Okay so I was able to attend the IPT night live and thought that I would give my perspective from being there after reading the posts of those watching at home.
First off it was put together a little better than the first. Not as long of a wait to be seated and we were inside rather than grouped up in the parking lot again. IPT staff is always nice.
Almost exact setup inside the studio. Same hardass bleachers cramming everyone together. Same girl moving everyone around and placing people.
The Sigel/Schmidt match was a fun one to watch. Both guys were talkative and open with their thoughts. I thought Sigel showed much more respect to John than I thought he would.
In the studio they playback some of the earlier recorded interviews. Even then Sigel kind of rolled his eyes and laughed about some of his remarks.
Good play for the poor layouts. They were blasting the break shots with no movement at all. John, IMO had the worst luck during the match and
missed two balls that he shouldnt have missed. Thats all it took for Sigel.
After the match around the studio Mike was still being gracious about the win saying that he knew that he was only one miss away from losing. This wasn't on camera or anything this was to anyone and everyone. I'm talking in the bathroom to outside. He talked well about John and the match..... not once really being an ass and bragging.
Next there was a break followed byt the reason that we don't have live pool.
The 8 ball match was the slowest pool I have ever seen. ONly thing that made it bareable (if it really was) had to be that Grady came and sat with us in the bleachers. He was commentating there !!!!!!
It was awesome. Grady was very open and even a few times changed his thoughts or agreed with some of the watchers. He explained a few things and was in shock that this was going to be a race to 15 at this pace.
Both players seemed lost playing eight ball or either the cloth/setting shook them a bit. Tony could bore a mortician. I am not sure how it came across on the Net but it was terriblly slow.
In the stands we were all counting out Tonys break setup routine and the numbers of practice strokes. I counted 42 as the high but it could have been higher. Interestingly the best break came after only 3 minutes of wiggling into the stance and then 12 practice strokes!
Tony also seemed to be limping a bit. Not sure if that is normal or not. Instead of using his right foot/toes he would anchor the heel of the right foot and raise the toe portion straight up. Does he have an issue with that foot. He shot several shots off of one leg. Right leg totally off the ground.
I thought both guys played well below their normal level. Tony played better and seemed to be able to stay focused better than Boyes.
After some of Boyes comments I was glad that Tony was the winner.
Its very quiet in the studio. I would suggest to the crew to invest in a person just to handle and fire up the crowd. They wanted excitement but no one ever directed anything.
During the match I thought it was funny that the camera men and stage crew all went and pulled up chairs. Even the REF went and sat down during a game. He is a joke anyway. Never in position and seems to be there for show.
The crew actually joked out loud in front of the players that they were going to have a shot clock the next time.
All in all I like pool and can stand watching long matches. That said last night was tough. People in the audience were leaving and truthfully I was one of them. With the score 14-11 and Tony seemingly in command I decided to leave. My friend had came down with a cold and I didnt want her to sit thorugh anymore.
I still like the format with two matches and straight pool is good. The players should understand that they need to be more open. Do they not understand this already???? Do they not realize that this is TV and they are building something??
I would gladly go again and I think that the IPT has made a few changes each time. They are very nice while there. They need a wrangler for the crowd.
My best moment was when they interviewed Joe Rogan on the studio floor and he said that he had an IPT table. He then said that he took that crap cloth off right away. He literally said it was terrible and then asked the guys playing..... both took the high road and said that they didnt mind.
I thought there answer was a lie but it was the right thing to say.
Thanks to Grady for coming and sitting out in the stands. He was great and very funny/open.
Sorry this is so long but this was nothing compared to the 8ball match. I could have read War and Peace during that.
First off it was put together a little better than the first. Not as long of a wait to be seated and we were inside rather than grouped up in the parking lot again. IPT staff is always nice.
Almost exact setup inside the studio. Same hardass bleachers cramming everyone together. Same girl moving everyone around and placing people.
The Sigel/Schmidt match was a fun one to watch. Both guys were talkative and open with their thoughts. I thought Sigel showed much more respect to John than I thought he would.
In the studio they playback some of the earlier recorded interviews. Even then Sigel kind of rolled his eyes and laughed about some of his remarks.
Good play for the poor layouts. They were blasting the break shots with no movement at all. John, IMO had the worst luck during the match and
missed two balls that he shouldnt have missed. Thats all it took for Sigel.
After the match around the studio Mike was still being gracious about the win saying that he knew that he was only one miss away from losing. This wasn't on camera or anything this was to anyone and everyone. I'm talking in the bathroom to outside. He talked well about John and the match..... not once really being an ass and bragging.
Next there was a break followed byt the reason that we don't have live pool.
The 8 ball match was the slowest pool I have ever seen. ONly thing that made it bareable (if it really was) had to be that Grady came and sat with us in the bleachers. He was commentating there !!!!!!
It was awesome. Grady was very open and even a few times changed his thoughts or agreed with some of the watchers. He explained a few things and was in shock that this was going to be a race to 15 at this pace.
Both players seemed lost playing eight ball or either the cloth/setting shook them a bit. Tony could bore a mortician. I am not sure how it came across on the Net but it was terriblly slow.
In the stands we were all counting out Tonys break setup routine and the numbers of practice strokes. I counted 42 as the high but it could have been higher. Interestingly the best break came after only 3 minutes of wiggling into the stance and then 12 practice strokes!
Tony also seemed to be limping a bit. Not sure if that is normal or not. Instead of using his right foot/toes he would anchor the heel of the right foot and raise the toe portion straight up. Does he have an issue with that foot. He shot several shots off of one leg. Right leg totally off the ground.
I thought both guys played well below their normal level. Tony played better and seemed to be able to stay focused better than Boyes.
After some of Boyes comments I was glad that Tony was the winner.
Its very quiet in the studio. I would suggest to the crew to invest in a person just to handle and fire up the crowd. They wanted excitement but no one ever directed anything.
During the match I thought it was funny that the camera men and stage crew all went and pulled up chairs. Even the REF went and sat down during a game. He is a joke anyway. Never in position and seems to be there for show.
The crew actually joked out loud in front of the players that they were going to have a shot clock the next time.
All in all I like pool and can stand watching long matches. That said last night was tough. People in the audience were leaving and truthfully I was one of them. With the score 14-11 and Tony seemingly in command I decided to leave. My friend had came down with a cold and I didnt want her to sit thorugh anymore.
I still like the format with two matches and straight pool is good. The players should understand that they need to be more open. Do they not understand this already???? Do they not realize that this is TV and they are building something??
I would gladly go again and I think that the IPT has made a few changes each time. They are very nice while there. They need a wrangler for the crowd.
My best moment was when they interviewed Joe Rogan on the studio floor and he said that he had an IPT table. He then said that he took that crap cloth off right away. He literally said it was terrible and then asked the guys playing..... both took the high road and said that they didnt mind.
I thought there answer was a lie but it was the right thing to say.
Thanks to Grady for coming and sitting out in the stands. He was great and very funny/open.
Sorry this is so long but this was nothing compared to the 8ball match. I could have read War and Peace during that.
