How Recognizable Is Pool?

[watchez]

So I was at this bar/pool room last night -- more of a bar but they have 4 bar tables in it and discussing with some friends the comments that Earl made about -

Pool is harder than golf.
He is more of a celebrity than Tony Romo.

On this statement, my friend said that if Earl would have said Jeanette Lee is more of a celebrity than Tony Romo, he might have been right.

So I turn to this young man (about 25) to my left and ask him if he knows who Jeanette Lee is? His response - a movie star? So I ask him if he knows who the Black Widow is? He has the same deer in a headlights look on his face. So then I ask this same young man (and I do not live in Columbus) - who is the best player on the NHL hockey team from Columbus and he immediately, without hesitation says Rick Nash.

Good Luck Pool. RIP.

 

[TheBook]

.


Who is Tony Romo? :shrug:



.

 

[bud green]

I doubt one person in fifty could name more than 2 pool players, dead or alive.

Minnesota Fats and Mosconi. After that, I can only imagine Filipinos knowing any other players because of Efren and Parica's popularity in the PI.

 

[rrich1]

i couldnt name 2 hockey players :shrug: i guess i cancel him out.

99% of people could not tell you who 3 pro soccer players are. people will watch what they want and ignore the rest. as long as there are "enough" people interested than pool will live.

 

[Drew]

i couldnt name 2 hockey players :shrug: i guess i cancel him out.

99% of people could not tell you who 3 pro soccer players are. people will watch what they want and ignore the rest. as long as there are "enough" people interested than pool will live.

Pele, David Beckham, ???

Hockey: Wayne Gretzky, Patrick Roy, ???

Baseball: I can name the starters on most teams.

Football: Most of the quarterbacks and the top offensive and defensive players.

Basketball: Just the superstars.

Nascar: That one hot chick.

 

[JamisonNeu]

Pool is not going to die..It will live on forever. There will always be people on this planet that are after the complexity of cue sports..There will always be some people shooting just because they can see the math, and they love it...

I will play pool until I die, even if no one else does...I love the game, and I am not in it for anything, but making one more ball.

 

[PoolRookie]

The same one knocking pool is the same one in a billiard forum all night oh yeah porn sites playing sticky keyboard....

 

[Banker1978]

i couldnt name 2 hockey players :shrug: i guess i cancel him out.

99% of people could not tell you who 3 pro soccer players are. people will watch what they want and ignore the rest. as long as there are "enough" people interested than pool will live.

It doesn't shock me that the average person can't name any pool players. What is amazing to me is that most recreational players (once or more per week) can't name more than a few either. Especially if you asked the average APA player. Most have no clue who Corey, Efren, or Shane are...

 

[Cuaba]

Earl is more famous in Europe and Asia than he is here. He's been to both so he knows it.

I doubt that anybody has heard of Tony Romo outside the US, so Earl may be correct?

 

[Slh]

Pele, David Beckham, ???

Hockey: Wayne Gretzky, Patrick Roy, ???

Baseball: I can name the starters on most teams.

Football: Most of the quarterbacks and the top offensive and defensive players.

Basketball: Just the superstars.

Nascar: That one hot chick.

Pele has ritired from football a long time ago and Beckham is not a top player anymore.
I can't name any hockey or baseball player.
The hot chick is Danica Patrick....

 

[trustyrusty]

Earl is more famous in Europe and Asia than he is here. He's been to both so he knows it.

I doubt that anybody has heard of Tony Romo outside the US, so Earl may be correct?

Hey Brad....

problem is, Earl is/was asking to play in celebrity golf tournaments HERE. No way is Earl EVER going to be more popular than ANY NFL (starting) quarterback here in the states.

I understand that as a participation sport pool is fairly LARGE, but there is NO "tour" where folks can see pro poolplayers on tv. I was by no means a "fan" of professional bowling, but it was on TV every week when I was a kid....I still remember names like Earl Anthony, Mark Roth, Dick and Pete Weber, etc. It wasn't even something I would watch with interest; just something that was sometimes left on in the backround. I believe those days are gone though....too many channels to tune into, too many choices. But with SO many choices, and everyone fighting for viewers, you'd think pool "could" get a shot if there was something organized. Those thinking that a shot means ESPN though, well, you are just dreaming.

 

[ironman]

Earl is more famous in Europe and Asia than he is here. He's been to both so he knows it.

I doubt that anybody has heard of Tony Romo outside the US, so Earl may be correct?

Miller Lite took a grat stab at promoting the game back in the 80's and it was pioneered as I understood by a man named Larry Meuth. The Miller Lite World Series of Tavern Pool was in my thinking the grandest event ever promoted.
I remember entering on the local level for $15.00. I won that and then the regional event with no entry and went on to Vegas, with free air, hotel, and entry and escaped Vegas with about $7500.
The second year was the year of the big scandal involving Dallas West playing the $5000 match pitting the pro winner vs the Amatuer. At that time the Amatuer was anyone who had not played in an event with an entry of more than $359, if memory serves correctly.
Just before the Pro am match someone ratted onthe amateur and he was disqaulified. The runner up from Ohio was allowed to play West and got drilled.
When Larry Meuth made the announcement, I'll never forget how he looked as though he had been kicked in the gut The man looked vitually devastated and betrayed. I have not hear of the man since. I often wondered why? he seemed a man of vision and coordinated an great undertaking.
it seems the 8 ball event alone had app, 2000 players and some very recognizable names too. The 2nd year was more controlled and less names like Hopkins, Howard, Florence, Munson, etc were allowed in the amatuer.
Those events had a lasting impression on me and I often wonder how the game let My Mueth get away. i would have voted for him as promoter of the century.
OMG, how the sport could use him now??

 

[MitchAlsup]

Pool is harder than golf.

Heart Surgery is harder than coaching basket ball. But I bet the average American knows more basketball players than Heart Surgens.

Pool is what it is, it is not going anywhere {extinction nor stardom}, and if more here would become ambassadors to pool rather than bemoan its current state, its current state would improve.

 

[justadub]

It doesn't shock me that the average person can't name any pool players. What is amazing to me is that most recreational players (once or more per week) can't name more than a few either. Especially if you asked the average APA player. Most have no clue who Corey, Efren, or Shane are...

I am an average APA player (actually below average, heh heh) and I can name off several pro's quite easily. But let me ask you this? How exactly would the average APA player (or any other league player) ever learn about our pro's? Really.

Right here, is the answer. Meaning AZB. If these awful league players don't take it upon themselves to look up pool on the internet, they will not ever learn about who our pro's are. There is no other avenue of exposure for this game of ours.

I came to the game at 46 years old. I have always been an avid sports fan. Before I started playing, I would not have been able to name a pro pool player, other than Fats. But I could tell you all about baseball, basketball, and football, as well as many golfers, tennis players, some hockey players, and even some Nascar drivers, a sport I don't even care for. What is the common denominator? Television, of course.

It's not the APA's fault their players don't know about the pro's. We have between 100 and 150 players in our division, and I bet there aren't more than 10 who know anyone other than jeannette lee. And those people, guess what? They come here, to azb.

Just the way it is, I'm afraid.

 

[metallicane]

It doesn't shock me that the average person can't name any pool players. What is amazing to me is that most recreational players (once or more per week) can't name more than a few either. Especially if you asked the average APA player. Most have no clue who Corey, Efren, or Shane are...

Isn't this the truth. I ask friends that play pool if they know who Shane Van Boenig is and they are clueless. It is sad, but does not affect my love for the game at all.

 

[watchez]

Be Like Mike --- or what Tiger Woods did for golf. This is why pool needs to have recognition to get somewhere. And until pool changes in many ways, it will never get there.

 

[Drew]

Pele has ritired from football a long time ago and Beckham is not a top player anymore.
I can't name any hockey or baseball player.
The hot chick is Danica Patrick....

That's what I'm talking about. People have different interests. Baseball is one of the biggest sports in the world and you can't name a single player (I'm sure you know Babe Ruth just like I know Pele). Hockey is the biggest thing in Canada and again you can't name a single player.

But good luck finding someone in the Philippines who doesn't know Efren Reyes.

 

[Banker1978]

I am an average APA player (actually below average, heh heh) and I can name off several pro's quite easily. But let me ask you this? How exactly would the average APA player (or any other league player) ever learn about our pro's? Really.

Right here, is the answer. Meaning AZB. If these awful league players don't take it upon themselves to look up pool on the internet, they will not ever learn about who our pro's are. There is no other avenue of exposure for this game of ours.

I came to the game at 46 years old. I have always been an avid sports fan. Before I started playing, I would not have been able to name a pro pool player, other than Fats. But I could tell you all about baseball, basketball, and football, as well as many golfers, tennis players, some hockey players, and even some Nascar drivers, a sport I don't even care for. What is the common denominator? Television, of course.

It's not the APA's fault their players don't know about the pro's. We have between 100 and 150 players in our division, and I bet there aren't more than 10 who know anyone other than jeannette lee. And those people, guess what? They come here, to azb.

Just the way it is, I'm afraid.

Justadub,
I wasn't attacking the APA at all in my post. I know it's not their fault. I was just using the APA as an example of a large group who love playing pool often but most of them have no clue about pools best players. I actually play in the APA (although mostly because my wife makes me) . I realize there are exceptions and some APA players do no a lot of pro players. However, in my experience, talking to the APA players I know, most of them don't know more than a few players. That doesn't mean they are awful players or the APA is at fault. Like you said, it's just sad that there is no mainstream exposure or interest in pro pool.