I really like watching a tournament that doesn't have commentators

I like watching a good pool match that really looks like a pool match. No super short races, no gimmicks on the break, tight racks by a good ref, a good ref, no funny colored balls, good camera work AND some good commentary! All these things seem to be in short supply these days.

The good news for the players is more tournaments with decent prize money. What is lacking is no uniformity between all these events. Different equipment, different games, different rules, pretty much different everything! To be a good player you must be able to adapt to all the changes from event to event. In some ways, it's no different than how pool was 30 or 40 years ago, when you played under different conditions everywhere you went. The best players could adapt the best. Rarely did you get a game under ideal conditions. Lots of gimmicky tables and local rules you needed to learn and learn quick! C'est la vie

For all these reasons above, the BigFoot Ten Ball may be the best event going today, hence it's popularity. All good players, a very real pool table, long matches, good refs and usually good commentary to go with it. After that I'd rate the U.S. Open and International 9-Ball next best. Good old DE until the final few players. I still like Winner Breaks but Alternate Break is okay too.
 
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I don't care for the ball colors. I keep getting the 4 and 5 confused.
YES! I recently watched a match where the 4 was pink and the 5 purple. Who thought this was a good idea?!? I hated watching it because i kept thinking the players were setting up for the wrong balls.

Regarding commentary, after a few racks of commentators speculating what the shooter is planning, and often not having a great perspective of the layout and so often wrong about the next shot, I usually just turn off the volume and only turn it back up when there is something particularly interesting coming up.
 
I like watching a good pool match that really looks like a pool match. No super short races, no gimmicks on the break, tight racks by a good ref, a good ref, no funny colored balls, good camera work AND some good commentary! All these things seem to be in short supply these days.

The good news for the players is more tournaments with decent prize money. What is lacking is no uniformity between all these events. Different equipment, different games, different rules, pretty much different everything! To be a good player you must be able to adapt to all the changes from event to event. In some ways, it's no different than how pool was 30 or 40 years ago, when you played under different conditions everywhere you went. The best players could adapt the best. Rarely did you get a game under ideal conditions. Lots of gimmicky tables and local rules you needed to learn and learn quick! C'est la vie

For all these reasons above, the BigFoot Ten Ball may be the best event going today, hence it's popularity. All good players, a very real pool table, long matches, good refs and usually the good commentary to go with it. After that I'd rate the U.S. Open and International 9-Ball next best. Good old DE until the final few players. I still like Winner Breaks but Alternate Break is okay too.
Camera work is key. Fixed cameras have to be at the correct angle. Moving cameras have to be as well. Bad camera work by people who don’t know pool is just too painful to watch. Pat & MR both do a great job. Most streamers do these days. ESPN not always the case.

The commentary is kinda cool when you personally know the people they mite be talking about or were there etc. because there’s a personal connection. I get the point in the OP if you are not a part of pool culture hearing that might get old. When your part of pool for 10-50 years it’s different. Never know who might call you at midnight lololol 😉😉. So from our perspective the chatter is different to us.

And watching dumb formats-game over I’d rather watch bowling.

Best
Fatboy 📞☎️
 
YES! I recently watched a match where the 4 was pink and the 5 purple. Who thought this was a good idea?!? I hated watching it because i kept thinking the players were setting up for the wrong balls.

Regarding commentary, after a few racks of commentators speculating what the shooter is planning, and often not having a great perspective of the layout and so often wrong about the next shot, I usually just turn off the volume and only turn it back up when there is something particularly interesting coming up.
I can’t stand the wrong color balls!
 
Even though I get irritated by bad commentators I still would rather be annoyed then silence. Pool hall noises and balls being pocketed is ok but a dead mic just bothers me.

I have been thinking, we have lots of pool instructors and videos on how to play the game but it would be cool to see instruction on commentating matches. We have a hall in Denver that has some fun matches to watch and decent streaming equipment but the commentating leaves a lot to be desired. I feel like letting the folks know what I feel is appropriate for discussion and what should be left out.

I not sure how I would go about telling them when I don't wish to piss them off when they don't get paid much and probably don't know how they come across to the viewers.

It would be interesting for good commentators to give seminars on the subject at tourneys or YouTube videos.

I’ll let Shane know you’re watching.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I’ll let Shane know you’re watching.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
He knows. I am fairly active with the chat. It’s a fun batch of players that I hope to get in the grease with in the next couple of years. I am a bit on the old side to threaten the top tier but I bet I can run with many in the mid 600’s that play there.
 
I'm watching a real the 9-ball tournament presented my Matchroom Pool today on YouTube. You know. a real tournament not the spot shot shootout festival they played over the weekend. I've just discovered that I really like not needing to listen to commentators tell me shit that already know or don't need to know. I think David Alcaide and Naoyuki Oh know how to play the game better than two commentators up in the box who don't play the game as well as they do telling me how they should play their shots. If the commentators were as good as the contestants they would be on the table instead of them. I don't give a shit about a debate as to whether a player should go one or two rails as long as they get there. Also, not having to listen to stories of Cornbread Red from Danny Deliberto is priceless. I like hearing the ref give the score and the sounds of the balls but humans telling me what my eyes can easily see - I can live without that.
See if you can find someone to teach you how to mute the sound on your device.
 
i’ll mention russian and chinese commentators, two languages i don’t understand

i like them better than most english speaking commentators because i don’t have to hear all the cliches AND i can hear the sounds at the table

and i’m always hearing this word spoken in chinese that sounds to me like

cushing

and i assume it’s

cushion

but idk
 
I never really got into watching anything. I played baseball for years and even had an academic scholarship probably semi-fueled by them wanting me to play on the college team(private school). Even so, I don’t think I’ve ever watched one full game of baseball on tv. Only been to 1-2 in person. It’s boring. Just like pool when you aren’t the one playing. I have watched a few pool matches though. In person is definitely better and can keep me intrigued just like with baseball. So I can see what OP is saying “without commentators”. to the point. When I do watch a pool match I don’t even pay attention to the commentators much. When the game gets boring the commentators are ok with me though. They can keep it a bit more interesting sometimes, and keep me from turning it off.
 
I never really got into watching anything. I played baseball for years and even had an academic scholarship probably semi-fueled by them wanting me to play on the college team(private school). Even so, I don’t think I’ve ever watched one full game of baseball on tv. Only been to 1-2 in person. It’s boring. Just like pool when you aren’t the one playing. I have watched a few pool matches though. In person is definitely better and can keep me intrigued just like with baseball. So I can see what OP is saying “without commentators”. to the point. When I do watch a pool match I don’t even pay attention to the commentators much. When the game gets boring the commentators are ok with me though. They can keep it a bit more interesting sometimes, and keep me from turning it off.
Cool story.
 
This is either a misspelling or a genius demonstrating how to create a new word for our vocabulary.

Vomintator- a person who commentates a match so poorly it makes you want to vomit.
I took vomintator to be a commentator that talks nonstop - whether it be relevant or not.

I need commentary for pool. There have been a few matches I’ve watched without it like on side tables but it’s rare for them to hold my attention. It makes me feel lonely like somethings missing.

Bad commentary can be pretty painful though. Recently I watched a match where one commentator was making me cringe so bad I had to turn the volume down sometimes when I could tell he was about to say something off the wall or awkward again. I felt bad for m wilson.


As far as camera work, I can’t remember what I was watching just the other day but it was a nice tournament - I think maybe this predator thing - and all was well except they would switch the camera view at the absolute worst time.

You’d have a still camera showing all of the table, player not obstructing the shot he’s about to take, you can see the ball and pocket it’s going to, and just as importantly- you could see the position route.

But right before the guy shoots the shot they would switch view to a handheld camera closer to the player, zoomed in on the shot he’s making and the pocket. He’d make the ball and then the cue ball would go off the rail and off the screen. With no idea if it’s on line or hit another ball or wth is going on.

I thought it was bad timing a few times and eventually realized it was purposeful. They switch back to that stable view to watch the cue ball but it’s often halfway through its travel by then and the shot feels disjointed.

I’m not positive what makes pool entertaining to watch but JJ and a solid view of the whole table is a good start.

Zooming in and handheld angles should be left to special circumstances like seeing if a ball passes or showing a crazy cluster/dead ball or something like that. Maybe the occasional handheld shot like if it’s on the final ball or maybe if it’s a stop shot or something. But sparingly used. Like salt. Salt is delicious but you’re never far away from being absolutely disgusting
 
I'm watching a real the 9-ball tournament presented my Matchroom Pool today on YouTube. You know. a real tournament not the spot shot shootout festival they played over the weekend. I've just discovered that I really like not needing to listen to commentators tell me shit that already know or don't need to know. I think David Alcaide and Naoyuki Oh know how to play the game better than two commentators up in the box who don't play the game as well as they do telling me how they should play their shots. If the commentators were as good as the contestants they would be on the table instead of them. I don't give a shit about a debate as to whether a player should go one or two rails as long as they get there. Also, not having to listen to stories of Cornbread Red from Danny Deliberto is priceless. I like hearing the ref give the score and the sounds of the balls but humans telling me what my eyes can easily see - I can live without that.
I’ve done hundreds of hours of commentary for professional events and matchups. I have my share of haters, which at least says people are listening. I always say that *my* commentary is not for the players who have a high level of knowledge of the game. It’s for the partial fan, the spouses of the players, the newby shooters, players who have never played 14.1/one pocket/10-ball. And you’d never believe how many longtime players have never heard of some of tidbits that some of us commentators say. I’ve literally had players stop me in the middle of an event just to repeat some small tidbit I said.

But, I complain about commentary also, especially if it seems like the commentator is just a fill in or hasn’t done homework. In other words, if someone isn’t trying to be a good commentator, it becomes obvious. I know where the mute button is. I’m sure their commentary appeals to a range of listeners as well.

Freddie <~~~ can’t please everyone
 
One Pocket need no voice in background. Grady I always enjoy when on the 🎤.👍
How much is too much and how much is enough. Incardona is very good. Jeremy Jones and some of the commentators that commentate for Upstate Al don’t know when to back off. Ken Venturi said that it’s obvious what’s going on there is no need for me to comment. The viewers know that a 3’ putt is a 3’ putt. Jones needs to take a lesson from Venturi.
 
Live sport on screen is better with commentary. The standard of commentary varies and I'm sure that all of us who watch any kind of end-to-end sport with a ball (or puck or similar) sometimes wonder if the commentators are watching the same match we are. But it doesn't detract from the experience and you can always hit the mute button.
 
If there was a way to mute just the commentators it would be great but I can't stand watching it without sound. I like to hear the ball contact and the referee.
 
Am I the only one that thinks Tony Robles has been doing one heck of a job at commentating lately?

There are those that don't know when to talk and when not to talk. There are those that believe if the player isn't going to shoot it his way (the commentator), then he/she is shooting it wrong. Then there are those that question the shot selections of the finest players in the world. IMHO, televised/streamed matches need intermittent moments of silence.

When you do get a commentator that does it right though, it definitely is a good thing.

Maniac
 
Funny how many people want pool to grow, and to get more exposure. Yet when pool does anything to try and attract more casual fans, people complain. Yet another reason pool will never become mainstream.
 
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