories in Metro Phoenix is struggling.

Yes there are a few places that are doing OK, but like you said not like 20 years ago, or 30 years ago, or 40 years ago when Pool was in vogue.

Pool Players are dying off, and the younger generation no long goes to the Boys Club to play Pool. Kids for the most part now a days are into technology, and electronic games we did not have as kids. So the that next generation is not following us old folks into the Pool room.

 

[JAM]

Are you crazy?

I would never recommend that.

You have a commander in chief has no regard for human life. Remember our ambassador?

The same nitwits that voted for Obama are going to vote for Hillary. Ask the wifes and loved ones of the folks in Benganzi, "What difference does it make?"

Scott has made choices and he is a grown man. Lets support him, wish him the best of luck.

I know I do.

Ken

Ken, some folks aren't are politically centered as others.

The military was the best thing that ever happened to one of my brothers. It changed his life for the better.

My 28-year-old nephew, on the other hand, had a 4.0 average, a college degree, and couldn't find a job. He went into the Army and reenlisted after his 4 years. He loves the Army life, and his life has been enriched because of it.

The military is not for everyone, but it does help some folks who have no direction to go.

On the topic of industry members supporting pros, the BCA has been a good example of how industry as a whole has turned its back on professional players, but it doesn't matter anymore. American professional players are dwindling, and so the industry doesn't have to concern itself about this endangered species.

Instead, Americans can gobble up pool products made in Asian countries, and the Asian countries can gobble up custom-made American products. Oh, the irony of it all.

 

[cleary]

That would put revenue per maker in the $1-1.3mil per year. Peanuts! They really couldnt do much for anybody. There are grocery stores in NY and Ct that take in that in 4-5 days. If YOU worked every day you'd make half that!

Maybe you missed the point. Actually, yea... you did.

 

[BasementDweller]

I didn't read the whole thread.... but this quote I think is way off. The amateur pool scene is NOT doing well. Pool halls are closing left and right all over the country, and others are just barely holding on. When I started playing about 20 years ago, they were all packed with waiting lists every weekend night year round, and most weekday nights during the summer. Now those same places are empty most of the time, or closed up. None of us followed any of the pros, we just wanted to beat each others brains in on the table.

Right. Leagues are doing okay. They have essentially no overhead. They are a great way to make money if they are run right (IMO).

I just found out the room I started playing in is now closed. They are closing left and right. Pool rooms aren't doing so hot.

 

[pwd72s]

I actually believe Scott could get a job in the casino as a dealer with little trouble as he has some connections with them and knows some people. That saying it is not always what you know but who you know applies. I think for many players this was their last hope with Bonus Ball because that is how bad off pool is that even what was considered by many to be a long shot or a sure failure was the best shot that pro pool players had at making a real living.

Scott retiring is little more than saying I am going to get a good paying job but he will still be playing the same tournaments he was before so I would not call it really retiring but more of an awakening. He knows pro pool cannot pay the bills or raise a family because the life of a pro player is nothing more then gambling whether it is one on one or going to any major tournament getting so called odds on the money with so called added money. Good luck to Scott with whatever he does.

Couldn't agree more. I wouldn't wish a pro pool playing career on my worst ememy. Few have the stomach for the lifestyle, and even fewer make it to the top that after expenses doesn't really pay all that much.

Good luck to the freezer...

 

[KoolKat9Lives]

Hopefully Scott lands on his feet. I must admit I didn't have a real favorable opinion of him up until @ a year ago. Seems he's cleaned up his act a good bit. :thumbup:

Best of fortune moving forward Scott.

 

[stljohnny]

Well, crap, I guess I should've skipped out on sleep the other week when I heard he was at one of my local rooms, traveling through.

 

[lstevedus]

How can you retire from something that you can't even define?

I am curious how you can retire from being a pro pool player when no one can define what a pro pool player is. If someone told me they were going to stop gambling for a living and get a real 9 to 5 job, it would make a lot more sense. In 1968 when I got my first factory job, I made as much or more than someone with a college degree. Now kids with 4 year college degrees can't get a decent job. I could write pages about how the economy is so much worse for the middle class now then back then, but only the people that have lived it can really see how much it has changed for the worse, and I don't think we have seen the worst of it yet.

I am an Independent voter now, so I will not point any fingers at any politicians of either kind, but I will say that the real power in the world today is with the super rich. I am weary of hearing people blame this person or that person for the way things are in the world today, those are just excuses. The real power lies with the people at the top. Politicians are their puppets, who couldn't get elected to dog catcher without their money. I will hopefully not live long enough to see the worst of it, but it should be remembered that those who forget history, tend to repeat it.

So good luck to Scott and all the rest who are going to have to make the best of what kind of life the super rich are going to allow you to have. I hope your grand kids don't end up with 2 rooms and a path, but only 100 years ago that's where most of the middle class was in this country, and that wasn't that long ago.

 

[CJ Wiley]

According to the annual Sporting Goods Association Player Participation poll........

Right. Leagues are doing okay. They have essentially no overhead. They are a great way to make money if they are run right (IMO).

I just found out the room I started playing in is now closed. They are closing left and right. Pool rooms aren't doing so hot.

For anyone that doesn't think the industry as a whole is DOWN and effecting the pro players, here's a thread started by Jerry F. one of the principles of AZBILLIARDS....I would be confident he knows the facts and situation as well as anyone.

ALL major sports/games USE their Pro Players to showcase the sport/game on TV....there's no exceptions.....wait a minute, I stand corrected, there is ONE EXCEPTION and it's entire industry IS down over 40%..... that industry is "Pool and Billiards"......is this a coincidence??? Very much the contrary, it's to be expected! Whether they admit it or not the Pool Industry has shot it's self in the "Business Foot".

The REAL problem with pool - 08-13-2013, 05:45 AM

OK, so let's go through some stats. According to the annual Sporting Goods Association Player Participation poll the number of pool players in America is decreasing by an annual rate of about 10%. Their survey says that in 2005 about 39 million Americans classed themselves as pool players. In 2012 that number dropped all the way down to 21 million.

Are there any corollaries? Oh, yes. That 10% drop is about what we lose in poolrooms each year. People who do not have a place to play pool cannot be pool players.

Many pool players are middle aged or above. Some of us remember paying 10 cents a rack to play pool and 25 cents for each beer. So $6 per stick per hour and $4 per beer seems a bit steep. But it is in line with inflation and the fact is that those 10 cent poolrooms were profitable and the ones today are struggling. (At the same time a golf green fee back then was $2 and nobody complains today when they pay $80 or more.)

So the basic problem is keeping poolrooms alive. If they all die the game dies with them.

Room owners I talk to say they need to generate a little bit of profit from many different areas to stay open. A bit from the pool tables, a bit from the jukebox, a bit from the kitchen, a bit from the video games, a bit from the bar and a bit from the leagues.

But some rooms have hit on ways to do much better than the average. Reed Pierce set his room apart with a great lunch menu. It is so good that he had to hire folks to do delivery of all the take-out orders he began getting.

Phil Wyndham (I think I butchered that spelling) of the Chattanooga Billiard Club opened a cigar and brandy section.

So those who think creatively are doing pretty well with their rooms.

If you know of other formulas that work for rooms, tell us about them. We really do need to breathe some life into the foundation of pool, the poolroom.

(Another problem is that action no longer brings spectators to poolrooms in large numbers. Now that the average American lives 2 hours or less away from a casino the casinos have captured the action that was once the property of the corner poolroom.)

Out of Sight, Out of Mind...Pool and Billiards is the Sample Example that ABUSING/OVERLOOKING this rule can be DEVASTATING to Everyone!!!

 

[Ken_4fun]

I am curious how you can retire from being a pro pool player when no one can define what a pro pool player is. If someone told me they were going to stop gambling for a living and get a real 9 to 5 job, it would make a lot more sense. In 1968 when I got my first factory job, I made as much or more than someone with a college degree. Now kids with 4 year college degrees can't get a decent job. I could write pages about how the economy is so much worse for the middle class now then back then, but only the people that have lived it can really see how much it has changed for the worse, and I don't think we have seen the worst of it yet.

I am an Independent voter now, so I will not point any fingers at any politicians of either kind, but I will say that the real power in the world today is with the super rich. I am weary of hearing people blame this person or that person for the way things are in the world today, those are just excuses. The real power lies with the people at the top. Politicians are their puppets, who couldn't get elected to dog catcher without their money. I will hopefully not live long enough to see the worst of it, but it should be remembered that those who forget history, tend to repeat it.

So good luck to Scott and all the rest who are going to have to make the best of what kind of life the super rich are going to allow you to have. I hope your grand kids don't end up with 2 rooms and a path, but only 100 years ago that's where most of the middle class was in this country, and that wasn't that long ago.

Really?!?!

To me this sounds like someone that didn't do what was necessary to succeed and then complains.

