U.S. OPEN 2026, Frisco, Texas, August 25-30
- Thread starter jbart65
- Start date
First major 9-Ball was Caesars Tahoe in 1982 on ESPN. Caesars Boardwalk and Caesars Palace events followed during the next year.
Probably just a nasal inhaler for a stuffed up nose.
There is no one dominant player today. That much is obvious. Any one of 25-30 guys now capable of snapping a big one, and they know it!
Sometimes it’s good to have a guy you love to hate. Respect the game, but rubs you the wrong way. Capito fills that role.
Something about when he gets down on the shot.
I remember when the Bears D was lining up presnap. The camera would always zoom in on Mike Singletary’s eyes. A picture of extra intense focus.
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You can tell this dude has bad intentions.
game face. lil ko and mario he also looks like genghis khan when down on the ball. noone looks meaner than niels though
What’s interesting to me is that a number of players have had a year or two where they seem like they are better than anyone else. But then it fades and tney are “just” another top 5 or 10 player.
Filler
FSR
Fedor
Yapp
But it’s not new really. Mika had a couple of those years. Alex. Darren. Shane.
I’ll take who invented cancel culture for $100.
TwistedTexasStyle
Active member
The harmonica player at the open ceremony nailed the National Anthem. I asked Emily to put it on youtube but she said that was not her department. They need to figure out whose job it is and get it out there. Americans will hit that link for years it was done so right.
It’s really challenging not to join in the political back-and-forth on this thread about Joe Rogan. He graciously came because he has a passion for pool and even stated that it is his favorite game. His logic about why pool is having difficulty growing as a sport on television was right on the money.
It’s fun for me and for other people who enjoy and/or play pool to watch three hours of pool on ESPN because we know the game. We understand how it is played. We recognize the difficulty of the shots on pristine equipment. We know the players and their personalities from social media and from attending pool tournaments.
We often hear that pool needs to grow to become a mainstream sport. Here’s an interesting comparison using the best available worldwide participation estimates:
• Snooker: 110–120 million players
• Pool/billiards: 200+ million amateur players*
• Darts: 17–20 million regular players
• Golf: approximately 66 million players
*The pool/billiards figure is from the World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) and includes the broader billiards family, so it should not be interpreted as 200 million pool players alone.
Darts has far fewer recreational players than pool or snooker, yet it has surpassed both in professional payouts and has developed an incredibly successful television product. Golf has the highest payouts of the four and an enormous television presence. Snooker has better payouts than pool and enjoys a substantial following, particularly on television overseas.
And then there’s pool. Pool is at the bottom rung of the ladder financially and in mainstream television exposure, yet look at how many people play it socially and recreationally around the world. That’s the fascinating part. Participation does not necessarily translate into mainstream visibility.
And therein lies the opportunity. There are millions upon millions of people who already know how to hold a cue, play a game, and love the competition. So how do we turn that enormous existing pool-playing population into fans of professional pool? Therein lies the question.
And FWIW, while people are busy spewing their political views about Joe Rogan, nobody seems to notice or perhaps nobody seems to want to discuss the billions of dollars being spent and the enormous number of controversial decisions being made in Washington, D.C. We’re talking about gold-leaf paint on statues, hundreds of trees being removed for a golf course to be named after you-know-who, a proposed $200+ billion ballroom, changes to historical building names, military deployments and questions about supplies (no toothpaste) and readiness, senior military leadership being removed leaving our country vulnerable to attacks, tariffs creating turmoil with long-established allies, and on and on it goes.
But Joe Rogan came to a pool tournament because he loves pool and wants to see the sport grow. And that’s what people want to argue about? Stop. Hey, what’s that sound? Everybody look what’s going down.
It’s fun for me and for other people who enjoy and/or play pool to watch three hours of pool on ESPN because we know the game. We understand how it is played. We recognize the difficulty of the shots on pristine equipment. We know the players and their personalities from social media and from attending pool tournaments.
We often hear that pool needs to grow to become a mainstream sport. Here’s an interesting comparison using the best available worldwide participation estimates:
• Snooker: 110–120 million players
• Pool/billiards: 200+ million amateur players*
• Darts: 17–20 million regular players
• Golf: approximately 66 million players
*The pool/billiards figure is from the World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) and includes the broader billiards family, so it should not be interpreted as 200 million pool players alone.
Darts has far fewer recreational players than pool or snooker, yet it has surpassed both in professional payouts and has developed an incredibly successful television product. Golf has the highest payouts of the four and an enormous television presence. Snooker has better payouts than pool and enjoys a substantial following, particularly on television overseas.
And then there’s pool. Pool is at the bottom rung of the ladder financially and in mainstream television exposure, yet look at how many people play it socially and recreationally around the world. That’s the fascinating part. Participation does not necessarily translate into mainstream visibility.
And therein lies the opportunity. There are millions upon millions of people who already know how to hold a cue, play a game, and love the competition. So how do we turn that enormous existing pool-playing population into fans of professional pool? Therein lies the question.
