boring can pass... but repetitive?
Pool is Not Dead.....Just Transitioning
- Thread starter BasementDweller
- Start date
Poll has been transitioning for 40 years and nothing has gotten any better. Some can argue the level of play has gone up. i don't believe that either, the level of play hasn't gone up there are just more playing a little better.
i most clubs these days which are not pool rooms, the managers and ownership can't see three feet past the bar. They could care less about pool. may are very relaxed on the time issue in order to sell the booze.
When I was working on putting something together about 11 years ago I began to research the publications. At that time Inside Pool had the largest circulation and that was only about 21,000 per month. i was literally shocked at that number. i would have guessed at the time at least 25 X's that.
If you watch regionally around the country as a tournament nears it's end it is the same old story, the same crowd sticking around, with moist of them leaving about 15-20 minutes after last call and playing for the same amounts of money, nothing!
The only thing that keeps tournament pool alive today is the Players and their ability to "come up with" the entry feels and travel money.
This game is not easy and for most requires a lot of time. The players if they dare to gamble are bashed and ridiculed for gambling and not one match can go off without someone mentioning dumping and or deals made. The industry involvement is almost non existent and when they do NFL (Not for long)!
in transition? After 40 years would would thin there is day light somewhere but i don't even see a flicker!
Even look at the bill of goods good old KT was sole. They in two yers would have a self sustaining tour? That largely depended on 10- 12 qualifiers going on on weekends with 64 players at $1000 each anted???? You could get better odds on Mr Ed winning the Preakness.
So i say keep going to the tournaments and enjoy the Bud and Miller lite, you can see how much they really appreciate that!!
I'm talking about in my living room. In a pool room with live action, yeah, people can get a little excited, but when I'm at home I don't think I can get a group of guys to sit around and watch pool. The "spectucular" plays aren't that spectacular, they are just great pool which us players can appreciate.
And yes, this game is repetitive to watch. Especially at the professional level if you are not more than a casual player. Do you see a huge bowling following? Nah, it's repetitive in the same fashion. Sure there are moments of greatness, but generally buried in hours of boredom of the average person.
I don't necessarily find it repetitive. Is it difficult to understand that I'm talking about casual players and even non-players? I don't have to be an avid football PLAYER or basketball PLAYER or race car DRIVER to see the excitement in it and to find it exciting. I don't think the same is true for 99% of people as they flip through television channels. Pool isn't going to stop many non-players from clickin' on past.
Pool isn't going to stop many non-players not because it is repetitive ( which isn't ) but because it is
un-exciting. Huge difference.
These days, I watch more pool than I play (looong story).
After all these years, I still enjoy watching two folks match up- irrespective of their level of play.
It's the greatest game on the planet and, if the right people would ever take control of the it, could be as mainstream as any other individual sport.
Sadly, the industry has yet to produce those individuals- although many have tried.
Casual Observer...I don't think Mark Griffin wants to "take over" pool, but he is certainly doing more than his fair share to keep it going, and growing, from the amateurs all the way to the professionals. Keep up the good work Mark! :thumbup:
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
yes, but i'm talking about non-players. For a non-player pool is really boring. I heard this all the time from my friends non-players "Why he is waiting that much? He is straight-in" then you watch the layout and you see that with the straight-in angle the player can't go to the next ball.
Absolutely. I think people like to see players do the unthinkable in a match. Getting a really awkward angle on ball (eg straight in) is so much different than a guy driving into the trees and then puting the ball 8 feet from the hole on the green. Same amount of skill required either way, but the golf observers are ooohhing and aweing, while the pool observers are saying ho hum. It really is true, it's just kind of coincidental bad luck.... it's also real bad luck that our sport isn't one condusive to women running around in skimpy outfits like say tennis.... the bad luck comes from all angles in pool.
I promise you, your friends would be glued to the TV if the mosconi cup hit ESPN
People may find it boring on TV because they don't understand the physics of the game but ALMOST everybody has played pool in their lives and they all enjoy it. Wether it is to compete or recreational, people are drawn to see good play when its around.
Example:
How many times does it happen that you go to the pool hall surrounded by casual 8-ball players and after a few racks that they have been watching me play 9-ball with a buddy, they all try 9 ball for a while. It always happens. People love pool but their attention aren`t kept long enough to make them want to become 'players'.
I think we need to attract the recreational players first to build competition players and then can buy pool merchandises (cues, cases, books accessories) those players can get interested in the game.
League was a good idea but that's not enough. Its UNACCEPTABLE that everybody knows who Tiger Woods is but have never heard about Earl Strickland before.....Earl who again?
Example:
How many times does it happen that you go to the pool hall surrounded by casual 8-ball players and after a few racks that they have been watching me play 9-ball with a buddy, they all try 9 ball for a while. It always happens. People love pool but their attention aren`t kept long enough to make them want to become 'players'.
I think we need to attract the recreational players first to build competition players and then can buy pool merchandises (cues, cases, books accessories) those players can get interested in the game.
