Seriously, how lame has pool become?!

Couldn't agree more!

Every sport is lame.
Nfl has a bunch of convicts giving each other c.t.e.
Baseball and hockey have about a bazzillion games
(Who can follow all that?)
Tennis, golf, car racing, boring is an understatement.
Ufc and boxing where you can watch bloody fist fights
Have piss poor viewership outside of a few events per year/ decade.
Pool is an even more obscure, niche hobby than all of those.
If you like it watch it.
If you dont who gaf.
Not every player plays earl, shaw, and dragos pace.

Straightpool_99 said:

So I watched the semi-final of the US open, Kaci vs. Ruiz...Now, before I say anything else, I consider myself to be someone not easily bored! ut I couldn't for the life of me stay awake during a US OPEN SEMI FINAL! I mean, what's the purpose of a shot clock when players overrun it on EVERY SHOT, even a 2 foot hanger?! 40 bleedin' seconds on that shot! I have seen a lot of f-ed up things, and I've sat through some snoozefests, but this really was something else. For the first time in my life I had to seriously ask myself "What sort of person watches this?", and I didn't like the answers..I think they have to legalize drugs here before I watch another match like that.

And Mark Wilson...I know you Americans love him to death, but he could put a charging Rhino to sleep in less than 3 paces! Diliberto I can put up with. I feel like I know him, having listened to his commentary for so many years. He makes mistakes, but somehow it makes him even more likeable. I don't know how he does it, lol. Even that factor couldn't save this.

Something has to change in the pool world IMO. 9-ball just doesn't cut it anymore as a pro sport, unless the equipment changes dramatically. You can argue that it was never a proper pro sport to begin with, and IMO you would be right. It's a bloody disgrace to have to play this game to determine who the best player in the country is! Can you imagine 9 ball being the standard measure of pool skills? Mosconi must be spinning in his game at 900 rpm! At it's absolute best it's a decent gambling game. Now it has become a cheaters haven with almost all of the attention being put on racking and referee decisions rather than the play (that should tell you something), and recently it has somehow gotten so boring, that even a one pocket wedge game could give it competition. Who cares how high the level of play gets if even hardcore players can't stand to watch it? I mean the world pool championship is being held in empty hangars in the freakin' desert and still even the people playing won't watch the matches! If it gets any more boring the next place it will be held is in the Antarctic. Can we AT LEAST agree to put a 30 second shot clock that is actually being enforced on the late tournament games? That way the agony will at least be shortened.

Click to expand...

Find a game other than 9 ball that Americans will watch.

Tried:
9 ball
10 ball
8 ball
Bonus Ball
Straight pool
1 pocket

9 ball(sometimes 10 ball) is the only game that can currently hold a fan base in the US and a pretty small one at that.

Also, you clearly didn’t understand how the shot clock at the US Open worked. It was much more fair to players who play a bit slow. 30s is much too fast, especially with some complex saftety play.

While I agree Kaci was taking too much time on a lot of shots, he was likely playing to support himself.

I tell you what, we’ll change your job to performance based pay, and I’ll chase you around with a 30s stop watch.....we’ll see how well you can do your job and make enough money to support yourself.

On the commentators, I agree. Time to find new ones.

I liked it. Paid for it, watched it, loved every second.
Was appalled at Big Ko's treatment, but otherwise, that was some good s(*&.
Danny's too old, but his voice is gold, and I love his wallet shtick. Mark is great, don't know what anyone is talking about.
Field was insane, level of play was insane, etc.
I mean, it ain't no derby city, but man was that awesome.

IMHO. I think Jeremy Jones is one of the better commentators.

Sadly, I have to agree. The last fast-paced US Open I remember was 1984, at the Quality Inn at Lake Wright. Everybody played fast, Earl won the tournament.

Since then, I can't think of one that wasn't a funerial pace. I don't know what happened. Racking became a nightmare, whether racking for yourself, or the opponent. Took forever. Then, the shotmaking. Slowed down horrendously.

My favorite matches were when Earl or Keith were playing; you knew it was going to be entertaining and fast paced. Today, it can be more like a chess match.......... by mail.

