If Pool EVER Wants To be called a sport

Spot on. I totally agree.

I see this all the time, but I never see an explanation as to why pool needs to be faster. What exactly would that do?

Renegade_56 said:

I see this all the time, but I never see an explanation as to why pool needs to be faster. What exactly would that do?

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People are more likely to continue watching if the players aren't slow.

It's common sense.

Talk about slow.
I just recently started playing one pocket seriously.
Last Saturday i played 2 games and it took 3 hours! WTF.
Safe after safe.
Mind numbing.
It was for $10 a game.
I almost lost the last game on purpose but my ego would not let me do it.

BeiberLvr said:

People are more likely to continue watching if the players aren't slow.

It's common sense.

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Common sense? OK, we complain that there is a lack of pool, lack of pool coverage, lack of pool support, pool is dying, and on and on. So lets finally get pool coverage somewhere, maybe tv, and then hurry up and get done with it, so we can complain all over again,,,,,,,,,, and so on. Speed adds nothing to quality of play that's ever been proven, but there are maybe 10 percent of folks who want pool to be faster,,,,,,,, so play faster, contribute to your cause, but don't expect everyone else to play until they are ready.

measureman said:

Talk about slow.
I just recently started playing one pocket seriously.
Last Saturday i played 2 games and it took 3 hours! WTF.
Safe after safe.
Mind numbing.
It was for $10 a game.
I almost lost the last game on purpose but my ego would not let me do it.

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just play fast, it'll be over sooner than you think.

measureman said:

Talk about slow.
I just recently started playing one pocket seriously.
Last Saturday i played 2 games and it took 3 hours! WTF.
Safe after safe.
Mind numbing.
It was for $10 a game.
I almost lost the last game on purpose but my ego would not let me do it.

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This reminds me of something that happened to me.

I was in Grady's pool hall in SC playing one pocket on the front table. Wade Crane was sitting at the bar watching people and talking to Grady. I am the kind of guy that doesn't mind donating $100-200 to traveling pros as long as they are friendly. I wanted to extend that same courtesy to Mr. Crane.

Me: My name is Eric, would you like to play some cheap one pocket?
Him: How much a game?
Me: Maybe $20 a game?
Him: I think "cheap" one pocket should start around $200 a game.
Me: Thanks anyway.

After that, a local and I played for $20 a game and I dumped off $100 in maybe an hour. I play pretty quickly. Wade comes up to me after that and says:

"I'll tell you what, I'll play you some for $40 a game." I couldn't help but laugh and ask him what happened to starting at $200? I was just trying to donate, but he decided to sit there and do nothing instead of collecting my free money. Anyone who knows me also knows that I'd have bought the guy a few drinks in addition to the free money.

Johnnyt said:

Sports that draw viewers don't give the offense 2-5 minutes to study and shoot every shot. Pool is too slow and getting slower each year. Who the hell wants to watch a player stare at a shot for 5 minutes? Are the balls going to move on them. It looks like they never saw 75% of the shots before. Johnnyt

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All the sports I'm aware of that people will take the time to watch, are at the Pro level, as they're separated from the amateurs...which is why they're called Pro's. So, when is pool going to be represented by only the best Pro's in the public viewing eyes, and leave the amateurs and wannabes at home....to watch as well?

I think the problem with televised pool and why it has failed is because they tried to copy other sports with camera angles and over-talking. Pool needs to be left alone for what it is, a grinders game that pulls out all your emotion for all to see!!

Not some tuxedo gentleman's game.. this is a blood, sweat and tears!

These people are playing for rent money for crying out-loud!!

Fast, slow, hot, cold, don't matter, cause Goldilocks ain't turning on the TV.

Lets just face facts, pool is not a main stream sport like it use to be in it's heyday.

Lot of things have changed. TV has exploded with NETFLIX, and all the great shows on now. There are hundreds of channels. To get folks to stop on billiards is a huge uphill battle. I watch it on TV the few times it's on and my wife just goes to facebook on her Ipad until pool is over. Nothing there for her to even care about, even though I have a table in the basement and play leagues a few time a week, and occasional weekend tourney. She has ZERO interest. She loves baseball and football though, so it's not that she does not like sports. Plus she played HS basketball for 4 years.

Video games are through the ROOF. Pro video gamers make $1M per year, it's huge. They are not on TV either. There are so many activities now then before. Professional poker has blown up WAY big. And you don't need to practice 10 hours a day to compete

Plus, kids play sports year round, and they are watching the sports they play, baseball, football, hockey, soccer, basketball, etc.

My kid just started college, and there are 500 active organizations you can join, it's crazy. They do have a Billiards Club, looks to be about 15 kids. That's not a lot when you consider the university has 45K students and they recruited all of 15 for the pool team. And yep, they do play against Lindenwood University which is kind of cool. THey played them last weekend, they lost, but it's good for them to play good players.

ChicagoRJ said:

Fast, slow, hot, cold, don't matter, cause Goldilocks ain't turning on the TV.

