Add a couple zero's and you might catch joe publics eye even at that it's still pool
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US Open/Matchroom.
- Thread starter sydbarret
- Start date
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so much for my prediction of SVB’s retirement...this is awesome!
Will the Matchroom event be a WPA points event? Will Pat Fleming event be one as well? Which event will the European players attend? The Filipino's? Wonder who got the last laugh?
In an age where all I hear and read is "America First", this stinks! Can not believe Mark Griffin allowed this to happen. The crown jewel of American pool is just another event on the Matchroom schedule. I'm sad and mad. Not sure which is worse! JMHO.
Lyn
In an age where all I hear and read is "America First", this stinks! Can not believe Mark Griffin allowed this to happen. The crown jewel of American pool is just another event on the Matchroom schedule. I'm sad and mad. Not sure which is worse! JMHO.
Lyn
And I've always said be careful what you wish for because with that large purse you can expect a flood of Asian and Eruro players that will dominate the field and we are miles behind in the juniors so it's unlikely to change for many yrs if we are lucky since pool simply is way down the list of sports games in this country best it gets is kids who can't compete in other sports ,
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Sorry. I'm not talking about making Americans great at pool. While that would be great, I think the focus to start should be on making pool great in America. Barry Hearn and Matchroom have the knowledge and resources to give it a go.
Happened to turn on ESPN tonight. Their featured sport is, wait one, CORNHOLING"!!! Really? Pool comes behind that? Even the spelling bee is more interesting. For me it's right up there with Horseshoes. No wonder professional caliber pool is failing. Some major sponsors would rather invest in a sport I never new existed till tonight.
Lyn
All good stuff. Now let's hope the WPA recognises the winner of Pat Fleming's tournament as de facto US Open Champion for 2018 (they recognised two world champions in 1999 so this shouldn't be a big mental leap). If they do it now, it will elevate the status of the tournament.
It's WPA sanctioned....
In the interview Barry said it would be televised in the US!
I seem to recall that with the World Championships, the Qatari’s paid up more to stage the event and Barry no longer saw value in it. Who knows though, I suspect his master plan is to eventually get that back and set up a World tour.
As for prize money, he’ll build it up, look at darts and snooker, the World Championship winners alone get GBP 500k and (I think) GBP 425k respectively!
Nah, it wasnt Qatari, it was Ian Anderson of WPA who gave dates 3 weeks prior to planned WPC 9b to Yen Makabenta to stage inaugural WPC10b. Which pissed off Barry because his sponsors lost interest in WPC9b being so close after WPC10b and Barry called it a day as far as WPC was concerned. And as long as Ian Anderson is in charge of WPA Barry wont touch WPC with 10 meters long pole. Yes, if Barry decides that he wants to take over world pool he can definitely do it, he will just ignore WPA structure so his WPC would be something like World Pro 9b championships. But I am not convinced that it is something he wants to do...
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I watched it after all every out door party I've been to the last zeveral yrs has at least 1 set of boards , heck at my brothers where there is a pool table you got a long list to get on the boards and usually no one is playing pool ,
Making pool great in America ya in the eyes of pool players in the eyes of the general public not a chance
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This is a very interesting development, especially because Barry Hearn plans his moves very carefully and in long-term.
I think his move towards the US Open, the US market and therefore the US pool community has also to do with the circumstance, that he wants to protect his number one crowd puller the Mosconi Cup.
It was more or less Europe only for several years now and if this goes on and on, viewers and sponsors might loose interest in a one sided event. Strengthening the US Open might encourage young talents to become pro and force the established players to work and practice even harder to have a shot at the money.
If this happens, the overall quality of the US players will rise and also the MC team will become more competitive again.
I think his move towards the US Open, the US market and therefore the US pool community has also to do with the circumstance, that he wants to protect his number one crowd puller the Mosconi Cup.
It was more or less Europe only for several years now and if this goes on and on, viewers and sponsors might loose interest in a one sided event. Strengthening the US Open might encourage young talents to become pro and force the established players to work and practice even harder to have a shot at the money.
If this happens, the overall quality of the US players will rise and also the MC team will become more competitive again.
The US Open will now be run professionally, with referees for every match, will be televised globally, will have better prize money and a heftier cash for the champion. If the WPA sees that the 9 ball world championship is second best by a distance, as a global non-invitational tournament, it might be tempted (Anderson or post-Anderson) to sell to matchroom just to save a bit of face.
It saddens me to see the U.S. Open going to Vegas although I'm happy at the same time because Barry Hearn's involvement will be good for pool in general. It just doesn't seem like it was handled the way it should've been as it appears that Pat was not made aware of any of the goings on & he should've been as he's been the one running it the last several years as Barry wanted.
I was very glad to see that Pat will be holding his own sanctioned event in it's place which I will definitely be supporting.
I was very glad to see that Pat will be holding his own sanctioned event in it's place which I will definitely be supporting.
I talked to quite a few in the audience 2017, who'd been coming for years. With the drop off in audience and the location not creating the feeling of the past great events in the 90's it was going no where fast. Getting this venue in early spring in Vegas is a Great time and place and it's warm. Nearly every major airport has direct flights in.
If you make pool great in America then you will get great American players. There has to be that incentive.
Here in the states, we have way more kids just itchin' to play compared with other parts of the world. It's in our DNA so tah speed, and there's roughly 5,000,000 pool tables in homes in the US. Our melting pot of great players is only 5-7 yr away with the Open. We'll be open for business, worldwide next year.
What's the chances of EVER seeing a Chinese player acting/playing/crushing the game like the Pearl can and did. It's extremely difficult to make pool exciting to the general public, BUT Earl running the 10 pack "in the manner he did" for a million was over the moon. It's how American players play, like Jimmy Connors did in tennis, or Tiger in the PGA. Ten pack, way more difficult than any 147 in snooker. 9 ball is thee most aggressive pool game of all. The games of RA, Fats, McCready, Cole Dixon and the alike had personality, character and a way about em that was reality.