Being in the billiard bubble on this forum

R

RunoutalloverU

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The professional pool in America thread got me thinking. Most people I know are NOT as well informed as the people on this forum, or the circles that they run in.
I think we tend to get tunnel vision with the working knowledge that comes with living and breathing a sport. Especially one that is pushed to the back burner like pool in America. Ive talked to people that ive shot with multiple times at "hardcore" pool halls, and when you start talking about the sport of pool most people knowledge just isn't there. And some things are understandable, but some things are shocking.
Like "I'm going to be playing in Danny K's rotation tournament." I get responses like "Rotation?", "Is that like 9 ball." Or just the way people describe certain things, or the way they think about things. Like when you go to use the bridge, "oh your going to use the cheat stick?" That is an extreme example, but calling a rail a bumper, just little things like that drive me nuts.
In contrast, people who have never stepped on a football field to play (including me I played baseball) know all about breaking down coverages, they have fantasy teams, detailing every players statistics. I think the other than having children play the game of pool, the biggest reason that pool in America is lacking in popularity and image is the lack of knowledge and ignorance concerning its players, rules, games, and terminology.
I know some responses might include well thats just the players you have encountered. I really dont think so, ive traveled and played a lot of different places and it almost never changes, there are a few guys who really know their stuff that I could have a converstaion with about Stalev's break, or Bustamante's shot making, or how nerve wracking the mosconi cup must be play in. But overall pool knowledge is a joke in regards to the things ive mentioned.
Now how to correct this I have no idea, I just always feel like the other guy is having his pride hurt if I try to correct his notion that safeties are for cowards, or that 9 ball on a bar table is no different than that on a 9-foot table. I could go on but ill turn this opinion to you, the informed, to give your thoughts and experiences with the lack of experience of pool world knowledge with those youve encountered.
 
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I agree 100% and echo the sentiment to include the entire world. Only in the Phillipines might the average person know more than just a few names of players and something about them. This has been my experience during my entire career in pool.

And you know what? Some days I wish I had never ever gone to a pool forum on the net.

Sometimes I am at the poolroom and I can't stop thinking about the myriad of topics being discussed here. I can't stop myself from feeling superior to everyone else in the poolroom because I 'know" more than they do. Meanwhile the guy who can't spell AZ is running out on me and taking my dough. These are people that I am sure I would have run over before I became a billiards newsgroup junkie.

I guess "ignorance is bliss" could apply here.
 
Before the Net I worked in pool room and the only good info was "on the snap" magz or PB or BD....and the info superhighway was picking up the phone and calling the other rooms to see what was going on. Plus back then anyone running a tourney would call the room to let you know so we always knew what was going on. :D

I'm always surprised at how many players don't have a computer, or don't know about AZB.
 
Gerry said:
I'm always surprised at how many players don't have a computer, or don't know about AZB.
Click to expand...

Soooo True. On the Viking Tour our overall participation response from internet advertising is o

Mj
 
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Ok, so I'm going to get crucified for making this comparison, be that as it may...

I agree with your post in that there is a huge lack of knowledge about our chosen hobby/sport/obsession throughout the general population. I could give reasons for it, but that wouldn't do anything to solve the issue. But if you look back fifteen years at the poker scene, it was in a very similar situation, as far as KNOWLEDGE in the general public was concerned. Much of it has to do with the reputation the sport/game has. 15 years ago and back, poker was looked at as a seedy back room game played by degenerate gamblers who drank too much. (sound familiar?) The game I would say the vast majority of people knew, and played in their weekly regular card games was 7-card Stud. If you went to the average person and asked them if they could list off two different types of Hold'em games, even telling them it was poker, some may have been able to list Texas Hold'em, but you would have gotten a blank from all but a few on the other, it being Omaha. (just like if you asked a random person on the street to name more than two rotation games, you may get 9-ball, and perhaps 7-ball, but that's about it; and that's thanks to television) People didn't want to learn about the game back then because of the stigma associated with playing it seriously. That has changed in the last 8 years with the advent of the instant millionaire from poker tournaments. People still know about the stigma of the smokey back room poker game, ala Bert's poker game in The Hustler, but choose to ignore it. (well, those who aren't of the ultra-conservative ilk) I think alot of it has to do with the money and television time. But that has created interest in the game and thusly, people see that it's not the same game that they thought it was.

Pool could very well be in a very similar situation as poker was 15-20 years ago as far as public knowledge is concerned. I don't have answers, I wish I did, but if we can find a way to hook the general public on this great game, the same thing is going to happen to pool and billiards. The one "X" factor that poker has over pool is that over the course of a tournament, a professional has to sweat so many hands by people getting lucky, or gunning for them et. cetera, that in events like the WSOP main event, it's next to impossible to win. Anyone with a small semblage of knowledge about how to play the game has a chance against these players. Not so in pool. If we can drum something up that would give a similar buzz to Joe Regular Guy out on the streets, that he could win this, it could possibly give pool that shot in the arm that it needs. Also having someone like Steve Lipscomb start up the WPT didn't hurt poker, and pool could use someone from INSIDE the industry to jump start something simliar.

I know it's a rambling post, points brought up have been brought up many times, and it may go off on tangents, but I'm sleepy, so it kind of wandered....

Dags
 
I guess the majority of people treat pool as a game and don't bother to educate themselves on the subject. They just play for the fun of it. It's like the Monopoly, it wouldn't be as much fun if everyone would know and play with the optimum strategy and know the expectation value of each move. Being ignorant means that there's less pressure involved which means more fun ! It all comes down to Maslow's hierarchy of needs.... well, won't go there in this post :rolleyes:
 
If I have said it once I have said a hundred times...

So once more isnt gonna hurt... right? :D

The thing with pool is it's organization... the OP brought up football.. see even guys like you who have never played the game can understand it and follow it...b/c football is football... EVERYBODY knows how you playit ... most average fans even know the schemes and gameplans at least at a basic level...

With pool you are lucky if folks even play the same game much less by the same rules from room to room. There are just too many variations.

We love b/c there is always a game to make with anybody... I might not hang with you on 9ball .. but I bet your ass I can make good match up in 14.1...It could swing as far as me getting the 7 to spotting you 20 pts once we change games...great for us.. but confusing as Fudge to the average joe...
 
Gerry said:
Before the Net I worked in pool room and the only good info was "on the snap" magz or PB or BD....and the info superhighway was picking up the phone and calling the other rooms to see what was going on. Plus back then anyone running a tourney would call the room to let you know so we always knew what was going on. :D

I'm always surprised at how many players don't have a computer, or don't know about AZB.
Click to expand...

Good thread.

I don't golf but I have looked thru golf magazines in waiting rooms and the coverage of their sport is incredible. The interviews they conduct with the players are in depth & very revealing. You get the real sense that you know them as people and not just names.
In almost every sport, the participants are interviewed. IF a pool player is given a chance to talk on TV, it's usually Allison graciously accepting trophey # 818 and another 1st place check. One minute at best.

I happened upon AZB while looking over the internet for info on pro players. I never even had a computer until 2001 I think it was. ( I still don't have a MAC card and I don't know how to send text messages on a cell phone. Don't know what an I-Pod is other than my kids like them)

Anyway, back to the point. Thanks to the internet, we can get tons more info than the very very very limited amount our 3 pool magazines offer each month. Imagine what all you would NOT know if it weren't for the forums? I guess technology is a great thing for pool. I just wish our sport's magazines could do more in depth coverage instead just bland & basic coverage.

The PGA says "These guys are good". The average pool fan says "Who are these guys?" The pro pool players have every bit of skill as any other professional in any other sport. I hope in my lifetime, something big will happen to boost pool to the upper echelon like it is in the Phillipines or Chines Taipei.
 
Apples and Oranges

Football:
Organization
Sandlot
Pee Wee
Pop Warner
High School (School spirit, school rivalries, Thanksgiving day Game, Band,
Cheerleaders, under the blanket with your best girl on a cold Friday night:D )
College (see High School & Bowl Games)
Canadien Rules (ay)
Pro (Super Bowl)

Pool:
Unorganized
Bars
Smoke filled Pool Halls
WPBA and Trick Shot Magic on ESPN2

My point is that alot more people are exposed to Football thruout thier lives than Pool. The only way to change this is to ORGANIZE the sport and introduce it at a grade school or middle school level. This is an uphill battle since individual sports are the ones that always get the short end of the stick.
Pool is also a very subtle game where the difference between a good and bad shot can be measured in millimeters instead of yards. The masses do not like subtle, they like large grandious plays that they can talk about at the water cooler the next day.
The only thing we can do right now is to try to educate the people we play with in leagues and in bars and hope that they catch the fever and spread the word.

Andy
 
excellent responses, ive enjoyed reading them. Although Ive said this before in other threads and it has been hinted at and said here, we have to have one organization, period. If we don't have that, we have nothing except trick shot magic and the wpba (lmao).
 
Gerry said:
I'm always surprised at how many players don't have a computer, or don't know about AZB.
Click to expand...

You can add to that the number of people that don't know that you can go to a public library and have access to a computer for FREE! The times I have mentioned something on the internet or someone I talked to in another state or country online...and the bewilderment that comes into someones eyes. I came into the computer age later than most and I have had our companies website for 10 years now.

Pool and the people it attracts still seems to be in the dark ages in some instances. I have a MySpace discount program and all the regulars are mad at the coupons or specials I give the people on MySpace. I have told them over and over that ANYONE can get on the internet and get a day of pool for half price. I think that is really sad someone will spend 10 hours a day, day after day, staring at the walls in the pool room waiting for a sucker to come in, but they won't take a few hours to learn how to use a computer, learn about what is going on all over the country in pool. They don't know who any professional players are, they don't have a clue about this tournament in Louisville called the Derby City something? :rolleyes:

EDIT: I have to add how many players have NEVER seen tournament blue cloth on a pool table when we added our Diamond Pro table to our room. I informed these players that most tournaments these days are being played on blue cloth because it photographs better for TV and DVD. For a guy that has been playing pool for 40-50 years tell me that he has NEVER seen blue cloth? That was just sad.

I think (hope) since the younger generation has access to technology and feels comfortable with it, that our future for pool can be safe. They at least can have access to a lot of information which may help teach them about pool or educate them about cues. Its easier to plan trips to tournaments all over the country. I truly think it will save pool from extinction. Internet savvy people seem to be the ones traveling to tournaments all over, booking plane flights online, hotel reservations. It seems to be a more intense fan that shows up at Valley Forge or DCC. Maybe just my skewed opinion.

Ok, I have rambled on long enough. What was this thread about? :o
 
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