League was a good idea but that's not enough. Its UNACCEPTABLE that everybody knows who Tiger Woods is but have never heard about Earl Strickland before.....Earl who again?
El Diablo
Registered
Heroes
Not repetitive? You don't play much pool if you think it's not repetitive. How many times in the average pool playing night do you actually see a shot that makes you say "Wow, I haven't seen that one before." Pool IS repetitive and it is most certainly boring to watch unless you are a serious pool player.
Now, having said that, it can be entertaining for most normal people, but not if you are watching Ralf Souquet or God forbid Johnny Archer. We need more Keith McCready and Alex Pagulayan types to make it exciting, now those guys I could watch all day. To quote the movie Enemy at the Gates, "what we need are heroes.."
Not repetitive? You don't play much pool if you think it's not repetitive. How many times in the average pool playing night do you actually see a shot that makes you say "Wow, I haven't seen that one before." Pool IS repetitive and it is most certainly boring to watch unless you are a serious pool player.
Now, having said that, it can be entertaining for most normal people, but not if you are watching Ralf Souquet or God forbid Johnny Archer. We need more Keith McCready and Alex Pagulayan types to make it exciting, now those guys I could watch all day. To quote the movie Enemy at the Gates, "what we need are heroes.."
so every sport is repetitive.
It won't matter who the heroes are in the game. That's not the problem. And equating golf to pool? I'm sorry, but golf is FAR more difficult and FAR more exciting than pool.
I enjoy both games, but I certainly understand the ooh's and aww's about golf. Just about anyone can pick up a cue and start playing pool and start making balls, not the case with golf. You have a solid six months of hitting a driving range before you really have a chance at a game of golf. Then it's years of playing before you break 90. It's a terribly difficult game that requires a different level of skill and dedication than pool.
Both are just silly games, but it's not a wonder that golf has a larger following. Although the same is true about golf, it's incredibly boring to watch for a non-player.
I enjoy both games, but I certainly understand the ooh's and aww's about golf. Just about anyone can pick up a cue and start playing pool and start making balls, not the case with golf. You have a solid six months of hitting a driving range before you really have a chance at a game of golf. Then it's years of playing before you break 90. It's a terribly difficult game that requires a different level of skill and dedication than pool.
Both are just silly games, but it's not a wonder that golf has a larger following. Although the same is true about golf, it's incredibly boring to watch for a non-player.
Edited for accuracy from the second paragraph down.
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Haha, not really. I can take ANY 2 able bodied, mentally functioning people and put them in a room with a pool table and they can play a game of pool. It won't be fantastic to watch, but they will get through it.
In golf, it's not going to happen. If they haven't held a club in their life it's completely foreign. No concept whatsoever about what they are even trying to do. If you really think pool is as difficult or more difficult then golf, you're delusional.
You'd think though that would actually help pools case. I mean, just about anyone of all ages can play, but they don't.
2 cents (more)
To each his/her own - but with good marketing someone can easily bring pool back in to the mainstream. Golf is excessively boring to watch, but it was marketed correctly, became popular, and has become mainstream. The same could almost be said for bowling, fishing, hunting, or the myriad of other "sports" that get more airtime than pool. This is how it works, we just need someone to implement it:
No, pool is not exciting to watch for most people.
No, most people don't flock to pool rooms because it is the "in" thing to do.
However - if you tell people, and convince people that pool IS the thing to do and it IS exciting then they will flock to pool like sheep. That is how the masses think - they need someone to TELL them what is cool, what is popular, and where to spend their money.
Pool rooms filled up after The Color of Money, and why? Because that movie told people that it was cool to play pool. I'm just saying, that in my opinion, a very aggressive advertising and marketing campaign targeting new, young players is what is needed to revive the sport. Forget all about these failing ideas of bigger and better tournaments and concentrate on filling the pool rooms again. There will always be those that rise to the top, but having a larger pool of fish usually results in more "keepers".
You want more heroes of the game? You need to breed them from somewhere - and empty pool halls just won't cut it.
To each his/her own - but with good marketing someone can easily bring pool back in to the mainstream. Golf is excessively boring to watch, but it was marketed correctly, became popular, and has become mainstream. The same could almost be said for bowling, fishing, hunting, or the myriad of other "sports" that get more airtime than pool. This is how it works, we just need someone to implement it:
No, pool is not exciting to watch for most people.
No, most people don't flock to pool rooms because it is the "in" thing to do.
However - if you tell people, and convince people that pool IS the thing to do and it IS exciting then they will flock to pool like sheep. That is how the masses think - they need someone to TELL them what is cool, what is popular, and where to spend their money.
Pool rooms filled up after The Color of Money, and why? Because that movie told people that it was cool to play pool. I'm just saying, that in my opinion, a very aggressive advertising and marketing campaign targeting new, young players is what is needed to revive the sport. Forget all about these failing ideas of bigger and better tournaments and concentrate on filling the pool rooms again. There will always be those that rise to the top, but having a larger pool of fish usually results in more "keepers".
You want more heroes of the game? You need to breed them from somewhere - and empty pool halls just won't cut it.