Rack by Rack Coverage -- Breathtaking!

sjm

sjm

Older and Wiser
Silver Member
Anyone follow the Breedlove vs Boyes match on the IPT site like I did? The score was updated after every rack in the brackets themselves.

It was absolutely fantastic and if this is the kind of tournament coverage that pool fans can expect on the IPT website, it's wonderful.

Seems that the IPT understands that those that visit its website are, indeed, its customers, and is striving to serve those customers well.

Thanks to all at the IPT for this wonderful tournament coverage. The IPT is raising the bar for tournament coverage, and as a fan of pool, I am greatly appreciative.
 
Some niceties .....

I also like to see the 'in progress' when matches have started, and the 'flags' at the end of a tournament of the players left in it. Seems as if KT is not forgetting the 'bells and whistles'. Other tours should pick up on some of these things because the general Pool playing public likes them.
 
sjm said:
Anyone follow the Breedlove vs Boyes match on the IPT site like I did? The score was updated after every rack in the brackets themselves.

It was absolutely fantastic and if this is the kind of tournament coverage that pool fans can expect on the IPT website, it's wonderful.

Seems that the IPT understands that those that visit its website are, indeed, its customers, and is striving to serve those customers well.

Thanks to all at the IPT for this wonderful tournament coverage. The IPT is raising the bar for tournament coverage, and as a fan of pool, I am greatly appreciative.
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I second that emotion. I cannot believe how wrapped up I have been getting in these IPT qualifiers. In fact, I totally forgot that the barbox championship was going on until I saw a post on the main forum. I checked the brackets, and came scurrying back to the IPT site (still don't know who won the barbox event). Whatever the IPT folks are doing, it's working on me. I think it's a combination of their great website, the "international drama" aspect, Deno's active involvement here, and the fact that one gets the sense they really listen to us and care about the loyal followers of the game. I'm easing my way into the "believer" column. Thanks, IPT, for helping some of us get over the "no NFL on Sunday blues".
 
Sally Timko from Inside Pool is doing the sportswriter coverage and JR Calvert from Inside Pool is doing the photography and some website updating. Right now all I know is that they were asked to cover the qualifiers and will be covering the two European qualifiers as well. I do not know if they're going to be asked to cover the tournaments.

I recall being highly disappointed in their website coverage of the KOTH tourney. The updates were slow coming, especially the bracket updates. Hopefully KT will continue to have the live coverage for the tourneys that they have right now for the qualifiers.
 
Snapshot9 said:
I also like to see the 'in progress' when matches have started, and the 'flags' at the end of a tournament of the players left in it. Seems as if KT is not forgetting the 'bells and whistles'. Other tours should pick up on some of these things because the general Pool playing public likes them.
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These are nice and professional touches. What you would expect of a major sport tour. Hopefully, it will carry over to the full field tourneys.
 
I must admit its nice to see that tour has finally got around to live scoring, I think the Euro Champs last year went the whole hog and did an amzing job and the Euro Tour itself updates results after each match. This isn't a very complicated task but its great to see it done well.

It did make me smile though, what does it say about the state of pool that we are getting so excited about "watching" a match via frame updates on the internet! :confused: It brings back a rather embarrassing memory of when I "watched" Garry Kasparov play Nigel Short on teletext, but this was about 15 years ago. Roll on the day when we can truly watch pool, whether it be on TV or the internet.

Well done the IPT
 
I echo all these tributes and sentiments about the IPT website.....they're doing a 1st class job and long may it all continue with the main tour events.
 
I enjoyed the live scoring, frequent updates, and photos. Their site is top notch. A friend that played in the qualifier stated that when they turned in their match results, it was posted to the internet right then and there. Great stuff, hope it continues to be that way.
 
I've heard that George was down 8-5, won one close game, then ran the last 4 racks with some incredible outs.

I was fortunate to be present to watch George practice the day before this qualifier began. You can't believe the kind of outs he was making - he has some serious firepower - very aggressive offense. If he gets serious about pool, we are all in for a treat.
 
