Internet, good or bad for pool?

bigskyjake said:
doug young, hahaha

doug young is a ten foot tall beastman that can palm a medicine ball
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Word is he sports 24EEE dogs and married SASSNATCH in a secret ceremony last weekend down in EL PASO. After some serious honeymoonin he told the fuedin MEXICANS to play nice which ended the conflict lick-i-dee-split.


On topic: The only downside of the internet is that it's more difficult to trap champeens like WADE CRANE, STEVE COOK, RICHIE FLORENCE, Jr. GOFF, JIMMY MATAYA, etc.

It sure was fun...
 
Very interesting question.

I know that about 8 years ago, i had gone to a place where i had a TOTAL SUCKER on the hook and had painstakingly set him up for a score in some place far from home where absolutely NO one knew me.

When it was finally time to scalp him, he knew my name, and where i was from, and knew exactly how out of line the game was.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out how he knew as i had a drivers license that had a DIFFERENT name on it that would get left at the counter when i got the tray of balls.

Sure enough, someone had gone on the internet, and given very specific characteristics for a description, and i in turn got dimed out by some retard who was like...."OH YEAH, THAT'S ________. He plays REAL good. You probably need the such and such from him etc. etc."

It cost me about $2k. I was ready to shoot someone after that, i can't begin to express how pissed off i was.

Like, what is the purpose of trying to set someone up after that garbage.
It has only gotten worse with the invention of cell phone cameras.

Trying to hustle is a total waste of time these days for up and coming players, unless you go to some hole in the wall where technology hasn't reached them yet.
 
ribdoner said:
Word is he sports 24EEE dogs and married SASSNATCH in a secret ceremony last weekend down in EL PASO. After some serious honeymoonin he told the fuedin MEXICANS to play nice which ended the conflict lick-i-dee-split.


On topic: The only downside of the internet is that it's more difficult to trap champeens like WADE CRANE, STEVE COOK, RICHIE FLORENCE, Jr. GOFF, JIMMY MATAYA, etc.

It sure was fun...
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he uses a live rattlesnake for a condom, and he showers in grain alcohol and feeds his babies shrimp scampi
 
The Internet and LIVE streaming has provided something that has been always been lacking in any of the major pool tournaments.... Current and up-t0-date action reports and sometimes tournament scores.

It is my opinion that the chat sessions on the streams are just more of the main reason a lot of the so called viewers log onto the stream.

To see a pool match that normally looks like it takes place in someone's basement, but to chat more than view. Also chatting to see if they can get the announcers to answer their cute little questions... 'what kind of cue is so and so playing?' 'what's the score' 'who's in the booth?' and so on....

Streaming does provide some great information of a current contest and the venue. A link to active brackets (love updated brackets, with scores)

The announcers are another subject altogether.. I find myself listening to monotone Mitch Lawrence wannabes UGHHHH.
 
I don't really have an opinion concerning the Internet and Pool, in general.

However, back in the late 90's, I was scoring lots of great vintage Cues on eBay at
great prices and turning them at a decent profit.

I wouldn't recommend trying that in today's market, unless you have the capital to
buy up as many high-end cues as possible and sit on them until the market comes back.

It's a great time to buy that cue you always wanted, but an awful time for those whom
have to part with their treasures to pay other expenses.
 
ribdoner said:
Word is he sports 24EEE dogs and married SASSNATCH in a secret ceremony last weekend down in EL PASO. After some serious honeymoonin he told the fuedin MEXICANS to play nice which ended the conflict lick-i-dee-split.


On topic: The only downside of the internet is that it's more difficult to trap champeens like WADE CRANE, STEVE COOK, RICHIE FLORENCE, Jr. GOFF, JIMMY MATAYA, etc.

It sure was fun...
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Let me clarify by adding that it was my wallet which was lightened in every instance:)
 
The one issue I don't see is killing the con's

ribdoner said:
Let me clarify by adding that it was my wallet which was lightened in every instance:)
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Yeah, I noticed the names of the poor pilgrims you trapped and figured it might have not worked out real well. Busting road players and making them have to play a fair game doesn't bother me a bit about the net. A road player often comes in with full knowledge of the player or players he intends to trap, what is so bad about the locals having the same knowledge? I went undercover for a month or two one time, silliest thing I've ever done!

OK, I have done sillier but that ranks right up there near the top.

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
So far I seem to be the only one that thinks the internet may do more harm than good for pool. One reason for my thoughts being different is I am looking at the internet as a whole and pool as a whole.

Some of the negatives I see are being able to gamble on poker and various games without leaving home, just playing interactive games and with other players without leaving home, and the time lost messing around on the internet when without the internet pool players might be in the pool hall. Along the same line of thought, how many youngsters never find pool that might have otherwise because they keep their noses glued to a computer monitor?

