This Makes Me A Little Sad

I came around much later after you, but for me a real bummer was when JB stopped posting on a regular basis.

I liked his feisty, never back down attitude and his barking with Lou reminded me of the old days in a pool hall when that type interaction was common.

I had an epiphany.

You people post more and we will have more posts!

I find that the forum goes through ebbs and flows. Sometimes engagement is really high and something posted in the morning is off the front page by the afternoon. Then it goes into a lull, I think particularly during summer months.

Sometimes all threads are about cues and tips which may excite some people and then we go through periods with lots of insider information, tournament talk, player discussion etc.

I expect things to pick up again after the summer is over. I think for some people the golf clubs are getting more use at the moment.

Kickin' Chicken said:

Been coming to AZB for about 13 years, officially joined 11 years ago and it became part of my daily morning routine. A hot cup of coffee and tear into all of the great content - Scooter and co taking off car wash bill changers for the quarters, Dippy, Billy, Scott and the tush hogs, JB & Lou barking to make their big 1p game then the aftermath, "Dildo Hair" escaping out the bathroom window while down in her money match with OMGWTF, kvinbrwr acquiring Michaela Tabb's gloves from Matt & Pinklady, Charlie Williams hotel escapade, Smorg's gems, Derek Disco's Nazi and other spectacular animations, Aiming Wars, TAR, which cuemaker went the most sideways (Wheat, Sutton, Gracio, Zinzola, etc, etc) Bill Stroud's "Design Your Dream" (or Nightmare, as it turned out), the Geno & Rhea road tour, and on and on and on...

There seemed to be an endless variety of interesting and extremely entertaining topics going on all the time on AZB. I know times change and Facebook has taken a lot of contributors away but I do and always will have massive appreciation for the info and entertainment provided here. I wish it could remain the central clearinghouse for all things pool, from A to Z.

I see when scrolling all the way down to the bottom of page 1 there's not been much movement at all in the previous 24 hours. And not a monumentally entertaining thread for what seems like miles.

Can anything be done about this or do we just accept that change is imminent?

best,
brian kc <---- still prefers AZB above all others

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KC, I was just the other day thinking the same thing you are about what seems to be a downturn of threads here on AZB.

We all know that when something is new the excitement of it being there puts it at it's height of it's popularity. Naturally, as with many other things, AZB has the "new" wearing off of it. After years and years of threads, there just isn't as much stuff to cover as there used to be. Much subject matter has been covered ad nauseum. Then you get new members on here seeking instruction/information about something that has been covered in the past multiple times and many longtime members rip them a new one for posting a question that's been discussed many time on here. That makes some leave and you never hear from them again.

Then, there are the "Which _ _ _ _ is the best for me to buy" threads that are subjective and opinionated and really don't get as many replies as they used to because these types of questions become redundant to long-time AZB'ers.

Then, as with all other types of talk forums, you have the arrogant type of posters that come on here spouting their opinions as if they are "God's gift to pool". They will argue their opinions and call other poster's opinions hogwash...and this turns people off to the point that they don't even want to contribute anymore. Me, I've been on here long enough to sniff out these detriments to the forum and just scroll past their posts, but some people just have to argue their points and turn an otherwise good thread into mush.

If we would have more threads concerning pool "stories" both personal and from past experiences with some of the better players, I think you'd see more movement on the Main Forum page. JMHO

That said, the Wanted/For Sale forums are still flourishing.

Maniac (trying to do his part in keeping this thing going)

For me AZBilliards jumped the shark when JAM left.

efirkey said:

For me AZBilliards jumped the shark when JAM left.

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She's still around, just not as much as we'd like her to be.

Maniac

Kickin' Chicken said:

Been coming to AZB for about 13 years, officially joined 11 years ago and it became part of my daily morning routine. A hot cup of coffee and tear into all of the great content - Scooter and co taking off car wash bill changers for the quarters, Dippy, Billy, Scott and the tush hogs, JB & Lou barking to make their big 1p game then the aftermath, "Dildo Hair" escaping out the bathroom window while down in her money match with OMGWTF, kvinbrwr acquiring Michaela Tabb's gloves from Matt & Pinklady, Charlie Williams hotel escapade, Smorg's gems, Derek Disco's Nazi and other spectacular animations, Aiming Wars, TAR, which cuemaker went the most sideways (Wheat, Sutton, Gracio, Zinzola, etc, etc) Bill Stroud's "Design Your Dream" (or Nightmare, as it turned out), the Geno & Rhea road tour, and on and on and on...

