and I get grief for starting this thread, the WPA should sponsor all players, its not even an argument. http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=369354
Mosconi Cup, Team USA, the real problem still exists.
- Thread starter Celtic
- Start date
LOL yes it was. But this came out of it and this is spot on and simple epic.
800 golf clubs?? I have 2 grand plus in my case, some here have 2,3,4 times that. too many chiefs not enough indians in this game, everyone is too independent, indipendence is good, but not when you're contributing to the problem when you wont be part of a collective.
LOL yes it was. But this came out of it and this is spot on and simple epic.
I liked it then, I like it now....
I was simply amazed at the hubris in that exchange. And the sheer lack of self-awareness.
It's a shame. Really, it is...
Can you buy $1,000 cues at Dick's Sporting Goods? Isn't it somewhat odd that so many fancy expensive cues are made in a 1 man backyard workshop. Not exactly Callaway's business model.
Pool must be entertaining, that's the unspecific "magic bullet,"
A "25 year old dinosaur"? How clever........
Some of the biggest box office hits are from comic books - SpiderMan, X-Men, Superman, Fantastic 4, Hulk, Wolverine....and yes JURASSIC PARK.
People want action, adventure and to live vicariously through the lives of gamblers, hustlers, and other "underworld" characters.
Pool must be entertaining, that's the unspecific "magic bullet," no one would have ever believed that POKER would have ever made it big on TV.....until they discovered their "formula". Pool will do the same -----> it's coming....gathering momentum like and overnight express........'The Game is the Teacher'
A "25 year old dinosaur"? How clever........
Some of the biggest box office hits are from comic books - SpiderMan, X-Men, Superman, Fantastic 4, Hulk, Wolverine....and yes JURASSIC PARK.
People want action, adventure and to live vicariously through the lives of gamblers, hustlers, and other "underworld" characters.
Pool must be entertaining, that's the unspecific "magic bullet," no one would have ever believed that POKER would have ever made it big on TV.....until they discovered their "formula". Pool will do the same -----> it's coming....gathering momentum like and overnight express........'The Game is the Teacher'
If baseball was any slower they'd have to call it a sedative
If baseball was any slower they'd have to call it farming.........or a sedative.
If baseball was any slower they'd have to call it farming.........or a sedative.
Too funny. No offense.... but baseball has history like no other sport. There was no "magic bullet".
Quick, who are the top three all time HR leaders? Who is the first black man to break into baseball? What team did Babe Ruth play for? What baseball player has the longest consecutive game playing streak in all of sports? Where do the Cubs play?
yep, most folks know the answers to these questions, and they never picked up a baseball.
Yet, as I type this, I'm watching the MLB all-star game. Over 40,000 fans paid an average of $50 a ticket to watch an exhibition game. Each player on the All Star team is earning an average of $10M a year. The league average is almost $5M. The league minimum is $400K.
Players are signing long term contracts over $100M. The recently built Target Field in Minnesota cost $400 Million to build. MLB makes Billions per year on their 30 teams, TV contracts, merchandising, advertising, etc.
There is no magic bullet to baseball, and thus why your thinking that a magic bullet is going to help/save/build pool to success is ludicrous.
My kid was glued to the TV last night watching them in the Home Run Derby. Basically, taking batting practice, and another 40K folks showed up to watch, and another 10M turned in to watch on TV.
so, pool folks need to stop comparing pool to mainstream sports, like baseball, football, etc. Bowling was big one time too. Not so much anymore. Pool will never be big, but it does not have to be tot survive... heck, it's been surviving in many forms for the past 400 years, in numerous countries worldwide.
Need to "real eyes" the game is not for everyone, heck, it's not for many at all, and never will be. It is NOT a great sport for TV, it's a terrible sport to watch in person only because you can't fit enough folks close enough to see it. Thus, only less than 40 folks can actually watch it to enjoy it.
And because the shots look easy on TV to the novice, it's not going to capture anyone's imagination like hitting a 500 foot home run or stealing second base, or striking out a guy with the bases loaded. We all know how difficult it is to do what SVB, Earl and the rest can do, but the average fan, it is not very exciting to say the least.