All the best,
WW

You can put all the lipstick you want on a pig it's still a pig at the end of the day , the only people who watch pool are either players or former players , the game simply has no real entertainment value it could be better by small increments but that's the best you will get in this country ,

1

I do love me some c8b.
Wish I had an answer also.
I dont think its speed or commentary.
Golf is very slow at the pro level.
Maddens commentary was brutal in nfl.
Big prize money in poker held for a few years.
Highly marketed grudge matches in fight sports.

I have no idea what to do. I watch because I can relate
to the skill on display. I find it entertaining. DD, insidepools
Alvin, upstate Al, etc. Yuck! I get it. Super slow play, I get it.
I just take the good with the bad I guess.

Straightpool_99 said:

So I watched the semi-final of the US open, Kaci vs. Ruiz...Now, before I say anything else, I consider myself to be someone not easily bored! ut I couldn't for the life of me stay awake during a US OPEN SEMI FINAL! I mean, what's the purpose of a shot clock when players overrun it on EVERY SHOT, even a 2 foot hanger?! 40 bleedin' seconds on that shot! I have seen a lot of f-ed up things, and I've sat through some snoozefests, but this really was something else. For the first time in my life I had to seriously ask myself "What sort of person watches this?", and I didn't like the answers..I think they have to legalize drugs here before I watch another match like that.

And Mark Wilson...I know you Americans love him to death, but he could put a charging Rhino to sleep in less than 3 paces! Diliberto I can put up with. I feel like I know him, having listened to his commentary for so many years. He makes mistakes, but somehow it makes him even more likeable. I don't know how he does it, lol. Even that factor couldn't save this.

Something has to change in the pool world IMO. 9-ball just doesn't cut it anymore as a pro sport, unless the equipment changes dramatically. You can argue that it was never a proper pro sport to begin with, and IMO you would be right. It's a bloody disgrace to have to play this game to determine who the best player in the country is! Can you imagine 9 ball being the standard measure of pool skills? Mosconi must be spinning in his game at 900 rpm! At it's absolute best it's a decent gambling game. Now it has become a cheaters haven with almost all of the attention being put on racking and referee decisions rather than the play (that should tell you something), and recently it has somehow gotten so boring, that even a one pocket wedge game could give it competition. Who cares how high the level of play gets if even hardcore players can't stand to watch it? I mean the world pool championship is being held in empty hangars in the freakin' desert and still even the people playing won't watch the matches! If it gets any more boring the next place it will be held is in the Antarctic. Can we AT LEAST agree to put a 30 second shot clock that is actually being enforced on the late tournament games? That way the agony will at least be shortened.

Click to expand...

I think something needs to change in your world. You've made over 3,000 posts here so you've obviously into the sport, but why is it you've yet to figure out that games, players, rules, strategies etc. don't always go down the way you expect them to, or to your liking?

You want drama and endings that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout? Go to the theatre or watch TV wrestling. I should not have to tell you (but I will) that tournaments routinely do not finish in compelling fashions. Similar to any other sport.

Look I'm not the biggest fan of 9-ball either. I find it the least compelling of all disciplines. But you have to admire the final players making it through that field. Whether you like their style or not.

I just spent a week watching live the American 14.1 Straight Pool tournament. I could easily make an argument that there was a lot of time during the tournament that would be classified as boring by your standards. But seeing things like Albin Ouschan come back from 117-7 with an 118 ball run to win a race to 125 makes it all worthwhile. Maybe you need to try something like this to perhaps alter your attitude for the game, or maybe it will drive you away forever. Either way, the game will be better in the end.

My $0.02. It's not the game or the shot clock or the rules or whatever. It's the lack of flashy talent. We have no "king" of pool.

Golf is terribly slow, but when you have a Tiger making the game exciting - people watch. Snooker can be hard to watch, unless Ronnie is playing. They might score one goal in an entire soccer game - but get a Messi or Ronaldo and it's exciting. On the other end of the spectrum, everybody scores in basketball, but get a Lebron and stadiums are filled.

We don't need another game. Or a way to entertain the lowest common denominator. If we had a Michael Jordan of pool, the stands will be filled in a one pocket tourney. We've got a bunch of good players, but no one the general public could identify.

I bet if you asked 100 random people on the street, *maybe* 10 people could even name a single pool player, and if they did, it would probably be Mosconi or Minnesota Fats -- both popular over 4 decades ago...

-td

Straightpool_99 said:

A normal person would literally die of boredom watching this, of course you'd have to restrain them "Clockwork orange style"...

Click to expand...

:rotflmao1:

Watching it with a bit of the ol' Ludwig van and some eye drops.

Good points.

td873 said:

My $0.02. It's not the game or the shot clock or the rules or whatever. It's the lack of flashy talent. We have no "king" of pool.

We've got a bunch of good players, but no one the general public could identify.

I bet if you asked 100 random people on the street, *maybe* 10 people could even name a single pool player, and if they did, it would probably be Mosconi or Minnesota Fats -- both popular over 4 decades ago...

-td

Click to expand...

This aint hard. Pool is for Pool players.

Back I Mosconi and Fats day there were only 3 channels of black and white TV, you watched what was presented, now you watch what you want on over 500 channel options.

Back in there day it was no X Games, PlayStation, Xbox, MP3, etc, ect ect.., its an up hill battle..., maybe a Really good movie, not about Pool, just one where the Pool is a big part of the story?

Welp, this is just my 2 cents but it is clear we all want pool to be a bigger game than what it is when it comes to audiences and prize pools, but unfortunately imo pool is still plagued by the idea that it is full of dirtbags scamming people out of money.

as for the product itself, i praise the us open for implementing the rules they have the last two years. i think 9 ball is not a very good game for the pros to play but it has become the standard in the last 40 or whatever years. i don't think we can go back to anything else and 10 ball just seems so lost anyone running pro level events.

I do applaud appleton and the chinese for trying to get 8 ball back as the premier game, but i do not think it will take over 9 ball.

and as much as people hate the apa, you got to give them credit. they have literally taken people who would not know anything about pro pool and given them a state where they can brag to their friends that they accomplished the highest level of amateur pool.

I assume I'm in the minority here but I don't think 40 seconds is a long time to wait for someone to shoot at all. I didn't find the matches boring--I wish some of them were closer--but I didn't find them boring.

I must be sick because I still enjoy watching good pool being played. Over the last few decades I've watched a lot of great matches before packed houses in smaller arenas (250-500 people) and no one stirred while a player was shooting, and no one left until the match was over. I can't tell you how many tournaments I've attended (almost all 9-Ball) where there was not a seat to be found and it was standing room only. We had as many as 1,500 in attendance at the original L.A. Opens in the 90's. The Bicycle Club events also had turn away crowds where the fire marshals had to say no one else can come in.

Pool needs to be marketed in the right areas where there is a large base of pool fans, and create an exciting product for them to see. Only then will you attract a decent sized audience. Look what Matchroom has done with the Mosconi Cup, a sell out year after year.

Will we ever see large audiences of thousands, I don't know? It is what it is, a niche sport that has appeal to a certain fan base, who will support quality events. It doesn't mean the game is flawed because 10,000 people don't want to watch it live. It just means there are fewer hard core fans who appreciate the skills required to play at the highest level.

I also am dismayed at the lack of quality tournaments in the USA currently. We had anywhere from ten to twelve major events here at one time and they were paying as big or bigger money then the current crop of tournaments. There are a variety of reasons why many of these events went away; usually due to conflicting schedules, a lack of organization and petty squabbling between different entities who wanted to control professional pool.

Personally, I produced two immensely popular (and very lucrative for the players) L.A. Opens in the early 1990's, only to see the men's association boycott the second one and put me out of business. Seeing my "friends" turn against me was a major disappointment and caused me to have second thoughts about ever doing it again. I pretty much kept my wallet closed after that and only got involved in smaller scale events. I think there are quite a few others that will tell similar stories about the road blocks they encountered in trying to put on a major pool tournament, both from the players themselves and the associations they belonged to.

All that said, I remain a pool fan and continue to support the game in a variety of ways. The pool world is full of people like me who love the game and enjoy watching the best players compete. Lamenting the lack of tournaments and larger purses does nothing to help the situation. Supporting the tournaments we do have and contributing to the growth of the game in some way is a much more positive response.

Young people start playing pool for the sheer love of the game, and thoughts of making a living at it are secondary. Their bottom line is not about making money, but about the challenge of playing arguably the greatest game man ever invented. For that reason, pool will never go away. It will continue to attract sports minded youth as long as they can find a table, a set of balls and a cue stick. As we all know, it has an attraction that can hold you for a lifetime. That's good enough for me.