Pool needs better characters

Here is Japan's Naoyuki OI breaking and running out 9 Ball.
If he did talk during his shots it would be in Japanese.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oTnUoqtczvA

justinb386 said:
I never seen him play. Is he as goofy on the table as he is off of the table?
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justinb386 said:
He is just really silly, lol. A goof ball.
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mchnhed said:
Japan's Naoyuki Oi is a character.
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=447332

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qpFzxyBrAL8
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WVShootist said:
Yep, this is a guy I could watch. Especially is he's like Mccready and talks a lot while he plays. Haha
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if you don't want to work at a job, then you have no choice than to take the game seriously. being a bum is hard. maybe it was easier back then
 
Totally agree on....................

HawaiianEye said:
One-foul BIH killed the entertainment in 9-ball and 10-ball.

When the game was played with two-shot push out, it was much more fun to watch.

The game is too sterile for me. Nobody takes chances anymore because the penalty is too high if you make a simple mistake. With the two-foul rules, players would go for flyers and difficult shots and position because they knew they could push out if they got hooked or out of line. Nobody will go for those shots today because they won't take the chance of giving up BIH too easily.

Ask any of the old players you want and see what they tell you. Efren, CJ, McCready, Buddy Hall, Jose Parica, etc., etc. They will all tell you the same thing.

The game had a lot more "color" when it wasn't played with such "rigidity". The constant rule changes, faster cloth, bouncier rails, and jump sticks have turned what was once "pool" into pachinko.

On another subject, I don't think pool is ever going to grow the way it is going these days. I was watching the APA league play today for several hours and I never saw so many people with LD shafts, jump cues, break cues, racking templates, gloves, telescopic bridges, and all kinds of shit and they were Level 2s and 3s. And to top it off, they were 2s and 3s a few years ago when I first saw them play.

I, honestly, don't know how a person can remain a 2 or 3 for years and years. I asked a few of the players if the APA league ever gave, or offered, them lessons and I was told "no". How in the hell can the APA take $25 a night off these players and never give them shit in return, except for a plastic trophy at the end of the season if they are lucky enough to place?
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what you're saying. I started in the pre Simonis/one-foul/jump-cue era and i think the pool was a lot better. At least more entertaining. The slower cloth allowed you let-out your stroke and in push-out there was more shooting and less ducking. Today's game has lot of great players but too me its just too sterile for lack of a better word.
 
Riiiiight.

Pool is not more popular because it is no longer pushout rules.

:killingme::rotflmao1::banghead::deadhorse:
 
easy-e said:
What would you know? Aren't you only like 25 years old?
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Also, did he even read the OP's post? OP was talking about entertaining play&players. One-foul started around '79-'80 and its sole purpose was to speed-up tournaments. That it may have accomplished but the duck&luck factor went thru the roof. 9ball(playing/watching/betting) was far more entertaining when roll-out was the rule. Not only was the game better but the cast of characters were not as robotic as what we see today. Again, my opinion, nothing more.
 
garczar said:
Also, did he even read the OP's post? OP was talking about entertaining play&players. One-foul started around '79-'80 and its sole purpose was to speed-up tournaments. That it may have accomplished but the duck&luck factor went thru the roof. 9ball(playing/watching/betting) was far more entertaining when roll-out was the rule. Not only was the game better but the cast of characters were not as robotic as what we see today. Again, my opinion, nothing more.
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I doubt he even knows how to read. His spelling is atrocious! :mad:
 
G- perhaps it is you that failed to read the thread completely? I responded to the OP early on and preceeding my pushout post, The Great Hawaiian spoke of pusshout.
garczar said:
Also, did he even read the OP's post? OP was talking about entertaining play&players. One-foul started around '79-'80 and its sole purpose was to speed-up tournaments. That it may have accomplished but the duck&luck factor went thru the roof. 9ball(playing/watching/betting) was far more entertaining when roll-out was the rule. Not only was the game better but the cast of characters were not as robotic as what we see today. Again, my opinion, nothing more.
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As I was alluding to, golfers are boring as hell, yet people show up in droves to watch them. The reason is, these guys are having to make six foot putts, and the consequences of missing can be like 100k. A triple bogey could cost someone triple digits. Take the prize funds out of these tournaments and overnight there'd be no players there, and nobody watching, and nobody would care.
 

They get paid to play golf?
Where do I sign up!

So... you mean that if we were to take away prize money no one would play or watch the Olympics, Amateur events in golf, football, baseball, soccer, tennis, pool, snooker..........???

The only driving force in the World is Money and Gambling?

No wonder you Yank's are having an identity crisis with Pocket Billiards and the World!


Ekojasiloop said:
As I was alluding to, golfers are boring as hell, yet people show up in droves to watch them. The reason is, these guys are having to make six foot putts, and the consequences of missing can be like 100k. A triple bogey could cost someone triple digits. Take the prize funds out of these tournaments and overnight there'd be no players there, and nobody watching, and nobody would care.
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HawaiianEye said:
One-foul BIH killed the entertainment in 9-ball and 10-ball.

When the game was played with two-shot push out, it was much more fun to watch.

The game is too sterile for me. Nobody takes chances anymore because the penalty is too high if you make a simple mistake. With the two-foul rules, players would go for flyers and difficult shots and position because they knew they could push out if they got hooked or out of line. Nobody will go for those shots today because they won't take the chance of giving up BIH too easily.

