This Might Work To Help Pool and Charities

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
I believe this could/would make pool popular with all ages. Have TV stars, movie stars, sports stars, and any popular personalities favored by the mainstream play pool on TV with their own money and/or what people donate for the charities to the purse. It should be winner take all and all money going to a charity that the winner picks before hand. Before hand because I couldn’t stand seeing $50,000 going to save the fee-fee bird or some other silly a$$ thing that some would pick. Johnnyt
 

Tramp Steamer

One Pocket enthusiast.
Silver Member
I thought about this idea of yours Johnny. Kind of ran it up the old flag pole to see how it would wave, and you know something, I think you've got something here. 'Celebrity Billiards'. Watch you favorite star play pool for their favorite charity. Great idea for a TV summer filler. :smile:
 
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stljohnny

knowledge > execution. :(
Silver Member
I like this idea too. They should do teams, with pool pros. one pro, one actor would be a team. like they do those fancy golf tournaments. 'golfing with the stars' or whatever. lol

introduce the world to pool pros - and the game - all because they wanna see megan fox holding a stick and bending over.
 

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
I like this idea too. They should do teams, with pool pros. one pro, one actor would be a team. like they do those fancy golf tournaments. 'golfing with the stars' or whatever. lol

introduce the world to pool pros - and the game - all because they wanna see megan fox holding a stick and bending over.

I would like to see it tried w/o pro pool players...just the stars. Maybe have a taped tip or trick-shot from a pro or two each night it's on. The idea is people that tune in see thier favorite stars playing pool and they will see that it's cool to play pool.

On another note. Someone should come out with a set of pro pool player cards with their picture on front and bio and stats on back like other sports have. Johnnyt
 

ceebee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'd rather see the show with Professionals & Celebrities in a Skotch Doubles format. That would be a good Pro-Am intro into TV. Maybe Joe Rogan could MC the show & have a couple comedians doing the Raibird commentary

I think the idea is a winner, maybe the selected charity would like to be some kind of sponsor, if only in name & support.

Maybe a "practice run" could be done by TAR, at a big Casino in Vegas (with the locally performing artists could be used) so real people could attend. TAR could get some funds generated by Videos of the games & interviews.

Lets' get r done.... sound like a party to me.
 

LAlouie

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
And it's mindsets like this which will forever keep it in the grave. :/

Actually, you're extremely wrong. I enjoy playing pool. My enjoyment of the game is not dependent on the game's popularity. It is not my intention to "promote" the game, nor should it be. It also befuddles me as to why it's such a matter of importance to anyone other than those who are part of the industry. Thus my opinion of pool's lack of credibility with the general public has no affect on it's current state. Pool's problem is ages old, before our grandparents were born, so don't blame it's problems on me. If I'm spending money to play the game with a stick that I paid lot's of money for, don't tell me I'm keeping it in the grave. Do you gamble at pool? If you do, start by blaming yourself.

Just enjoy the game itself and you'll be happier.
 
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mikefeiman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
One of the biggest issues with having celebrities play pool in a televised format is that it doesn't make for very entertaining programming. While celebrity bowling worked well for ESPN a couple years back, pool is simply too hard for the average person who only picks up a cue a few times a year.

What might be more compelling is if you ran the event as a Shooting with the Stars doubles match, pairing a celebrity with a pro player. You could have vignettes showing the pro player and the celebrity training for the match (in essence what Dancing with the Stars does) and have them play a best of 3 format. Assuming you have about 40 minutes of programming to work with, you'd interlace the vignettes with the match, allowing producers to edit out the embarrassingly bad shots and you'd pull more appeal from a non-pool audience.

That's how I would do it anyway.
 

LAlouie

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Of course...there is the possibility that pool might be the only viewable program that could help 3-d television.:smile:
 

stljohnny

knowledge > execution. :(
Silver Member
Actually, you're extremely wrong. I enjoy playing pool. My enjoyment of the game is not dependent on the game's popularity. It is not my intention to "promote" the game, nor should it be. It also befuddles me as to why it's such a matter of importance to anyone other than those who are part of the industry. Thus my opinion of pool's lack of credibility with the general public has no affect on it's current state. Pool's problem is ages old, before our grandparents were born, so don't blame it's problems on me. If I'm spending money to play the game with a stick that I paid lot's of money for, don't tell me I'm keeping it in the grave. Do you gamble at pool? If you do, start by blaming yourself.

Just enjoy the game itself and you'll be happier.

I'm not suggesting you don't enjoy the game, I'm suggesting that not caring about pool's continued success is the problem. How many threads here are about pool halls closing versus opening? Pool needs [positive] exposure to the general public to thrive. It's obvious that the amount of people playing it now aren't enough to support it, on a national level. There are pockets of great pool communities (AZ, TX, NY), but that's not enough.

Just because you're happy in your town doesn't mean the rest of the country (or pool world) has the same supportive environment.

I don't gamble, so that's removes any personal attack you were trying for. However, there's a pro/con debate about gambling, and I'm sure you saw it here just a few weeks back. I can see both sides of it, but I'm not really a fan of gambling.
 

Black-Balled

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
And it's mindsets like this which will forever keep it in the grave. :/

I dunno about that. I think it is more accurate that AZB creates a greater sense of importance than is seen in real world.

(Generally,) Nobody wants to watch pool...except us!
 

stljohnny

knowledge > execution. :(
Silver Member
I'd be willing to bet there are plenty of celebrities that enjoy pool enough to be able to pocket a ball or two. They don't have to be gifted, but as long as they can mostly hold the cue, it should work.