Williebetmore said:
If he gets serious about pool, we are all in for a treat.
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I find this statement to be most disturbing.

To be honest, Willie, if he doesn't get serious about pool, it would be better to have had someone else qualify for the IPT. This tour is for those who are willing to fully dedicate themselves to excellence. It would be a great disappointment if a gifted player like George showed up with anything less than his best game.

Trust me, he'll get serious with this kind of prize money up for grabs.
 
sjm said:
I find this statement to be most disturbing.

To be honest, Willie, if he doesn't get serious about pool, it would be better to have had someone else qualify for the IPT. This tour is for those who are willing to fully dedicate themselves to excellence. It would be a great disappointment if a gifted player like George showed up with anything less than his best game.

Trust me, he'll get serious with this kind of prize money up for grabs.
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sjm,
By "serious" I meant dedicating significant time to practice - I'm sure all of the competitors are "serious" in their intentions.

I would have to mildly disagree that the IPT is restricted to those willing to fully dedicate themselves. Looking at the list of IPT qualifiers, I see large numbers of players with day jobs. To me, full dedication means playing pool exclusively for your living. I'm not sure that, even with the largesse of the IPT, a good living from pool will be possible for all of the IPT members.

I do not think that most of the members are showing up with their best games (yet). Those that could play pool at least 8 hours a day for several months would arrive with their best games. I'm sure all of them will give their best effort with whatever skill they bring.

I am looking forward with keen anticipation to see what kind of game players like George and Brian Groce bring to the table - those guys may be scary good with some practice. I know there are many highly skilled players who have left the game for various reasons (usually lack of financial opportunity) - as they all start to work on their games again we may be privileged to see the standard of excellence rise. JMO.
 
Frame by frame is better than match by match, but if you've got a dedicated tech guy on hand it's a small step to a much more entertaining live chat coverage.

I've watched and got into several online coverages in the past when a viewer was giving reports almost in real time (5 or 10 second delay).

Commentary similar to what follows:

Busta breaks. Makes the 6. Tricky on 1 -ball.
Makes big cut shot on 1-b, but lost pos on 2 ball.
Busta Sells out, Earl pots 2,3,4...looking at hard 5.
Taking his time...bank or cut or safety.
Earl banks...sells out..Busta cleans up 7-4
.............

Just an example, but much more visual ad descriptive and worth staying tuned for. I suggest they set up a live chat for the big matches for online viewers. Better yet, online broadcast!!
 
I can't say I followed the last qualifier via the website, but as a web developer myself, this is the sort of thing I love - leveraging the web for such purposes.

It's only really feasable to have such detailed info coming in for matches when you're down to two, maybe three matches running at once. It would take too many people, too many laptops to be able to have running updates on more matches than that.

Something else they could possibly look into is text updates on your phone, if folks wanted to sign up for that. I've a friend in the UK who works at the main cricket website over there, and they do running text updates that you can get sent to your phone via SMS. Great for the true addicts. :D

One of the tricks involved is connectivity at the venue. It's easy enough to set up a little wireless network in a pool hall - but the connection to the net itself is the key. How much effort/$$$ to go into it? Is the venue in a location that has cable modem/DSL available? What's the setup fees? How long will it take to get an install appointment done? Is it worth the install fees if you're going to just shut it down a few days later? Etc. etc. It's something you have to plan for ahead of time.

Streaming video of one, maybe two matches, would also be neat - but again, it's bandwidth-dependent, and also, one would need the necessary hardware.

