Losing a generation.

macguy

macguy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Maybe this is not the right time to write this I am feeling so down today.
I don't think I am overstating it to say we are losing a very interesting generation of pool players as they age and are one by one leave us. These were the guys of Johnston City era and the big boom in pool that came about through the 60's and 70's. They hit the road and played every place they could find a game.

They matched up, had heart, weren't nits, played all games and played the game with a real enthusiasm that may be rare today. 24 hour sessions, feast or famine they didn't care, they played with abandon. Their world was selfishly the pool room and not much else interested them. I doubt many of them ever voted, had a credit card or could tell you what was in the news of the day.

They spoke their own language and lived their own way with no apology and now they are leaving us one by one. They were an interesting and unique group. For most, the world will never take much note of them and to some, they were even easy to look down on, few ever really had much or owned much. Secretly though, they were also looked up to and admired.

For many of us old enough to have seen many of them when they were at the height of their powers, it was rare a privilege. Sitting in a pool room, 4 in the morning, watching two of these titans go at it with no time limit and neither showing any weakness, it just doesn't get any better then that.
 
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Zphix

Zphix

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Even for me who has never been able to meet any of these phenomenal players - it truly pains me to see these qualities in pool players dying.

Nothing is better for me than staying in the poolhall til 2 in the morning when it closes just watching people play, playing yourself, and enjoying the game.

So far I only know of one other person in my generation that enjoys this as much as me - hopefully I can persuade my generation to enjoy this game as much as all of the older generation does.

-Richard
 
trustyrusty

trustyrusty

I'm better with a wedge!
Silver Member
we all must go sooner or later....the older ya get the later you want it to be! Remember back when you were 20, and said, "man, 60 is SO old". Losing friends, aquaintances, or even heroes with a shared love of your own does SUCK! Hope it makes some meet and talk to some of those that are still with us....

BTW, to one of my faves growing up - R.I.P. Tony Gwynn :sorry:
 
measureman

measureman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
trustyrusty said:
we all must go sooner or later....the older ya get the later you want it to be! Remember back when you were 20, and said, "man, 60 is SO old". Losing friends, aquaintances, or even heroes with a shared love of your own does SUCK! Hope it makes some meet and talk to some of those that are still with us....

BTW, to one of my faves growing up - R.I.P. Tony Gwynn :sorry:
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I remember as a kid in the 1950s thinking that seeing the year 2000 was a big deal.
Then I did the math and realized I would be 52 years old :(
Big bummer to a little kid.
And yes I remember how it was back in the day with the old time players.
Not the same today.But what is? Time marches on.
 
sjm

sjm

Older and Wiser
Silver Member
No doubt, we are losing some pretty special people that were associated with our game. Guys like Freddie the Beard and George Fels are truly irreplaceable.

On the other hand, we've still got Billy Incardona, Truman Hogue, Nick Varner, Jimmy Fusco, Mike Sigel, Jim Rempe, Allen Hopkins, Ray Martin, Dallas West, Lou Butera, Eddie Kelly, and so many other elder statesmen of the game of pool. Let's show them all what they mean to us every chance we get.
 
PINKLADY

PINKLADY

ICNBB
Silver Member
sjm said:
No doubt, we are losing some pretty special people that were associated with our game. Guys like Freddie the Beard and George Fels are truly irreplaceable.

On the other hand, we've still got Billy Incardona, Truman Hogue, Nick Varner, Jimmy Fusco, Mike Sigel, Jim Rempe, Allen Hopkins, Ray Martin, Dallas West, Lou Butera, Eddie Kelly, and so many other elder statesmen of the game of pool. Let's show them all what they mean to us every chance we get.
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OP - it's perfect timing. thank you.
i like what ABR is doing, because Mr Bond & Chicago Billiards Museum preserves what may be, the last interview.
 
R

RADAR

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ya i sure miss the good old days when we had a lot more pool halls and ones at universities that had so many tables as well. Great pass time i miss. We need to get young generation of kids some way some how interested in pocket billiards! Perhaps like golf always about lots of money?
 
Zphix

Zphix

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
RADAR said:
Ya i sure miss the good old days when we had a lot more pool halls and ones at universities that had so many tables as well. Great pass time i miss. We need to get young generation of kids some way some how interested in pocket billiards! Perhaps like golf always about lots of money?
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In all honesty - my generation is really only attracted to what's "in" at any given time - namely sex, adventure, blah blah blah. So, unless you market pool as something that hot chicks, or famous people play then you really won't grab my generations attention.

It's a pity though because it is a phenomenal past time and it's something you can never stop improving at. But people see it as pretty simple - just balls on a table, and a stick --- to most, it's nothing spectacular... until you really pick up a cue and start to play.

I really don't want pool to die with my generation though.
 
B

bdorman

Dead money
Silver Member
Zphix said:
In all honesty - my generation is really only attracted to what's "in" at any given time - namely sex, adventure, blah blah blah. So, unless you market pool as something that hot chicks, or famous people play then you really won't grab my generations attention.

It's a pity though because it is a phenomenal past time and it's something you can never stop improving at. But people see it as pretty simple - just balls on a table, and a stick --- to most, it's nothing spectacular... until you really pick up a cue and start to play.

I really don't want pool to die with my generation though.
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That means your generation is no different from those that came before it, or will come after it.
 
LC3

LC3

Playing the table
Silver Member
Interesting topic. Could it be that it's harder these days to live that life?

Who in the current generation are likely to be pool legends?
 