The internet definitely gives us more access to pool knowledge and more information about coming events. I often had big events within less than 20 miles of me and never knew about them in the seventies and eighties. More information about coming events is good and I don't see that being able to pull information about road players off of the internet is really unfair. Most of the road players are working off of prior information about the local players so what is so bad about leveling the playing field and having information about the road player too?

My thought is that the internet might be bad for pool for the same reason casinos are terrible for horse racing. The internet gives people much more convenient access to many things they once went to the pool hall for: Competition, gambling, information, socializing, all of this can be done without going to the pool hall now and I am none too sure that this hasn't done more harm than the good that having more knowledge about how to play and coming events has done.

Hu
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Unique thoughts Hu. Kudos on the post and the thread.

However, I think the Internet is good for pool. Anything that spreads the word about pool is a good thing. The fact that the Internet provides unlimited amounts of time to other things besides playing pool is without a doubt, a detriment to pool. The pluses outweigh the negatives, imo.
JoeyA
 
you need to make another post somewhere!

JoeyA said:
Unique thoughts Hu. Kudos on the post and the thread.

However, I think the Internet is good for pool. Anything that spreads the word about pool is a good thing. The fact that the Internet provides unlimited amounts of time to other things besides playing pool is without a doubt, a detriment to pool. The pluses outweigh the negatives, imo.
JoeyA
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Joey,

You may well be right, that does seem to be the overwhelming opinion on this forum. A biased group to poll about the internet and pool but that doesn't mean that they, and you, are wrong. I started the thread because I genuinely am not sure how things shake out with the pro's and con's. For example live streaming is great. How many does it pull in that aren't already hard core pool addicts though? Is it really adding to our base or just supporting the existing base? I'm not expecting answers to these questions and others, they are just what inspired the thread.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Hu

PS you need to post something else, way too many sixes for superstitious types like me!
 
OK the internet is great for pool because all the ppl who book losers post it up and kill the action for the good players.

OK the internet is bad for pool because when you win a match up the loser posts it up and kills all your action.

Get it, got it, GOOOODDDD
 
ShootingArts said:
...I started the thread because I genuinely am not sure how things shake out with the pro's and con's. For example live streaming is great. How many does it pull in that aren't already hard core pool addicts though? Is it really adding to our base or just supporting the existing base? I'm not expecting answers to these questions and others, they are just what inspired the thread.
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I have to agree with you on this point, Hu. Of course, the live streaming is great, but I too wonder if it will pull in new interest. If it does, then, of course, that's a good thing for pool overall.

When I go to the U.S. Open, the majority of the audience sitting in the stands are friends and family of the pool players competing in the tournament, as well as the players themselves. It is the same at most other pool venues I have been to.

That said, the Internet is definitely a medium that is here to stay, and if you're not on board with it, then you'll be left behind, pool included. :wink:

I will give one example. I read a bunch of interviews during the presidential campaign last year. One factoid really stuck out for me when John McCain admitted in public that he did not know how to use e-mail, and thus was not Internet savvy. Are you kidding me?

On the other side of the fence, Barack Obama was even Twittering, had a strong website presence, and used the Internet to spread the message of his campaign. He wrote to his followers on Twitter that he would let them know who his Vice Presidential candidate was before it was announced. Unfortunately for him, the news of Biden was leaked on CNN before he could do this. Obama's campaign reached millions upon millions via the Internet, and his usage of the Internet, I believe, advanced his chances to win the election.

The Internet is here to stay. Big newspaper giants like the Tribune and the McCatchy family of newspapers are filing bankruptcy. Most people want to read all about it on the Internet, and many newspapers today do have a dot-com presence. The print media is becoming a thing of the past.

When you do the numbers, the dot-coms of ABC, NBC, FOX, and CBS have much more participation than TV today.

There's even a new gadget on Amazon for books, where folks can download reading material and not have to purchase the actual hard-copy book. This will be GREAT for school textbooks, not to mention the convenience of carrying around this little electronic gadget and download as many books as one desires.

YouTube, FaceBook, Yahoo! News, and Google, in particuar, have more individual viewers than any other medium today. I have the stats somewhere, and they are in the tens of millions.

So, yes, I believe the Internet can effect change for the better in pool. Whether it will be live streaming, AzBilliards-dot-com, or the pool magazine online websites, I'm not so sure today. As you said, Hu, the hard-core viewers of live streaming today is mainly us. How to grow it via the Internet is still a question in my mind.
 
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I can only think of two reasons why the internet is bad for pool and those reasons are negligible.

Pros:

- The internet makes the world much smaller, so word of mouth becomes much easier. Think of how many more cue makers you know of because of the internet as well as how many reviews you're able to read about those cue makers. Tournaments local, state, national, international, small and big are a click away because of the internet.

- You can follow your favorite players without having to be there because of the net and instead of waiting for it to not be shown on television.

