Entertainment gone over board at world summit?

vagabond

vagabond

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It was difficult for me to judge.I,along with most of the audience was entertained in the match between bustamonte and Alex pegulayen in world summit in Las veagas on sat evening.
It was a ESPN match.Both players came to the table to lag.before they hit the balls for the lag they both acted as though they were picking the lint from the green ( that is right ,they were making a mockery of ....) and bustament threw his hand towards alex`s face as though he was throwing the lint he collected at alex`s face.There was a dialogue between the two players through out the match which was very entertaining.I thought pool needed this kind of entertainment.But on few occasions it was of silly proportion- alex scratched, picked the cue from the pocket ,pretended to be handing the cue to bustamonte and when Bustamonte stretched his hand to receive the cue from alex,alex then intentionally dropprd the cue ball to the ground.It was more a junior high stuff.For the match winning shot Alex turned his head away from the shot and shot it and missed it.
After Bustamonte beat kiamco( TV match) bustamonte shouted accross the floor to the passing by alex `` you are next you little man,pinion `` (spell check)
When alex played Shane it was more serious
I did not have an objection for the demeanor of those players and on the contrary I enjoyed it and pool needs it.But some people may see it as going over board.:cool:
 
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Maybe Alex and Busta were having some fun with each other but then it was all business with Shane........

.....I would have done it also if I had seen or heard all the talk about a new sheriff in town.........
 
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Yes pool needs that kind of shatter...but it depends who it is. Some players are just too stiff to pull it off. Not everyone can be a FAT's Johnnyt
 
I'd much rather see some light-hearted banter between players than have them bad mouthing each other. I think it does add to the entertainment level and if they showboat a little too much & it goes wrong then they'll know when to settle down a bit!
 
pool DOESN'T need a player turning his head away from a game winning shot.....end of story. i didn't realize the game was such a joke to alex.

i don't think i've ever seen tiger close his eyes teeing up or putting in the masters.
 
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bruin70 said:
pool DOESN'T need a player turning his head away from a game winning shot.....end of story. i didn't realize the game was such a joke to alex.

i don't think i've ever seen tiger close his eyes teeing up or putting in the masters.
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Turning your head is an insult to your opponant even if it's a friend.

I remember years ago in the finals of a tourny a top name player, whom I will not name, shot what should have been the final nine into the pocket about ten times harder that neccessary. The ball hit the back of the pocket and came back onto the bed of the table. He tried to embarrass his opponant because he would not side bet on the match. That shot caused him the match.

These are the type of examples young players like Austin Murphy see.
 
WOW....take it easy guys.....*****, *****, *****....whats the matter with you guys???!!!

Does it really matter? Alex probably was joking around too much, but jeeez...HE STILL ENDED UP WINNING!!! Isn't that what matters? The fact that the guy actually plays good enough to win? It was good for TV yet you guys bash it.....then wonder why there is no money in the sport? Hey I'm a player too and to each his own, but I would rather die than watch two boring stiffs play a tournament on TV.....Even in the World Championships the players show emotions. The fact that Busta and Alex are friends made the banter between them even more relaxed........gosh.......

The point is - he won....even if he was being too much of a joker.

AND, not one player is trying to be a "role model" for Austin Murphy(no offense to him)......you guys are unreal man. Thay all are just trying to make a living playing a sport that doesn't have much organization or direction.....
 
Just shows how everyone here in the Philippines plays their part to make the sport worth airing on TV. So that "TV move" from Alex didn't get a positive reaction from the purist, well, now he knows too and so does a lot of other players. It may have a positive feedback from non-purists and TV executives though.
 
dabarbr said:
Turning your head is an insult to your opponant even if it's a friend.
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Treat it as TV drama and Busty and Alex's contibution to "US Pool TV". Network Executives love the drama as its good for the ratings. Betcha that they'll be the most sought after by the TV execs. Time will come that you guys will thank Django and Alex for that match.
 
phoebe choy said:
WOW....take it easy guys.....*****, *****, *****....whats the matter with you guys???!!!

Does it really matter? Alex probably was joking around too much, but jeeez...HE STILL ENDED UP WINNING!!! Isn't that what matters? The fact that the guy actually plays good enough to win? It was good for TV yet you guys bash it.....then wonder why there is no money in the sport? Hey I'm a player too and to each his own, but I would rather die than watch two boring stiffs play a tournament on TV.....Even in the World Championships the players show emotions. The fact that Busta and Alex are friends made the banter between them even more relaxed........gosh.......

The point is - he won....even if he was being too much of a joker.

AND, not one player is trying to be a "role model" for Austin Murphy(no offense to him)......you guys are unreal man. Thay all are just trying to make a living playing a sport that doesn't have much organization or direction.....
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another point is, both players took it very nicely between the two of them. there were no altercation nor a fist fight. that shows more class and professionalism rather than trying to hit your opponent with a cue stick or insult and scuffle a ref. pool ain't no golf.
and if I were to choose between pool and golf, I would rather watch Pool.
 
I picked up the game of pool because it is a game that I can have "fun" and "laughter" with my friends. Why do you play the game ? What`s wrong with putting back "fun" in the game, even if it was done in a tournament ? They are friends and Filipinos, what did you expect ?
 
anyway, I believe those demeanors are under acceptable level as seen by most people.but not perfect, since we cannot please everybody, most especially the purists. it was a great match and a great display of talent. that's what really matters. would you rather watch 2 serious players play a sucky pool match? I have a friend of mine watched a particular live pool match some days ago and was very pissed on how the players played way way below pro level that he wanted to bash their heads together if he had the chance. those players were in their best behavior but the quality of the match was very dissapointing. fortunately, I wasn't able to watch it. otherwise I might have thrown and broke something in disgust. :D :D :D
 
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bruin70 said:
pool DOESN'T need a player turning his head away from a game winning shot.....end of story. i didn't realize the game was such a joke to alex.
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First. I've read that once you have set up on a shot you should be able to make it with your eyes closed. So you should be able to make it with your head turned:D

Second, historically, tournament winners did not make a living from winning. They used it as a stepping stone to doing exhibitions where they needed both talent and ability to communicate, even if only to take potshots at their opponents :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBDJp9UMSMg
 
bruin70 said:
pool DOESN'T need a player turning his head away from a game winning shot.....end of story. i didn't realize the game was such a joke to alex.

i don't think i've ever seen tiger close his eyes teeing up or putting in the masters.
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Terrible comparison.

The masters insnt 25000-50000 in prize money. Its way higher. Also, Tiger doesn't seem to have the friendship that Busta and Alex seem to have with each other to be able to do that and have fun with it.

Seems like they were just having fun witht eh match. Good for them, can't wait to see it on TV.

Perhaps theyt were splitting 1st and 2nd place so they decided to have a good time.
 
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bruin70 said:
pool DOESN'T need a player turning his head away from a game winning shot.....end of story. i didn't realize the game was such a joke to alex.

i don't think i've ever seen tiger close his eyes teeing up or putting in the masters.
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Maybe not Tiger, but I've seen MJ shoot a couple free throws with his eyes closed. ;)

But regardless, I thought that Alex went a bit too far turning his head on the game winning shot, or any shot for that matter. The playful banter is fine by me (it actually should be encouraged!), but once you get down to executing a shot, you should be as professional as can be, especially if it's being televised.

But let's not get too hard on Alex. We should just thank him that he's trying to make the game exciting. Sure he might go too far once in a while, but that's what gets ratings!
 
Alex is one of the most well liked players in the game for a reason. Part of it is his skill. A small part because at his level everyone runs out from everywhere anyway. The reason everyone likes to watch and be around the guy is his spirit. He is just fun to watch.

I remember watching Alex play years ago at the Lexington All-Star tournaments. He was electric, always smiling and laughing, joking with everyone. I knew then he would be great for pool, and he has been.

I think Alex was just being Alex. He certainly did not mean to piss anyone off and he probably won't do it again. We need players like him, badly, in this sport. We don't need Tiger's, we need more Alex's.
 
JCIN said:
The reason everyone likes to watch and be around the guy is his spirit. He is just fun to watch.
we need more Alex's.
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Half an hour beofore the first ESPN match between Bustamonte and Kiamco started, Alex was playing poker and he was cracking jokes on the poker table.He has good humor and also is quickwitted.:cool:
 
What I want to know?

is after Alex missed the match ball, How in the world did Django miss it?
 
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