Yes, light gray is certainly different and may indeed be a good color to play on for the players in terms of contrasting with the ball colors. However, it’s just not an attractive color to look at on a pool table, in person or on TV, as opposed to the tournament blue or Simonis green. Do you think pro players really want to play with light gray chalk?
Appleton Suspension?
- Thread starter kling&allen
- Start date
Shouldn't need it. The ball sets in pool halls and bars across America aren't going to change to the purple 5 anytime soon, if ever.
It's going to be a continuing difference from what players of all levels are accustomed to seeing. That's why it should be changed back.
A sore point you touched here, Jeff. Canada’s major affliction is rampant trisaidekaphobia. 13 is not welcome here.
I have a bit of mixed feelings when it comes to Emily and the things she says in front of the camera.
Yes, Matchroom has brought a lot of fresh air to the pool world and you can't argue, that MR is the future of pool.
But in my opinion, people have to understand, that MR aren't the nice guys. Don't get me wrong, they aren't the bad guys either, but they are an international sports promoting company and the only thing they care about is MR.
They don't care about pool, not about the players or the fans.
They care about their products and money.
They set the rules and as long as everybody plays by their rules, everything is fine.
But these rules are not a democratic or a "we" decision.
The fans and the players can have an opinion about how good or bad MR's decisions are, but they can't influence them.
I have seen MR's players contracts for snooker and I can tell you, that they are not player friendly and I assume, they do the same with the pool players.
Of course MR offers good money and since this is the most important thing for professional players, everybody accepts the rest.
It is kind of the same thing for us fans. MR offers the best coverage of our sport and we have to accept, that it is 9ball only and that the orange five is gone.
Another word about Emily and her status amongst the players:
At one of the last MR tournaments they uploaded videos from the practice tables and they caught a moment, where Emily was walking through the practice room.
The players even stopped their practice and had a quiet chat about Emily, her manners, her style of communication...one of them even went as far as calling her a "stupid who*e".
A few hours later the video was edited and this conversation was cut out of the video...with no consequences for the players, at least as far as I know.
Yes, Matchroom has brought a lot of fresh air to the pool world and you can't argue, that MR is the future of pool.
But in my opinion, people have to understand, that MR aren't the nice guys. Don't get me wrong, they aren't the bad guys either, but they are an international sports promoting company and the only thing they care about is MR.
They don't care about pool, not about the players or the fans.
They care about their products and money.
They set the rules and as long as everybody plays by their rules, everything is fine.
But these rules are not a democratic or a "we" decision.
The fans and the players can have an opinion about how good or bad MR's decisions are, but they can't influence them.
I have seen MR's players contracts for snooker and I can tell you, that they are not player friendly and I assume, they do the same with the pool players.
Of course MR offers good money and since this is the most important thing for professional players, everybody accepts the rest.
It is kind of the same thing for us fans. MR offers the best coverage of our sport and we have to accept, that it is 9ball only and that the orange five is gone.
Another word about Emily and her status amongst the players:
At one of the last MR tournaments they uploaded videos from the practice tables and they caught a moment, where Emily was walking through the practice room.
The players even stopped their practice and had a quiet chat about Emily, her manners, her style of communication...one of them even went as far as calling her a "stupid who*e".
A few hours later the video was edited and this conversation was cut out of the video...with no consequences for the players, at least as far as I know.
Emily isn’t as polished as Barry, and she certainly has less experience. But she is one of the best things to happen to pool in a long time.
As for matchroom, they absolutely are doing this to make money. And I want them to succeed at making money because that will filter down to players. Not as much as they will want I’m sure, but it will improve their financial prospects.
For whatever reason, the color of the cloth does not seem to affect our ability to enjoy the telecast nearly as much, with some exceptions. Black, white, red or gold just don't work well on TV. Light green or blue are both good, as is a soft gray color. I'm ambivalent about this.
And I believe they were using the traditional ball colors back then. These color changes have happened more recently.
While I was a fan of Matchroom's effort to effect a change for the better in pool, I am not a fan of a purple 5 ball or the shark-gray cloth. I do wonder why snooker has never changed their cloth and ball colors after all these years. The schedule clashes is unfortunate, but I think it's great that Matchroom has posted their schedule for 2022.
That said, in recent times, I have detected a distinct shift in Matchroom's pool mission, which I have ascertained from social media posts and video-recorded interviews. Maybe Matchroom would be better served to have a public relations person, someone who knows how handle an international public. We pool public are a rough crowd sometimes.
Appleton's suspension is a huge disappointment. He was just making his way back into the thick of it, and to have this happen is an outrage. He's an asset for pool, no question, a Hall of Famer, and, well, just a nice guy. My other half even mentioned him yesterday saying that he was one of the good guys, in his opinion, from the other side of the pond.
I read that the 24 World Pool Masters' invitees each received $1,750 just for showing up ($42,000 expense for Matchroom), win or lose, but that they had to pay their own airfare and lodging expenses. Poor Mika who was a pinch shooter at the last minute must have paid a high airfare for not scheduling it in advance, but I am quite sure that he was pleased to be included in this event.
The race-to-7 format is not a good format for a masters. It's a crapshoot, but it's Matchroom's court, their ball, and their rules.
The air has been taken out of my pool tire in recent days for a variety of reasons, some of which are mentioned by the astute AzBilliards members in this very thread. My thoughts today after this past week? Bye-bye, American professional pool. There's a new sheriff in town, and there's a class system, with Americans treated differently than their European brethren by Matchroom and pool fans around the world.
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i appreciate your input JAM but occasionally you dribble into the conspiracy theory zone
Like the PGA Tour, also made up of individual sportsmen/independent contractors, players have had it within their power to band together and avoid the need for promoters like Matchroom who have their own priorities that usually but don’t always match up with the players’ priorities. Unfortunately for them they have been too short-sighted, self-centered and generally incompetent to make this happen.
If the players don’t like what Emily is doing they have only themselves to blame.
Occasionally?
Thank you for sharing your opinion. I won't retort my thoughts about your comment. The thread is about another subject, not me. Personal attacks, though, seem to be the norm on AzBilliards Discussion Forum quite often. I hope you enjoy the World Pool Masters.
Your posts are often very insightful, and this one is no exception. Well said!
Matchroom's focus is on the product, not on the players or fans, and that's exactly as it should be. Matchroom are quick to get some input from both players and fans, but they make the decisions, and they are the ones that have to bear the consequences of those decisions. As a graduate of the corporate world, I remember the old saying among management that "if everyone likes you and everyone agrees with every choice you make, the odds are that you are not getting the job done." Effective senior managers have tough choices to make and have the temperament to deal with the fact that not everyone will agree with their choices. Emily is one such manager, and pool's future has never been in better hands because she usually gets it right.
Whatever one thinks of Emily's many public videos, the fact is that she doesn't do them because she loves the camera or the sound of her own voice. To her credit, she allows herself to be scrutinized and questioned over some of Matchroom's decisions. In this regard, she is giving us a window into the operation and management of a major event producer's world, a window that is almost without precedent. Personally, I love these videos, and I feel that they represent a conversation between an event producer and those who play or follow pro pool that is refreshing.
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tomatoshooter
Well-known member
Well, that's not a nice thing to say. I don't fault them for editing that.
Emily strikes me as someone who is smart, motivated, and has some good ideas, but doesn't understand that not all of her ideas are good.
JAM, it’s simple math…if you were running for election on AZ, you’d win by a landslide….so keep an even keel.Thank you for sharing your opinion. I won't retort my thoughts about your comment. The thread is about another subject, not me. Personal attacks, though, seem to be the norm on AzBilliards Discussion Forum quite often. I hope you enjoy the World Pool Masters.
Conspiracy theory is a term that shouldn’t even exist, especially these days ; )
Stand ready orange 5 ball. You will be called upon someday...stay strong. 13...you too.
Stand ready orange 5 ball. You will be called upon someday...stay strong. 13...you too.
I like it.
Do some of you think the pool players can manage their own affairs?
Ask Jay Helfert about that….they walked away from a man who was doing them a lot of good…to follow a man who stole over $600,000 off them…..organizing pool players can be like herding cats.
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