So, I don't see anything changing average folks who don't play the game into investing time or money to watch it... heck, we can't get folks that play the game to do that
If baseball was any slower they'd have to call it farming.........or a sedative.
They don't sing "Take me out to the Pool Hall" they sing "Take me out to the Ball Game" the boys of summer , angels in the outfield , the game that still brings both boys and girls back to their childhood days ,, playing catch with your kids will always be one of a kids and parents fondest memories ,,
So yes there are those who stole their daddy's cue and made a living off playing pool that might see pool as more entertaining but their obviously very few and far in between
Yes you can put on a flowered dress makeup and lipstick on a pig and make it look better but at the end of the day it's still a pig ,,
Even during its ESPN charity run it supported very few about the equivalent to one bench warming farmer on a major league team
1
If baseball was any slower they'd have to call it farming.........or a sedative.
If pool was any more dead, they'd have to call in the coroner
yet, 20 millions folks tuned in last night to watch an exhibition game. The vendors at baseball games make more than most professional pool players. I would not so easily discount the great American pastime
If baseball was any slower they'd have to call it farming.........or a sedative.
Slower than watching players rack, check, re-rack, re-check....?
Baseball must do something right, they have contracts with multiple networks who pay billions to broadcast their games, stadiums charge fairly large ticket prices and still attract 20-50,000 people PER game for 162 games a year...
:rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1:
damn it! i'm going to be singing that song in my head ALL DAY!
18 kids can get together in a field and play baseball, essentially for free. Same 18 kids may not have a pool table within 20 miles of their home, much less have access to it. Chicagorj makes numerous good points. You're lucky if you can seat 1000 people to watch a pool match but 40,000 to 100,000 show up for baseball, football or basketball. The math is really easy. I used to be an A ranked racquetball player and saw the same thing, you can only get a handful of spectators and it's near impossible to enjoy the game on TV due to the speed of the ball.
Pool can't gain great popularity due to simple economics. A pool hall can't make it in upper scale malls and upper scale high traffic areas due to the cost per square foot. People aren't going to pay $20 plus pet hour to rent a table. Upper middle income folks aren't going to park their Lexus or BMW in some shit hole area, they normally wouldn't be in after dark, just to play pool. Most young kids care a lot more about getting laid than running a rack of 9 Ball. How many hot babes do you ever see in a pool hall?
Like it or not, the future of pool is in leagues, bars and bar boxes. That's where the focus needs to be. Build that up and you might have a chance of growing the game, motivating more people to put tables in their homes and eventually building a TV audience. It doesn't matter whether the professionals all wear tuxedos and act like gentleman or if they all are reincarnation of Minnesota Fats, the game isn't going to grow from the top down.
Just consider the demographics. I'd be willing to bet the average American pool enthusiasts average income is less than $50,000 per year. That means their disposable income to spend on expensive table time, cues, etc is zilch. Many don't own a home, or if they do, they don't have a spare room available or big enough to put a 9' table in other than the garage. I'm not being derogatory, that's just the reality of it.
We have a friendly tournament every Sunday night at a local bar that focuses on apa. It's mostly apa 6 and 7's but there are generally 1 to 3 serious pool players show up. Those 3 generally buy 1 or 2 cokes and leave spending less than $5. Who, in their right mind, is going to target that audience?
You make money from money unless you can do huge volume. The sooner the pool world recognizes that and starts targeting the right demographic, the sooner the sport can start to grow. People can look down on apa all they want, however that and similar leagues is the best opportunity for pool. End apa completely and pool is completely dead inside of two years.
Pool can't gain great popularity due to simple economics. A pool hall can't make it in upper scale malls and upper scale high traffic areas due to the cost per square foot. People aren't going to pay $20 plus pet hour to rent a table. Upper middle income folks aren't going to park their Lexus or BMW in some shit hole area, they normally wouldn't be in after dark, just to play pool. Most young kids care a lot more about getting laid than running a rack of 9 Ball. How many hot babes do you ever see in a pool hall?
Like it or not, the future of pool is in leagues, bars and bar boxes. That's where the focus needs to be. Build that up and you might have a chance of growing the game, motivating more people to put tables in their homes and eventually building a TV audience. It doesn't matter whether the professionals all wear tuxedos and act like gentleman or if they all are reincarnation of Minnesota Fats, the game isn't going to grow from the top down.