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HoldemRw

HoldemRw

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Biggest problem with loosing the pool hustlers and road warriors is the media. U cant do those things these days cause of places just like this AZ, TV, Facebook. Billiard websites and msgazines. Not saying that is bad thing it promotes more players but kills the road warriors. Kind of hard if ur somebody like earl Strickland to walk in pool hall and play it off like he is just a decent shooter when u see his face on front cover of inside pool magazine haha.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I527 using Tapatalk
 
macguy

macguy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
LC3 said:
Interesting topic. Could it be that it's harder these days to live that life?

Who in the current generation are likely to be pool legends?
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Not harder, impossible. And really who would really want to. Costs alone make it not possible. There really was a time when traveling and playing/hustling pool was a living. I know few ever saved up anything but you can say that about a lot of people in jobs.

There was a time of $.35 gas and a motel for $6.00 a night. People supported a family on $4.50 an hour. In fact to be accurate I looked it up and in 1971 the annual median household income was $9028.00.

At this same time bar tables were appearing everywhere, small pool rooms were everywhere and new players were taking up the game along with guys who may have played when they were young and now were rediscovering it again.

Playing for a few dollars was easy to find anywhere you went. A $5 or $10. game was a big bet. Honestly, with very little effort a player with a reasonable amount of skills could grind out a decent living and probably a lot more then they could at the average or even above average job, (see my figures above). If you managed yourself and didn't waste your money It was actually, a good profession.

It only lasted a few decades though and it was over. Times changed, people changed, no one carried money anymore they have credit cards and ATM cards. There was a time when on a Friday night you went into a bar and every guy in the place had his pay check in his pocket. In fact bars would cash checks in the hopes they would stay there and do some spending. You knew when you went in there there was money there. Today a guy in a three piece suit may have $8.00 in his pocket.

The pool table was open all you had to do was put up your quarter or write you name on a black board and you were in action. No one ever got hurt, people would play a few games lose a few dollars and as you stayed there playing you accumulated some here some there and it added up. There was just so many people and places to play and they all got up and played, they would all bet their $2.00. or $3.00

I remember talking with UJ Puckett one time in Texas and he was talking about the old days. He said when he was young and on the road it was tough. He would go into a town and they may have one table in the back of a barber shop and he has to try to make some money there. He said "Today with bar tables and pool rooms everywhere and a zillion people playing, Heck I would be rich".
I don't know if he is right about that but it sure was easy pickings for a while and then it was over.
 
R

Ruark

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Lots of good points made here. I'd like to repeat and elaborate on some of them, just expressing my humble opinion...

I think a major, important point is this: that modern young people have so much high tech leisure time activity, pool isn't as exciting as it once was. You roll a ball into a pocket with a stick. Wheeee. That USED to be exciting, but that was back when we would pile into a car and drive across town to hear somebody's new 45rpm record, malls hadn't been invented,TVs had 2 black and white channels, and electric trains were a popular hobby. To many modern younger people, pool is about as exciting as watching paint dry. How many kids are going to grab the remote and switch from UFC to a pool game?

Another thing is that people now have easy access to modern pastimes and sports that provide a quick, satisfying reward. The smack of hitting a tennis ball crosscourt. Watching a bowling ball slam into the pins. A golf ball sailing 200 yards through the air. Flying over waves at 60mph on a jetski. Fighting and landing a big fish. Twisting the throttle and feeling the raw power and roar of a motorcycle. Pool? Roll a ball into a pocket with a wooden stick. Wheeeeee. Yes, that was exciting, back when electric trains were exciting.

Another factor many people talk about is publicity. I think pool doesn't get much publicity because there's no supporting industry. Look at golf, for example. There's a HUGE industry marketing golf clubs, shirts, shoes, caps, balls, gloves, the latest gadgets, etc. plus the pro tours on TV, workshops, magazines, endorsements, resorts, celebrities (movie stars, politicians) that play, and so on. This pays for advertising those products, which supports TV shows and other media coverage. This, in turn, draws in more fans who want to buy those products, which further expands the industry in a ongoing, self-perpetuating cycle. Same with other "big" sports like tennis, shooting, hunting and fishing, motorcycles, pro ball, NASCAR, etc. Just recently I was in a mall and saw an ENTIRE STORE selling ONE, single product: Dallas Cowboys paraphernalia.

Pool doesn't have this kind of industrial and media support; the demand simply isn't there, and I don't see any feasible way to generate it.

Additionally, the simple act of participating in pool has its issues. Very few people have a table at home. Unlike sports like golf, tennis, bowling, etc. pool halls are patronized mainly by young, single males. Very few married adults with families are going to leave their homes and drive through town to a pool hall to play.

There is very little in pool to appeal to smaller kids; they typically can't even play. Even if they could, how many parents are going to send their 12 year old kids to a pool hall, instead of to a 4-day junior tennis camp? So most kids don't grow up playing pool the way they can with other sports. There's no pool equivalent of throwing some passes with Dad in the front yard. There's no pool equivalent of Little League baseball.

It could be said that pool is more satisfying if you're skilled at it, but how do you become more skilled? Practice, of course. How many mothers and fathers are going to drive to a pool hall 3 or 4 nights a week and "practice" for months and months on end, trying to get better at rolling a ball into a pocket with a wooden stick? And even if they do, the pool-playing population hasn't reached that "critical mass" to make it popular. The average person can call up a dozen people to play tennis or golf with on a Saturday afternoon. How many can he call up and say "hey, want to go shoot some pool?" Granted, if you're really involved in the sport, you may know some other players. But if you get a job, say, in an finance office, statistically, how many of your co-workers are likely to be serious pool players? You get the picture.

All that being said, I see pool as becoming more and more of a niche sport. There will always be some people that play, just like there are always some people that are into stamp collecting, ham radio and model airplanes.

I apologize for sounding negative, but I'm just calling it the way I see it.
 
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