ESPN Speed Pool?

I have never seen speed pool played where any ball can be made in any order ala straight pool but then the eight has to be made last as described by spin doctor. On tv it has always been either straight pool style all the way or eight ball where you make one group then the other group then the eight ball last. Unless they changed the rules I think spin doctor was mistaken.
 
Luxury said:
I have never seen speed pool played where any ball can be made in any order ala straight pool but then the eight has to be made last as described by spin doctor. On tv it has always been either straight pool style all the way or eight ball where you make one group then the other group then the eight ball last. Unless they changed the rules I think spin doctor was mistaken.
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I haven't seen the ESPN feed but I'm positive that it was played completely random with the 8 being required as the final ball in the VNEA championships for speed pool for both years that I competed in the event, 2005 and 2006 if I recall the years right. I finished 2nd in the event in 2006 and I recall the format very clearly but they may have modified the game slightly for the ESPN championship.
 
I am not going to read this thread it is already too negative, I could tell by the title lines...Let me just say one thing about it...Trick shots are filled with guys trying to grow our sport any way they can.

Negativity is necessary, but how about suggest to us how we can fix it. Make it a better show why just put it down...put it down then give an idea on how to make it better how about that???

Nothing every gets fixed without being broken...oops wrong thread but same post.
 
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I doubt anyone here would care what they showed as long as real pool tournaments were also being shown.

Speed pool to raise money for charity is awesome. Speed pool on tv instead of the US Open is crap.

Trick shots, especially stroke shots, are cool. Trick shots being shown instead of the US Open, or some other top tournament, just plain sucks.

My friend opened a pool hall over a year ago and I haven't seen a single player set up a trick shot.

I wouldn't watch a whole show with guys bouncing balls on their wedges on the Golf Channel, why would I watch this pool programming?
 
Bola Ocho said:
I just had the misfortune of watching some of the ESPN Speed Pool today. It's yet another degradation of the sport and even more so yet a further step down the hole of those trying to promote pool on TV. They are stooping quite low. As if the bogus trickshot show with A.S.'s cronyism wasn't bad enough.


But we all already knew that. The purpose of my post is to point out how miserably wrong all the 9-ball promoters have been when it comes to pool promotion on TV. Again, for those who haven't been around or are very new - the transition to 9-ball was primarily for the purpose of faster, more exciting games and a format that would fit television.

Unfortunately, that didn't work out. 9-ball wasn't fast enough. And, presumably, not exciting enough. To make matters worse, NOT EVEN SPEED POOL IS FAST ENOUGH FOR TV, SINCE THEY CUT OUT A COUPLE OF THE RACKS!!!


Folks, we're talking racks that take no more than 90 seconds here. Yet, they had to cut them out, and show highlights or synopsis. Pathetic!


There you have it. Not even Speed Pool, with speed demons like Luc Salvas blasting in 15 balls in under 1 minute is fast enough to allow the format to fit for TV. That should serve as proof positive that nothing can satisfy. Either the promoters are total morons, or the market and industry simply can't support real pool.


Give it up, TV is the past. The new frontier and new world is the internet. If any growth or progress can be made, it might be made there. TAR isn't even close to being a test case - but they are one of the pioneers testing one aspect of it. This frontier is still in its infancy. Most people are still not used to or capable of watching things on the internet. We are the minority in this regard. That will change. The question is whether pool can claim their turf in the new cyber medium when it still has the chance. Some are trying. Some are wasting away on ESPN during their worst times (when the NFL is on) with nonsense like speed pool.


Evolve, or get left behind (again).
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It was a circus - very discouraging! All the more reason for us to promote folks like Ray Hansen @ poolactiontv.com
 
JamisonNeu said:
I am not going to read this thread it is already too negative, I could tell by the title lines...Let me just say one thing about it...Trick shots are filled with guys trying to grow our sport any way they can.

Negativity is necessary, but how about suggest to us how we can fix it. Make it a better show why just put it down...put it down then give an idea on how to make it better how about that???

Nothing every gets fixed without being broken...oops wrong thread but same post.
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I will suggest how to better promote pool and help it grow!

TV coverage that is live not 6 months old when everyone will know the outcome. I'm sure football, baseball, basketball, hockey and any other sport would have a lot less interest in televising completed games only.

Single elimination events. Each match should be exciting for the viewer. Since pool doesn't have buckets of money we can only offer viewers pressure of defeat and titles. Who wants to try following an event with winners side, 1 lose side etc. You can watch a guy lose, then a month later, he pops up in the finals.

Better table coverage by cameras. Most cameras have zoom, use it! Listening to the commentators talk about which ball will be next, then get it wrong because they couldn't tell the difference... drives me nuts!!! They can zoom in on Tiger spitting from 3000 yards, surely they can locate a number on a pool ball. Let the viewer see the table and try playing out the shots, not guess what is next the entire time.

Here we go! Commentators, talk about the match! Try building a little excitement in the match rather than talk about old players or trips leaving regular viewers clueless. Talk them through the run out and save the stories for a book. For example: a great safety battle will happen... commentator 1 - you know, back in 1950 I played a guy called, Joe 'kicker' Pickler... He would take kick shots and drill them hard. One time I watched him...blah, blah, blah, blah...... bore me to death. It makes it hard to focus on the game when a person is watching one thing and listening to something totally unrelated.

Pro players, promote the F'ing sport. Come here and post about aiming, shape, drill etc. When you have an event, go to the local room and promote play and sales at pool rooms. This would be a nice change over gambling. Build interest to build prize money.... crazy talk, I know.

TD, try charging a regular wage until money is in the game. I don't understand why the TD should make 3rd place prize money. If you want to charge big money, tell a room you will host and event, make them tons of cash and take 30% of profits.... Be like the players, you do good, you make money!
 
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Jason thanks for speaking up. It's better to put something down while trying to fix it then just say that sux and point.
 
PoolSharkAllen said:
...The 25k that this gimmicky speed pool event paid out to the winner was substantially more than many other professional pool events pay out to their winners.
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Try to see from a bigger perspective, no?

There is way more $ paid out by regular tourneys. The event referred to is an isolated event.
 
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