- It has expanded the billiards business in a very large way. Think of how many cue makers, billiard suppliers, case makers and others would be dead in the water if they had to rely on the local economy or non-internet word of mouth. The internet has created more money for billiards than any other single thing I can possibly think of.

- It can help your game a great deal. The amount of resources available to you because of the internet is insane. Books, videos and forums like this are a great resource.

Cons:

- Bad mouthing. Now this can be either a good thing or a bad thing. It can be good as it may warn others of bad business. It can be a bad thing when it is completely false, but in that case many times it becomes refuted just as fast as it surfaces.

- Secrets become to easy to come by. I also see this as a good and bad thing. It's good because it helps people progress at a faster pace than before. I kinda/sorta see it as a bad thing because they don't learn it themselves.
 
I have always been a Sci-Fi buff.

When we are all old or dead, here is where pool will be 50 years from now:

Virtual reality will become so real that all you have to do is to put on a head set/googles and have your cue wired up to the system. And a kitchen table to play off of :grin:

Then, if you wanted to play some hot shot from California and you are from England - why, you just go play in the virtual reality pool hall. And we could all watch and make side bets to our hearts content. Of course Obama would be there trying to tax the proceeds. :grin-square:

You laugh! This is going to happen. IBM in is partnership with Second Life and your can believe that they will be working towards virtual reality in the next 10 years. You can already go online and go shopping to buy shoes - talking to a real/virtual salesmen. The you go by and pick the shoes up after work (in New York).
 
I'm not a big fan of the internet. I stumble, just to post my messages but what I'm reading is also telling me a few things about pool and the internet. If it's helping? Why are so many rooms closing? Of course the economy is bad but are too many people doing what I'm doing right now? Sitting at their computers, instead of going out and playing.

It is a great tool for meeting all walks of people and sharing opinions. It also is a great way to find out who's out there playing the best pool.

I'm sure retailers love it. It's a great way to sell their goods.

There's good and bad features. I guess I need a laptop so I can be two places at once.
 
League Tournament Live Streaming.

JAM said:
I have to agree with you on this point, Hu. Of course, the live streaming is great, but I too wonder if it will pull in new interest. If it does, then, of course, that's a good thing for pool overall.

When I go to the U.S. Open, the majority of the audience sitting in the stands are friends and family of the pool players competing in the tournament, as well as the players themselves. It is the same at most other pool venues I have been to.

That said, the Internet is definitely a medium that is here to stay, and if you're not on board with it, then you'll be left behind, pool included. :wink:

I will give one example. I read a bunch of interviews during the presidential campaign last year. One factoid really stuck out for me when John McCain admitted in public that he did not know how to use e-mail, and thus was not Internet savvy. Are you kidding me?

On the other side of the fence, Barack Obama was even Twittering, had a strong website presence, and used the Internet to spread the message of his campaign. He wrote to his followers on Twitter that he would let them know who his Vice Presidential candidate was before it was announced. Unfortunately for him, the news of Biden was leaked on CNN before he could do this. Obama's campaign reached millions upon millions via the Internet, and his usage of the Internet, I believe, advanced his chances to win the election.

The Internet is here to stay. Big newspaper giants like the Tribune and the McCatchy family of newspapers are filing bankruptcy. Most people want to read all about it on the Internet, and many newspapers today do have a dot-com presence. The print media is becoming a thing of the past.

When you do the numbers, the dot-coms of ABC, NBC, FOX, and CBS have much more participation than TV today.

There's even a new gadget on Amazon for books, where folks can download reading material and not have to purchase the actual hard-copy book. This will be GREAT for school textbooks, not to mention the convenience of carrying around this little electronic gadget and download as many books as one desires.

YouTube, FaceBook, Yahoo! News, and Google, in particuar, have more individual viewers than any other medium today. I have the stats somewhere, and they are in the tens of millions.

So, yes, I believe the Internet can effect change for the better in pool. Whether it will be live streaming, AzBilliards-dot-com, or the pool magazine online websites, I'm not so sure today. As you said, Hu, the hard-core viewers of live streaming today is mainly us. How to grow it via the Internet is still a question in my mind.
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One of the things to keep in mind is that Live-Streaming is not being just broadcast to individual households, but to anywhere there is a high-speed Internet connection and that means businesses like pool rooms, where some people have never seen a professional pool match except for an occasional match on TV.

Patrons of the bar can watch high profile, professional players with exceptional commentary while sipping their beverage of choice and sharing conversation with their friends discussing the matches in play rather than watching one of those mindless reality shows. :outtahere: :grin:

Live Streaming is creating new interest in pool and other things as well. I hope the next big deal will be the local pool leagues getting on the bandwagon and streaming their City Cups, regional championships and even national championships.

JoeyA
 
Thanks to All

Thanks to all that posted their opinions and particularly those that gave detailed thoughts behind their opinions. This has been a very interesting thread for me.

Hu
 
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