Mosconi Cup Breaking News (Literally)
- Thread starter 9 ball
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Softshot and Klopek...I love 14.1. It's the game I grew up on...but the issue is TIME because of TV. Anything that would lengthen the completion of a rack or a match just does not, however sadly, fit into the short attention span of today's TV audiences and without TV, sadly, there would be a further deterioration in the popularity of the sport.
Even as speedy as 9 Ball is, TV has to edit out entire racks and give us little snippets of someone making the 9 from a foot away.
So, if 9 Ball isn't the answer and 7 Ball wasn't the answer maybe 3 ball would be... and I am only half kidding. Who would watch basketball if there was only one score every 3-5 minutes? like 9 Ball...and pocketing a shot is NOT a score any more than a great pass on the court is not a score?
SO...rack 3 balls on the centerline...blast away...no push outs...and a miss is a foul....alternate break OF COURSE because winner breaks is unprecedented in major sports and is silly. Races to 15...2 sets with a 1 set tie breaker BUT...the player with the most wins in the first 2 sets starts the tie breaker UP THE NUMBER OF RACKS BY WHICH HE/SHE BEAT THE OPPONENT...which would end the silliness of the current formats which permits the winner to win less racks than the loser!
Average rack time?? 45 seconds. The extent to which such a format would modify the rankings of the top 20 players?? MAYBE 10%.
LOL
Even as speedy as 9 Ball is, TV has to edit out entire racks and give us little snippets of someone making the 9 from a foot away.
So, if 9 Ball isn't the answer and 7 Ball wasn't the answer maybe 3 ball would be... and I am only half kidding. Who would watch basketball if there was only one score every 3-5 minutes? like 9 Ball...and pocketing a shot is NOT a score any more than a great pass on the court is not a score?
SO...rack 3 balls on the centerline...blast away...no push outs...and a miss is a foul....alternate break OF COURSE because winner breaks is unprecedented in major sports and is silly. Races to 15...2 sets with a 1 set tie breaker BUT...the player with the most wins in the first 2 sets starts the tie breaker UP THE NUMBER OF RACKS BY WHICH HE/SHE BEAT THE OPPONENT...which would end the silliness of the current formats which permits the winner to win less racks than the loser!
Average rack time?? 45 seconds. The extent to which such a format would modify the rankings of the top 20 players?? MAYBE 10%.
LOL
Blackjack said:
Well, he didn't detest it enough to refuse to play it or to refuse to accept a lot of money for doing so.
Don't misunderstand, I love 14.1 and worship Willie but there was and is a great flaw in the RULES...not in the skill elements of the game which is the fact that player A can run 125 and out while player B remains in his chair. That situation frequently results from player A getting into the rack first...sometime the FIRST rack.
While there certainly is skill involved in breaking out the rack in a way most likely to leave another shot, that process is not at all devoid of luck as you know.
But 100-200 and out runs are not "contests" but rather "exhibitions." There is no other major sport that I can think of in which on person/team is denied the POSSIBILITY of scoring..not even a boxing match where a fighter is knocked out by the first punch becasue AT LEAST he got in the ring and was not knocked out sitting on his stool.
IMHO, 14.1 rules should allow runs to 25 maximum at which time the CB must be shot into the kitchen which, in many cases would leave the opponent with a tough way to go...but SOME way to go.
(I realize that there may be no one on the planet who agrees with me and I have no problem with that. But on the other hand, those purists who LOVE the game and who decry the FACT that it has lost popularity to a massive degree, should give some thought to why that might be)
And besides, if 9 Ball was such a cinch and such "junk pool" then pros would run out 100% of the time when they get,for example ,BIH after the opponent scratches on the break. But as you know, the run out percentage in such situations is WAY less than 100% even for pros.
A lot of stong players find it very difficult to "beat the ghost" which is another measure of the skills required to play 9 Ball.
I don't assume you were joining Willie in dissing 9 Ball and my comments are in response to your very correct allusion to what Willie was known to have said.
Regards,
Jim
Klopek..."Why don't we just see who can slam the cueball into a corner pocket the most times in 30 seconds?. It's ridiculous how low interest has become for billiard sports on television."
I agree with you...really I do. BUT we have no choice other than to live in the world we live in. We need to light candles instead of cursing the darkness.
Where is the athleticism in some 7 foot tall guy jumping six inches off the floor to slam dunk a basketball? But when he does...the crowd LOVES it!
Sports HAVE to evolve in a way that appeals to the people who pay for its existence. That is just a law of the jungle.
Hockey stick blades used to be flat but it was too hard for players to lift the puck on slap shots so they introduced curved blades to the SAME furor that arises over the use of jump cues!
Baseballs are more "live" now...because that means more home runs...which is what people PAY to see.
Football? Move the goal posts...move the hash marks...allow artificial turf...introduce instant replays.
The people who PAY for the sport's existence have a right to demand what they want and the sport either adapts, or fades..as hockey is doing at this very moment...becuase there are SO many games that the players just CAN'T play their A games for the whole season so a LOT of games are less spirited than practice scrimmages.
TRUST me, I am not arguing with you and there are a lot of things about TV coverage that I HATE...but no TV...no pro pool except pay to play tournaments and matches...so we have to choose from among the lesser evils.
Regards,
Jim
I agree with you...really I do. BUT we have no choice other than to live in the world we live in. We need to light candles instead of cursing the darkness.
Where is the athleticism in some 7 foot tall guy jumping six inches off the floor to slam dunk a basketball? But when he does...the crowd LOVES it!
Sports HAVE to evolve in a way that appeals to the people who pay for its existence. That is just a law of the jungle.
Hockey stick blades used to be flat but it was too hard for players to lift the puck on slap shots so they introduced curved blades to the SAME furor that arises over the use of jump cues!
Baseballs are more "live" now...because that means more home runs...which is what people PAY to see.
Football? Move the goal posts...move the hash marks...allow artificial turf...introduce instant replays.
The people who PAY for the sport's existence have a right to demand what they want and the sport either adapts, or fades..as hockey is doing at this very moment...becuase there are SO many games that the players just CAN'T play their A games for the whole season so a LOT of games are less spirited than practice scrimmages.
TRUST me, I am not arguing with you and there are a lot of things about TV coverage that I HATE...but no TV...no pro pool except pay to play tournaments and matches...so we have to choose from among the lesser evils.
Regards,
Jim
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I agree with your post except for the above quote. If you are talking about break and ball in hand I do not know too many real pro's that can't consistently beat that game. Hell, John Schmidt plays the 12 ball ghost and gets there sometimes. Shane has beat the 10 ball ghost without taking ball in hand.av84fun said:
If someone put up that game(9 ball ghost) at the Derby the line would be pretty long.