Can someone, anyone, PLEASE tell me why?

[jimmyg]

I bet there'd be a heck of an audience for a great live match-up, with betting and everything. Have it done in a way that would make it legal (something in Vegas, maybe?) and maybe offer it pay-per-view. That way you'd get all of the people wanting to see the serious action and the added bonus of home/bar/hall railbirds sweating the match.

Football is a tough, manly sport and they treat it as such. Baseball is manly, but not exactly bang-em-up rough, they try to market the skill and occassional good plays. Golf is a sport of the more sophisticated and rich and they also market their game as such. And without care for any flack that can be sent my way, pool is a game of cigars, cussing, gambling and drinking ... and damnit, that's what I want to see!

I don't want to see 2 prim and proper guys sitting around and shooting balls in boringly.. I want to see someone take a shot of whiskey, cuss about the leave, take a deep drag off a cigarette or a puff a cigar and stroll on up to that table and try for that grand game-changing shot, and I want to see it as it happens, too ... "Hey man, $5 says he makes this shot."

Banks, exactly! Top players in a great money match at the local pool hall, with all the real drama and excitement has always been a large part of what has drawn people to the sport. How can you remove that factor, try and dress it up the way the IPT or some of these other shows try to do, and still expect the same interest and excitement? SOMETIMES YOU CAN'T PUT LIPSTICK ON A PIG!!!

 

[Colin Colenso]

The original poster has a good point...that is, most pool production for TV has sucked. Some less than others, but still, I don't think anyone has hit nerve with mainstream audiences in the way that poker did with the development of the audiences seeing the hidden card.

I have organized a couple of televised matches and the sad thing is that I get little input into the production and the producers have little knowledge of anything but pointing the cameras and pretty boring commentary. It takes money and your own production team to do things as you'd like, and even then it would be a hit or miss affair unless you are creative enough to come up with a format and production method that is highly entertaining (which would be revolutionary).

I've got a bunch of ideas on this. Maybe a few would work. One such idea is some close ups sequences of players performing their quirky habits with cues and chalk...much as the poker players shuffle, roll and flip the chips. This exhibits an expertise that can only be gained through endless hours of repitition. I also remember watching the French player Beaufils circling and stalking the table as a tiger stalks its prey at the World Open. Such images if captured right could help to provide the gravitas and excellence behind the performances of great players.

Colin