Glory days

T

tom mcgonagle

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My mom was a waitress and she worked on Friday nights.

I remember sitting watching the Friday Night Fights with my dad and my Uncle Harry. Some great fighters fought on these particular nights. Sugar Ray Robinson, Ruben, (Hurricane) Carter,and Carmen Basilio. Are some of the names that flash through my memory bank.

Of course as the fights went along and the beer started flowing, more heavily, my dad and my uncle would get into arguing about who the greatest fighters of all time were. Dempsey, Marciano, and Lewis were now some of the names more frequently mentioned.

What am I getting at?

A lot of what goes on in this forum, and for good reason, is about the past.

I love a great pool story as much as the next guy. I just don't think the future of the game, is living in the past. Especially today.

Right now NFL players and owners are arguing over billions of dollars.

The best pool player in the world can't make what the lowest paid player on a baseball team is guaranteed. That sad commentary for our game and the people that play it and promote it.

Whose fault is it?

I personally think, we're all to blame.

Much like the fight game, we settled. We never became a ligament game.

We cheated, we lied, we stole, we took drugs and these were the good guys. Some of us went even further.

Right now I'm sixty years old. In the room I play in, I'm one of the younger players. I wear my headphones and listen to music while I'm playing. I don't want to listen to the war stories, as I'm playing. I believe the game still has a future. Maybe I'll live long enough to see it. I hope so.

What do you think?

__________________________________________

http://tommcgonaglerightoncue.com
 
I think BoBo Olson, in his prime, could'a whipped any othose hamdonies.

Just kidding, Tom. I blame TV. In pool, the difference between good and bad is measured with a micrometer. The fine points can't be captured, although hi-def broadcasts are a great leap forward.

A game measured by yards and played by 300-pound giants, in front of an American audience saturated in cultural violence, doesn't hold a chance.

And tournament pool is so boring in the way it's presented.

What TV pool really needs is poker's version of the pocket cam ... but I have no idea what that would be. They're tried actual pockets cams on pool tables and it's beyond silly.

As I've said before on this forum, I'd prefer a format similar to Poker After Dark, where players bark at one another and play with their own, hard cash. Appearance fees could attract top players, with the stipulation that the fee be put into action, last man standing.
 
tom mcgonagle said:
My mom was a waitress and she worked on Friday nights.

I remember sitting watching the Friday Night Fights with my dad and my Uncle Harry. Some great fighters fought on these particular nights. Sugar Ray Robinson, Ruben, (Hurricane) Carter,and Carmen Basilio. Are some of the names that flash through my memory bank.

Of course as the fights went along and the beer started flowing, more heavily, my dad and my uncle would get into arguing about who the greatest fighters of all time were. Dempsey, Marciano, and Lewis were now some of the names more frequently mentioned.

What am I getting at?

A lot of what goes on in this forum, and for good reason, is about the past.

I love a great pool story as much as the next guy. I just don't think the future of the game, is living in the past. Especially today.

Right now NFL players and owners are arguing over billions of dollars.

The best pool player in the world can't make what the lowest paid player on a baseball team is guaranteed. That sad commentary for our game and the people that play it and promote it.

Whose fault is it?

I personally think, we're all to blame.

Much like the fight game, we settled. We never became a ligament game.

We cheated, we lied, we stole, we took drugs and these were the good guys. Some of us went even further.

Right now I'm sixty years old. In the room I play in, I'm one of the younger players. I wear my headphones and listen to music while I'm playing. I don't want to listen to the war stories, as I'm playing. I believe the game still has a future. Maybe I'll live long enough to see it. I hope so.

What do you think?

__________________________________________

http://tommcgonaglerightoncue.com
Click to expand...

Tom,
I think a lot of us want to believe the very same thing. I know I do and Id like to be a part of it in some way. Its something worth working for.

Robin Kelly
336Robin :thumbup:

aimisthegameinpool@yahoo.com
 
I am 63 and still enjoy playing the game. I know I am not the only one that fits this category.

Why don't the best players in pool make more money?
IMO this isn't all that important to anyone that plays, except the Pros?

Now, if you ask me if I would like to see more 'respectability' for pool players rather than the stigma of 'hustler' or 'pool shark', then YES, I would like to see the PROS make a yearly nut that would approach the level of Pro Golfers.

This might bring the perception of being a pocket billiard player to a more respectable level. But, IMO it will take decades and probably not in my life time.

So, the status quo is only hurting the Pro player. Not much is going to change for their status, except who is going to replace the top players next year or the year after that.. or in 5 years..

As far as us old goats playing our weekly games in our favorite pool hall, we can only hope business is good enough to keep the room open.

What happens when a pool hall closes? we find another room to frequent.
 
A thing remembered is twice enjoyed..C S Lewis

Remembering the past is a good thing..living in it..not so good.