I do have to say, again, as a web developer, I like the IPT site. It's very well designed. My only issue is with some image "alt" tags with Firefox. :D

Reading Colin's post above again, re: the live coverage/chat bit - another thing they could do is set up a chat server (either IRC, or something else - maybe a java chat via the website) and allow people to hop into a given channel (i.e. "Smith_vs_Jones"). One person on-site in the channel giving a running update, and the rest chatting it up as they choose. The neat thing about that is that folks could ask questions of the on-site person, who could answer (or not). I did this sort of thing years ago while working at CNN - did some live chats with folks at the '96 Rep/Dem conventions, with me playing moderator and fielding questions from the folks who came into the chat, and putting the good questions out for the guest (politicians, journalists, activists, etc) to answer. It was pretty cool.
 
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ScottW said:
..Streaming video of one, maybe two matches, would also be neat - but again, it's bandwidth-dependent, and also, one would need the necessary hardware..
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What about a live WEI table (or something of the sort) update on every shot? It doesn't consume nearly as much bandwidth as does streaming video, and you get the same picture of exactly what's going on in the table as you do with video.

All you need is a designated person with a laptop/computer hooked up to the web who is viewing a live video of the table layout.

If the IPT paid me, I'll volunteer to be the ones who moves the balls and arrows around on screen for every shot. Heck, I'd do it for free, so long as I get to go to each IPT tournament for free. ;)

This is the IPT. I'm sure they can produce software that is much more pleasing to the eye than the WEI table, but serves all it's functions and more.
 
jsp said:
What about a live WEI table (or something of the sort) update on every shot? It doesn't consume nearly as much bandwidth as does streaming video, and you get the same picture of exactly what's going on in the table as you do with video.

All you need is a designated person with a laptop/computer hooked up to the web who is viewing a live video of the table layout.
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I don't think this would work - and I thought about that when writing my previous post. It would take too long after the break to 'set up' the table as it lies, before the shooter (whichever it is) makes the next shot. And then, after every shot but before the NEXT shot, the person would have to modify the WEI table appropriately - what happens when someone busts open a five or six ball cluster? It would take too long.

What would be easier/faster, IMO, is if there WAS live video of the game - shot from a sufficiently good angle where you could see what was going on (not your average cameraman-height angle, but higher, preferably looking straight down) - if the updater-person there had a feed going into the computer that they could snap screenshots, and upload those quickly - THAT would work. One could simply compare one photo to the previous to see what changed.
 
ScottW said:
I don't think this would work - and I thought about that when writing my previous post. It would take too long after the break to 'set up' the table as it lies, before the shooter (whichever it is) makes the next shot. And then, after every shot but before the NEXT shot, the person would have to modify the WEI table appropriately - what happens when someone busts open a five or six ball cluster? It would take too long.
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Although it would be nice to put in all the arrows, I don't think it's necessary. Just the table layout would be fine. I don't think moving 5/6 balls in place is very time consuming. After a break, the shooter on average takes a minute or two assessing the table layout anyways before hitting his next shot. The "wei table maestro" would have plenty of time to place all the balls accurately on screen.

And besides, the updates don't have to be exactly live on the spot. It can be a couple of shots delayed. Especially if we viewers have access to a table log, that shows the history of the table layout after each and every shot. That way, we can flip back and forth and study the progression of the rack at our own pace. The log can be only the wei text codes, so it wouldn't take up much memory at all.

Deno, if you're reading this, make this happen!! :D
 
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Williebetmore said:
I would have to mildly disagree that the IPT is restricted to those willing to fully dedicate themselves. Looking at the list of IPT qualifiers, I see large numbers of players with day jobs. To me, full dedication means playing pool exclusively for your living.
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I know what you're saying, and you're correct to a point, but I'd suggest that the IPT is designed under the presumption that its players are available any week of the year for competition, and I am fine with that.

Excepting the most elite, and they already play pool for their living, those that skip events will endanger their chances of qualifying for the next year's tour, so members will have little choice but to play the full tour schedule, regardless of convenience. By next year, this will mean committing to at least eleven events in at least six different countries on four different continents. I suspect that, in practice, this will mean that those commtting to playing this tour will have little opportunity to hold down full-time jobs. By 2007, after the 50-out-and-50-in transformation, this tour will be so strong that it will take great play just to stay in the Top 100.

