Opinions from IPT viewers....

[thebestpoolroom]

What was your impression of the IPT event in Orlando? Do you think the matchs will make for interesting t.v.? Do you think the general public will buy it?

I for one have been an IPT skeptic. However, I will make my final judgement when I see the orlando event on t.v.

I also was wrong about the number of break and runs. What do you attribute the low number to? Do you think the number of break and runs will increase as the players get accustomed to the slow cloth?

THIS JUST PROVES THAT IT IS MUCH HARDER TO BREAK & RUN IN 8-BALL. THERE ARE SO MANY BALLS ON THE TABLE THAT PREVENT YOU FROM RUNNING 5 RACKS IN A ROW. IT TAKES MORE SKILLS TO PLAY 8-BALL. IT IS MORE INTERESTING TO SEE A BREAK & RUN IN 8-BALL THAN IN 9-BALL.

 

[macguy]

tighten up, and it should. A pro player can usually evaluate his competition
pretty well. He generally knows if his offensive skill is less, equal, or greater
than his opponent even if he never says it to anyone. If it is less, then he
sure won't beat that opponent with offense, will he? The only way to beat
him is with defense, thereby minimizing his offensive skill, and creating
opportunity for himself. Yes, I know, but I am not talking about Efren, I am
talking about your normal pro player.

Thats not really true. Your best shot to beat a better player then you is with a strong offense and let the chips fall where the may. Play overly safe and you will lose for sure.

 

[Snapshot9]

Question ...

Thats not really true. Your best shot to beat a better player then you is with a strong offense and let the chips fall where the may. Play overly safe and you will lose for sure.

If your opponent is the better player, which means his offense
is better than yours then how can your 0ffense beat his ... your
statement was an oxymoron. It has been proven in almost
every sport played that defense wins championships. You
win by denying your opponent his offensive skills. You can be
the lessor player, but still be smarter about how you play the game.
The trick is to know when to apply it to create the opportunity
for your offensive skills to come into play. In Pool between 2 good
players, all one needs is 1 opportunity to win the game, and I will
bet on him missing a kick shot, which includes a hit, but a sellout
after, or not making the kick shot as opposed to my missing a shot
and betting he won't get out. Those things are weighed for or against
by the table layout, and by what you think you can do vs. your
opponent. If you have played for any substantial money, or in big
tournaments a lot you should know that.

 

[jsp]

Jsp- JMO, but most people have absolutely no idea who Mike Sigel and Efren Reyes are. Or any other top player for that matter. Keith McCready would probably be one of the more recognizable male players, and most who recognized him would think his name was Grady Seasons. The sad fact is that pool is not that popular as a sport in this country. Lots of people go to the bars and bang the balls around, but they don't actively follow the sport in any real way.

Think about it this way. If pool was really that popular with John Q Public, we wouldn't be having these discussions about getting it on tv. Public demand would guarantee that it was on. I think it can become popular, but the public will have to get to know the players and their personalities, the rivalries, the strategies of the games, etc. I think we have to be realistic though. At this point in time, most people don't know or care anything about professional pool.

Hi JLW. I agree that the average Joe most likely doesn't know all these pool superstars, but they have to start from somewhere. If an Efren and Sigel final can't entice their interest in the sport, what can? If you believe the ignorance of the audience is such a concern, then you can also argue that because John Q Public doesn't know all the rules to pool, he wouldn't want to view any programs related to pool at all. It seems like pool on TV would be completely hopeless...a lost cause, and why even bother? The general audience has to start from somewhere...we just need to be sure the program properly informs and educates the audience while keeping the content intriguing and exciting.

I guess I should put out the question again. WHAT CAN entice John Q Public to take an interest in pool?

 

[Bob Jewett]

What was your impression of the IPT event in Orlando? Do you think the matchs will make for interesting t.v.? Do you think the general public will buy it? ... I also was wrong about the number of break and runs. What do you attribute the low number to? ...

I was very impressed with the production. Whether the public buys it will largely depend on how the TV version is edited and such. I think there was lots of interesting play. I found this eight ball more interesting than much of the nine ball I've seen lately.

The cloth played relatively fast for at least the first several days of the tournament. (I failed to get a clocking, but that will be easy to get from the lags on the videos.) I think the use of the Sardo rack actually improved the ball-on-break percentage. Many (maybe most?) breaks ended with over half of the balls above the side pockets. You very rarely saw the typical bar situation of a clump of balls left in the rack area.

 

[macguy]

If your opponent is the better player, which means his offense
is better than yours then how can your 0ffense beat his ... your
statement was an oxymoron. It has been proven in almost
every sport played that defense wins championships. You
win by denying your opponent his offensive skills. You can be
the lessor player, but still be smarter about how you play the game.
The trick is to know when to apply it to create the opportunity
for your offensive skills to come into play. In Pool between 2 good
players, all one needs is 1 opportunity to win the game, and I will
bet on him missing a kick shot, which includes a hit, but a sellout
after, or not making the kick shot as opposed to my missing a shot
and betting he won't get out. Those things are weighed for or against
by the table layout, and by what you think you can do vs. your
opponent. If you have played for any substantial money, or in big
tournaments a lot you should know that.

I have played in big tournaments with top players and you are a underdog no matter how you look at it against those champions. Your only chance is to hit them with an offense before they hit you and hope you catch them playing a little weak or they get a few bad rolls. Play tit for tat and you have NO chance. This is the opinion of every top player I have ever known they all play aggressive to win. This even applies to one pocket as well. If you are playing suckers then you can play conservative since they are weak and will hand you the match on a platter if you just wait. Champions don't do that, they will out move you most likely and beat you at the safe game anyway. I am not saying to play foolish just you have to make things happen you can't duck around waiting for things to be easy, it will beat you every time against good players.

 

[Billy H.]

I guess I should put out the question again. WHAT CAN entice John Q Public to take an interest in pool?

all of us talking about it in our local rooms, bars, super-markets, whenever we see our friends, spread the word. my friends know who the black widow is, not her name, just that she's hot. thats fair if they don't know about pool but we can change that by teaching them. while watching a match on tv we can give our input as to what is happening during a match, why the player is studying the table in that manner, playing a safety, a 2 way shot, cutting a ball instead of banking it. my friends don't know what a safety is, they think it's a horrible miss. if we tell them who the best players are and who to watch for, thats not enough. tell them WHAT to watch for, as explained above, and their interest will grow with the sport. if everyone on here in the forum recruits 5 people to watch and understand pool on tv then we've done what the industry needs us to do. they tell 5 friends, and those 5 tell 5, and so on and so on. if the public can sit down and watch a match on tv and get the feel of what the players are going to do then they have interest. when a house wife sits down to watch football with her husband, what is she thinking? not about football, right? but when her husband tells her to watch this play, they should run a sweep to the left because the defense is showing blitz from the right, and they do it, the wife thinks her husband is a genious. he should be a coach! baseball is boring to watch too unless you know what is going on. hit and run, stealing bases, holding a runner at first, all things to watch for and understand why the players do it. but to a house wife, watching that guy standing on that hill with the white thingy playing catch with the first baseman while there is a batter waiting to hit the ball, she doesn't get it. thats stupid, to her. thats my opinion on this subject. thanks for reading it, if you did. i'm billy h. and the h. stands for hmmmmm?

 

[Nineballchamp]

IPT on last night!

JMO, I couldnt believe that Kevin T. was comentating, he didnt even know what he was talkin about. He kept making refrece to "Pro Rules", which in fact are just BCA rules. If I wasnt a player I wouldn't have know any better. Also, he went on and on about the biggest payout. I felt that he was destracting from the match by jabbering all his non-match related garb. They should have someone commentate that knows the sport and further more, knows how to commentate. Just my 2 Cent$