I went to college and got a couple degrees and really felt like I have been solidly middle class and very comfortable. I have put (2) daughters through college and they have graduated debt free. I didn't get grants, scholarships, or loans....I saved money for their college, and paid out of my pocket. They are both teachers and while neither will be rich, they will be middle class and have a good lifestyle for the rest of their lives.

For those you claim are who "control the world", they invented Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and other stuff. They deserve whatever riches they have and I hold them in no ill will. While I don't agree with their political views, they deserve to have theirs as much as I deserve to have mine.

The folks that really pi$$ me off are folks who didn't go out there and do whatever that was necessary and;

1. Sit around and ***** and moan about it.
2. Expect the rest of us to give to these lazy bums because they are entitled.

Get off your butt and earn what you want.

Ken

 

[Nostroke]

Maybe you missed the point. Actually, yea... you did.

well tell this dumb ass what the point was please

 

[Black-Balled]

Really?!?!...For those you claim are who "control the world", they invented Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and other stuff. They deserve whatever riches they have and I hold them in no ill will. ...they deserve to have theirs as much as I deserve to have mine....Get off your butt and earn what you want.

Ken

Ya know...

An employer for whom I worked in the past hired an executive at ~mid 6 fig/yr + massive bonus incentives. I wondered what this man could have to offer that would justify a # like that.

I did the google and in the prior decade, he had taken quite a few companies and increased revenues substantially...that's what gets the money out of 'the man'. More money, not less.

He has been guiding the company since 03 or so. Think he is worth virtually whatever he says he is worth?

 

[JCIN]

The way professional tournaments are stuctured 75% of the players lose an average of $1000. a tournament (entry fee plus expenses). Out of the 25% that actually "get in the money" only about half of them make a profit over and beyond entry fee and expenses.

That leaves approximately 12.5% that finish "in the black" and make enough to support their life styles for the next week/month/3months.......this is an impossible situation.

People are talking about how bad Bonus Ball was for paying ALL the players for many weeks, then not paying them for 4 weeks, however the regular tournaments are much worse than that......how can you possibly like "those apples".....they're pretty sour.

In the 90s we were on ESPN and Prime Sports so we could get sponsors, but these days, with "free" streaming broadcasts (that are only seen by "hard core" fans) there's no chance for Pros to get sponsorship that actually pays more than $500. per month.....this is down 90% overall, so the sport/game of pool has effectively "painted its self in a corner".

The entire industry is down almost 50% and I believe it's from not supporting a TV show featuring pro players. I saw this coming at the turn of the century, but there was nothing I (or any other player) could do about it.

The players, as a result have no chance to succeed, except a select few that have ALL the available sponsors. It's a sad reality, and the only way out of it is through consistent TV exposure, probably through a "Reality Show" emphasizing the pool life style, travel, food and "pool room characters".

When I read things like this I want to walk away from pool forever.

If this is the POV of "leaders" among the players then anyone working in the industry is simply wasting their time.

I think the best thing for the game would be a few more player retirements.

 

[ridewiththewind]

You might have met my mom. she was what used to be called a mechanic back In the day...she worked for most of the Vegas casinos back then..

mechanics would out count the counters.. thats how you spotted cheaters back before the eye in the sky...late 60s early 70s

Lol....not quite that far back.

Sent from my HTC One V using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[easy-e]

The Military is downsizing, and getting in is tough. You almost have to have the same qualifications as to get into a good college to be selected for the Military in 2013.

Nope. I know some real idiots that have enlisted recently.

 

[iusedtoberich]

IMO, TV is going the way of the dinosaur. People now watch what they want when they want, on streams, Netflix, Youtube, etc. People are savvy with technology, and on these new mediums, they even know how to block advertisements (AdBlock, etc). I think the only time in the past 3 or 4 years I tuned my TV onto a broadcast channel was a couple of days ago to watch the Archer performance on the Today show.

Hell, even for network TV shows that I want to watch, I find them easily available for download all over the internet, so I can watch them commercial free and at my leisure.

Pool is never going to be back on TV. TV is dying in general, and the TV executives are certainly not going to "experiment" with pool to save it.

The above are my two cents on TV in general, and pool on TV.

 

[supergreenman]

When I read things like this I want to walk away from pool forever.

If this is the POV of "leaders" among the players then anyone working in the industry is simply wasting their time.

I think the best thing for the game would be a few more player retirements.

Justin has it right. Get rid of the prima donnas who can't see past their ego.

 

[Majic]

does he officially join the amateur ranks now that he is no longer a professional.......