Billy_Bob said:
The first thing I would do would be to educate everyone about why having a "same weight and size" cue ball is so important. Perhaps some bar table manufacturers would sponsor the show as well. And beer sponsors would surely jump on the band wagon.
This would be a great opportunity to finally get rid of all those "oversized" cue balls, or at least educate the masses that there is something better.
I think having bar tourneys on tv is overkill. Just vary the games shown on tv and INCLUDE 8 ball. That will give commentators a basis to educate people who see pool only as a drunken pastime. It would also educate 9 ballers who have absolutely no idea how interesting AND challenging *properly played* (a rarity) 8 ball can be.
As for the big cueball, I think that may be an even more important disconnect between bar pool and actual pool than the table size. It changes the game so radically, it might as well be the same as comparing ping-pong with tennis. There is no excuse for it given the technology available out there today, and bar table manufacturers need to get the grips.
Here's a shot that made me laugh all the way home. I was playing my girlfriend in one of our outings at the neighborhood bar (the only way I'll play with the oversized cueball - we worked out a funny way for me to give her a spot).
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I played this position route many a time as has everyone else on the 9 footer with a regular cueball. At this angle the cueball will go two rails through the second diamond on the long rail with tops and a little left. I could have played underneath the 6 but didn't want to roll it, so I chose to give it my full stroke and come out on top of the 6 (plus that gave me a choice of pockets). I was fully conscious that, with the equipment we were playing with, drawing the cueball out of there would be a tough proposition.
BUT, I had forgotten about the big apple! I'll be damned if that big-ass cueball didn't come off the short rail and straight into that miniature side pocket of theirs!
Don't ask me what happened there. I don't know if the table conditions and dimensions have any bearing on the behavior of the cueball in this instance, but I suspect what happened is that the big cueball stays on the tangent line for a shorter period of time, so the angles change completely.
That gives you a hint right there of how disastrous an influence bar table manufacturers and unknowing bar owners can have on our game!
) Sponsors should and would be all over it though. Great idea!
...then ASK THEM TO JOIN ONE.
