A: There was no guarantee either of those would be on the TV table.
B: The time frames are listed. I simply didn't look at the time the actual tournament started. It really would have been nice to get the whole tournament. I was surprised last night when Justin said they would stop streaming at 11pm, seemingly regardless of what was happening.
I'm not pissed, just somewhat disappointed. I knew the stream would start at 1pm, but didn't bother to check the time the tournament started. This is in spite of the fact I know over a dozen people playing and I was present last year. For that I have no one to blame but myself.
That being said, I think it is a bad idea to charge for a stream and not broadcast the entire thing. EVEN if you state the times. For those who didn't check the time the actual tournament started, I suppose it would have been nice to post that time in the same ad as the stream in this thread.
I don't want things to die like TAR(I bought nearly all of them) did, so I hope my criticism is taken constructively.
With what seems the majority of the pool community wanting a free stream it is easy to complain about anything that goes awry when they have to pay for it. Let's not forget that there are people there that are investing THEIR time to make this happen and it's a gamble that they will make any money at all.
I hear *****ing about CSI this and CSI that, but I don't see anyone jumping up and down to be it's successor. Oscar Dominguez and Desiree Rivera are investing blood and sweat to make the West Mezz Tour work. There is even talk about the US Open being cancelled. Until a few months ago, THIS tournament wasn't even going to happen.
I'd like to thank (not saying anyone in particular in the bigger organizations) the CSI, BCA, USAPL, APA, Oscar, Desiree, Bigtruck, and Daniel Busch(streaming most of the time for FREE) for their efforts in trying to keep pool alive and making a couple bucks in the process. Furthermore, the sponsors like Kamui, OB, Simonis, and so on who contribute money to help make tournaments happen.
We already watched TAR go away because not enough people wanted to pay for those matches. Take 30 seconds, seriously, and think of where pool would be if CSI decided to suddenly say screw it.
If this tournament happens next year and you need someone in the booth, and I'm available, I am volunteering for FREE as of right now. If nothing else, I can just sit there and make sure nothing disappears. I'm good at sitting.
Before I get off my milk crate(I'm pretty short) I'd also like to thank Jay Helfert and Justin Collett(the TARman) for their commentary and hard work.
K..I'm done...for now
ONE LAST THING. Long before 11pm the live broadcast was stopped and they started replaying Mika and Vilmos. I think that should be explained. Were there no more matches to be played on that or the adjacent(can't turn the camera?) table? Regardless of the reason, which I am sure was good, something should have been displayed that explained the why and what.
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