There seemed to be an endless variety of interesting and extremely entertaining topics going on all the time on AZB. I know times change and Facebook has taken a lot of contributors away but I do and always will have massive appreciation for the info and entertainment provided here. I wish it could remain the central clearinghouse for all things pool, from A to Z.

I see when scrolling all the way down to the bottom of page 1 there's not been much movement at all in the previous 24 hours. And not a monumentally entertaining thread for what seems like miles.

Can anything be done about this or do we just accept that change is imminent?

best,
brian kc <---- still prefers AZB above all others

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Brian, I think it was about a year ago I mentioned this very thing to MH.

AZ (and perhaps much of social media) has changed, evolved, and devolved over the last half dozen years. In the case of AZ it's been a dramatic change. Sure, not all are equally devoted to participating here. Posters come and go and for some it's not their cup of tea. Others try it out and find that, despite it being just a bunch of pool players here, the bar is relatively high for logical thought and writing skills.

There are two things I've noticed about how AZ has changed. First, in the majority of threads people don't talk to each other anymore. People's comments are stove-piped and fewer attempt to engage in a conversation, make a return comment, ask a question, offer a compliment or opposing view. That wasn't the case in years gone by when people were willing to talk, ask questions, and give and take a little heat. I know that's not universal across all threads, just in many more of them than before.

Another issue is the administration has chosen to cast out or alienate some of the bigger personalities that provided the spice to the stew here -- guys with opinions who aren't afraid to give them voice. Somehow, the distinction has been lost between an opinion and a base insult. As an example, in all the shots, arguments, and woofing he did I never put JB on Ignore because John had a unique perspective and an internal logic to his rants -- in his case it wasn't a matter of insulting just for the sake of insulting, like some others. So now we have a pretty bland, boring stew and if that was the goal, we got it.

Lastly, I don't know about others, but I personally feel less motivated to originate threads, write trip reports, and offer original stories like I used to just a few years back. I like to think those contributions to the forum made AZ a slightly more interesting place. I am not inclined to do much of that anymore.

Lou Figueroa

I feel it too Brian. One of the things that may be a contributing factor is the ever increasing use of cell phones and small tablets. I am on one now and it’s not much fun typing with sausage thumbs.

You and I joined about the same time and your recap of days gone bye made me laugh.

Big tourneys or crazy action matches always breath a little life into the forum but it is not like it was. In my opinion the members who migrated away to other forms of scocial media still keep an eye on the old standby AZB and chime in when they want too.

I miss Patrick Johnson.....sharp and literate.....calls a spade a spade.

...yeah, he doesn’t suffer fools gladly...maybe you could tone it down a bit, PJ....
....tell a man he’s full of it more like Oscar Wilde would.

1. I've seen countless times when newbie joins and ask a question they get the -> "Search button would help"
Why not just answer the question and begin a new topic ?

2. There is only so much "pool talk" that you can come up with. New innovations would have to happen to spark new threads/ new posts/ new comments etc..

3. First was maple shafts, talked to death about it / then came LD and sparked a whole different conversation which is now been talked to death, and with REVO yet another but not different then previous 2.

4. Perhaps if pool actually changed, maybe a new game? Prob wont happen and we are going in a different direction. Now its 8ball, 9ball, maybe 10, and 1 pckt / no more banks talk, or straight

then again i have no clue i dont play league or nothing

Yeah this place died back in 2017

I miss Neil’s WWYD threads.
God bless Neil

I blame Zucker…...

Apocalypse2017 said:

Yeah this place died back in 2017

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:rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1:
....as long as your sense of humor doesn’t croak, we gonna be all right.

Black-Balled said:

I had an epiphany.

You people post more and we will have more posts!

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Everybody sing!!!...


...We are the World
We are the Children
We are the ones for a brighter day
So let's start posting...



Jeff Livingston

As much as I hate to say it....another Justin b 386 would definitely spur a lot a posting on here

:thumbup2: