Pool Popular?! Why?

[Purdman]

I wish pool were an extremely popular game like poker is these days, for an extremely selfish reason. I have plenty of friends that get together to play poker, and consider it a matter of great manly pride, and worth putting good money on the line, who's the best player among them. If it were pool instead of poker, with the same pride and monetary investment, I'd be enjoying king-of-the-hill status among them, and I'd have quite a steady source of income, instead of donating $40 or $60 to the better players among my friends whenever I play poker now. These guys are D players of the poker world, and I'm a D- player. I'd really like it if they were D pool players instead, and I could turn those tables.

Occasionally someone I know who I didn't meet in a poolroom will admit to enjoying a game of pool now and then, but it's immediately disclaimed that they haven't played in a long time, and get-together to play pool never materialize.

Don't get me wrong, I do find the game rewarding just in and of itself, which is why I play. But man, it sure would be nice if all those friends and family members I'm competitive with at work, at card games, at video games, or even on a basketball court, would come get a taste of what I really excel at (I'm not saying I'm a pro player or anything, just that a strong C or B player can drop the jaw of a non-player by running a rack now and then).

-Andrew

Andrew, I love this freaking game! I got a 9 ft. table with new Championship 30/30 cloth. You have an open invitation to come play and have a few beers anytime you would like. You are welcome to eat and drink til your heart is merry. I only ask that you help pay for the consumables, unless you are broke. Then it is on me. I am not much of a money player, however, I do play a pretty sporty game. I don't play poker, I play 1 pocket, 8 ball, 9 ball, 14/1, golf, and whatever you would like. We are 30 minutes apart and it is up to you.
I have been shunned by many for my beliefs yet I only express them when asked. I follow the golden rule when it comes to my fellow human beings. I will PM you my number if you think you can beat an old man at his game.
Best Regards, Don "Purdman" Purdy

 

[Roy Steffensen]

I think pool's biggest problem as a form of entertainment is that they simply fail to define ANYTHING for the audience.

I mean, you watch baseball and there are things that are exciting simply because the announcer tells you it is. Look no further than Barry Bonds and his quest to Hank Aaron's record. What is so exciting about watching a fat old guy hit a baseball for a crappy team? Well, he's about to break the record for the most ever and I can assure you, EVERYONE will be watching.

Pool (both men's AND women's) needs to start tracking statistics. I know with all the preliminary matches that go on, it's tough but it still needs to be done. Here are some interesting questions I will pose to the forum. I'm about 99.999% certain nobody has answers to them and would be interested if it were available:

Most matches/games won this year/lifetime
Most matches/games won in a row
fastest match ever
longest match ever
most missed shots
Longest streak w/o a mistake


I mean, if you're watching a pool match and someone says, "Efren Reyes has shut out his last 3 opponents and is currently on a run of 37 consecutive games won. The all-time record stands at 45", you would have interest in every game played until Efren lost. You would be fascinated with every single shot until Efren lost. The audience would have an emotional investment in the immediate outcome. Pool isn't boring. How pool is portrayed is boring. There's a difference.

TAP TAP TAP

 

[Jude Rosenstock]

Actually they won't know Allison or Karen at all...and Janette will be referred to as "that Black Widow Girl"....

More than likely if you ask someone to name a famous pool player they will say Minnesota Fats, Steve Mizerak.....(Or Tom Cruise)... even if you said "living"

I agree that pool needs more definition....but attaching statistics to the womens tour won't do it...

Unfortunatley that "definition" won't happen over night either...It will take many sustained years or growth to create the definition.

Wow, are you deliberately argumentative? I mean I think you're agreeing with me but not really and even so, you're still going to take swipes at every little point even if they do come to a conclusion that you agree with.


Ok, I was assuming when I mentioned the names of those three women that the average person had cable. You're right. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Maniac]

I watch pool almost every day, both for entertainment and also for education. It does not suck to watch.

I too watch (and tape) all the billiard shows on ESPN/ESPN Classic. At least all of the 9-ball/8-ball tournaments. I watch, but never tape the trick-shot competitions. I watch the 9-ball shows mainly for learning. I try to guess what they are gonna do with the cue ball on each shot to get shape for the next shot. I have learned a lot of different options by doing this. The problem is, I almost always fall asleep on the first viewing and have to rewind it and watch it again. Yes pool, like golf, puts me right to sleep when trying to view it on television.

Nine ball on t.v. is like a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it is a game that has a lot of break-and-runs, which speeds up the game/matches for editing purposes, and shows the skill of the pro players. On the other hand, people with or without any knowledge of the game are gonna get bored fairly quick with how easy the pros make the game look. IMO, a game with less runout capabilities would be a better idea.

I don't know what the fix is for the game of pool on television, but I sure have heard a lot of good ideas already on this thread.

Maniac

 

[BRKNRUN]

Wow, are you deliberately argumentative? I mean I think you're agreeing with me but not really and even so, you're still going to take swipes at every little point even if they do come to a conclusion that you agree with.


Ok, I was assuming when I mentioned the names of those three women that the average person had cable. You're right. Thanks for pointing that out.

Yes I am...

What??? So I guess nobody is allowed to ever have a slightly different point of view than the almighty you!!!!

Lighten up a bit there......geeeeeez!!

 

[poolplayer2093]

I just wanted to start a thread for my own stand on pool, and it's popularity, television coverage, etc..

You see, thread after thread ask why pool isn't on TV. There is a simple answer, and that is, because it sucks to watch. Even the players don't watch it!

Thread after thread ask why there is no money in pool, even though IF THERE WAS, it would still not trickle down as far as most of us here.

Popularity is something that I do not want, for pool. I like to get away from the masses and play the game that I love. It's ME and THE GAME. I like it that way.


Please, comments are welcome.

What do you mean about even the players don't watch. how do you explain all the accu stats i have in my cd case.

the only reason i'd like to see pool do better is so that the pros would get more respect for what they do (and money)

 

[I rack balls]

The day I see live coverage of the US Open I will poo myself. I think that the finals of that event should be covered live by ESPN. WPC live coverage in the US??

Eric.

 

[Cameron Smith]

I don't like hearing people say that they don't want pool to become popular with massive pay outs. I equate that with someone saying I don't ever deserve a raise. The players work hard and play all year round. They entertain us with stellar play and always provide us with something to talk about. I think they more than deserve higher payouts. It's not fair to these guys and girls to want pool to stay the way it is.

 

[pdcue]

whilst i can bang on with the best of em about pool not being produced to it's full potential, i still don't know how anyone can say they find it boring to watch. aren'twe supposed to be fans of the game??

And therin lies the rub.
Most pool players over here in the colonies are not particularly
interested in watching pool played by others

Tho there are some exceptions<me for example>in general,
they don't buy Videos of matches, attend tournaments, or read
instructional books.

FWIW - I, like many Azforum-ers, do/have done all the above.
But, we are a small percentage of players. Miniscule, actually.

Most pool players will watch Pool on TV, IF it's free and convienient.
But that is not nearly enough of an audience to justify broadcasting
pool events, And the 'normal' main stream viewing audience shows
virtualy no intrest at all.

Dale

 

[Tony Longoni]

if we want pool to become a mainstream sport, which i do, the biggest thing that has to be done is to find ways of involving young people in the game. this is where i think the BCA,APA, TAP and other leagues should be stepping in. all kids love to play pool, boys and girls, yet none of the leagues or organizations make any attempt to help schools start pool teams or pool clubs. this solves so many problems as it allows children to become attached to the game at a young age as well as get instruction to become good. parents will watch their kids play and then both the parents and the kids will both want to watch people play on tv. they will understand whats going on so it will be entertaining for them and as that first generation gets older, the sport will explode. it all starts with the kids!!

 

[Jude Rosenstock]

Yes I am...

What??? So I guess nobody is allowed to ever have a slightly different point of view than the almighty you!!!!

Lighten up a bit there......geeeeeez!!

You're just waisting bandwidth and being particularly obnoxious about it, to boot. My post wasn't about men versus women or Steve Mizerak versus Karen Corr. In fact, it had almost nothing to do with them but you feel a need to harp on those details. Then, to top it off, you admit that the point of my argument has merit.

I've read your other posts and usually you have good things to say but I don't know now.

 

[Roy Steffensen]

What do you mean about even the players don't watch. how do you explain all the accu stats i have in my cd case.

the only reason i'd like to see pool do better is so that the pros would get more respect for what they do (and money)

Most players don't watch pool, that's a fact.

With a tournament of 150 players, how many are there to watch the final?

I played in a tournament this weekend, lost the semifinal so then I got my pricemoney and went fishing instead. (Not fishing in pool, but actually fishing) I hate to watch the rest of a pool-tournament I feel I should have won. I am angry at myself, so I leave instead of sitting there watching some ballbangers play

If I play on the Eurotour, however, I will gladly watch as many matches as possible, but you don't see all the pros sitting there watching the final. If they can get in the car and drive home, they will.

That is perhaps one of the biggest problems with pool, that the people that want the sport to grow and get big crowds for final matches are the first to leave when they're out of the tournament...

Jude mentioned stats, and that's really important! Way to go, I remember the first IPT tournament when many articles was about Manalo who had 12 matches won in a row, then 13, then 14, and could he beat Bustamante's 17 victories? (Don't know if the numbers are correct, but my point is that it was interesting, because they made it interesting!)

 

[CreeDo]

I think the original stated goal of accustats was to keep the kind of stats jude's talking about, and it ended up being about videotaping matches. The older tapes used to have lots of little white numbers showing statistics abou tthe players. Not sure if they even pretend to do that anymore. Offtopic: They should change the name. Google pool videos and they aren't even on the first page, and if they were I'd figure it was a bad result.

