Bring back the traditional nine ball.......who agree's ???
- Thread starter bulletjr
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Those longing for "the old rules", and those thinking 9 ball is fine the way it is....IMO, you're BOTH wrong. Personally I HATE 9 ball. Any time you can try to make the object ball in a certain pocket, MISS, and make it either in another pocket, or pocket another ball mistakenly, and still be shooting...well, that's just wrong. I know, I know, that doesn't happen all that much in the PRO game. Well, guess what, 99% of us are not PROs....yet, we still play the idiotic game because it is what the pros play.
There, that is how I see it. I played a few racks (and I do mean a few) of 9 ball at the Derby, and told whomever I was playing that I'd played more 9 ball in a couple of days than I have since the previous Derby. NO LIE. I won't play in local 9 ball leagues or tourneys due to my disdain for the game. And, really can only be goaded into it VERY RARELY by a buddy who will play nothing else....
There, that is how I see it. I played a few racks (and I do mean a few) of 9 ball at the Derby, and told whomever I was playing that I'd played more 9 ball in a couple of days than I have since the previous Derby. NO LIE. I won't play in local 9 ball leagues or tourneys due to my disdain for the game. And, really can only be goaded into it VERY RARELY by a buddy who will play nothing else....
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If your opponents are missing enough to have slop matter much in a match, maybe you should be playing tougher opponents. I'm not even talking about pros here, A players and above really don't slop many balls in at all. Probably less than one per match.
I don't have to worry about MY opponents slopping in balls...since I DON'T play the game. The possibility of it is enough for me. The only game it does count in that I play is 1P....but in that case, a ball falling in their hole may actually harm them, or be worse than hanging it in their pocket, or even leaving it on their side.
and BTW....those A players and above should be more than happy to play 10 ball then
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I would like to see:
Call all shots and if you safe yourself you can't jump over a ball.
I would also like a safety rule that if you declare what ball is going to block the path of the cue-ball from the object ball that ball cannot be jumped over.
Push-out on everyshot would take forever in my opinion. I know, I gambled that way for years.
Call all shots and if you safe yourself you can't jump over a ball.
I would also like a safety rule that if you declare what ball is going to block the path of the cue-ball from the object ball that ball cannot be jumped over.
Push-out on everyshot would take forever in my opinion. I know, I gambled that way for years.
I don't have to worry about MY opponents slopping in balls...since I DON'T play the game. The possibility of it is enough for me. The only game it does count in that I play is 1P....but in that case, a ball falling in their hole may actually harm them, or be worse than hanging it in their pocket, or even leaving it on their side.
and BTW....those A players and above should be more than happy to play 10 ball then
There is always a possibility of getting lucky. In straight pool, a missed ball can jar out of the pocket and return to the same pocket.
I would bet that a ball going in by luck in 9 ball is harmful the shooter far more often than it would be in one pocket because there are fewer options on the next ball.
I don't like current 10 ball rules because the rules limit the players to playing a shot one way and one way only. There is much more skill involved when 2 way shots are allowed.
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Nice post, and you are correct. TV was the issue. Now they don't even put matches on the TV anymore. I am old enough to remember what this post is talking about, and I liked it a lot better than today's current "express". I hardly ever play nine ball anymore. You make a mistake, just make the easy hide and get ball in hand. Booooorrrrrinnnnng.
when ESPN covers the Pool matches, they disrespect the Pool world so much with their coverage. The score is 2-1...they go to a commercial, and when they come back the score is 4-2...WTF is that. How would things go if you're watching a football game...score is 7-3..go to a commercial, and come back and the score is now 7-17, because a team scored a touchdown, then got an onside kick and scored another touchdown..and it can happen like that, 2 touchdowns in 28 seconds. The TV would flooded with hate mail....but they do it every time when they broadcast Pool Tournaments. Then there's the story of them raping the sport, when they show the same matches over and over in all time frames, and this hurts the players, but I guess they put it in their contract. I'm also not sure how the players are compensated from ESPN when they show the matches and this used to happen all the time with the WPBA. This hasn't happen lately because the WPBA are going through tough times also with the lack of tournaments the past 2 years. This is just my opinion on the way the game of Pool is treated today compared to other sports and /or games. Over in the Phillipines they show Pool on TV like we show baseball/football. ESPN STAR shows many hours of live Pool all of the time, but ESPN broadcasts it in so many countries, including Canada...but not for us in the states. I was able to watch the " Mosconi Cup " live on Sky Sports and I don't think ESPN has even showed any of it yet, at all, but I could be wrong. I have 1 more comment...it's a shame when you are in the top 10 players in the world, and you still have a hard time to make a living. The are only a select few that can support their family and make a living when you are the best at what you do. In Baseball, you can strike out 4 times in a row and still get paid the same wage as those that go 4 for 4, where's the incentive at ? In Pool, if you don't win, you don't get paid. I hope to see the day when the top players can make a living for them and their family. I know this response probably don't belong in this location...but I just got carried away while my brain was in cruise control..Here's to hoping some day Pool will earn the respect that it deserves for having the best at what they do, to be treated fair........duker.....