The IPT is not restricted to those who will play pool full-time, but I believe the reality will be that those that most of those who wish to play on it long-term will have to dedicate their lives to their games.

I might be wrong, but that's my prediction if this tour is here to stay.
 
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Ipt

First, some of you had good ideas for live action, although I fail to see the benefit for KT to go to this 'additional' expense and trouble to carry out some of your ideas. As fast as the IPt has come about, I am sure, as a retired systems developer, that they were only concerned with the basic structure to begin with, and as the 'format' is being enhanced with bells and whistles, these enhancements will be seen on the regular tournaments scheduled as well.

Secondly, How many out of 150 or 200 players in the IPt do you think will make enough for a living wage considering the expenses they also will incur to play on the tour? Most of them will have to have additional income from some source to supplement their Pool earnings. I am pretty sure most already have a way to make money when they are not playing, whether it is being a house pro, giving instructions, a family business, or some other way.

What they WILL do, if they haven't already, is Posture themselves to have a flexible working schedule, and an understanding with their employers that they can take time off for certain scheduled events they plan to participate in. This is much more common nowdays, in many occupations.

And I think it goes with saying that some will continue to play on other tours as well, and play money matches on the side to supplement their
income.

What you will see, I believe, is the elite of the tour living on their Pool earnings, and the rest will move towards a combination of things for their
income, pool and other sources. You may have some now that work full
time, that are playing more now than in the past, that may begin to posture themselves more towards the flexible work schedule to allow more time for Pool events, i.e., the semi-pro breaking into the pro ranks.

I do think that we will see many changes in the Pool world as a result
of the IPT tour, and whoever writes a book about the IPT will have more than enough information for it.
 
ScottW said:
I can't say I followed the last qualifier via the website, but as a web developer myself, this is the sort of thing I love - leveraging the web for such purposes.

It's only really feasable to have such detailed info coming in for matches when you're down to two, maybe three matches running at once. It would take too many people, too many laptops to be able to have running updates on more matches than that.

Something else they could possibly look into is text updates on your phone, if folks wanted to sign up for that. I've a friend in the UK who works at the main cricket website over there, and they do running text updates that you can get sent to your phone via SMS. Great for the true addicts. :D

One of the tricks involved is connectivity at the venue. It's easy enough to set up a little wireless network in a pool hall - but the connection to the net itself is the key. How much effort/$$$ to go into it? Is the venue in a location that has cable modem/DSL available? What's the setup fees? How long will it take to get an install appointment done? Is it worth the install fees if you're going to just shut it down a few days later? Etc. etc. It's something you have to plan for ahead of time.

Streaming video of one, maybe two matches, would also be neat - but again, it's bandwidth-dependent, and also, one would need the necessary hardware.

I do have to say, again, as a web developer, I like the IPT site. It's very well designed. My only issue is with some image "alt" tags with Firefox. :D

Reading Colin's post above again, re: the live coverage/chat bit - another thing they could do is set up a chat server (either IRC, or something else - maybe a java chat via the website) and allow people to hop into a given channel (i.e. "Smith_vs_Jones"). One person on-site in the channel giving a running update, and the rest chatting it up as they choose. The neat thing about that is that folks could ask questions of the on-site person, who could answer (or not). I did this sort of thing years ago while working at CNN - did some live chats with folks at the '96 Rep/Dem conventions, with me playing moderator and fielding questions from the folks who came into the chat, and putting the good questions out for the guest (politicians, journalists, activists, etc) to answer. It was pretty cool.
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Good ideas Scott!

I did live online broadcasting via a wireless network 2 years ago for an event. Cost was only about US$600. A major internet portal provided all the bandwidth and service as a kind of sponsor / partner agreement.

Easiest way would be a single camera looking down at 30 degrees so we can see the layout and what the players are doing on most shots. Just cover a single main table. Java based chat with someone onsite providing answers, score updates from other matches etc would provide a pretty good viewing experience.
 
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