One Big Lump

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THE SILENCER

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this is what i'm try to say. i feel it is VERY unfair, that when in this day and age, people find out who won such and such tournament, it's always 9-ball. it's like one big lump, if it's pool, why then it must be 9-ball. enough of "ONLY 9-BALL" what are we morons??? why can't ESPN air some 3-cushion billiards, 8-ball, and snooker. hey, the ratings can't get any worse! they are already very low, with no one outside of the pool world caring about pool on t.v. so why must we only watch 9-ball???????????????????????????????????? if it's pool on espn, why then it's got to be 9-ball, i say give me a break, an 8-ball break.
 
I'm not a big time player and I haven't traveled around the country watching big time players matching up. All that being said, I have seen top players match up for money on numerous occasions and I have yet to see them match up playing 8 ball, at least I can't remember seeing it. The matches I've seen are mostly 9 ball and occasionally 1h. Every once in a great while you might see a game of bank pool. So my question is, if the top pros aren't playing it that much, doesn't this say something?
 
Snoozeker and 8-ball?
Not too many people in this country would watch them.
9-ball is made for tv. Get over it.
This is the generation of MTV and short attention span. Accept it.
Hell, ESPN likes 7-ball. Ugh!
 
Silencer, it sounds like you're bitching and moaning about ESPN, or about something someone in your area might think or say.

When someone tells me, "X beat Y yesterday," I ask, "What were they playing? What was the spot?"

If you have some banal problem with ESPN, bitch to them, not us. Believe it or not, we don't own that network. None of us work for TV Guide.

Write a letter to the network and stop acting like pool should be redefined to match what you like and want. Just enjoy it. Or change the channel. Or GO TO A HALL AND PLAY SOME 8 BALL!
 
Rickw said:
I'm not a big time player and I haven't traveled around the country watching big time players matching up. All that being said, I have seen top players match up for money on numerous occasions and I have yet to see them match up playing 8 ball, at least I can't remember seeing it. The matches I've seen are mostly 9 ball and occasionally 1h. Every once in a great while you might see a game of bank pool. So my question is, if the top pros aren't playing it that much, doesn't this say something?
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Like what?
 
TV imposes time constraints. Until I began understanding 1H I thought it was like watching paint dry. A good game of straight pool generally has nothing spectacular or exciting except to the enthusiast. An excellent game never has shots more than a few feet long. They are all excellent games none of which will interest anybody exept for us "hard core" players and rail birds. Sad but true. IMHO
 
There's a good arguement for 8-ball, and that is the fact that its probably the most widely known of all the cue sports in North America. Go into any bar you want with a coin-op pool table and chances are you're going to be lookin' at a game of 8-ball. Way, way, way more people play 8-ball in bars that 9-ball in pool halls. Possibly, if the pool world would stick to 8-ball, it would grow pocket billiards faster because more people understand it. No, that would be too smart and make pool players too much money! Instead, the pros want to alienate themselves from the masses by promoting a game (9-ball) that precious few can understand or get really good at...doesn't make much sence from a marketing standpoint.
 
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Rickw said:
I'm not a big time player and I haven't traveled around the country watching big time players matching up. All that being said, I have seen top players match up for money on numerous occasions and I have yet to see them match up playing 8 ball, at least I can't remember seeing it. The matches I've seen are mostly 9 ball and occasionally 1h. Every once in a great while you might see a game of bank pool. So my question is, if the top pros aren't playing it that much, doesn't this say something?
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as long as gambling and pool go hand in hand 9-ball and 1hole will rule because they lend themselves so well to spotting or handicapping. Tv just wants quick and flashy, under ihour is best for espn.
 
9-ball and 1 hole are better for spotting than 8-ball? TV doesn't care about that...
Do they want fast and flashy? Yup, I agree so get rid of the idea that 1 pocket will ever catch on with the tv people, because 1 pocket is about as far from "fast and flashy" as it gets.
9-ball, IMO, is neither faster or flashier than 8-ball. 8-ball is a much more popular game among the general public, so why not show it on TV?
Just trying to understand why the pool industry is so poor at promoting itself...
Each year, about 8,000 pool fanatics converge on the Riviera hotel in Vegas for the big year end splash in league play. What game do they get together and play? 8Ball.
 
Top Spin said:
9-ball and 1 hole are better for spotting than 8-ball? TV doesn't care about that...
Do they want fast and flashy? Yup, I agree so get rid of the idea that 1 pocket will ever catch on with the tv people, because 1 pocket is about as far from "fast and flashy" as it gets.
9-ball, IMO, is neither faster or flashier than 8-ball. 8-ball is a much more popular game among the general public, so why not show it on TV?
Just trying to understand why the pool industry is so poor at promoting itself...
Each year, about 8,000 pool fanatics converge on the Riviera hotel in Vegas for the big year end splash in league play. What game do they get together and play? 8Ball.
Click to expand...


8 ball is popular in bar leagues because once you pump quarters into the table to get all the balls out, nobody wants to dump six of them back in before they break. In 9ball you have more run outs, quicker swings of monentum, less safety play, quick racks ended by combos, more jump shots, and the whole big money action mystique. How can you say 8ball is more fast and flashy?
I'm not knocking 8 ball or bar leagues, I enjoy them both. But my point is that 8 ball has nothing to offer big time pool that 9 ball doesn't, either in terms of big money action games, tournaments, or tv.
And that big year end splash sounds like a great party, and I'll go some year, and there is probably some pretty good pool being played. But I don't think you'll ever see books and movies being written about "The Yuengling Kid" and Buddy "Bud Light" Stepanski, hard living straight shooters that dominated the golden years of the APA pool league National championships.
 
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