Banned
Maybe, He got banned because he is left handed? :wink:
:boring2:
Maybe, He got banned because he is left handed? :wink:
:boring2:
Rodney shows up in Reno
- Thread starter NYC cue dude
- Start date
Hi Royce,
Thanks for the concise post. Both you and Mark G are businessmen of the highest order. Each of you found a niche in the world of pool and followed your dreams. Rodney is a businessman as well. He is the product. At every appearance, he is selling himself to the available audience. That audience my be there in person, on line or on a recording. This is one aspect of being a professional player that seems to escape most all the players. Sure it helps to have a sports consultant available to guide you. Where is the common sense here? Who wins this mess? Are both losers? In my view only one side wins and that a somewhat hollow one as we don't get to see a great American player perform. In the end, I vote with Mark. Really, really sad.
Lyn
Thanks for the concise post. Both you and Mark G are businessmen of the highest order. Each of you found a niche in the world of pool and followed your dreams. Rodney is a businessman as well. He is the product. At every appearance, he is selling himself to the available audience. That audience my be there in person, on line or on a recording. This is one aspect of being a professional player that seems to escape most all the players. Sure it helps to have a sports consultant available to guide you. Where is the common sense here? Who wins this mess? Are both losers? In my view only one side wins and that a somewhat hollow one as we don't get to see a great American player perform. In the end, I vote with Mark. Really, really sad.
Lyn
Royce,
You always make such great sense. I have talked with close friends about improving my pool commentating skills and your post above is the impetus for me to start a new thread about improving commentary at pool tournaments.
Essentially it revolves around what you said is lacking in the professional pool player's corner; a fan base. I am going to ask any professional pool player to spend time with me, either by phone, email, text or FB messaging answering questions about themselves so that I and other commentators can share this information with fans and prospective fans. Yes, it will be time-consuming on both my part and a bit on theirs as well.
A couple of years ago I asked a professional pool player who I knew quite well if they wanted to spend some quality time creating a player profile and he winced and whined that creating a profile wouldn't put a dime in his pocket and only cost him time and he could spend his time and efforts in other areas where it might profit him better. Another said, this type of information is on the pro player's FB page or personal website. Most didn't want to spend any time doing this. Perhaps it was the wrong time. I will be curious to see if professional pool players will be interested in making any efforts to change this perspective. I will invite all professional players and help them create a player profile that they will be able to take with them to any event and something that they can share with the commentators at the events they are competing in. I'm not going to go to each and every pro player and beg them or coerce them into doing this. I will just put the offer out there and if a professional player wants to create a special player profile, I will help them do so.
BTW, I still love the fact that OB Cues are made right here in the good old USA.
Thanks for all you, your partner and OB Cues do for pool!
JoeyA
When Melissa Herndon ran her ladies tour here in socal she used to have the players fill out a small sheet of questions about themselves. This gave us in the booth a chance to not only get to know the players better, but, it gave the viewers a chance to get to know the players better. The most important thing it did was give us a chance to thank any sponsors any of the ladies may have had. After doing commentary with several different people, I found this to be very helpful and a great idea.
The only way these players are going to look at things differently is when it starts to cost them some of the little money they are making now. Just like what is happening to Rodney and who ever else is on this list. By only using people that show class and respect to represent the sport, I think Mark has done the best possible thing he could have. If I know I could go to a tournament and see 16 of the best players in the world play pool and act like true professionals I would love it. Not having to deal with the BS is great for the players that are doing the right things and great for Mark and the fans.
I knew I couldn't be the first person to have thought of this. :grin:
The women understand the benefits of marketing themselves. Just take a look at the wood Emily Duddy chopped up this past week for an example.
JoeyA
After that one, don't see why I'd want to meet you in Mississauga
!!!!! The guy up the street from me with an older RR called it a "Royce". Thought it was blasphemy to a RR owner. Perhaps he never reads the RR owners forum
.Lyn
After that one, don't see why I'd want to meet you in Mississauga
The guy up the street from me with an older RR called it a "Royce". Thought it was blasphemy to a RR owner. Perhaps he never reads the RR owners forum
Lyn
I promise to buy you a beer.....although I won't be having the same, myself.
I prefer my drinks whine-based.......
Whos Facebook page was this on?
It's on all their pages. Never been so much crying.
DAZ was
Shaw was, he erased some of them about Warren.
Morra was
Lee Brett was
Frost was, he erased one about Warren also
I guess they are seeing no one cares, other promoters kinda tellin them to go do their own thing, times against them, not many events no more, and lots of players are banned from events. They have stuck all their eggs in bonus ball, they better hope it works.
Wow, my terse post inspired your excellent one?
Rocket posted about the financial difficulties that some pool players have and that late fees only adds to those difficulties.
If pro tournaments drew a larger paying crowd, there would be more money for the players to win and the sponsors.
Jay Helfert put on some great LA Opens with bleachers that held hundreds of paying fans, Movie Stars and sweaters. He advertised those events in the local news papers, TV News and radio before the advent of the Internet. Today, no one reads the news papers. The Camel Tour also drew large at the Bike Club for a few years.
Today not all pool fans read the papers or have access to the Internet, so they don't know that there is a pool tournament is in town. At the BCAPL tournaments in Vegas, the paying bar table players and fans hardly fill the tiny platforms with chairs to watch the pro events so there's little money/handle.
The Swanees put on by Mark drew paying crowds from LA at the Hard Times - the only pool hall that is large enough. Many well organized/advertised pro tourneys at the Hard Times drew large as well through the years.
Los Angeles is ripe for large paying crowds.
Sage advice. Probably advice that only people with rich experiences in a long life can truly understand.
Or said another way, in the words of Michael Corleone in The Godfather, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." :yes:
Attachments
RBC
Deceased
LAMas
While it would be great if people of all walks of life came out to watch a pool tournament, I don't think it will be that successful in today's world. I'm afraid that it wouldn't bring many folks out. I know some promoters have tried local advertisement, and it hasn't really worked. Now, advertising it to people who are already involved in pool would be a different story. Or, at least it could be. The first thing that would need to happen is that the avid pool players would have to know who the pros were that would be attending. I mean, first they have to actually know who they are, and then they have to know who will be attending.
You see, the real first step is to go after the "low hanging fruit" so to speak. We already have hundreds of thousands of avid pool players in the US. I couldn't do what I do if we didn't. At least a significant number of those players would be at least a little interested in knowing, not only who the professional players were, but also something about them. Most all of us who play pool admire and look up to the ones who play better. Especially if they are a positive influence on others. Those avid players are the "low hanging fruit".
I know that if I had enough talent to play at a professional level, and chose to do it for a living, the first thing I would do would be to start growing a fan base. The cool part is that Facebook makes it much easier than it used to be. Nascar guys have tons of fan club members who pay money to be a part of the club. For being a part of the club, they get constant information and news about the driver. News that isn't available to others. They get special offers for promotions and products. They get free stuff. All of that comes from companies who want to sell to that audience. Those companies are willing to give away stuff and give big discounts just to be able to market directly to those fans. When a company decides to sponsor a driver, they know they are getting access to very high numbers of very motivated fans. It's almost a no brainer!
I sure would like to see more of that in pool.
I think Mark Griffin is on the right track. I'm really looking forward to this year's BCAPL Nationals. I think the invitational pro events will be fantastic, and I certainly hope to see some bridges being built between the pro and amateur players.
Royce Bunnell
Shaw's page.