US Bar Table Championships to be Mosconi Cup Points Events! Feb 16-22, Reno, NV

I think anything that gets more people to care about pool, play pool, watch pool or even lean on a pool table from time to time is a good thing.

I think bar tables are a good thing. Most recreational players do NOT want to play on a 9' Diamond with 4" pockets just like most golfers don't want to play on Augusta when it's setup for a pro tournament. The conditions just aren't friendly to a wider audience.

I think the USBTC, even though it's on bar tables against amateurs, is a good thing. Why? It gives some amateurs the chance to play at a big event and gives some pros another shot at a payday. There are only a few sports that I know of off the top of my head where you can participate in the same arena as a professional and even though you don't have a chance in hell, you can still have fun.

I think what we need are more events like that (albeit marketed a little differently...I'll spare everyone that rant) that all impact the Mosconi cup points. Why not? Who cares if it's a TV event and doesn't live up to the standards of some of the players here. It's fun to watch and its another reason for people to get excited about pool. America has a long tradition of getting worked up over the prospect of laying a beatdown on some Europeans. Maybe if more of us cared about the MC then the players and sponsors would care more too.
 
Baxter said:
Seems to me that this move was solely to compete with the World 10-ball event in the Phillipines. Any other reason doesn't make any sense. I think they stand to lose a lot of money on this event now that the World 10-ball coincides, so this is a last ditch effort to attract the pro players. Just my 2 cents.
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No doubt in my mind ant it shouldn't be a points event,,



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What about players like Johhny Archer and Rodney Morris who don't go to the USBTC because they're not aloud? Shouldn't everyone be able to have an equal chance to make the team this year?
Just my two cents, which don't mean much because I've started to realize that the level of organisation for the few pro players that we have is pitiful..
 
jspence91 said:
What about players like Johhny Archer and Rodney Morris who don't go to the USBTC because they're not aloud? Shouldn't everyone be able to have an equal chance to make the team this year?
Just my two cents, which don't mean much because I've started to realize that the level of organisation for the few pro players that we have is pitiful..
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I don't know about Johnny but it sounds like Rodney is allowed now.
 
I think it's a good idea on Matchroom's part. At first it may seem strange to have Mosconi points for a bar table event, but think about it. 1. This is for American Mosconi points and the USBTC is where most of the best American players are going be. 2. There isn't a lot of tournaments to choose from so they kind of have to play it by ear. I just think they need to get a little better about announcing these things a little farther in advance.
 

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Floppage said:
I think anything that gets more people to care about pool, play pool, watch pool or even lean on a pool table from time to time is a good thing.

I think bar tables are a good thing. Most recreational players do NOT want to play on a 9' Diamond with 4" pockets just like most golfers don't want to play on Augusta when it's setup for a pro tournament. The conditions just aren't friendly to a wider audience.

I think the USBTC, even though it's on bar tables against amateurs, is a good thing. Why? It gives some amateurs the chance to play at a big event and gives some pros another shot at a payday. There are only a few sports that I know of off the top of my head where you can participate in the same arena as a professional and even though you don't have a chance in hell, you can still have fun.

I think what we need are more events like that (albeit marketed a little differently...I'll spare everyone that rant) that all impact the Mosconi cup points. Why not? Who cares if it's a TV event and doesn't live up to the standards of some of the players here. It's fun to watch and its another reason for people to get excited about pool. America has a long tradition of getting worked up over the prospect of laying a beatdown on some Europeans. Maybe if more of us cared about the MC then the players and sponsors would care more too.
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Frankly, high calibre professional pool isn't ever going to appeal to mainstream audiences. Just like high calibre professional golf doesn't appeal to mainstream audiences. Golf has acceptance because it's a widely played game by a desirable market, yet it still isn't as mainstream as football or baseball. Pool is nearly the same, except that by American mainstream stereotypes the market for pool isn't considered to be desirable. We can't keep watering down the game in the hopes of attracting something that will probably never happen. Professional pool needs to played on a professional level. Watering it down into bar table pool does nothing for anyone. Not everything about pool can pander to a crowd that isn't interested.
 