i WOULD LIKE 2 FOUL!
Leave the game alone. It is fine as it is. If anything, make the pockets 5 inches or more and make the game easier for the general public.
Hell, let's follow in Naismith's footsteps and hang PEACH BASKETS where the pockets are supposed to be
:grin:!!!Maniac
Hell, let's follow in Naismith's footsteps and hang PEACH BASKETS where the pockets are supposed to be
Maniac
mmmmmmm, peaches! 9 ball - still YUCK!
I'll try not to ramble on too much about this but here are some of my thoughts about televised pool.
No matter what game is played on television, I doubt that it can be successful as long as ESPN treats pool like a red-headed stepchild. Who would bother to watch the Superbowl if they cut it to fit into a 1-hour time slot and then showed it 3 or 4 months after it was played? Some will say that having any pool on tv is better than having none at all and I do agree, but it could be (and SHOULD be) so presented so much better. I don't really think ESPN gives pool much of a thought as far as improving how it is televised. To them it is just "inexpensive filler material" much like a non-sports network broadcasting bad 30 year old movies.
I don't mind that the pros play 9-ball sometimes but I would like to see a variety of pool games played. Maybe one tournament is 9-ball, the next tournament is 8-ball, the next one could be 10-ball, then 1-pocket or bank pool. But to only play 9-ball even after pool on tv is doing so poorly in its viewer numbers is akin to the old saying: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
I have to say that I also think that 9-ball is the wrong game to play in tournaments. 9-ball is essentially a gambling game. Let the players match-up in a gambling scenario on tv like poker does and it might generate a lot more interest in the game, but as a tournament game it has not proven to be all that successful. Part of the problem I have with 9-ball is that all you have to do is make the 9 ball to win the game. Your opponent can make 8 balls and not have a shot at the 9 and you can come to the table and make one ball and win the game. That is great for gambling matches but for a tournament, I think a professional tournament player should have to earn a win and not have it handed to him/her. This would be akin to a baseball game where the visiting team is ahead 8-0 in the ninth inning and your first batter comes up and hits a homerun....and instead of it now being 8-1, you win the game! I can't imagine baseball surviving with a rule like that and I think it applies to tournament pool, too.
Between my son and myself, we probably have 20 or more friends who play pool and I am the only one who seems to watch pool on tv and that is almost always the WPBA. All of the friends I have asked about pool on tv seem to have the same general comment of 'It is too boring to watch." Some people will insist that tv pool needs to be fast to keep the younger people interested but I go back to baseball for my opinion. Baseball is basically '15 minutes of exciting action tightly crammed into 2.5 hours".....but is has a sense of drama during the game and it has the time to let that drama play-out.
Even poker on tv has some drama to it and I find it interesting to watch sometimes even though I rarely play the game myself. It seems, at least to me, that the drama is what keeps the viewers watching poker, not just the action. If it was just the big money action fans wanted, they could just have the players put all their money into the pot and each player draw one card...highest card wins it all. Somehow I don't think that format would last long on TV and yet 9-ball and (God forbid, 7-ball) have come close to doing just that as we keep searching for the magic game formula to draw viewership. I give people credit for at least trying to change pool for the better but I think going to 'faster' games thinking those are more exciting is doing the viewing public a great disservice. Regardless of age, not everyone in the U.S. is some MTV/Jerry Springer airhead with the attention span of a fruit fly. There are plenty of intelligent young people watching televised sports and pool could be one of those sports if it is treated correctly on tv.