I agree that the presentation of pool is bad, but I dunno that the lack of stats is that big. I watch 0 baseball and don't care about this record that's about to be broken. If I heard a similar thing was happening in the football world I wouldn't bother either. Seymore's point rings true to me, that even among players it can be boring. I'm bored by TV 9 ball anyway. I dunno if any new record in the world could make me watch allison pound home another 9.

 

[seymore15074]

Most players don't watch pool, that's a fact.

With a tournament of 150 players, how many are there to watch the final?

EXACTLY. Everyone who thinks players everywhere tune in for pool on TV had better think again!

 

[BRKNRUN]

You're just waisting bandwidth and being particularly obnoxious about it, to boot. My post wasn't about men versus women or Steve Mizerak versus Karen Corr. In fact, it had almost nothing to do with them but you feel a need to harp on those details. Then, to top it off, you admit that the point of my argument has merit.

I've read your other posts and usually you have good things to say but I don't know now.

Well good morning.

I was not being obnoxious until you decided to begin making remarks toward me personally.

I don’t think I made any reference to you, your attitude, or any other remark that was personal in nature until you chose to go down that path. Although I usually avoid making comments personal in nature, I will return jabs when jabbed upon.

I may have a different view on opinions. Although I may agree on the overall opinion, I may disagree on certain details. ….You may have taken that as (what you referred too) a swipe….I just see it as a difference of opinion on certain details (while in agreement with your overall observation) I kind of thought that is what the forum is all about….I did not realize that different opinions were (as you say) waste of bandwidth.

In my opinion…(and of course others may have different opinions)…you tend to add thoughtful observations to many discussions….However….from what I have noticed in the past (and am now experiencing first hand) if anyone differs slightly from your opinion, you seem to feel compelled to prove your worth or knowledge or skill or (correctness) to the entire board over any one that expresses opinions different from yours….(even if slight)……I am sorry if my post challenged you in some personal way that compelled you to make personal type remarks toward me…

Back to the topic….Yes I did agree that statistics would benefit the experience…Where I differed is that it would only benefit if done at the top level of pool….In most all sports that is the Men’s side of the sport….This was not meant as a comment of “who is better”, it was meant as a comment of what statistics usually get paid any attention.

Now would statistics benefit the woman’s tour? Sure, but I don’t think it would benefit pool as a whole to the intent that I believe you were implying in your original post. I don’t even think it would benefit the current men’s regional tours in the short term. I believe it would need to be done at the top level of the sport to have any long term effect….such as the IPT or Camel tours.

What I was hoping for was a reply that went something like….”Yes statistics on the Women’s tour could benefit…and here is why” … I was not expecting comments toward me or my attitude.

Again…I am sorry if I challenged your superior knowledge and wisdom regarding pool…. In the future I will remember to not post any opinions that might conflict with yours so we can all just read what Jude has to say and make it “Man Law”.

Oh….and sorry for the wasted bandwidth…

Peace OUT!!!!!

 

[Jude Rosenstock]

Well good morning.

I was not being obnoxious until you decided to begin making remarks toward me personally.

I don’t think I made any reference to you, your attitude, or any other remark that was personal in nature until you chose to go down that path. Although I usually avoid making comments personal in nature, I will return jabs when jabbed upon.

I may have a different view on opinions. Although I may agree on the overall opinion, I may disagree on certain details. ….You may have taken that as (what you referred too) a swipe….I just see it as a difference of opinion on certain details (while in agreement with your overall observation) I kind of thought that is what the forum is all about….I did not realize that different opinions were (as you say) waste of bandwidth.

In my opinion…(and of course others may have different opinions)…you tend to add thoughtful observations to many discussions….However….from what I have noticed in the past (and am now experiencing first hand) if anyone differs slightly from your opinion, you seem to feel compelled to prove your worth or knowledge or skill or (correctness) to the entire board over any one that expresses opinions different from yours….(even if slight)……I am sorry if my post challenged you in some personal way that compelled you to make personal type remarks toward me…

Back to the topic….Yes I did agree that statistics would benefit the experience…Where I differed is that it would only benefit if done at the top level of pool….In most all sports that is the Men’s side of the sport….This was not meant as a comment of “who is better”, it was meant as a comment of what statistics usually get paid any attention.

Now would statistics benefit the woman’s tour? Sure, but I don’t think it would benefit pool as a whole to the intent that I believe you were implying in your original post. I don’t even think it would benefit the current men’s regional tours in the short term. I believe it would need to be done at the top level of the sport to have any long term effect….such as the IPT or Camel tours.

What I was hoping for was a reply that went something like….”Yes statistics on the Women’s tour could benefit…and here is why” … I was not expecting comments toward me or my attitude.

Again…I am sorry if I challenged your superior knowledge and wisdom regarding pool…. In the future I will remember to not post any opinions that might conflict with yours so we can all just read what Jude has to say and make it “Man Law”.

Oh….and sorry for the wasted bandwidth…

Peace OUT!!!!!

I thought you were going off topic and harping on details that were really just intended to add color to my argument. I do like the Man Law idea. Can you PM Mike and see if that's possible?