Bonus Ball Suggestions and Observations
After watching the streaming matches this weekend, I offer these suggestions and observations:
Positives:
1) It was a good idea to host free matches to give fans a taste of the game & season. While I think it may have resulted from some early streaming issues, ultimately I think it was a good thing for drawing people who may not have plunked $ down sight unseen.
2) production value was fantastic. Very professional quality of stream, sound and venue. Nice touch to change colors so fans know what ball color is being shot.
3) team uniform and logos were great.
4) I really like the way the players interact with each other & show emotion and passion during the match. Makes it exciting and fun to watch
Suggestions / observations (no particular order):
1) gotta fill the stands. New York match looked to play to an empty crowd. Fans also bringing passion & emotion ala Mosconi cup really notch up excitement and atmosphere
2) while the Vegas arena was great, I think this would be much more effective played in the local market. I would sacrifice the Vegas studio to go see & support my team. If the New York team for example, were at Steinway billiards, the place would have been packed & gone crazy. I would have drove from CT to be there. I would also buy "season tickets" to watch them play. I would also have my jersey on (if I could get one) and ill bet the place would be filled with fans wearing their team's colors). Taking a page from other sports, before the match, I would announce the teams and the home players one at a time & have them come running out.
3) bonus ball (if it is to remain the game of choice for professional team play) needs to become more main stream. It needs to be adopted by apa, bca or tap so that fans are playing the same game as these teams. I watch pool as much to learn from the pros as I do for the entertainment (same as fans of other sports). As such, they need to be playing the same game.
4) bonus ball still may only attract savvy pool players as opposed to more main stream. That is not to say I think it is a bad game. I think it takes skill & strategy. In the matches I watched this weekend, there were a lot of aspects of one pocket, defensive play and not many runs. I enjoyed it, but the more mainstream may find it slow paced and a bit boring.
5) I have read the rules & watched some matches and still don't have the hang of the strategy & scoring of this game. Perhaps more commentary in this regard during the matches would be helpful.
Overall, I am grateful for this big step forward for pool and I hope it continues to build the support of the fan base. I for one will continue to support it and will be buying & watching the PPV and whatever merchandise is sold.
Steve
