Distractions at the U.S. Open

[JoeyA]

I've had the pleasure of being able to attend the US Open every year since I moved to Virginia 5 years ago. In those 5 years, I have always wondered why there was so much talking over the microphone while matches were being played.

First let me say that Jay did a great job this year, and apart from a couple of bad-timed comments, he pretty much kept his chatter over the microphone to a minimum. He did a great job announcing the players.

I'm going to rant about a couple of the things that I noticed and think that if they changed, it may make things better.

Talking over the loud speaker while matches are in progress is wrong and unfair in my opinion. If you have something to say, don't just blurt it out. Have someone go to the players in between shots and have them pause until the announcement is made. Some matches go into the start time of the next matches. Instead of announcing the next matches and possibly distracting the players trying to finish the match, just simply tell them what you're about to do and let them choose whether to continue playing or pause while the announcements are made.

It's no secret that Barry can be a little long winded and I've heard him and Scott Smith jaw back and forth jokingly on the microphone in the past. It's just not needed. Hell, there's even players that don't even understand what they're joking about!

This year, Jay made a comment at a horrible time that totally distracted a player and cost him a game. It was Friday night, Alex P. and Larry N. were getting their match started with a lag. The other matches had already been announced and had started playing. My friend was shooting on the 7-ball and was just about to pull the trigger when Jay says "wow, that is a close lag!" That did not need to be said over the loud speaker. You could see the frustration in my friend's face. He had already had to stop several times before during that game because of the chatter on the microphone.

The other thing I find frustrating is all the singing. I'm all for our National Anthem being performed, and I will stand proudly with my hand over my heart and sing along, but maybe it would be better if it was only done at the start of the tournament and right before the finals are to start. This year it went even one step further. On Friday night, the little girl sang the National Anthem (and did a great job!), but then afterward while the other two matches were trying to play, the little girl then started to sing Wind Beneath My Wings. Why? Are we there to see the top pool players play pool? Or are we there for a concert? Every year they apologize for matches taking so long or for running behind schedule. Well, these couple of things that I mentioned are a BIG part of why that is.

Some of you may be saying that most of us play tournaments with the jukebox playing, and should be used to the noise. While I agree that it is true, I will just say that NONE of those tournaments are the US Open! It takes a GREAT performance by one of those players to win the Open, and even one little distraction like the sudden sound of someone's voice over the loud speaker can cost someone the opportunity to win the most prestigious tournament in the pool world.

Sorry folks, but I just needed to vent!

Lucky you for being so close by to this great event.

I hear you loud and clear and empathize with you a great deal.

Barry Berhman and Shannon have a desire to make the U.S. Open 9 Ball Championship better each year with unique aspects to each of them. The one year I went, I heard these bagpipes from a far off distance and thought maybe I was hearing things. As they approached, I could see what looked like a couple of dozen men dressed in Scottish attire, all playing the hell out of bag pipes. For me it made that event one of my most memorable tournaments even though I didn't play in it.

I would prefer that the player introductions be done at the beginning of the matches and no announcements during the matches but I'm afraid it can't work like that. I like un-canned introductions but knowledgeable ones like I am sure Jay can put together on the fly. I especially like to hear all of the titles that a player has accumulated and it is an honor for them to have their titles announced.

The Open has business to do and it's not my open. Barry, I'm sure is trying to make each one of them better than the other and that's difficult to do.

Threads like this will help Barry to make adjustments to future events and that's the way it should be.

I am thinking that some background music (maybe elevator instrumental music) being played all of the time is a good way to mask some of the distractions.

 

[Black-Balled]

I've been googling all morning about these magic pants you're talking about. Is this them?

Depends on for whom...

For you?:

 

[Brozif]

Lucky you for being so close by to this great event.

I hear you loud and clear and empathize with you a great deal.

Barry Berhman and Shannon have a desire to make the U.S. Open 9 Ball Championship better each year with unique aspects to each of them. The one year I went, I heard these bagpipes from a far off distance and thought maybe I was hearing things. As they approached, I could see what looked like a couple of dozen men dressed in Scottish attire, all playing the hell out of bag pipes. For me it made that event one of my most memorable tournaments even though I didn't play in it.