Just consider the demographics. I'd be willing to bet the average American pool enthusiasts average income is less than $50,000 per year. That means their disposable income to spend on expensive table time, cues, etc is zilch. Many don't own a home, or if they do, they don't have a spare room available or big enough to put a 9' table in other than the garage. I'm not being derogatory, that's just the reality of it.
We have a friendly tournament every Sunday night at a local bar that focuses on apa. It's mostly apa 6 and 7's but there are generally 1 to 3 serious pool players show up. Those 3 generally buy 1 or 2 cokes and leave spending less than $5. Who, in their right mind, is going to target that audience?
You make money from money unless you can do huge volume. The sooner the pool world recognizes that and starts targeting the right demographic, the sooner the sport can start to grow. People can look down on apa all they want, however that and similar leagues is the best opportunity for pool. End apa completely and pool is completely dead inside of two years.
This is exactly my point. Around 35 million people "participate" in billiards in the US yet there are about 26 million golfers in the US. The difference being, because someone participates in pool, doesn't make them a pool player. That doesn't mean they own a cue or a case or play in a tournament etc. Just means playing pool is one of the various things that they do every few months.
Golfers stick to the top 5-6 brands. Those brands do very well because not every swinging d*ck with a basement isn't making clubs. When the brands do well, they advertise with their sponsored players, their players do well... and so on and so forth. So of the 26,000,000 people who actually buy golf clubs, shoes, balls, tees, clothes... they all stick to the same 5-6 brands (for the most part)
No take a look at pool. How many people play pool more than just "date night" level? I would say close to 300,000 and maybe half of those actually take is somewhat serious or better... Now in pool, we also have about 5-6 main brands like Predator, Lucasi, OB, Mezz etc and dozens of less popular brands... and on top of that, hundreds of custom cue makers. Maybe thousands. So basically, our very much smaller market is so completely watered down that nobody really does well.
I don't expect some people to understand this...
Cleary, actually, there are a lot of swinging dicks out there who make custom golf clubs. I'd bet there are way more in fact than custom cue makers.
Take me out to the Pool Hall,
Take me out to the match.
Buy me some whiskey and co-ocaine
I don't care, I'm feelin' no pain.
'Cause it's shark, shark, shark the opponent
If we don't win it was fixed
'Cause it's one, two, three fouls you're out
at the old Pool Hall.
I didn't they're aren't custom club makers... but the majority of those 26 MILLION GOLFERS play with name brand clubs. And buy a new name brand driver every two years to get an extra 6yards into the woods. So the name brands bring in huge profit margins and that's why Calloway can pay Phil Mickelson so well.
Pool has less people to sell things to so the more companies making cues, the less each of them can possibly make. It's pretty basic economics.
Possibly true but they are using stock components, made by big companies and assembling and adjusting them. Do-it-your-selfers used to do this too. Making shafts and club heads is way beyond anything a small guy can do. Milling custom putter heads can be done in small shops.
I actually think the component business may have died down from a decade or 2 ago. It's just a pain in the neck. The big manufacturers can now customize anything you want anyway. Putting on new grips is a nice lucrative sideline however.
the irony is that the cue snobs on this forum would never have a great company like schon who makes fantastic cues and support them, no, they must be custom, production cues are a dirty word, unless ofcourse it has a LD shaft on it from predator and OB. the bigger irony is that the people of the game are they own worst enemy, which is ironic bc thats what makes this games people so colorful. its a DISASTER, pool will be dead in 50 years
Once again, another thread derailed by CJ.
Back on point, what will this year' steam have to do to win? Much of the talk earlier in the thread was around playing world class competition. Well, the team didn't have too many participating in Doha this year. How many participated in a room full of world class comp this past weekend at Hard Times? Seriously, what have these guys been up to, competition wise that's gonna prepare them for the pressure cooker that past players describe the MC as being?
Back on point, what will this year' steam have to do to win? Much of the talk earlier in the thread was around playing world class competition. Well, the team didn't have too many participating in Doha this year. How many participated in a room full of world class comp this past weekend at Hard Times? Seriously, what have these guys been up to, competition wise that's gonna prepare them for the pressure cooker that past players describe the MC as being?