Slow Death of pool
- Thread starter J-Flo
- Start date
The real pool killer is our economy people don't have the disposable income presently.
Hey John, Here is a post I made a while ago regarding my feelings about the decline in pool. Hope you are well..
Two words, DISPOSABLE INCOME... Years ago before the economic decline of America everyone could find work regardless of education or a lack of. There was always a way to make a buck and the entire society benefited as a result. For instance in 1968 as a teenager during the summer I could paint houses for $8.00 an hour. Now in 2013 we have folks here in America painting the same houses for $8.00 an hour. Guess how much disposable income todays house painter has compared to the guy in 1968.. In todays pool halls you see the effect of this economic decline, years ago most pool halls had a waiting list for a table, when was the last time you saw that? Pool is and has mostly been a blue collar pastime and the folks hurt the most in the decline have been middle and lower income workers thus you have way less money folks are willing to risk or gamble with. As a 16 year old back in 1968 there was always ring games being played in pool rooms, honestly I have not seen a ring game in so long I cannot remember the last one. It all comes down to money!
Two words, DISPOSABLE INCOME... Years ago before the economic decline of America everyone could find work regardless of education or a lack of. There was always a way to make a buck and the entire society benefited as a result. For instance in 1968 as a teenager during the summer I could paint houses for $8.00 an hour. Now in 2013 we have folks here in America painting the same houses for $8.00 an hour. Guess how much disposable income todays house painter has compared to the guy in 1968.. In todays pool halls you see the effect of this economic decline, years ago most pool halls had a waiting list for a table, when was the last time you saw that? Pool is and has mostly been a blue collar pastime and the folks hurt the most in the decline have been middle and lower income workers thus you have way less money folks are willing to risk or gamble with. As a 16 year old back in 1968 there was always ring games being played in pool rooms, honestly I have not seen a ring game in so long I cannot remember the last one. It all comes down to money!
Action? im 10 minutes outside chicago. The road? Ya, thats the answer lets all go on the road.
The op was in referance to the sport dying off slowly due to the low numbers of young players.
Well, I'm doing my best...I can't make myself any younger but I took up the game last April.
Last Thursday I went to my first-ever local 9-ball tournament and there were several kids competing--one who looked about high school age who I guess has finished pretty well in some State junior tournaments, and one little kid who was about ten years old! The kid has a mean eye and a good stroke, too. He was pocketing some hard balls.
Mike
Last Thursday I went to my first-ever local 9-ball tournament and there were several kids competing--one who looked about high school age who I guess has finished pretty well in some State junior tournaments, and one little kid who was about ten years old! The kid has a mean eye and a good stroke, too. He was pocketing some hard balls.
Mike
the production of pool these days is below industry standards
The key to all sports marketing and advertising is their amount of TV coverage on major networks. In the mid 90s I could not walk through an airport of mall and not be recognized many times. The reason was the ESPN coverage that I was exposed through - over 600 International Hours.......that's right, I'm not exaggerating, you can only imagine how much ALL POOL PLAYERS PUT TOGETHER received.
I just got recognized today by someone that I'm doing a business deal with that offered me $300,000 dollars to be not only my landlord, but my partner as well......and it was a result of TV coverage I got 15 years ago.....and someone is going to tell me it doesn't make a HUGE difference?
People these days try to say this doesn't make a difference.....really??? Going from thousands of hours to just a few doesn't make a difference??? How many pros can have a business as a result of their exposure? The answer is sadly "none".....unless they have been on TV in the United States, other countries make very little difference.
I have news for everyone, IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE......a MAJOR difference, and the remedy is to get back on TV.....and it's a lot easier to do than many want to "real eyes".
If nothing else the major players in the billiard industry should have been doing regional TV EVENTS all these years.....it's relatively inexpensive and it goes out to many people that may enjoy watching a well produced pocket billiards show.
......oh, no, that's another story, the production of pool these days is below industry standards......hey, that can be fixed too, we just need some "new blood" doing the shows with entertainment as the priority instead of whatever they're doing now.
.....and that's a good question, does anyone really think having a stationary camera or two filming two players playing pool is going to be appealing to anyone? This is not how they film any other game or sport, so why do it with pool production? The game would like to know...... 'The Game is the Teacher'
The key to all sports marketing and advertising is their amount of TV coverage on major networks. In the mid 90s I could not walk through an airport of mall and not be recognized many times. The reason was the ESPN coverage that I was exposed through - over 600 International Hours.......that's right, I'm not exaggerating, you can only imagine how much ALL POOL PLAYERS PUT TOGETHER received.
I just got recognized today by someone that I'm doing a business deal with that offered me $300,000 dollars to be not only my landlord, but my partner as well......and it was a result of TV coverage I got 15 years ago.....and someone is going to tell me it doesn't make a HUGE difference?
People these days try to say this doesn't make a difference.....really??? Going from thousands of hours to just a few doesn't make a difference??? How many pros can have a business as a result of their exposure? The answer is sadly "none".....unless they have been on TV in the United States, other countries make very little difference.
I have news for everyone, IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE......a MAJOR difference, and the remedy is to get back on TV.....and it's a lot easier to do than many want to "real eyes".
If nothing else the major players in the billiard industry should have been doing regional TV EVENTS all these years.....it's relatively inexpensive and it goes out to many people that may enjoy watching a well produced pocket billiards show.
......oh, no, that's another story, the production of pool these days is below industry standards......hey, that can be fixed too, we just need some "new blood" doing the shows with entertainment as the priority instead of whatever they're doing now.
.....and that's a good question, does anyone really think having a stationary camera or two filming two players playing pool is going to be appealing to anyone? This is not how they film any other game or sport, so why do it with pool production? The game would like to know...... 'The Game is the Teacher'
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A couple of things to ponder:
1. There's the thinking that pool needs a younger following in order to sustain it. Yet in many cities and towns across the country, a father cannot take his kid(s) to a pool room because of the smokey environment. So when choosing to spend quality time together, other sports naturally become more attractive options.
2. I dare say the influence of TV is not as important today because of the Internet and the iGeneration's way of media consumption. Get Miley Cyrus to play a game of 9-Ball with Justin Timberlake, record and edit it, upload to YouTube, and you'll get a million hits in no time. Sponsor a tweet by Jay-Z that says "I love to shoot 8-Ball when I'm not busy recording music" and there will be thousands of retweets and fans echoing their love for pool.
3. Pros should look to partnering with Hollywood. Why aren't we seeing any pro/celeb exhibition matches? Why don't we hear about pros teaching celebs how to play pool? (Yet we hear about pro poker players teaching celebs.) There may be no money in pool, but there's money in show biz. Jeanette Lee is really the only American pro who can be named as a celebrity. She understands the business (being a former model when younger) and applied that know-how to her pro pool career.
1. There's the thinking that pool needs a younger following in order to sustain it. Yet in many cities and towns across the country, a father cannot take his kid(s) to a pool room because of the smokey environment. So when choosing to spend quality time together, other sports naturally become more attractive options.
2. I dare say the influence of TV is not as important today because of the Internet and the iGeneration's way of media consumption. Get Miley Cyrus to play a game of 9-Ball with Justin Timberlake, record and edit it, upload to YouTube, and you'll get a million hits in no time. Sponsor a tweet by Jay-Z that says "I love to shoot 8-Ball when I'm not busy recording music" and there will be thousands of retweets and fans echoing their love for pool.
3. Pros should look to partnering with Hollywood. Why aren't we seeing any pro/celeb exhibition matches? Why don't we hear about pros teaching celebs how to play pool? (Yet we hear about pro poker players teaching celebs.) There may be no money in pool, but there's money in show biz. Jeanette Lee is really the only American pro who can be named as a celebrity. She understands the business (being a former model when younger) and applied that know-how to her pro pool career.
1. AGREED - the game needs to more accessible! :thumbup:
2. AGREED - Pool needs to drag itself into the 21st Century :thumbup:
(not solely rely on 20th Century technologies / medias)
3. AGREED - Not just Hollywood. All mainstreams of todays media, there are $hit loads out there :thumbup:
That makes The Three of Us Who Care
Anyone cares to join ??? :grin-devilish: :welcome:
dom_poppa
Banned
this is very true.
I remember the days of waiting lists at pool halls it wasn't that long ago but it was over a decade ago. We would call in to our local pool halls to get put on the waiting list with our time.
I think this tournament had a few things going against it.
1. It's the inaugural. Hopefully Cecil doesn't get too discouraged to try again.
2. I don't think it was promoted very well with the leagues. I never saw a flyer in my team envelope. I must say that I did see a billboard on the side of the highway for this event:
3. All the singles events were during the week, during the day. I wanted to play in the singles events but I can't take off work to do so.
4. It's in a casino in Gary. Why?? There's plenty of pool rooms in NW Indiana. The Carom room in Beloit, WI holds successful monthly tournaments with up to 128 players. Surely Cecil couldn't hope for a bigger field than that in his first tournament.
To sum up I hope the event comes back next year to a pool room and try and promote it more. It just may take a couple of years to grow in popularity.
1. It's the inaugural. Hopefully Cecil doesn't get too discouraged to try again.
2. I don't think it was promoted very well with the leagues. I never saw a flyer in my team envelope. I must say that I did see a billboard on the side of the highway for this event:
3. All the singles events were during the week, during the day. I wanted to play in the singles events but I can't take off work to do so.
4. It's in a casino in Gary. Why?? There's plenty of pool rooms in NW Indiana. The Carom room in Beloit, WI holds successful monthly tournaments with up to 128 players. Surely Cecil couldn't hope for a bigger field than that in his first tournament.
To sum up I hope the event comes back next year to a pool room and try and promote it more. It just may take a couple of years to grow in popularity.
That makes The Three of Us Who Care
Anyone cares to join ??? :grin-devilish: :welcome:
Let's get 'em Cowboys! :thumbup:
Yippee ki-yay
I think that gal wants him to hurry up so she can go home , her shift is almost over.
I don't agree with the "disposable income" argument. People have money to spend, they just choose to use it differently. They buy new phones, tablet computers, HD TVs, expensive cable packages, etc., etc., etc.
There are a lot of reasons we don't see pool growing. For example, in my town there's a healthy league scene and most, if not all, of the players would love to see a pool room open. There are people who want to make that happen but the cost of commercial real estate is too prohibitive to make it feasible.
There are a lot of reasons we don't see pool growing. For example, in my town there's a healthy league scene and most, if not all, of the players would love to see a pool room open. There are people who want to make that happen but the cost of commercial real estate is too prohibitive to make it feasible.
Everyone talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it.
Sorry, not trying to be obnoxious, but I don't know what this sentence means.
I'm not an expert about pool, but I have an opinion about this from the perspective of a newcomer to the game. I've caught "the pool bug" this past year and can't seem to get enough of it...online, reading about it (the literature is very slender, which is too bad since I'm a big reader), going to pool rooms, playing it, takings lessons, etc.
I *love* to watch the matches online, but I have one STRONG reaction to the material that's out there that I'd like to register. I don't actually mind the single camera; I realize that having two cameras and a handheld isn't feasible for many events, many venues, or many producers.
But please, please, please, pool people...you've GOT to get better announcers!!!
The voice commentary on the matches I've watched goes from very good (Mark Wilson is my favorite so far, although several I've heard were great), to just so atrociously bad that it borders on the surreal.
Just a few typical sins:
--Talking only about what the shooter might do next. Why not just wait and see, and provide some ANTICIPATION for what we're about to see, instead of just trying to second-guess it constantly?
--Not being quiet when there's nothing to say. It's not necessary to fill every second with jabber.
--Talking about other events, people, news, etc. Yeah, you sprinkle stuff like this in...but SPARINGLY. Going off on it for three racks' worth of play is absurd.
--Not talking to the public, just to other experts. And yet....
--Not knowing the score or even the name of one or the other of the players. This is just so amateurish you wouldn't believe it if SNL did a lampoon of it. But half the time the announcers have no idea what the score is. Or don't bother mentioning it.
--Talking to people on the chat and not even telling the YouTube audience WHAT THE QUESTIONS ARE. Are these productions considered to be only for the real-time chat audience with no thought to people who will watch the match later? I watched a positively Kafkaesque match the other day. Almost Dadaist. The announcer kept answering chat questions without repeating the question, so the effect watching the match on YouTube was a series of long silences followed by bizarre non-sequiturs that had nothing at all to do with the match. It was entertaining, in a parallel world kind of way, but not relevant at all.
And speaking of which, the biggest sin....
--NOT TALKING ABOUT THE MATCH. WTF? It's really, really strange to a newcomer to the sport than an announcer can talk for twenty minutes and not say a single thing about what is happening on the table. Ignoring big shifts in momentum, disastrous misses, anything. You get the feeling one of the players could pull out a gun and shoot the other and the announcer wouldn't say a word about it. Fifteen minutes later the announcer would pause and say, "Nothing much seems to be happening at the table. Somebody must be taking a pretty long break. Why are all those policemen in the audience today?"
I understand that good sports announcing is difficult, and I understand that there are lots and lots of things that could be done to improve the visibility and publicizing of pool, but in my humble opinion this would be a very, very good place to start...cultivate the good announcers, develop some new ones, and try to establish a few standards.
Pool needs a Bud Collins, never mind a Chris Collingsworth.
Mike
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Pool isn't dying or dead. I'm 23 and captain of a team currently in first place. Not a single person is over 30 on my team and I have a full eight players. Since I've done this I've inspired two other young people to form their own separate teams and are eagerly awaiting the beginning of next season.
All you old pool hall guys need to go to the most popular bar in town with tables. Run the table on some of these college kids and light a fire under their ass!
All you old pool hall guys need to go to the most popular bar in town with tables. Run the table on some of these college kids and light a fire under their ass!
Wal-Mart has Pool Tables, Cues, and accessories. Was there this AM, and saw the real deal. Could help spark some new players.
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