Scooter, Family Man and Best Hustler in America

This is extremely interesting: American Road Player us a new web reality series focusing on the incredible and very real world of underground pool hustling.

This is *exactly* the right approach to putting a fractured pool industry on the map. We're too low on the totem pole to attract Fortune 500 company sponsors. Starting small on a realistic basis like a "web" reality series is brilliant. It is not like watching pool matches on the Internet that are long in duration and, quite frankly, boring, boring, boring. What a time burner! This will be a reality series that will capture our attention and provide a thirst to see the next episode, almost like a soap opera.

Bethany Mota is a YouTube star who started making YouTube videos when she was 13. At 18 years old today, she has the largest following on YouTube videos, which attracts the younger generation. She specialized on beauty and fashion.

"Dancing With the Stars" was suffering in their ratings and decided to put Bethany Mota on as a guest amateur dancer. This season with DWTS was one of the best as far as popularity with Bethany and Derek Hough as her pro dancer partner. DWTS knew that reaching out to the Internet crowd would boost popularity.

Sponsors for this web-based reality series, American Road Player, are pool industry sponsors such as Diamond Billiards, Derby City Classic, Pool Dawg, Hustlin USA, and, of course, good old AzBilliards.

In my opinion, the production company, Side Pockets, is going about this in the right direction, starting out with a realistic platform on the Internet that is doable. If successful, this web-based series could very easily end up on cable TV down the road. Whoever is leading the charge on this knows their stuff. :wink:
 
You know after thinking about it... We have aways been a country of second chances... It's what you do with those chances that matter... I do not condone what Scooter and Tedder were doing but I am not in the know enough with those two to just assume they haven't learned a thing or 2 from getting busted... It's like Rodney and Tony Chohan they made mistakes but you don't get to hold them up to the flame forever over it....

Maybe Scooter will be as funny as he was when the money was free... IF that's the case more power to them and I WILL WATCH... It will be an added entertainment aspect to the game we all hope thrives....

Chris
 
JAM said:
I'm wishing Scooter, the crew, and the film production company all the success in the world. What I have seen so far, I like it. The music, the words, the graphics, everything looks cool, so far. This could be the booster shot in the arm that pool needs so desparately.
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This is also my belief . I have watched Scooter -1st hand playing Tony Watson with Chew-bacca staking the match. Chew would be great . I hope they get Chew involved, he just as animated as Scooter and a hell of a nice guy to boot
 
No thanks, I prefer this scooter. Actually one of these days, I will go round the world in a scooter :thumbup:

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JAM said:
Scooter definitely has a certain charm about him. He's got charisma. That's what sells, not tournament robots with no emotion playing pool. Scooter lights up the room when he walks in. Everybody who knows who Scotter is will be well aware that there is action in the midst. It's only a matter of time. :smile2:
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He lights up the room in the same way that a lit fart creates a quick flash. And, like moths, pool players are attracted...lol.

The world is full of brilliant idiocy.
 
This endeavor has a good chance. Executive Producer Michael Murphey has expertise in film production and is most definitely not
a newbie onto the film scene ---> HERE

Looks like there is a solid platform to build from. I like this approach.
 
JAM said:
This endeavor has a good chance. Executive Producer Michael Murphey has expertise in film production and is most definitely not
a newbie onto the film scene ---> HERE

Looks like there is a solid platform to build from. I like this approach.
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Then why do they need $120k in donations? Does anyone know what the term 'producer' means. If this MM guy is an expert, he should foot the bill himself

And if they need this $120k now and the premise is to follow Scooter from Dec 1st to the end of January when the DCC occurs, they have about 60 hours to come up with their production bankroll. Maybe they should shoot for 2016. Because as it sits right now, it would make Bonus Ball look like a Fortune 500 company compared to this endeavor and organization of there business plan. Solid platform? More like a deck put together with drywall screws and balsa wood.
 
How good is scooter? Seen a few YouTube matches and he doesn't appear that good. Not knocking. Just asking. Figured he be real good to be a hustler.
 
watchez said:
Then why do they need $120k in donations? Does anyone know what the term 'producer' means. If this MM guy is an expert, he should foot the bill himself

And if they need this $120k now and the premise is to follow Scooter from Dec 1st to the end of January when the DCC occurs, they have about 60 hours to come up with their production bankroll. Maybe they should shoot for 2016. Because as it sits right now, it would make Bonus Ball look like a Fortune 500 company compared to this endeavor and organization of there business plan. Solid platform? More like a deck put together with drywall screws and balsa wood.
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I don't have their business plan, of course, but I have seen other film production companies do this at the onset. In fact, a few years ago, Newt Gingrich was involved in a film production that started out the exact same way, which I was somewhat involved in, indirectly.

By platform, I am referring to them starting out as an Internet production, not going for the top, like a cable TV show. I think this is the right direction to move in for a pool reality series.

Bonus Ball is a whole nother animal compared to this. One must compare apples to apples. One is a pool tour, and this is a web-based pool reality show.

Whether it is successful or not, I don't think will be dependent on the funds donated. Rather, it will be the quality of the production and its cast of characters.

Martin Scorsese recognized a certain quality in a pool player by the name of Keith McCready and wanted him to have a role in a huge movie production with an already-existing cast of big stars in "The Color of Money." Keith's role was miniscule compared to Tom Cruise and Paul Newman, and even though Keith already had a huge following in the pool world, this role changed his life. Keith has charisma on and off the screen, and though nobody in mainstream America may know who Keith McCready is, he is well known in the pool world not only for his pool-shooting capabilities, but for his role as Grady Seasons. This movie did give pool a boon in the mid 1980s.