I can see both ways - pros as coaches and scotch doubles. I'd rather see the doubles though - that way viewers can see great shots - coupled with the frustration of the celebrities trying to follow that act.

One of the biggest issues with having celebrities play pool in a televised format is that it doesn't make for very entertaining programming. While celebrity bowling worked well for ESPN a couple years back, pool is simply too hard for the average person who only picks up a cue a few times a year.

What might be more compelling is if you ran the event as a Shooting with the Stars doubles match, pairing a celebrity with a pro player. You could have vignettes showing the pro player and the celebrity training for the match (in essence what Dancing with the Stars does) and have them play a best of 3 format. Assuming you have about 40 minutes of programming to work with, you'd interlace the vignettes with the match, allowing producers to edit out the embarrassingly bad shots and you'd pull more appeal from a non-pool audience.

That's how I would do it anyway.
 

stljohnny

knowledge > execution. :(
Silver Member
I dunno about that. I think it is more accurate that AZB creates a greater sense of importance than is seen in real world.

(Generally,) Nobody wants to watch pool...except us!

Nobody wanted to watch poker 5 years ago either...
 

LAlouie

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm not suggesting you don't enjoy the game, I'm suggesting that not caring about pool's continued success is the problem. How many threads here are about pool halls closing versus opening? Pool needs [positive] exposure to the general public to thrive. It's obvious that the amount of people playing it now aren't enough to support it, on a national level. There are pockets of great pool communities (AZ, TX, NY), but that's not enough.

Just because you're happy in your town doesn't mean the rest of the country (or pool world) has the same supportive environment.

I don't gamble, so that's removes any personal attack you were trying for. However, there's a pro/con debate about gambling, and I'm sure you saw it here just a few weeks back. I can see both sides of it, but I'm not really a fan of gambling.

It is not a personal attack. It was a generic "you". Pool halls close for many reasons, not the least being that many are run by players or people who's "dream" has been to run a room. In other words, rooms are not run as a good BUSINESS, starting with too much comping to players to simply not doing due diligence on the business feasibility of a room.

It would be interesting to see an objective research done on pool demographics and it's innate issues. I happen to think that the game has a limited reach with inherent problems that give rooms a limited shelf life, ie the game is awkward for people to adopt(akin to golf) with a slow arc that requires people going out of their way to learn. As a comparison, it's much easier, and more enjoyable, to roll a bowling ball down the lane, hearing it crash into the pins, and jumping up and down with glee
 
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ceebee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Pro-Ams do several things for an audience. A "Shooting with the Stars" TV match would garner some audience that isn't daily players & it would definitely show the audience some "great big differences" between the casual players' & professionals' abilities to play the game.

Some of the audience would be generated to learn more about the game & a want-to learn more skills. Some of the none-playing audience might be aspired to try the game, to see how enjoyable Pool & Billiards can be. MOST all of the audience would enjoy the show & maybe even ask for more.

I don't see the show being formatted like POOL on TV... it has to have some personality, with lots of interaction between the players, the railbirds & the MC.

I wish the show some Good Luck
 

Tramp Steamer

One Pocket enthusiast.
Silver Member
Johnnyt,

I think you are dead wrong about not wanting the pros involved. I believe they are essential--but not in the tourney. They should be coaches working with the celebrities during practice sessions. This is simple to understand: People will tune in to see celebrities do anything (on this you are correct), but the ignorant public won't understand the amount of practice/dedication it takes to be great at pool without seeing stars learn from the pros.

Once you get the stars gushing about how much the pros taught them, you will see an interest in pool as a spectator sport.

Plus, I really want to see Efren coach a b-list starlet.


Great idea. Just like the skinny chick who helps out the calorically challenged people. :smile:
 

jason

Unprofessional everything
Silver Member
We've had celebrity softball, basketball and everything else you can think of under the sun. Frankly, I'm sick of all celebrity B.S. I don't want to ever see another celebrity on a game show either. I don't care if they do give the money to charity.

If you want a game show contestant, you can find plenty of hardworking Americans who have lost their jobs of 10, 20 or more years, people who have lost there homes in Katrina or another disaster, and countless other deserving people who could use a break.

Now, that I'm done with my rant, back to celebrity pool. Why? It won't do anything positive for pool in the long run. They will be a larger distraction then anything else.

I'm tired of the pool world thinking we are one big sponsor away, or one celebrity, or one shoe contract. From a business stand point, I wouldn't invest a dime in pool if I had a billion dollars.

Other sports are driven by industry sponsors, and inturn they attact outside sponsorship. Wait before you ream me on the sponsors part, read on. Pool doesn't have high turnover in their products, therefore little sponsor money. You can go your entire pool career with one stick, never buying a table, and a five dollar case if you had too. You don't need "pool shoes" like bowling, baseball, golf, soccer, basketball. Nascar is driven and sponsored by tire companies, oil, auto makers and hundreds of others. The closest pool has ever been to an "outside" sponsor was Camel and the Busch league sponsorship. Diamond, Viking, Simon all have more of an interest in pool, but will never have the resources to match companies like Camel and Busch.

If pool is ever going to be at level where we are satisfied, it must come from within. As much as I dislike the APA format, it is a sustainable system. It doesn't do anything for the pro-level, but it works as a business model. Pool is never going to be like the NFL because it is boring to watch. Face the facts, it is.

So what will a couple celebrities do for pool? Nothing at all. That doesn't mean that the credibility of someone like Joe Rogan and the money of someone like Kevin Tredue can't help give the sport a boost. It could, but in the long run it must be driven and supported by our peers.
 
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