Ask any of the old players you want and see what they tell you. Efren, CJ, McCready, Buddy Hall, Jose Parica, etc., etc. They will all tell you the same thing.

The game had a lot more "color" when it wasn't played with such "rigidity". The constant rule changes, faster cloth, bouncier rails, and jump sticks have turned what was once "pool" into pachinko.

On another subject, I don't think pool is ever going to grow the way it is going these days. I was watching the APA league play today for several hours and I never saw so many people with LD shafts, jump cues, break cues, racking templates, gloves, telescopic bridges, and all kinds of shit and they were Level 2s and 3s. And to top it off, they were 2s and 3s a few years ago when I first saw them play.

I, honestly, don't know how a person can remain a 2 or 3 for years and years. I asked a few of the players if the APA league ever gave, or offered, them lessons and I was told "no". How in the hell can the APA take $25 a night off these players and never give them shit in return, except for a plastic trophy at the end of the season if they are lucky enough to place?
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Most league players would rather have a root-canal with a butterknife than have their rating bumped-up a level. I've seen it in APA, TAP, BCA, you name it. "Spectacular mediocrity" is what one wag at the 'hall calls it.
 
Ekojasiloop said:
As I was alluding to, golfers are boring as hell, yet people show up in droves to watch them. The reason is, these guys are having to make six foot putts, and the consequences of missing can be like 100k. A triple bogey could cost someone triple digits. Take the prize funds out of these tournaments and overnight there'd be no players there, and nobody watching, and nobody would care.
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Very little of that can be proven.

Show me the data!
 
mchnhed said:

They get paid to play golf?
Where do I sign up!

So... you mean that if we were to take away prize money no one would play or watch the Olympics, Amateur events in golf, football, baseball, soccer, tennis, pool, snooker..........???

The only driving force in the World is Money and Gambling?

No wonder you Yank's are having an identity crisis with Pocket Billiards and the World!
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There you go again, with your inflammatory interpretation.
 
WVShootist said:
So watching old pool, those pros looked like used car salesmen. They would drink alcohol while playing, trash talk, take risky shots. There was something there beyond just the game that made it fun to watch. I've been watching 2016/2017 tournaments the past few nights and these guys show zero emotion, take computer-esque shots, etc. They're great players of course but I find nothing intetesting about them outside of their playing abilities. I'm just finding it difficult to watch.

It puts me in mind of MMA. UFC was 1,000 times more interesting when you had guys beating blood out of each other instead of just going to the ground and trying to get holds and chokes. Is it just me, or does it seem like a lot of the heart in pool is gone?

And if not, are there any current pros I should check out that make watching it more entertaining?
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These are tournaments.....hang out at the pool hall and you will see their characters.
In a tourney the players are on their best behavior. Get some of these guys in a pool hall and it's a different story.
 
mchnhed said:

They get paid to play golf?
Where do I sign up!

So... you mean that if we were to take away prize money no one would play or watch the Olympics, Amateur events in golf, football, baseball, soccer, tennis, pool, snooker..........???

The only driving force in the World is Money and Gambling?

No wonder you Yank's are having an identity crisis with Pocket Billiards and the World!
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Well, as we all know, the olympics are quite a unique setting.

Let's break this down though. What percentage of Michael phelps net worth would you say resulted from the olympics? Further, do you really think the advertisers and copprtations who set it all up aren't making money? Is may be the top producing sporting event, or at least one of them, in merchandise, commercials, tickets, hotel bookings. The olympics are actually much more "capitalistic" than any other sport I can think of. And, as mentioned, the athletes benefit financially as well.

As great as the olympics are, why do you think they don't continue as they were originally envisioned as a pure sport competition between countries having little to nothing to do with profit or corporations? Let us know the answer to that in your infinite wisdom. The answer is clearly the olympics continue only because money is involved, and boatloads of it.

All the other examples you mentioned, people are obviously only doing it because it leads to a professional organization where there are boatloads of money to be made. You don't have that, and you won't have any of those exciting amateur events you speak of, because nobody would care. Don't take my word for it, come up with an example of a sport where there's no money at the end of the tunnel. You get sports like pool, which, well, we all know the case there.

Can you come up with any other examples where people are playing for nothing and the results get reported on espn? Why do you think that is?
 
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mchnhed said:
Lessons for Level 2-3's?
That would be as crazy as giving free lessons to beginners at your local pool room.
Or worse yet.....Free lessons for youth players on Saturday mornings!
Along with half rate table time when an Adult is accompanied by a Youth. Ludicrous, I Say!

Who wants or needs a bunch of noobies coming into our pool room and wanting to start playing pool on a regular basis?

Next thing is you'll be suggesting that Pool Rooms start having regular weekly Meetups on Meetup.com to bring casual players in on slow nights!

If you're going to do that you might as well have Dr. Billiards Traveling Trick Shot Show featuring Venom setup in your local mall to show Pool to the masses!

You people are crazy to want to do these things!
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Lol don't come up with all these crazy ideas that might actually bring people to the game
 
Just take away safety play, make em shoot! If the incoming player doesn't like what shot he has he can give it back as many times as he wants. Winner breaks
Jason
 
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