Mosconi Cup Popularity

[Johnnyt]

I only had small busineses but 6 out of 7 were sold at a profit. There are members on AZ that have/had a big business and know much more than me. I know i'm talking about someone elses money but IMO if MC could get a one or two year contract to put the MC on tv in the US at a break-even/small loss would be a way to find out if it would draw. Getting the word out early with ads is a must. Johnnyt

 

[CJ Wiley]

Pool has no "REPS" that go on a weekly basis to "sell the TV" on adding their product

The simple answer is that ESPN ranks pool lower the lawn mower races and hot dog eating contests. There is no interest.

As an aside, a friend of mine was going through a horrible child custody battle in court with the father of her child. There were some hanky panky things going on in the legal system up in northern Maryland, as the father lived in a small town and actually knew the judge. It was totally the "good 'ol boy" mentality in this area.

My friend decided to call Senator Barbara Mikulski to see if she would intervene. What was happening was totally illegal. Believe it or not, Senator Mikulski answered the phone when my friend called, which is really out of the ordinary for a Senator. Senator Mikulski advised her to get the media involved, as that would garner the attention of higher-ups; thus, resulting in justice for my friend.

And that's exactly what happened. I'm not giving out any names, but the judge ended up going before a judiciary review committee, and he stepped down from his elected position because of this case. Justice served!

Same thing has to happen with pool and ESPN. Something in pool needs to garner the attention of mainstream media. It just might pique the interest of ESPN if CNN, HSN, NBC, MSNBC, CBS, Fox, ABC, et al., are broadcasting pool-related news stories.

ESPN doesn't have a personal opinion about pool or any other game. It's about business, nothing more, nothing less. They produce some of their own shows, but most of the major sports/games just use ESPN for their main purpose of business - supplying time slot schedules and providing "air time" for Executive Producers.

I've been in many meeting with ESPN, FOX SPORTS and Prime Sports SW when I was producing and/or working with televising pool shows. Pool to them is like any other game, just like shrimp is "just another food item" to a guy that owns a seafood restaurant. Let me explain better in a story.

WE (my partners, employees, and I) had a nightclub/billiard hall that had 53 kinds of beer. WE sold more beer than anyone in Dallas at that time and was on the "hot list" of B/L/W (beer, liquor,wine) "REPS" (representitives). They came several times a week and constantly set up appointments to meet with my bar manager and sometimes myself to try to get their product "in our doors".

Did we care about what kind of beer we sold? "NO" Did we stock the most popular beer? "YES" Would we remove beer that no one promoted, advertised or bought? "YES" Would we add new beers or ones that the "REPS" suggested? "YES" Did I add beers that I personally liked? "No, I don't drink beer or even like the way it tastes". However, we sold Millions of bottles of beer. WE sold more beer than ESPN can ever sell in TV Shows!

The moral of the story? Pool has no "REPS" that go on a weekly basis to "sell the TV" on adding their product. This is done in a variety of ways very similar to how the B/L/W "REPS" used to proposition me. Very simple :wink:

WE will be those "REPS" and will be as soon as I get my DVD Priority DONE and the Mosconi Cup BACK IN THE USA (WE have a GREAT team) I personally believe, if not this year, next year the Mosconi Cup will be on AMERICAN TV LIVE. Anyone wanna bet?

Anyone want to be a "REP" or think they can add to this venture, let me know - From my experience - "anyone can achieve anything when they put their mind to it".

 

[peteypooldude]

JAM, coming from someone as familiar with the English language as you are, I consider that quite a compliment. Thank you.

Just a couple of quick thoughts: first off, Lou usually gets paid a lot of money for helping deep-pocket clients promote themselves and/or their product. BH probably couldn’t afford me anyway Second, Matchroom has it’s own PR operation, so it’d be unethical of me to get involved.





Would Lou be willing to take one for the team lol
Pretty arrogant statement . Says a lot about you
Lou reminds me of Dippy in the sense of speaking of himself in 3rd person
I don't mean to offend ........ Dippy that is
I am going to put Lou back in the bit bin as I don't have the stomach for his arrogance

 

[sjm]

ESPN doesn't have a personal opinion about pool or any other game. It's about business, nothing more, nothing less. They produce some of their own shows, but most of the major sports/games just use ESPN for their main purpose of business - supplying time slot schedules and providing "air time" for Executive Producers.

I've been in many meeting with ESPN, FOX SPORTS and Prime Sports SW when I was producing and/or working with televising pool shows. Pool to them is like any other game, just like shrimp is "just another food item" to a guy that owns a seafood restaurant. Let me explain better in a story.

WE (my partners, employees, and I) had a nightclub/billiard hall that had 53 kinds of beer. WE sold more beer than anyone in Dallas at that time and was on the "hot list" of B/L/W (beer, liquor,wine) "REPS" (representitives). They came several times a week and constantly set up appointments to meet with my bar manager and sometimes myself to try to get their product "in our doors".

Did we care about what kind of beer we sold? "NO" Did we stock the most popular beer? "YES" Would we remove beer that no one promoted, advertised or bought? "YES" Would we add new beers or ones that the "REPS" suggested? "YES" Did I add beers that I personally liked? "No, I don't drink beer or even like the way it tastes". However, we sold Millions of bottles of beer. WE sold more beer than ESPN can ever sell in TV Shows!

The moral of the story? Pool has no "REPS" that go on a weekly basis to "sell the TV" on adding their product. This is done in a variety of ways very similar to how the B/L/W "REPS" used to proposition me. Very simple :wink:

WE will be those "REPS" and will be as soon as I get my DVD Priority DONE and the Mosconi Cup BACK IN THE USA (WE have a GREAT team) I personally believe, if not this year, next year the Mosconi Cup will be on AMERICAN TV LIVE. Anyone wanna bet?

If anyone wants to be a "REP" with me or thinks they can add to this venture, let me know. From my experience "the more the better". 'The Game IS the Teacher'

Thanks, CJ, for your unswerving dedication to our game and its future. As you have noted, pro pool is a product that needs to be sold to television but, presently, has few willing salespersons. I'd love to see the Mosconi Cup on American TV down the road.

 

[Kimmo]

"And here it is folks...the winning shot by a deaf kid from North Dakota, that clinched the title for the Americans!"

Come now....it should be factual not fiction! :grin:

 

[Lumocolor]

Americans might watch the mosconi cup players if they were on dancing with the nobodies or jersey shore, other than that, sadly, i dont think pool would generate the ratings to be on any US tv network.

 

[JAM]

JAM, coming from someone as familiar with the English language as you are, I consider that quite a compliment. Thank you.

Just a couple of quick thoughts: first off, Lou usually gets paid a lot of money for helping deep-pocket clients promote themselves and/or their product. BH probably couldn’t afford me anyway Second, Matchroom has it’s own PR operation, so it’d be unethical of me to get involved.

But, this discussion leads to some pretty obvious questions about Mosconi Cup PR: why, if a client has deep-pockets and its own PR operation, haven’t any of us seen the faintest blip on the media radar when the MC rolls around each year? Certainly, if they wanted to they could at minimum get a few items placed here and there, no? And yet, though I keep a pretty good eye on many of the significant media outlets in this country, I see squadoosh on the MC each year.

Personally, if their PR folks have been trying and repeatedly show they can’t generate any coverage in this country (and I do mean *any* kind of coverage), then they should all be canned. What episode of this show is it since 1994 and the mainstream, sports, and web media in this country are unconscious about the event?

So what are we left with then? Can we come to any other reasonable conclusion than this is pretty much a made for the European market only event? I'm guessing they could give a flip about how we really feel about it here other than to stir up a kurfuffle on AZ once a year and fill enough seats in Vegas to make the Euros believe we care.

But that’s just me.

Lou Figueroa

Here's the thing, Lou. Sometimes you have to do something for free before it takes off and becomes lucrative. In this instance, with pool, lucrative for me would be putting pool back on the map in mainstream America. That would be our payment. Why? Because we are pool enthusiasts.

I think it could be an American market as well as European if the articles were written well in the Huffington Post, sharing the personalities of Team America, their triumphs and their defeats, their pluses and their shortcomings.

I know a little bit about Brandon Shuff, how he's been on his own for a long time, a self-made kind of guy. He got bit hard by the pool bug after his first trip to the Derby in Louisville, and he went uphill from there. The kid never had a silver spoon in his mouth. That little ditty could be expanded on, so that when the readers see Brandon Shuff perform, they feel like they know him, want to root for him, see him do well, but more of all, develop a patriotic spirit for Team USA.

Dennis Hatch's story is phenomenal. I don't even know where to begin, other than to say he was put into the action pit as a child and taught the ins and outs of pool. He was a champion pool player as a teenager, winning left and right. Dennis grew up during the golden years of the road warriors, and he most definitely did the on-the-road thing. Some of the stories are hilarious. He's working full-time today and playing pool, which is a feat in and of itself.

I don't know Mike Dechaine, but I could dig up some data on him to beef it up. Shane and Johnny, well, there's a treasure trove of info about these two American pool stars, especially Shane's story.

The "Boxing Brits" could be brought up to whet the appetite of the reader to find out more about Team Europe. I mean this in a fun way, though, not anything mean-spirited.

Every now and then, thanks to today's Internet technology, something small can grow into something big by going viral. This is the perfect opportunity for pool: Mosconi Cup at York.

Since the election is over, my workload just tripled, and it will be this way until January's inauguration for me. I can't wrap my head around the Mosconi Cup at this time to do the Mosconi Cup justice. Lou, think about it. You're one of the few people I know that can make pool taste delicious in print.

Come on and think about it, will you?

 

[CJ Wiley]

Thanks, CJ, for your unswerving dedication to our game and its future. As you have noted, pro pool is a product that needs to be sold to television but, presently, has few willing salespersons. I'd love to see the Mosconi Cup on American TV down the road.

Actually there's no salespeople doing what I described.

Like I said before, I'll wager the Mosconi Cup is on American TV either this year or next year.

The line is open. :wink:

 

[JAM]

...Personally, if their PR folks have been trying and repeatedly show they can’t generate any coverage in this country (and I do mean *any* kind of coverage), then they should all be canned. What episode of this show is it since 1994 and the mainstream, sports, and web media in this country are unconscious about the event?

So what are we left with then? Can we come to any other reasonable conclusion than this is pretty much a made for the European market only event? I'm guessing they could give a flip about how we really feel about it here other than to stir up a kurfuffle on AZ once a year and fill enough seats in Vegas to make the Euros believe we care.

But that’s just me.

Lou Figueroa

And one more thing, Lou. Sometimes one must take the bull by the horns to make things happen. You know the saying about there are three types of people in this world: those who watch what happens, those who wonder what happened, and those who make things happen. :wink:

This is the opportunity to make something happen. Forget Matchroom Sports and their PR in this regard. I think with the advent of Internet technology, the capability to do pool justice in the States is out there for the taking. This is the perfect opportunity.

I like to get paid for my efforts, no question, but there are times when I have to do things for free to get the end result I want.

Many moons ago, I hosted the Miller Lite tournament in my area. It was a HUGE undertaking, my first tournament, and I took the bull by the horns and made something happen. I managed to get "PM Magazine" to come to my little neighborhood tavern the morning of the big event to put something on TV about it. I drove from bar to bar, garnering attention about my tournament, getting people to sign up and play. I went to the local "real" pool room in my area and managed to get Chester Morris to come by and do a few trick shots for PM Magazine the morning they arrived at my neighborhood tavern.

I was plenty green back then. I had not realized that having only one pool table in the joint would be a detriment to the tournament, but I made it work. That night, the owner of the bar said it was the biggest profit he's ever made in his 50-plus years being in business. In fact, I had a $90 tab that he ripped in half and gave to me for free for running the tournament. The Miller Lite event was a huge success. I didn't make one penny on it, other than not having to pay my bar tab, but I put my heart and soul into it and I made it happen.

If I had half the energy today that I had back then, I'd do the Mosconi Cup justice in the Huffington Post, YouTube, Blogosphere, wherever I could get noticed. And if I did it right, you can bet your bottom dollar, pool would get noticed.

Lou, this is your bailiwick. Please think about this long and hard. Pool might not get this chance to get noticed for another year or two or three -- well, until my book comes out. :grin:

 

[RunoutJJ]

Ill never forget when. I was trying to put together the Fast Eddie Open in Alexandria. Everybody was telling me nobody would come play here. Reasons being.... Nobody had the networking skills (AZ and a local player) to make anything happen. I started a thread to gather peoples ideas and thoughts such as formats allowing jump cues etc.. What I wanted to happen is what Danny Bell did in Maryland with his bar box open. I had a list of 20 guys that said they would do it including 8 league players that have never played a tournament in their lives!!! I was going to clean all the tables and polish evry ball to make sure the conditions were as top as possible!!

Its too bad the owner wouldn't add the 500 to the proze fund knowing that 64 players were gonna spend at least 20 bucks a piece!!! They gave me the run around with the cost of water (dirt cheap) staffing the event (bartender and servers make 2.13 on the books) and electric. Here they are open every weekend with nobody playing or spending any money and you can tell me you can't throw me added money that will almost if not triple??? Pift!!!!

Sad to say (or maybe happy) the place lost their clubs nights (upwards of 10k a night) because of a fire code violation. Too bad that I never got to see my event go off. I don't even know if they are still open but as far as I'm concerned good ridiance. They never cared for pool (just bought it for the club) and had it there because it was there.

The point I'm making is that I was so very close to doing what I set out to do and fell just short. If I tired at a different venue I think it would have made all the difference. It was the belief that something can happen and will if you work hard and make it happen. Nobody is gonna do anything so why not you??

 

[JAM]

...The point I'm making is that I was so very close to doing what I set out to do and fell just short. If I tired at a different venue I think it would have made all the difference. It was the belief that something can happen and will if you work hard and make it happen. Nobody is gonna do anything so why not you??

That's the stone-cold truth.

Man, I just wish I had time. I would make this happen. I'm now up at 4 a.m. and usually don't finish work until 7 p.m., working like a mule. :embarrassed2:

The thing is nobody can write about the Mosconi Cup unless they have firsthand knowledge about the event, its players, pool in general. IOW, a good writer outside of the pool world couldn't do it justice. It has to be somebody inside the American pool culture.

Where there's a will, there's a way. Somebody onsite would be really cool, as they could take photos that are their own and not the property of Matchroom Sports. Or, in the alternative, if somebody onsite would share their photos with the writer, the two of them in tandem could produce the articles.

I'm thinking like an article every day, leaving the reader hanging on, wanting to know more, what will happen the next day, will so-and-so show Team Europe the almighty strength of the Team USA. Gosh, this really has such good potential to be end up being a positive.

 

[CJ Wiley]

The "home court advantage" is going to be a factor, however....

Of course, it's not the 5 seconds of a straight-in 9-ball that's of interest. The "wow" part to the TV producer is the crowd going wild and all the teamates hugging each other (if one of them could manage some tears, that would be helpful).



Yes, especially at York Hall.

The "home court advantage" is going to be a factor, however, there's always ways to turn an apparent advantage into.....You know the rest :wink:

 

[lfigueroa]

Here's the thing, Lou. Sometimes you have to do something for free before it takes off and becomes lucrative. In this instance, with pool, lucrative for me would be putting pool back on the map in mainstream America. That would be our payment. Why? Because we are pool enthusiasts.

I think it could be an American market as well as European if the articles were written well in the Huffington Post, sharing the personalities of Team America, their triumphs and their defeats, their pluses and their shortcomings.

I know a little bit about Brandon Shuff, how he's been on his own for a long time, a self-made kind of guy. He got bit hard by the pool bug after his first trip to the Derby in Louisville, and he went uphill from there. The kid never had a silver spoon in his mouth. That little ditty could be expanded on, so that when the readers see Brandon Shuff perform, they feel like they know him, want to root for him, see him do well, but more of all, develop a patriotic spirit for Team USA.

Dennis Hatch's story is phenomenal. I don't even know where to begin, other than to say he was put into the action pit as a child and taught the ins and outs of pool. He was a champion pool player as a teenager, winning left and right. Dennis grew up during the golden years of the road warriors, and he most definitely did the on-the-road thing. Some of the stories are hilarious. He's working full-time today and playing pool, which is a feat in and of itself.

I don't know Mike Dechaine, but I could dig up some data on him to beef it up. Shane and Johnny, well, there's a treasure trove of info about these two American pool stars, especially Shane's story.

The "Boxing Brits" could be brought up to whet the appetite of the reader to find out more about Team Europe. I mean this in a fun way, though, not anything mean-spirited.

Every now and then, thanks to today's Internet technology, something small can grow into something big by going viral. This is the perfect opportunity for pool: Mosconi Cup at York.

Since the election is over, my workload just tripled, and it will be this way until January's inauguration for me. I can't wrap my head around the Mosconi Cup at this time to do the Mosconi Cup justice. Lou, think about it. You're one of the few people I know that can make pool taste delicious in print.

Come on and think about it, will you?

JAM, thanks again, but there is no way I could see myself getting involved with this. I understand your point about doing it, but promoting an event like the MC is not like advertising a high school car wash. MR has the money and resources...

Lou Figueroa

 

[JAM]

JAM, thanks again, but there is no way I could see myself getting involved with this. I understand your point about doing it, but promoting an event like the MC is not like advertising a high school car wash. MR has the money and resources...

Lou Figueroa

But you got the brains! :wink:

 

[lfigueroa]

And one more thing, Lou. Sometimes one must take the bull by the horns to make things happen. You know the saying about there are three types of people in this world: those who watch what happens, those who wonder what happened, and those who make things happen. :wink:

This is the opportunity to make something happen. Forget Matchroom Sports and their PR in this regard. I think with the advent of Internet technology, the capability to do pool justice in the States is out there for the taking. This is the perfect opportunity.

I like to get paid for my efforts, no question, but there are times when I have to do things for free to get the end result I want.

Many moons ago, I hosted the Miller Lite tournament in my area. It was a HUGE undertaking, my first tournament, and I took the bull by the horns and made something happen. I managed to get "PM Magazine" to come to my little neighborhood tavern the morning of the big event to put something on TV about it. I drove from bar to bar, garnering attention about my tournament, getting people to sign up and play. I went to the local "real" pool room in my area and managed to get Chester Morris to come by and do a few trick shots for PM Magazine the morning they arrived at my neighborhood tavern.

I was plenty green back then. I had not realized that having only one pool table in the joint would be a detriment to the tournament, but I made it work. That night, the owner of the bar said it was the biggest profit he's ever made in his 50-plus years being in business. In fact, I had a $90 tab that he ripped in half and gave to me for free for running the tournament. The Miller Lite event was a huge success. I didn't make one penny on it, other than not having to pay my bar tab, but I put my heart and soul into it and I made it happen.

If I had half the energy today that I had back then, I'd do the Mosconi Cup justice in the Huffington Post, YouTube, Blogosphere, wherever I could get noticed. And if I did it right, you can bet your bottom dollar, pool would get noticed.

Lou, this is your bailiwick. Please think about this long and hard. Pool might not get this chance to get noticed for another year or two or three -- well, until my book comes out. :grin:

You're right: when you personally want to make something happen then you sometimes have to take the initiative. However, I don't feel that way about the MC. Somehow they lost me a few years ago -- even though I've attended a couple of them -- and their choice for USA's captain last year really put a nail in it for me. MR could make it happen if they put their shoulder to it. They don't need me.

Lou Figueroa

 

[JAM]

You're right: when you personally want to make something happen then you sometimes have to take the initiative. However, I don't feel that way about the MC. Somehow they lost me a few years ago -- even though I've attended a couple of them -- and their choice for USA's captain last year really put a nail in it for me. MR could make it happen if they put their shoulder to it. They don't need me.

Lou Figueroa

Oh, Lou, say it ain't so. I feel like you're saying "You Got the Money, Honey, I got the Time."

Check out Willie Nelson playing pool as Merle Haggard walks into the joint --> HERE :grin: