Life is top heavy
How many pros can a tour support?
- Thread starter jbart65
- Start date
What makes us over here so stupid ??
sounds like something John Steinbeck would say.
I’ll remember that one, thanks for the quote E. Hope you been living on the proverbial heavy my friend
Not as heavy as I was-by choice. But I’m living great, good balance of no stress and being very happy. Can’t complain. Im in a good spot in life. I appreciate your kind words
. I hope you are as well,
Best
Eric
not sure what you're asking. trying to compare the games is a complete waste of time. snooker was/is a bigger part of the over-all sports landscape in the UK. pool hasn't had anything close to that status here,if at all, in a LONG time. Has nothing to do with stupidity. Pool in the states has always been a niche game/activity often associated with gambling and seedy poolrooms. Its had its spikes in popularity but still never had the draw like snooker does across the pond. Hell, for quite a while one of the most watched tv shows over there was snooker's 'Pot Black'. Can you EVER see pool that big here? Not happening. Stupidity has nothing to with it. No offense but folks continually blaming pool's lack of success in the US on some form of stupidity is, well, just kinda stupid.
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First you say it has nothing to do with being stupid.
Then you illustrate why it is stupid over here.
Make up your mind.
It is not stupid that pool is in a slump, what is stupid is that the American population put it where it is.No offense but folks continually blaming pool's lack of success in the US on some form of stupidity is, well, just kinda stupid.
Is that, as a pool player, stupid, or what ?!?
Most football players would like that too. I don’t think most NFL players ever vest in pension benefits which I believe is 4 seasons. I don’t know how much of a season qualifies. Because sometimes teams use strategies so they don’t have to guarantee a full year. And the path to playing in the NFL is years in college football. Yeah, the players get some money some of the time. But the overwhelming majority don’t play pro football and those that make it are often out on f the game quickly. Often with injuries. So let’s say you gross 4M over 4 years in NY or CA and are out of the league. If you have a million in the bank and no chronic injuries and a college degree you are rare.
Still has nothing to do with stupidity. what is you're quest here? Don't try to put words in my mouth or try to outguess me. Pro pool as never been close to the level snooker is in the UK(at least not in my lifetime) so why worry about it? There's a bunch of reasons, some cultural, some financial and some social, that are in play. Stupidity is your call not mine. I don't agree with what you're trying to you say here. I DO NOT think that pool's status in the US, or lack thereof, is based in 'stupidity'. To be really honest, i do not give a flying fk about pro pool's status, here or anywhere else. It is what it is. If pro pool disappeared tomorrow i wouldn't give two shits. Got way more shit, like staying alive, to care about.
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People always want to point at one big underlying factor for the state of US pool and that's impossible. Its a huge jumbled mess of money, social mores, cultural changes, etc. You can't just pluck out one thing, especially 'stupidity', and say "Yes Sergeant Friday, he did it". Not happening.
I could be wrong, someone correct me that knows British billiard history but I’ve always seen billiards as a “gentleman’s game.” A game that you’d see played at a “billiard club.” An establishment for highfalutins... tennis club or golf cub types. American pool does not have that history. Anyone from any background hung out in pool halls... doctors , lawyers, blue collar right down to pimps and the homeless. Probably mostly blue collar but you get my point. You’re not going to see a many average joes much less a homeless person walk into a billiard club in England 100 years ago. Thats the only reason that pool halls in this country have a negative connotation, hence “seedy pool halls.“ Because you see the same stuff go on these establishments from people enjoying the game, drinking, & gambling. Hell there‘s probably more money gambled at the golf clubs because there’s more money there. I‘m not even going to start talking about the pimps. To this very day many people will look at you sideways when you say you’re going to go hang out at the pool hall. Man am I rambling, I almost forgot what this thread is about. That’s part of the reason pool doesn’t catch on in this country as far as the commercial money goes. Where the commercial money is, is where any game grows in popularity and the ability to pay the players.
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nah, what snooker has is varnish, in the form of dress codes, etc. i would guess that of all snooker world champions, 90% come from a working class background. ronnie doesn't, his parents owned porn shops all over london and were well off. but guys like mark williams, ray reardon, doug mountjoy, actually worked in coal mines before they went all in for snooker, others are children of workers. officers may have created the game but blue collar players have excelled in it, often beginning in working men's clubs.
also that snooker players have more class than pool players is a myth imo. the dress codes, rules and fines enforces a certain behavior, but it's basically the same demographic as american pool.
The UK was, and may still be, full of seedy snooker rooms. Its far from what you think. As Skog clearly put it, the game is blue collar just like pool. They drink, gamble(as much if not more than US pool) too. Pool in this country got the 'seedy gambling dens' anchor around its neck long ago and is still dragging it around to some extent. Its been a niche 'off the radar' game since WW2 filled the rooms with bachelor GI's looking for a place to hang/gamble/chase tail/drink, you name it. I gotta be honest here, that's why i started playing. I don't have ANY issues with the 'darker' side, i relish it.
Varnish… Oh I like that! I’m guessing that means a facade or fake. I think we are saying the same thing. Dress codes sound about right for Billiard, golf, and tennis clubs. That’s why I said you see the same stuff go on in all these establishments from people enjoying the game, drinking, & gambling... I’m saying it’s a myth. There are no dress codes in pool halls except maybe “no shoes no shirt no service.” Im talking about the history of Billiards. That’s also why I said 100 years ago. I ask again 100 years ago would you see cole minors in a billiard club? That’s the difference between the sport/game in these two countries. One hundred years ago I’m sure it would be common place for a cole minor to be in a pool hall. Today yes I would not doubt the demographic is probably the same in both countries. But the negative connotations associated with pool halls still persists in the USA and the billiards being a gentleman‘s game in England still holds true… dress code and all.
And my larger point still remains: that’s part of the reason pool doesn’t catch on in this country as far as the commercial money goes. Where the commercial money is, is where any game grows in popularity and the ability to pay the players.
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Really read my post, don’t speed read.
I clearly said the same stuff goes on in pool rooms, golf, & tennis clubs. I don’t think billiard clubs are any different.there are no dress codes in snooker rooms either, i was referring to tournament snooker.
never thought much of dress codes in pool rooms. my local room has a weird rule about tank tops for men, but other than that i haven't been called out for anything. belly bags are disallowed, but only because drug dealers use them.
either way, back to topic i don't think the perception of pool holds it back. probably the opposite, pool is too unknown for the younger generation
Okay maybe I am wrong but I always thought it wast known a a gentleman’s game… a game that the royalty played along with the elites. Historically.
My bigger point still remains.
As @skogstokig mentioned, thats largely good marketing.
There is truth in it to some degree however, in that, here in the UK our houses are typically much smaller, so it was always (and still is) very rare for someone to have the space for a full size English Billiards (snooker) table. Only very well off families would have had a billiards room, hence the association with wealth and the upper classes.
But the reality of course is that the game really grew in what we would call 'working mens clubs' (I think you might say blue collar workers) and is very much intertwined with gambling (Barry Hearn's Matchroom is literally named after the room in his snooker club where they used to wager on snooker matches, Steve Davis got the nickname 'The Nugget' because he was such a sold bet it was like backing gold in that room).
If you're interested check out 'Gods of Snooker' on Youtube, its pretty interesting if you want to learn about the history (from the late 70's onwards).
I'm curious where this information came from, it has almost nothing to do with what I know about the professional pool scene ,
Maybe I am misinterpreting, are you asking if what you are speculating is correct? Or are you saying , your statements are fact?
You asked the question
All these players are somehow supporting themselves right now. How do they do it?
If you knew , you would know.
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InsertCleverNameHere
Well-known member
Glad someone else feels this way. Anytime anyone compares Snooker and Pocket Billiards(pool) I always just bite my tongue cuz I don't wanna argue. They are so so vastly different and only look similar on the surface and or to the uninitiated.