I would prefer that the player introductions be done at the beginning of the matches and no announcements during the matches but I'm afraid it can't work like that. I like un-canned introductions but knowledgeable ones like I am sure Jay can put together on the fly. I especially like to hear all of the titles that a player has accumulated and it is an honor for them to have their titles announced.

The Open has business to do and it's not my open. Barry, I'm sure is trying to make each one of them better than the other and that's difficult to do.

Threads like this will help Barry to make adjustments to future events and that's the way it should be.

I am thinking that some background music (maybe elevator instrumental music) being played all of the time is a good way to mask some of the distractions.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I love the Open! I love the way Jay did the player's introductions, and he did a fantastic job with the Open as a whole. It was just a couple of incidents that stuck out to me.

Barry and Shannon have a lot on their plate leading up to the Open, and even more to do once it starts. They definitely make it an event to remember. Maybe, I was just in one of those moods that day, and things rubbed me the wrong way. I felt I needed to voice my opinions and vent a little. That's done, now I can't wait for next year's Open!!

 

[ImaPoolnut]

U.S. Open Distractions

I had the pleasure of attending this years U.S. Open 9 ball championships in Norfolk and was very impressed with the level of play. One would expect a great degree of talent to be present as this is the most prestigious event of the year and draws a very large field.

What I was suprised with was the countless distractions that occured. Allow me to ellaborate on a few.

During one match, the events promoter Barry Behrman put an expensive wireless microphone down on a table and strolled over to the score table to update on a match and someone stole the microphone. This was evident from the hustle bustle that went on as they looked for the microphone. Shortly after one could hear the grunts and groans of a girl having sex. All the players in matches had to stop to focus on what they thought they were hearing. This went on for almost a minute and was certainly an embarassing moment for Mr. Behrman. From my understanding the microphone has never been recovered.

Another example was Alex Paguilyan was in a semi-finals match and was in the middle of a lenghty preparation for what was going to be a very difficult shot and important point in the match. After what seemed like 5 minutes of anticipation you could hear a pin drop in the packed arena. Alex gets down to stroke the shot, a few practice strokes and swings. What happened next startled the entire audience, a guys cell phone goes off and he fumbles to get his phone and struggles to get it shut off...Alex shoots the shot, misses and never comes to the table again. I seen Alex get pretty hammered after he lost, and I think he was upset that he lost at the mercy of a careless distraction.

On another semi-finals match on the winners side, Darren Appleton was down in the middle of a important shot at a pivoting point in the match, once again you could hear a pin drop. I see the guy a row in front of me a few seats to the left wearing a pair of headphones they were selling to allow you to listen to the commentary while watching the live match. Darren was on the 8 ball and the guy couldn't wait for him to finish the game out, he drags his chair backwards to make room to get up which caught everyone's attention and then the wires from the headset got caught on his chair and fell to the floor making a loud disruption, Darren had to stop mid stroke, look back and postpone his shot while to guy continued to leave even after it was evident he was making a huge disruption. Darren did run out that game and eventually won the set, but what an idiot this guy was.

The entire event was plagued by either camera flashes, red eye lights "sharking" players shooting, people walking by tables when players are in the middle of stroking a ball, cell phones, watch alarms, and of course lets not forget the 60 seconds of sex being broadcast throughout the entire arena, the dining area, the halls and the outside PA speaker.

I did witness a player who was playing very well (Shawn Putnam) get very bothered by either some users red eye light or at one point even people moving around in their seats. I do agree that at this level one shouldn't be distracted by spectators moving around in their seat; but camera flashes, red eye lights and any distracting sound is definately an issue. One would think that most spectators that spend money to watch are either pool enthusiasts, players, room owners, etc. and you would expect a certain level of respect allowed to these players who player long grueling matches for hours and hours for days. However I seen little to no enforcement of crowd control at many matches, including crucial place finishing matches.

I don't know if anyone has anything else to comment on this matter, but I'd love to hear from your experience if you witnessed what should be an unacceptable distraction. Did you ever attend a PGA level golf tournament? The players demand absolute silence and crowd silencers with "quiet" signs are all over the place. A player shouldn't have to bring these flagrant distractions to a referee's attention either. They should be handled with as little distraction to the player or disruption of his shooting.

