Would 8 ball be much more interesting to the general TV viewing public if....

fish2

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
1. Balls were clearly marked, say 7 blue balls, 7 Red ball and 1 black 8 ball
2. Timer - Each player has fixed amount of time for each game, you run out of time before finishing all your balls, you loose

just a thought....
 
1. Balls were clearly marked, say 7 blue balls, 7 Red ball and 1 black 8 ball
2. Timer - Each player has fixed amount of time for each game, you run out of time before finishing all your balls, you loose

just a thought....
 

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the problem is ..... pool is meant to be played ... not really a spectators sport
Really? Explain golf viewership #'s then? The problem isn't the game but simply in presentation. Snooker has been huge on tv for yrs. British 8b/Blackball has big viewing audiences as well. For pool to work on tv it has to be a fairly quick game with simple easy-to-follow rules. 8,9,or 10ball would all work if presented right.
 
Really? Explain golf viewership #'s then? The problem isn't the game but simply in presentation. Snooker has been huge on tv for yrs.
i dont know .... why do people like watching people knock a golf ball around vs pool .. i dont knw .... golf isnt appealing to me and neither is football basketball or baseball. usually if i dont actually play a sport i dont have an interest in it. maybe if pool had a college presence more people would take interest in the game
 
what makes the presentation of golf better than pool? Golf is no more spectacular than pool. only difference is the amount of advertiser money spent on golf vs pool
 
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I have never been real comfortable with anything bright red. Red is noted for having perhaps the worst "bloom" of any color for photography. I assume the same is true of video. Blue and yellow might be the better choice because of that although I like the appearance of the yellow and red slightly better.

I assume these are english blackball sets but I know very little about the game. I assume it is eightball with little rules variation. It is played on small to very tiny tables and the players can be very creative dealing with traffic.

While solids and stripes work just fine for pool players I have never seen any reason for numbers on the balls playing eight ball. I like the idea of being able to say one player has yellow the other has blue and even the most uninformed watcher immediately knows each player's standing in the game and the problems they face.

A few thoughts about golf: The big appeal about golf was, and perhaps is to the nonplayer, the money involved. I quit watching any TV about ten years ago but I can remember golf all the way back to my childhood. I have never played a single round of golf or watched a complete golf game. However, I find the skins game or the last few holes of a major tournament gripping, always have talking about the tournaments. Even back when the world was young there might be fifty or a hundred thousand dollars on the line and a person's life was changed forever with the first jacket they won. When the players were neck and neck on the last few holes or in the playoff, who was going to come with magic? Who was going to fold?

It didn't matter what they were doing, watching competitors under that kind of pressure was gripping. I remember Olga Korbut too. I had probably never watched gymnastics before but the camera showing a close-up of her face going for the gold captured me, and the world.

How people perform under great pressure is exciting. Doesn't really matter what they are doing.

Hu
 
how did golf get a dedicated channel ... a channel i always skipped ... an entire channel 24/7 dedicated to nothing but guys/gals swinging a club into a golf ball with a goal of ringing a hole. this is basically no different than pool
Golf is a game played by many, it is shown at beautiful venues unlike those you are likely to see as a player. The golfers have beautiful swings most golfers don't get to see in person let alone feel like they do the same thing. Plus the drama of a back9 in the final round of a major with a few guys in it is captivating.

Pool by comparison is played by way fewer people regularly and the TV tables look exactly like those amateurs play on. You can barely ever see a full stance to analyze a pro's technique too, tho that only affects hardcore pool nuts. Regular pool folks wouldn't be able to distinguish one style from another, and with mechanics so locked down in pool, many could convince themselves they have the same fundamentals as so and so on TV. At least winner break is back in world championships bc the drama of an alternate break final where one guy gets a lead is about as captivating as a lullaby.

Plus golf can have a channel--channels really as I know of at least 4 on my internet TV--because there are constantly events going on between all the different tours out there and ppl gobble up instructional vids and tip videos like crazy. Meanwhile in pool, bangers rather spend $700 on a new shaft to help their game rather than actually get a lesson to improve spin quality.

And finally the most obv reason: sponsors. There's a lot of money in golf and golf equipment sponsors provide a ton of it. Watching a replay of an event on NBCgolf channel is basically unwatchable as it is 50/50 ads. SkyGolf is nice tho, with picture in picture ads for live events and a much smaller amount than American TV for replays.

These games are not even comparable when you consider a middle of the road mini tour golfer makes as much as the very best pool players in the world...and that's not counting his sponsorship deals.
 
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I have never been real comfortable with anything bright red. Red is noted for having perhaps the worst "bloom" of any color for photography. I assume the same is true of video. Blue and yellow might be the better choice because of that although I like the appearance of the yellow and red slightly better.

I assume these are english blackball sets but I know very little about the game. I assume it is eightball with little rules variation. It is played on small to very tiny tables and the players can be very creative dealing with traffic.

While solids and stripes work just fine for pool players I have never seen any reason for numbers on the balls playing eight ball. I like the idea of being able to say one player has yellow the other has blue and even the most uninformed watcher immediately knows each player's standing in the game and the problems they face.

A few thoughts about golf: The big appeal about golf was, and perhaps is to the nonplayer, the money involved. I quit watching any TV about ten years ago but I can remember golf all the way back to my childhood. I have never played a single round of golf or watched a complete golf game. However, I find the skins game or the last few holes of a major tournament gripping, always have talking about the tournaments. Even back when the world was young there might be fifty or a hundred thousand dollars on the line and a person's life was changed forever with the first jacket they won. When the players were neck and neck on the last few holes or in the playoff, who was going to come with magic? Who was going to fold?

It didn't matter what they were doing, watching competitors under that kind of pressure was gripping. I remember Olga Korbut too. I had probably never watched gymnastics before but the camera showing a close-up of her face going for the gold captured me, and the world.

How people perform under great pressure is exciting. Doesn't really matter what they are doing.

Hu
My photos are Casino 8-ball sets for American Pool. Been around forever.
 
Balls don't matter much in 8 ball but It'd be much more interesting if it was actually on tv(ESPN), I feel like there's been a big boom lately with all the online action but there's so many different sites that it's impossible to follow them unless you already know them. It's great there's pay sites for the big matches but almost no one will pay it except for die hards so it's not really helping push the game
 
how did golf get a dedicated channel ... a channel i always skipped ... an entire channel 24/7 dedicated to nothing but guys/gals swinging a club into a golf ball with a goal of ringing a hole. this is basically no different than pool
do you have any idea just how many people play golf worldwide? roughly 70million and a lot of those that play like to watch it for both tournaments or for instruction. my point is there is nothing inherent in the game of pool itself that keeps it off the tube. its how the game is perceived and presented. golf is an ad-man's wet dream. you have rich people playing/watching it and lots of commercial breaks to sell them pricey shit.
 
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