No matter what game is played on television, I doubt that it can be successful as long as ESPN treats pool like a red-headed stepchild. Who would bother to watch the Superbowl if they cut it to fit into a 1-hour time slot and then showed it 3 or 4 months after it was played? Some will say that having any pool on tv is better than having none at all and I do agree, but it could be (and SHOULD be) so presented so much better. I don't really think ESPN gives pool much of a thought as far as improving how it is televised. To them it is just "inexpensive filler material" much like a non-sports network broadcasting bad 30 year old movies.
I don't mind that the pros play 9-ball sometimes but I would like to see a variety of pool games played. Maybe one tournament is 9-ball, the next tournament is 8-ball, the next one could be 10-ball, then 1-pocket or bank pool. But to only play 9-ball even after pool on tv is doing so poorly in its viewer numbers is akin to the old saying: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
I have to say that I also think that 9-ball is the wrong game to play in tournaments. 9-ball is essentially a gambling game. Let the players match-up in a gambling scenario on tv like poker does and it might generate a lot more interest in the game, but as a tournament game it has not proven to be all that successful. Part of the problem I have with 9-ball is that all you have to do is make the 9 ball to win the game. Your opponent can make 8 balls and not have a shot at the 9 and you can come to the table and make one ball and win the game. That is great for gambling matches but for a tournament, I think a professional tournament player should have to earn a win and not have it handed to him/her. This would be akin to a baseball game where the visiting team is ahead 8-0 in the ninth inning and your first batter comes up and hits a homerun....and instead of it now being 8-1, you win the game! I can't imagine baseball surviving with a rule like that and I think it applies to tournament pool, too.
Between my son and myself, we probably have 20 or more friends who play pool and I am the only one who seems to watch pool on tv and that is almost always the WPBA. All of the friends I have asked about pool on tv seem to have the same general comment of 'It is too boring to watch." Some people will insist that tv pool needs to be fast to keep the younger people interested but I go back to baseball for my opinion. Baseball is basically '15 minutes of exciting action tightly crammed into 2.5 hours".....but is has a sense of drama during the game and it has the time to let that drama play-out.
Even poker on tv has some drama to it and I find it interesting to watch sometimes even though I rarely play the game myself. It seems, at least to me, that the drama is what keeps the viewers watching poker, not just the action. If it was just the big money action fans wanted, they could just have the players put all their money into the pot and each player draw one card...highest card wins it all. Somehow I don't think that format would last long on TV and yet 9-ball and (God forbid, 7-ball) have come close to doing just that as we keep searching for the magic game formula to draw viewership. I give people credit for at least trying to change pool for the better but I think going to 'faster' games thinking those are more exciting is doing the viewing public a great disservice. Regardless of age, not everyone in the U.S. is some MTV/Jerry Springer airhead with the attention span of a fruit fly. There are plenty of intelligent young people watching televised sports and pool could be one of those sports if it is treated correctly on tv.
There is nothing stopping any of you from trying any of your ideas. Just put up some cash, sponsor a tournament, and just do it. Advertise and run your event with your rules. Take note of the number of players that show up, then run another event and see if more players participate. Players will let you know what they think by returning or by staying away. Don't ask anybody what they think. You won't get a posative response. Watch what they do. People vote with their time and their money.
I agree, that guy is smaart:
It makes no sense for a player to have the opportunity to play the shot from anywhere other that where it lies.
Corey is wrong, I say! WRONG!
The evolution of pool
Now, I know the 9 ballers will take offence at the low ranking..but IMO 9 ball is easier than 10 ball and requires very little thinking compared to 8 ball.
I played 14.1 for a long time.. and then I learned One Pocket... I like one pocket much better.
League players are for the young, social drinkers or the old has beens like me trying to relive the glory days... LOL.
Now, I know the 9 ballers will take offence at the low ranking..but IMO 9 ball is easier than 10 ball and requires very little thinking compared to 8 ball.
I played 14.1 for a long time.. and then I learned One Pocket... I like one pocket much better.
League players are for the young, social drinkers or the old has beens like me trying to relive the glory days... LOL.
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