One of the significant differences between pool and most other "sports", especially the major ones, is consistency of product. Consistency is the most important feature for the expansion of any franchise, it gives the customer an always recognizable product wherever he may be. It also demonstrates the businesses' organization, maturity, and depth, all components necessary for success.
Whereas the major sports like baseball, tennis. football, basketball, and even fencing or boxing, are all played uniformly on local, regional, national and international levels, pool has several already recognizable, time tested, ways of playing; nine ball, straight pool, eight ball, and one pocket. The need to "re-invent" the game, except for the creation of game specific products, eludes me. In fact, I find it more as a negative for bonus ball, as well as for "pool" in general, adding confusion and dilution to an already fragmented sport.
Is bonus ball "more" exciting than the other games?, of course it isn't. People do/will always gravitate to their favorite games, which will always be the most exciting to them.
Constantly telling people which game will be the most exciting to them is not the best way to generate interest and support, it may, in fact, produce exactly the opposite results that you are seeking, imo.
Good luck.
J
That is a basically great point. These sports are very constant. However, they work. They are entertaining and they have gathered a a fan base. They have television rights and a structured format for professional players.
What Bonus Ball fans are trying to say to people is simple.
This game is billiards. It's nothing new. It's simply formatted to play better, eliminating a lot of the things people have complained about, like watching billiards being hard and that professional players make the game look too simple. We all know that it is not as simple as it looks. All billiard games are fun to play. Not one person on this board will argue that. We have never said that Bonus Ball is ultimate game of billiards. To me it is the best because I liked it so much, I bought into the company. I saw potential for a game better suited to better players. I liked how strategic it plays and I liked being forced to make some crazy shots that has made me a much better player.
Here is a bit of history. Bonus Ball was created as a point scoring game. It was very simple. Then Mike Massey suggested to Larry, over ten years ago, to allow top player to use only three pockets to challenge them more. The game stayed the same for many years. That was until I came along. I added the time clock because players in an amateur tournament frustrated me so much with slow play trying to over think, this relatively simple game. Instead of playing to a final points, we added a time limit. It made sense for many reasons and it worked.
Then came the problems of a timed game that we needed to over come. We found the answers and we had some real good tournaments with the amateurs. It seemed we had a real good game going. The we took the game to the US Open and then the pros showed us things about the game that they wanted us to add. Since the whole reason for developing the game was to have professional player enjoy it. We incorporated many of their suggestions. Now as we started to reach more people with the game, Larry was convinced to change the game so it was easy as 1-2-3. That was a huge step backwards but we went through that stage and eventually came back to where we are today. A very challenging, strategic and skillful game. That is were we stand today. The game stands on it's own two feet. Solid as a rock. Will there be more changes, probably. That is how other sports have evolved. The same game just better rules.
We are just playing billiards. The same game as my grandfather played a 100 years ago. We have added some very modern technology that many love and some don't care for. We will never please everyone.
Bonus Ball can be played with out a time clock and a scoreboard. You can take all the time you want playing in your basement or at a pool hall.
It just been added for league play, tournament play and television. Our market are the players that embrace this kind of change. They don't care what game is played as long as it entertains them. I will play eight ball all day long because it is a great game to play. I'm not a professional. I find it challenging on a larger table, I don't care for it on a bar box. Many of my friends love playing it on a bar box but are not skilled enough to compete with me in three pocket Bonus Ball on a 4.5 x 9.
I'm not saying to you personally, drop your game of choice, you need to play and enjoy only Bonus Ball. We are saying, hey, this is a very challenging game that you may enjoy playing more than you might think. As far as watching it. Well, you won't find it exciting if you don't want to. However, there are many others that do enjoy the differences our game brings to the table. I state again. These kind of threads are misleading and do nothing but create lines drawn in the sand. Many are greeting us with open arms and saying yes, we love your new game and it is needed. Why is it needed?
I can't find one sporting channel that carries my favorite game. That game is billiards. In any form. I can't watch professional players in a team format in North America, but now I will be able to. I would support a similar concept playing ten ball, eight ball and even nine ball. I have watched all the other games too on PPV.
Fortunately, Larry Chiborak has stepped up to the plate. He has the only professional league playing billiards. You can chose to look the other way and do nothing to see it flourish and let things stay the same. You also can also support it like NASCAR fans support stock car racing, their automotive sport of choice. In auto racing you have many forms of the sport and it flourishes. There is no reason why billiards can't have different forms of pool. I think I have had enough of threads like this. I got a lot of work to do for the 25% of people that have voted they do find this game entertaining. That's a pretty good number for a game that has not really been launched yet. Have a great day and enjoy playing any game that makes you happy. Support your pool halls and join a league. Do anything you can to bring billiards back to life!