By starting out small in a web-based reality series, I think Scooter's charisma will shine through. This producer may have already invested funds to start the production. If successful on the Internet, it could grow from there.

Positive thinking goes a long way in the movie bizz. You have to believe in it to make it happen. There may be a lot of naysayers to this web-based reality series, but I think it's got promise. It's not unrealistic by showing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a black suitcase. This is the real deal, and we all know it. The promo shows a $5,000 match, and that's believable.

I believe this will come to fruition, and I also believe the majority of the pool community will support it. The naysayers and the pool purists certainly have a right to their opinion. Time will tell, as they say. :grin-square:
 
jburkm002 said:
How good is scooter? Seen a few YouTube matches and he doesn't appear that good. Not knocking. Just asking. Figured he be real good to be a hustler.
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https://vimeo.com/20004066
SVB vs Scooter Goodman, 12 ahead - Scooter gets the 6, 7,8,9 WILD and the Breaks! And the wild balls count on the break. For 7500. Scooter jumped out to a 4-0 lead I believe, and then Shane crushed him!
 
Though I think anything putting pool on the map can be a good thing for pool in America
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Well, maybe they will help. The difference between this one and Fat Boys, this one might put some pizzazz into the pool scene.

If you watch Fat Boy, the only thing he wants, which is par usual for him, is for him to be put on the map.

We got to see his Mercedes, his big bag of money, him standing in his LA home. Of course, him bragging about how much money he has and what a big gambler and Buck Shot that he thinks he is.

Not much different than his usual BS when he does post on AZ. Scooter's show, we will see what the pool world is all about.

Fat Heads show, we will have to endure endless bragging about himself.

Even Spanky was way more interesting to listen to than Fat Heads nemesis, whatever his name is.
 
Blue Hog ridr said:
Well, maybe they will help. The difference between this one and Fat Boys, this one might put some pizzazz into the pool scene.

If you watch Fat Boy, the only thing he wants, which is par usual for him, is for him to be put on the map.

We got to see his Mercedes, his big bag of money, him standing in his LA home. Of course, him bragging about how much money he has and what a big gambler and Buck Shot that he thinks he is.

Not much different than his usual BS when he does post on AZ. Scooter's show, we will see what the pool world is all about.

Fat Heads show, we will have to endure endless bragging about himself.

Even Spanky was way more interesting to listen to than Fat Heads nemesis, whatever his name is.
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Ok, so where have I been?? I never saw Fatboys promo video or whatever it was. Does anyone have a link ot tell me what to search on Youtube? JAM??
 
Jam can prolly find it for you. Its most likely buried on page 40 by now.

Watch Fat Heads trailer and you will see a huge difference. I would rather eat rancid haggis than support anything that Fat Guy does.
 
If this hits it may be great for you gamblers. I don't gamble much on pool but if this hits it's going to be what Moneymaker was to poker. It could bring all the fish in and you guys will have a feeding frenzy. Every person that gets hooked on this will want to finish their show go to the local pool room and look for someone to give their money to. I played a lot of poker before the Moneymaker fiasco and it drew so many players in that had no idea what they were doing it was crazy. From this it turned into tons of people that knew nothing about poker and continue to lose money to this day but it also turned into more people wanting to learn the game and there are more poker players that know what they are doing then ever before. I'm not Scooters biggest fan but if this catches then it really could shake up the pool world.
 
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Ok Jam here's my take on this for what it's worth.

First of all the promo is well produced, made by someone who is a professional. That's a good thing. There is a lot going on in this short promo with no down time anywhere. It zips from one part to the next. Also a good thing. People today want to see everything at a fast and furious pace.

Now here I may differ with many of you. This show is really not so much about pool as it is about Hustling and Gambling. It promises to show a counter culture that most people are unaware of and that makes it interesting to the straight Joe's who populate our country. One more point in it's favor.

Why do people watch auto races? Often it's because they want to see an accident, the bigger the better. Many shows on television and the internet today are about mistakes, mishaps, fights and assorted mayhem. Everyone likes to see someone else f'ck up.

The Hustler, which put Pool on the map big time, was a down and dirty story that painted an ugly picture of the game. Did it work for the betterment of the sport? Absolutely!

As for Scooter, I've seen a thousand like him in my years in the pool world and he doesn't bother me a bit. Frankly I'm surprised by his criminal history, I would have thought he was too smart to be a petty criminal. Be that as it may, I've always found his type to be entertaining. He is cut from the same mold as many of the greatest hustlers of years gone by. Fats would have put him to shame! And Ronnie could give Scooter the seven out in theatrics, gambling and game making. Keith and Louie Roberts were two more very engaging hustlers. I happen to enjoy characters like this and I'm glad to see them, as long as they know when to go into their act and how to modulate it for the setting. It's easy to overstep yourself in the interest of making a game and sometimes that's not a good thing, like what happened at DCC.

I don't hold any of this against Scooter. The man is a gambler and a hustler and makes no pretense about it. I learned long ago how to keep my hands in my pocket, my mouth shut and not get involved in a bad game. I've watched Scooter in action several times and he's never heard a peep out of me. Don't worry if I want to make a bet, everyone will know it! :grin:

The bottom line of course is will the show be successful. I would say probably so if it is done in a similar fashion to what we've seen already. Of course the scenes would be more drawn out and we would see a hustle from the beginning to the end. I think a lot of people would watch this show and it would draw an audience. Best evidence of that is the crowd that gathers every time I see Scooter in action. Money games have always attracted the biggest crowd, and the bigger the money the bigger the crowd. You may not like it but this is the way the world works! Take care and don't take any wooden nickels.
 
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