I like 9ballpaul's idea...'Pool After Dark'
Gambling made this game exciting...I say embrace the past
Hiding or re-writing the past aint gonna get it

I also think Ali was the finest fighter to ever step into the ring.
When the best is mentioned the 'pound for pound' criteria usually favors
a middle weight.
But if you made Sugar Ray Robinson the same weight as Ali...I don't
think Ray would be as fast....'pound for pound' is a two-way street.

regards
pt...<...who watched Floyd Patterson defeat Hurricane Jackson
 
9BallPaul said:
As I've said before on this forum, I'd prefer a format similar to Poker After Dark, where players bark at one another and play with their own, hard cash. Appearance fees could attract top players, with the stipulation that the fee be put into action, last man standing.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with that.. You have to make it exciting and it has to be for big money... I think pool this way would be much more enjoyable to watch than poker.. Just like a TAR match but with multiple people ring game format.
 
We've had this discussion before and in the end, it seems, we mostly scratch our heads and realize there are no answers to be found.
I, for one, think that pool will pretty much stay the way it is at the professional level, but at the personal level, with the economy being the way it is, I see more pool rooms closing their doors.

Many of the Friday night fights were sponsored by the Gillett razor company. Does anyone remember Mr. Gillett's (the company's founder) first name? :)
 
Tom you think your room is bad you should see my old room.... Its in such despair and is almost completely empty nowadays :(
 
Tramp Steamer said:
Many of the Friday night fights were sponsored by the Gillett razor company. Does anyone remember Mr. Gillett's (the company's founder) first name? :)
Click to expand...

First name was Blue...middle name Blade. Folks just called him BB for short...move him the wrong way, and he'd cut ya.
 
9BallPaul said:
, Tom. I blame TV. In pool,.
Click to expand...

Pool is really no fun to watch unless there is something going on. the TAR matches for instance.

i watched the big truck show once, manny chau vs mike decheine, winner faces ginky.

WOOT

Not trying to take anything away from these guys they are top notch pros. but boring in my oppinion. i prefer to catch the highlight reel and play the game.
 
Thanks to those that responded.

As we all know there is no simple solution.

I just think if the game does make a comeback, we need to look at better ways of promoting the game than the ones we have used in the past.

Just because your a top player, it doesn't mean you know what's best for the game. It usually means what's best for you, is the most important thing.

We've had chances in the past and maybe they'll come again. We can't have people that think $25,000 is a lot of money, in charge of negotiating our future. It's not going to work.
 
tom mcgonagle said:
My mom was a waitress and she worked on Friday nights.

I remember sitting watching the Friday Night Fights with my dad and my Uncle Harry. Some great fighters fought on these particular nights. Sugar Ray Robinson, Ruben, (Hurricane) Carter,and Carmen Basilio. Are some of the names that flash through my memory bank.

Of course as the fights went along and the beer started flowing, more heavily, my dad and my uncle would get into arguing about who the greatest fighters of all time were. Dempsey, Marciano, and Lewis were now some of the names more frequently mentioned.

What am I getting at?

A lot of what goes on in this forum, and for good reason, is about the past.

I love a great pool story as much as the next guy. I just don't think the future of the game, is living in the past. Especially today.

Right now NFL players and owners are arguing over billions of dollars.

The best pool player in the world can't make what the lowest paid player on a baseball team is guaranteed. That sad commentary for our game and the people that play it and promote it.

Whose fault is it?

I personally think, we're all to blame.

Much like the fight game, we settled. We never became a ligament game.

We cheated, we lied, we stole, we took drugs and these were the good guys. Some of us went even further.

Right now I'm sixty years old. In the room I play in, I'm one of the younger players. I wear my headphones and listen to music while I'm playing. I don't want to listen to the war stories, as I'm playing. I believe the game still has a future. Maybe I'll live long enough to see it. I hope so.

What do you think?

__________________________________________

http://tommcgonaglerightoncue.com
Click to expand...

Pool isn't going anywhere. The reality is, pool is a very popular participating sport. It is not a spectator sport. That is just a reality. Even the most hard core players and fans don't really care to watch for more then a short time before they are more interested in just going to a table and playing themselves. The value in pool is as a business, but it is not a professional sport. This will never change. At best some may be willing to put on tournaments with no real thought of making much in the way of profit but because they love the game.

Even local tours charge green fees they take from the players. They don't seem to think just the promotion of the tournament and the possible longer term advertising has any value. They make the players pay to advertise their business, "Amazing". What does that tell you. They act like they are doing you a favor putting a tournament when it is suppose to be a promotion for their business. Pool tournaments, even to the promoters have very little value.

By the way, I have a formula for something that would make it possible for players to have not so much a tour, but three or four major tournaments a year for major money that could spawn more tournaments. It is not new and not my idea. In fact it was proposed around 1970 by a pool room owner and it would have worked then and it would work now but he got not cooperation from the pool industry. Pool is that type of industry, short sighted and unorganized. If you are interested shoot me a IM and I will tell you what he tried to do, it was interesting.
 
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I think "The Color Of Money" had a lot to do with pool's resurgence in the 80's.

All we need is someone to write another great pool story and have it made into a movie and..... oh wait........ Lol!
 
tom mcgonagle said:
My mom was a waitress and she worked on Friday nights.

I remember sitting watching the Friday Night Fights with my dad and my Uncle Harry. Some great fighters fought on these particular nights. Sugar Ray Robinson, Ruben, (Hurricane) Carter,and Carmen Basilio. Are some of the names that flash through my memory bank.

Of course as the fights went along and the beer started flowing, more heavily, my dad and my uncle would get into arguing about who the greatest fighters of all time were. Dempsey, Marciano, and Lewis were now some of the names more frequently mentioned.

What am I getting at?

A lot of what goes on in this forum, and for good reason, is about the past.

I love a great pool story as much as the next guy. I just don't think the future of the game, is living in the past. Especially today.

Right now NFL players and owners are arguing over billions of dollars.

The best pool player in the world can't make what the lowest paid player on a baseball team is guaranteed. That sad commentary for our game and the people that play it and promote it.

Whose fault is it?

I personally think, we're all to blame.

Much like the fight game, we settled. We never became a ligament game.

We cheated, we lied, we stole, we took drugs and these were the good guys. Some of us went even further.

Right now I'm sixty years old. In the room I play in, I'm one of the younger players. I wear my headphones and listen to music while I'm playing. I don't want to listen to the war stories, as I'm playing. I believe the game still has a future. Maybe I'll live long enough to see it. I hope so.

What do you think?

__________________________________________

http://tommcgonaglerightoncue.com
Click to expand...

old people do that stuff all the time. not just old people but people who've given up on the future always do that. they only focus on what happened before.

it's really kind of sad
 
PocketPoint said:
Maybe for us non-pros it is a good thing.

We can still interact with the best players. We can still play in the same tournaments. I can go up to Earl and talk to him for an hour if I want. I can even get a pro to help me on a shot or two. I could have lunch with them, get lessons, almost anything.

Now try and do the same thing with Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson. They probably have body guards.

So in a way, it's a good thing.
Click to expand...

if pro pool players made tiger woods or phil mickelson money they'd be surrounded by body guards too.
 
Monstermash said:
I think "The Color Of Money" had a lot to do with pool's resurgence in the 80's.

All we need is someone to write another great pool story and have it made into a movie and..... oh wait........ Lol!
Click to expand...

when i saw the "NEW" trailer for "9 ball" i reserved another 20 copies!!!!!! i can't wait!!!!
 
poolplayer2093 said:
when i saw the "NEW" trailer for "9 ball" i reserved another 20 copies!!!!!! i can't wait!!!!
Click to expand...

9 Ball looks ok but it really needs some big name stars to make an impact on the game.

I really wish they would make a sequel to "The Color of Money". I actually thought about writing it myself. :p
 
tom mcgonagle said:
My mom was a waitress and she worked on Friday nights.

I remember sitting watching the Friday Night Fights with my dad and my Uncle Harry. Some great fighters fought on these particular nights. Sugar Ray Robinson, Ruben, (Hurricane) Carter,and Carmen Basilio. Are some of the names that flash through my memory bank.

Of course as the fights went along and the beer started flowing, more heavily, my dad and my uncle would get into arguing about who the greatest fighters of all time were. Dempsey, Marciano, and Lewis were now some of the names more frequently mentioned.

What am I getting at?

A lot of what goes on in this forum, and for good reason, is about the past.

I love a great pool story as much as the next guy. I just don't think the future of the game, is living in the past. Especially today.

Right now NFL players and owners are arguing over billions of dollars.

The best pool player in the world can't make what the lowest paid player on a baseball team is guaranteed. That sad commentary for our game and the people that play it and promote it.

Whose fault is it?

I personally think, we're all to blame.

Much like the fight game, we settled. We never became a ligament game.

We cheated, we lied, we stole, we took drugs and these were the good guys. Some of us went even further.

Right now I'm sixty years old. In the room I play in, I'm one of the younger players. I wear my headphones and listen to music while I'm playing. I don't want to listen to the war stories, as I'm playing. I believe the game still has a future. Maybe I'll live long enough to see it. I hope so.

What do you think?

__________________________________________

http://tommcgonaglerightoncue.com
Click to expand...



Glory Day's certainly pass you by!!!!!!!!!:)
 
a different perspective

how about a "player cam"

small CCD positioned like a hindu dot and strapped like a headband to the players forehead! it'd be like you're right there in the action! LOL:cool:
 
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