I know Shane Van Boening turns down his hearing aid to filter out audible distractions and Dennis Hatch wears rolled up cotton or tissue paper in his ears to get in the zone, but there isn't much one can do to avoid camera flashes and disrespectful fans walking by players mid-stroke. As a pool player if I see someone walking by I just back out of my stroke, chalk up and re-focus on the shot allowing the distraction to pass. Some players like Earl Strickland love to blame misses or poor position on audience distractions, but when you're a perfectionist like Earl he finds more fault with his play and he mostly attributes it to fan distraction.

 

[MikeM]

I had ear plugs in and I never even heard it!! I have known Jay for a long time and he is always on my side and wants me to win! Had I heard it it might have pissed me off for a minute lol but WOULD NOT AND DID NOT affect me or my play!! Shawn played perfect. BUT I would like an apology for him saying I was on the Mosconi Cup team after the match was over.. I have have NO hard feelings towards Jay we are friends and I know he wanted to see me win the U.S. Open and be on the Mosconi Cup team! Thanks Dennis

Classy post. Thanks for weighing in. Congratulations on a great showing. Too bad you had to run into Putnam when he was shooting maybe his best ever.

I'll have my money on you again next year.

Mike

 

[inside_english]

I've had the pleasure of being able to attend the US Open every year since I moved to Virginia 5 years ago. In those 5 years, I have always wondered why there was so much talking over the microphone while matches were being played.

First let me say that Jay did a great job this year, and apart from a couple of bad-timed comments, he pretty much kept his chatter over the microphone to a minimum. He did a great job announcing the players.

I'm going to rant about a couple of the things that I noticed and think that if they changed, it may make things better.

Talking over the loud speaker while matches are in progress is wrong and unfair in my opinion. If you have something to say, don't just blurt it out. Have someone go to the players in between shots and have them pause until the announcement is made. Some matches go into the start time of the next matches. Instead of announcing the next matches and possibly distracting the players trying to finish the match, just simply tell them what you're about to do and let them choose whether to continue playing or pause while the announcements are made.

It's no secret that Barry can be a little long winded and I've heard him and Scott Smith jaw back and forth jokingly on the microphone in the past. It's just not needed. Hell, there's even players that don't even understand what they're joking about!

This year, Jay made a comment at a horrible time that totally distracted a player and cost him a game. It was Friday night, Alex P. and Larry N. were getting their match started with a lag. The other matches had already been announced and had started playing. My friend was shooting on the 7-ball and was just about to pull the trigger when Jay says "wow, that is a close lag!" That did not need to be said over the loud speaker. You could see the frustration in my friend's face. He had already had to stop several times before during that game because of the chatter on the microphone.

The other thing I find frustrating is all the singing. I'm all for our National Anthem being performed, and I will stand proudly with my hand over my heart and sing along, but maybe it would be better if it was only done at the start of the tournament and right before the finals are to start. This year it went even one step further. On Friday night, the little girl sang the National Anthem (and did a great job!), but then afterward while the other two matches were trying to play, the little girl then started to sing Wind Beneath My Wings. Why? Are we there to see the top pool players play pool? Or are we there for a concert? Every year they apologize for matches taking so long or for running behind schedule. Well, these couple of things that I mentioned are a BIG part of why that is.

Some of you may be saying that most of us play tournaments with the jukebox playing, and should be used to the noise. While I agree that it is true, I will just say that NONE of those tournaments are the US Open! It takes a GREAT performance by one of those players to win the Open, and even one little distraction like the sudden sound of someone's voice over the loud speaker can cost someone the opportunity to win the most prestigious tournament in the pool world.

Sorry folks, but I just needed to vent!

I agree with much of this.
I have attended almost every event since 1998, and Barry DOES get long-winded.
It's like a running joke with him. Every single year he announces that he will do his best to keep it short, then fails! Every...single...time.

Regarding the speaking over the microphone during matches...that should also be kept to a minimum. The players should expect that matches will be announced, etc., but having to hear Barry interrupt matches to let people know that they are having chicken in the dining area was ridiculous.

Who cares??!?!?

Take your big behind over to the dining area...read the menu and eat there if you want.
Most of these poolhall bums (myself included) are gonna go to Wawa anyway, LOL!

So yeah, yapping on the mic can be entertaining for the crowd, I s'pose, and does add some flavor...but it is not worth distracting a player. They have to work TOO hard, AND fade the nimrods with cellphones as well.

If I flew all the way from Japan or Australia and got sharked because of a lag announcement someone will get a cue stick through their temple, javelin-style...