Mark Griffin said:
Leland,

This makes no sense to me. I think'3-4' players from US are going to the 10-ball event in the Philippines. We are not even trying to compete with that - it is a completely different market and that is WPA points.

That has nothing to do with Mosconi points. There is no desperation at all. An opportunity presented itself and we were very excited to be considered as one of the Mosconi events.

And as I said to Lee Brett. Do you think I just pick up the phone and call Barry Hearn and say - You NEED to make the USBTC events count as a Mosconi Cup event. Sorry - but I don't think that is gonna fly buddy.

Mark Griffin:rotflmao:
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I can only call things as I see them Mark. For the record, I never even said it was a bad thing. I completely understand it from a business perspective, and as a businessman with a financial interest in the event I would be looking for the same kind of thing to level the field as well. Also, you say you have no correspondence with Matchroom, but I can find it completely plausible that one of the largest billiards promoters in the United States would have a little bit of clout with another promoter that had a vested interest in putting together an American team for their own promoted event. It's not beyond the realm of belief that you could ask for them to throw you a bone and have your request granted. I'm not saying that happened for sure, but it's not an unreasonable assumption to make.
 
itsfroze said:
I would be shocked if anyone didn't think that points being awarded to CSI's Bar Table events by Matchroom
toward MC doesn't have something to do with the fact that the WPA World 10-Ball is being held at the same time.
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Why would Matchroom care which event players decided to participate in? Most American players don't attend world championships, anyway.
 
itsfroze said:
Right, most American players don't attend World Championships, but how many foreign players and foreign players that live
here would attend the bar table events if the WPA World 10-Ball weren't being held at the same time.

Matchroom wouldn't necessarily care, but do you think it's a stretch to say CSI might ?
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CSI would care about getting players to their event, but why would non U.S. Players give a flying fig that Matchroom is awarding points to U.S. Players to participate on the U.S. Mosconi Cup team?
 
leto1776 said:
CSI would care about getting players to their event, but why would non U.S. Players give a flying fig that Matchroom is awarding points to U.S. Players to participate on the U.S. Mosconi Cup team?
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They wouldn't. But think about this. This move isn't to "save" this event this year. The entries are already in after all. This is to pay dividends for next year. After all, this is mostly an amateur event. Most of the entries for this event come from amateur players, and a lot of the allure of the event for amateurs is the possibility of playing a pro. Now if no pro players show up this year because of the World 10-ball event, that could affect the entries for next years event.

"Man, I spent over a grand to play in all the events at USBTC for the chance to play a pro, and there wasn't a single one there."

Do you think that person is going to sign up again next year? Probably not. Now, how many amateur bar box pool players are knowledgeable on the list of top world players? Do they know that there are several Taiwanese, Chinese, and Filipino players that are better than the US pro's that have name value to them? Probably not. So if they can make the USBTC a Mosconi Cup qualifier this year, and draw the American players with names the target market can identify, they've achieved their goal for all intended purposes. A few is better than none at all.
 
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I'm not saying for fact that CSI had anything to do with this event becoming a Mosconi ranking event. I'm just saying it's plausible. I'm purely speculating here. If they did, I don't even blame them. In the same position, I would do the same thing. I think it's pretty messed up that the World 10-ball got scheduled on top of them, when they're an established event with their dates on the calendar well in advance. I guess it just shows how f***ed up professional pool is, even on the world level between major organizations within the industry.
 
itsfroze said:
I don't think the foreign players would care, but by awarding MC points to U.S. players you are forcing them
to decide whether to try and get MC points at a bar box event or attending a WPA World 10-Ball Championship Event.
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You mean the (literal) handful of U.S. Players who even try to attend said WPA events?
 
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