Lets just face facts, pool is not a main stream sport like it use to be in it's heyday.

Lot of things have changed. TV has exploded with NETFLIX, and all the great shows on now. There are hundreds of channels. To get folks to stop on billiards is a huge uphill battle. I watch it on TV the few times it's on and my wife just goes to facebook on her Ipad until pool is over. Nothing there for her to even care about, even though I have a table in the basement and play leagues a few time a week, and occasional weekend tourney. She has ZERO interest. She loves baseball and football though, so it's not that she does not like sports. Plus she played HS basketball for 4 years.

Video games are through the ROOF. Pro video gamers make $1M per year, it's huge. They are not on TV either. There are so many activities now then before.

Plus, kids play sports year round, and they are watching the sports they play, baseball, football, hockey, soccer, basketball, etc.

My kid just started college, and there are 500 active organizations you can join, it's crazy. They do have a Billiards Club, looks to be about 15 kids. That's not a lot when you consider the university has 45K students and they recruited all of 15 for the pool team. And yep, they do play against Lindenwood University which is kind of cool. THey played them last weekend, they lost, but it's good for them to play good players.

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Pro e-sports are actually on TV now, I was in a hotel with my family and turned on some major network and they had a League Of Legends tournament on. A lot of the gamer money comes from Twitch and other streaming, not so much TV. TV as a thing has dropped a lot, outside of maybe sports. My kids don't watch TV shows, they watch Netflix and Hulu and Amazon Prime and YouTube.

In 50 years I doubt we will see TV as it is now, with specific channels showing shows at a set time. Only thing scheduled would be something live.

I cannot tell you how many people (casual players) ridicule the pros for playing "slop" 9 ball whenever they see it. It looks utterly ridiculous for a professional player to slop in a ball, raise his hand in apology to his opponent, and then run out. I think pros should at least call their shot if they insist on playing 9 ball, although that game is too easy for the best players. Pool needs a more interesting product to put on display, I used to think that is why they started playing 10 ball.

Just based on New England Because I don't work tournaments anymore. I would enjoy pool much more as a sport if I wasn't so discusted with the extremely loud thumping music. There is pool then there's the image of pool.

sammylane12 said:

I cannot tell you how many people (casual players) ridicule the pros for playing "slop" 9 ball whenever they see it. It looks utterly ridiculous for a professional player to slop in a ball, raise his hand in apology to his opponent, and then run out. I think pros should at least call their shot if they insist on playing 9 ball, although that game is too easy for the best players. Pool needs a more interesting product to put on display, I used to think that is why they started playing 10 ball.

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So you want the game to become more pedestrian?
...I don't want the game to sink to bar rules

Michael Webb said:

Just based on New England Because I don't work tournaments anymore. I would enjoy pool much more as a sport if I wasn't so discusted with the extremely loud thumping music. There is pool then there's the image of pool.

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Boy howdy on that. How difficult could it be to unplug the juke during a tournament?

Johnnyt said:

Sports that draw viewers don't give the offense 2-5 minutes to study and shoot every shot. Pool is too slow and getting slower each year. Who the hell wants to watch a player stare at a shot for 5 minutes? Are the balls going to move on them. It looks like they never saw 75% of the shots before. Johnnyt

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Interesting notion.

Please explain golf. That's boring as hell with huge gaps in "action" if you can even call it that...and it is pretty successful as a pro sport.

Once they reach the ball even pro golfers take a long time...and that does not account for the extensive time they are doing nothing but staring at the ball and the course like they have never seen that shot before.

And according to this study, the golf pros take longer than golf amateurs.

http://golftips.golfweek.com/long-player-shot-golf-20631.html


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I cannot stand the slow play. "Fast and loose" Pick up the pace! Burning day light!!

My biggest gripe in spectating is paying for the live stream, watch this big tournament for a couple of days, and then on Sunday, its 10pm and they are still playing for the hot seat! For those of us that work Monday morning, staying up till 3am to watch the finals is not much of an option. Just kind of a bummer to watch all weekend and have to continually miss the action when it starts getting good!

Maybe I am just getting old and my bedtime keeps getting earlier

FWIW, I watched some of the European players in the recent Moscow tournament this last weekend.

It became unbearable to watch and I gave up after a few games.

I don't care if somebody runs 8,000 balls without a miss, if it takes him a minute or two to shoot EVERY shot, no matter how simple, I'm not watching it.

There is NO WAY IN HELL the average Joe is going to watch pool on TV if this is the type of playing that is going to be done. I'm an AVID pool fan and have played for half a century and I won't even watch it.

Pool is NEVER going to get on TV and become successful without something to keep people awake. Watching 9-ball games that are strung out to look like one-pocket games isn't going to cut it. Pool needs shot clocks and people like Earl Strickland...action and personalities.

Pool players playing pool faster will not change anything in within the public's eye.
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Pool players give a sh!t about their game will change everything... :thumbup: