This is IMO one of the critical changes that needs to be made in pool. Alternate break, best of 3 sets, win each set by 2 (aka you must "break" the other persons break at least once to beat them so that a coin toss or lag does not win the set). Plus, the win by two thing creates phenomenal tension and excitement due to the pressure it creates where both players do everything in their power not to have their serve broken in tennis. It would do the same thing in pool, it would add MUCH NEEDED excitement to what many perceive as a otherwise fairly boring game.
The tables need to be consistent in pool IMO, I do not even think the varied surfaces in tennis help that sport, it is fairy popular "despite" it IMO although one could argue some of the surfaces are not even that popular and thus why some "majors" are more heralded and followed then others. The tables in pool need to be altered at the pro level so that they are truly a challenge, even after a great break. There should NEVER be a moment in pool where a player breaks and the announcers go "well it looks like he is out on this rack" prior to the guy shooting the first bloody ball after the break, that is a obvious sign there is something "REALLY" friggin wrong with the sport. The tables for professional pool should migrate (quickly and completely) to 10 foot tables with pockets exactly like the original TAR Fatboy rails. Snooker tables are brutal, the people know it, and that is why when they watch Ronnie O'Sulivan run a 147 they know they just saw something unreal. Pool needs that, they need the game to be perceived as truly hard by the general public and that requires tough tables, and making clear just what those tables are like to the viewing public by having a few out there and initially letting the viewers know the specs of the tables. In general the general public are not so slow that they will not see a fairly well hit ball bobble and get rejected, they will know once they see that a few times that this is not your typical bar box. Some might think (wow that is too tough) BUT there is a reason for making the table tough, and it is the next point.
The professional game NEEDS to be 8-ball. It is the ONLY game the general public know, it is the only game the general public play, bar tables spit out 15 balls when you plug in your money, and the common people (non pool players, simply the general public who happen to occasionally play a game of pool) play 8-ball. This is FAR AND AWAY the most popular game played at the league level as well, the VAST majority of actual competitive pool players play 8-ball. Leagues have tried 9-ball, there are rotation pool tournaments in Vegas at the nationals, and the most popular and most played game BY FAR is 8-ball. It is in the game that people actually have at least "some" interest in where you can make inroads into potentially getting some viewership, and then some sponsorship. There is no way in gods green earth you are going to make pool popular with the pros playing games the general public don't give two shits about!
Take those three things.
1) Make the game 8-ball.
2) Make the tables tough enough to REALLY challenge the pros in the game in 8-ball now and 5-10 years from now.
3) Change the races to a format where players alternate break and where you cannot win or lose without having your "break" broken. Best of 3 races to 6 win by two would work, or a single race to 11 win by two would work as well.
IF pool had done that 30 years ago this sport would be VASTLY better off then it is today. The push to 9-ball was a TERRIBLE move by those in control of the sport and the ongoing battering of their heads against a wall trying to make it stick with the general public was a tremendous waste of time, money, and opportunity this sport will NEVER get back.
:barf:
.....and it's hilarious to think of Shane and Shawn actually being the same person, they are almost identical. :groucho:
