Snapshot9 said:
1) Pool rooms need to have high standards, a good room, be helpful,
with good pro shops, a pro on duty, with helpful instruction and knowledge.
2) Pool organizations need a central authority to help regulate where our
sport is going.
3) We need to get the kids involved, educate them, let them enjoy the
sport, to help further our sport in the future.
4) We need exposure, by way of a cool Pool movie, knowledge about
pro players (Tony Robles is an excellent example IMO), the different tours,
international play, upcoming Junior players (who are they, what do they
like to do, scholastic achievments), unique type tournaments (such as
14.1 or 3 cushion), outstanding or unique Pool rooms, great contributors
to the sport, real good billiards newsletter and papers, need exposure
in our hometown newspapers.
I would say that we have a pretty good start to helping our sport with
these listed above .... now, how can we make those things happen?
As for #2 above, I think it is important to decide who should be in charge of a professional pool tour or tours. I would like for the players themselves to be in charge, and run their own organization(s) under strict rules voted on by all of the participating players. They should, in my opinion, have rules that provide anyone a chance to qualify, and work with all the regional tours for qualifying.
The MPBA had a qualifying system, but was mainly concerned with making decent money for its top 32 players. Include everyone, have every place in the tournaments pay out money with zero enty fee, a qualifying round before the main tournament to break in the cloth and give lower ranked players a chance to qualify for spots. Jose Parica commented at the World 9-Ball in Winston-Salem several years ago that since only about 10 guys there had a real shot of winning for their $500 entry fee and the tournament only had about 60 players instead of the 128 full field that everyone else should be allowed in for $100 and go ahead and fill it up. I don't have quite that much confidence myself, but I think that kind of thinking is what's needed. Get everyone involved.
I believe it is important to make the rules to bring out differences between pool and other sports. For instance 9-ball should always be played winner breaks. It's not tennis, it's 9-ball, and if you can't run 5 racks and out on somebody in a pro tournament it's boring. If the players are too good for the tables make them tighter or go to 10-ball, 11-ball, 12-ball, whatever.
Ten ball was played on the Camel Tour just before the perfect rack was available. Now that we have a perfect rack you just really can't play 9-ball anymore as a pro game. It is too easy with a good rack and too stupid to give everyone a bad rack. Needs to be 10-ball at least, preferably 11-ball or 12-ball.
Also, women being able to compete equally with men in an open organization is essential in the long run, imho. Maybe someone could find a way to work with the WPBA to see that they allow this to happen in a way that benefits their tour also, instead of competing against them for players.
Who do you think should decide these issues? Maybe everyone that can play at a certain level? I wouldn't want to tell straight pool players or one-pocket players how to run their sports because I don't feel I play those games well enough to have a say (they should have independent organizations), and I don't want people that aren't near the top of the 9-ball world running my game. The question to me is where is the cutoff point.
Not that everyone can't or shouldn't give an opinion. As Efren said before, you often you learn the best shots from watching less accomplished players...
unknownpro