And FWIW, while people are busy spewing their political views about Joe Rogan, nobody seems to notice or perhaps nobody seems to want to discuss the billions of dollars being spent and the enormous number of controversial decisions being made in Washington, D.C. We’re talking about gold-leaf paint on statues, hundreds of trees being removed for a golf course to be named after you-know-who, a proposed $200+ billion ballroom, changes to historical building names, military deployments and questions about supplies (no toothpaste) and readiness, senior military leadership being removed leaving our country vulnerable to attacks, tariffs creating turmoil with long-established allies, and on and on it goes.
But Joe Rogan came to a pool tournament because he loves pool and wants to see the sport grow. And that’s what people want to argue about? Stop. Hey, what’s that sound? Everybody look what’s going down.
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Brah....go to their website.
No matter what color you play on....you won't be a rack runner.
Trump?
Many "decongestants" have stimulant properties.
When I saw him snorting that, I immediately wondered what WPA antidoping policy might have to say about whatever that was. The list of things you can't use is primarily normally prescribed medicines.
The question was about live televised events. I don’t recall one before the doubles Brunswick tournament that was live on TV.
The above events were shown live, with some games preopted for commercials, to fit a one hour window.
DieselPete
Well-known member
He is probably using a "focus stick."
The mechanism is rooted in olfactory stimulation. When a person unscrews the cap and sniffs deeply, the aromatic molecules quickly reach the olfactory receptors in the nose. These receptors feed directly into the limbic system—the part of the brain that manages emotion, memory, and physical arousal. The sudden, intense burst of cooling and herbal scents acts like a splash of cold water to the face, giving a rapid, non-chemical "pick-me-up".
Common scents are:
Menthol & Camphor: These provide an intense, crisp, cooling sensation in the nasal passages. This sudden sensory jolt stimulates the trigeminal nerve, creating an instant feeling of wakefulness and open airways.
Peppermint & Spearmint: These oils are highly favored in productivity blends because their invigorating scents naturally promote alertness and help cut through "brain fog".
Others include Rosemary, Citrus Oil, and Eucalyptus.
Like this:
Great to know!
dquarasr
Registered
My $0.01:
The gaffe by the Emcee (“Robbie Capote”) was absolutely inexcusable. Also, trying to make it sound like a wrestling match was IMO ill-advised.
The pre-match babbling by the on-air personalities was, um, awkward and pained. Their rhythm and cadence were forced and uncomfortable compared to other more confident and experienced TV personnel. That said, I can forgive this because, well, I consider it growing pains and hopefully it will be smoother next time, assuming there is one.
National Anthem: Yikes!
Joe Rogan was about as expected. Didn’t do a great job but didn’t embarrass himself or Matchroom, either. His comments were merely OK. JJ and KB were good and MW was good, too.
I am extremely disappointed that a hill-hill match wasn’t anticipated and too much fluff at the beginning of the show precluded finishing the match in the allotted time. I had recorded the broadcast so I had to watch the highlights video on YT (thank heaven it was available!) to see who had won. Truth is that highlights videos aren’t all that bad to watch. Can get through a 2.5 hour match in 30 minutes. Only drawback is that we miss the pace of play from each player, and often it is damned interesting to watch a player’s body language as he/she agonizes over how to execute a shot, especially when also watching the shot clock wind down.
Overall, with a few tweaks, next time, if there is one, can be even better (production-wise; hard to beat hill-hill which can’t be controlled by the producers.)
The gaffe by the Emcee (“Robbie Capote”) was absolutely inexcusable. Also, trying to make it sound like a wrestling match was IMO ill-advised.
The pre-match babbling by the on-air personalities was, um, awkward and pained. Their rhythm and cadence were forced and uncomfortable compared to other more confident and experienced TV personnel. That said, I can forgive this because, well, I consider it growing pains and hopefully it will be smoother next time, assuming there is one.
National Anthem: Yikes!
Joe Rogan was about as expected. Didn’t do a great job but didn’t embarrass himself or Matchroom, either. His comments were merely OK. JJ and KB were good and MW was good, too.
I am extremely disappointed that a hill-hill match wasn’t anticipated and too much fluff at the beginning of the show precluded finishing the match in the allotted time. I had recorded the broadcast so I had to watch the highlights video on YT (thank heaven it was available!) to see who had won. Truth is that highlights videos aren’t all that bad to watch. Can get through a 2.5 hour match in 30 minutes. Only drawback is that we miss the pace of play from each player, and often it is damned interesting to watch a player’s body language as he/she agonizes over how to execute a shot, especially when also watching the shot clock wind down.
Overall, with a few tweaks, next time, if there is one, can be even better (production-wise; hard to beat hill-hill which can’t be controlled by the producers.)
Who scored on Frisco Francisco? Wish I'd seen it.
if MW is mark wilson, that wasn't mark wilson. the third guy is scott frost