So, where do we think Pool is going with all these things going on?

J

Jesters

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
There are so many crazy things going on that can be looked at in some cases as good and and in some cases as bad. I think the pool world as we know it is going to take a dramatic change. Here are some things that have happend in the past year and I will miss a few I know.

World 10 ball - Cancelled 2 or three times along with the World Summit.

WPA - withdraws sanctioning for the World 10 ball.

ABP - Players organize a players union to assure promoters pay on time.

U.S Open - players threaten to not attend the U.S Open

In fighting - BCA and ABP fight over who has the right to the point system.

Bonus Ball hits the scene - They have been working slowly on this for some time but now have a roster and schedule.

Bonus Ball - Has been rescheduled a few times and will effect players ability to attend other tournaments.

Promoters - Seeding or not seeding?

US Open moves to a new venue - Mixed reports on if this was a good or bad move.

CJ Wiley - Gets the nod to replace Charlie Williams as USA Team Captain.

Please feel free to add other events that I have missed.

So with all this going on what is the future of Pro Pool? Just seems like something big has to happen to shake everything into order. How, when and who is a mystery to me.
 
To address the ABP, The players that organize a players union. I view them as want to be reality stars taking advantage of their appearances on u-tube and streaming video to create a source of income
How many of them would jump at the chance to be on surviver, where their pool skill would have no benefit?
 
Well, this is my 2 cents, which may not be worth that. We can dwell on the negatives, or we can try to improve our sport's image and help get pool back in the public eye. If we look at sports in general, it seems everyone of them have a black eye over something. The NFL, MLB, NBA, all have had union problems, players doing dumb, sometimes criminal things, cheating, you name it. The difference is that the major sports has drama; something to attract a person to watch or participate. i have said before, and obviously many disagree, that TAR has the formula correct. One on one matchups with interesting players with some money on the line. Mr. Wiley also has some interesting ideas that I agree with. I think we need to go back to championship matches with a recognizable champion. If you ask the average person who the nineball champion of the world is, 99 out of 100 is not going to know. Back in Mosconi's day, there WAS a world champion, and at least the average sports person had a clue. That's my 2 cents worth.
 
It's probably about as dysfunctional as it could get.
There is no one at the helm of this rudderless ship.

Maybe it's time to accept that the world has moved on and this is an amateur game.
 
Mole Eye said:
Well, this is my 2 cents, which may not be worth that. We can dwell on the negatives, or we can try to improve our sport's image and help get pool back in the public eye. If we look at sports in general, it seems everyone of them have a black eye over something. The NFL, MLB, NBA, all have had union problems, players doing dumb, sometimes criminal things, cheating, you name it. The difference is that the major sports has drama; something to attract a person to watch or participate. i have said before, and obviously many disagree, that TAR has the formula correct. One on one matchups with interesting players with some money on the line. Mr. Wiley also has some interesting ideas that I agree with. I think we need to go back to championship matches with a recognizable champion. If you ask the average person who the nineball champion of the world is, 99 out of 100 is not going to know. Back in Mosconi's day, there WAS a world champion, and at least the average sports person had a clue. That's my 2 cents worth.
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I agree with most of your post. They should "All get along" but they can't seem to do it. The fact remains and without a total collapse and someone there ready to step in and fix it with players and promoters alike on board things are going to be shakey at best for a long time.
Bringing other sports into the mix as an example of any particular sport that you mentioned is pointless. They generate millions of dollars and can kick someone out if they behave badly nomatter who it is and play will resume the next week. With the money maybe using a tried and true model that has been used by any of the major sports is a great idea but in the financial state this sport is in its hard to compare.
 
Pool has never been a productive sport. It is just a bunch of guys playing for drinks. The money that was made was by bookies making action at the end of the day. The player got 30% if they won but the match maker made money what ever the outcome. Yes , your backer bet against you.
 
5 of your 10 points have something in common. Remove that common denominator and you have a start. Now here is where things always fall apart: you have to not only fix that problem, but you have to not make the same mistake again, and again, and again ...

On another topic...

I love pool but not the drama that goes with it. Some get excited by the newest jackass to arrive on scene. The only place I see all forms of pocket billiards having problems is here (billiards itself is now non-existent). Home of the Big Mac and "Everything Must Go Faster Because I Have ADD".

I did notice PK thought he could fix pool by changing the game to suit his style. Short-rack rotation seems to be the same thing for a western TV audience (change the game to suit the lack of attention span). Even the viewers gave up.

Now we have fireworks going off in the middle of a game? (maybe I read the release wrong, but it's my take on Bonus Ball) What's next? Bonus ball with shotguns and C4 charges hidden in the pockets that go off if you miss, followed by a laser-light show that's also a Death Ray?

I must be getting old ... I'm starting to have flashbacks of, "I remember when..."
 
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Jesters said:
There are so many crazy things going on that can be looked at in some cases as good and and in some cases as bad. I think the pool world as we know it is going to take a dramatic change. Here are some things that have happend in the past year and I will miss a few I know.

World 10 ball - Cancelled 2 or three times along with the World Summit. That's because of dishonest promoters in the PI

WPA - withdraws sanctioning for the World 10 ball. see above post

ABP - Players organize a players union to assure promoters pay on time.Players union? The "players" don't even know they are involved...and the ABP "leadership (I use that term loosely) can't make any decisions in the best interest of ALL the players.

U.S Open - players threaten to not attend the U.S OpenEveryone knows that's an empty threat. The players would be there anyway.

In fighting - BCA and ABP fight over who has the right to the point system.What infighting? The BCA is the last word, according to the WPA (they sanction the tournaments, so they decide)

Bonus Ball hits the scene - They have been working slowly on this for some time but now have a roster and schedule. How it shakes out remains to be seen.

Bonus Ball - Has been rescheduled a few times and will effect players ability to attend other tournaments. The promoters have said all along that it is not their intention to prevent players from attending major tournaments...and they already have "stand-ins" waiting for that opportunity.

Promoters - Seeding or not seeding? The best promoters refuse to seed, because there is no real "pro" organization...correct, imo

US Open moves to a new venue - Mixed reports on if this was a good or bad move. Too bad! It's Barry's event, and he can hold it anywhere he chooses. Don't like it...don't come...siimple as that!

CJ Wiley - Gets the nod to replace Charlie Williams as USA Team Captain. The only potential bright spot, in an otherwise dreary situation.

Please feel free to add other events that I have missed.

So with all this going on what is the future of Pro Pool? Just seems like something big has to happen to shake everything into order. How, when and who is a mystery to me.
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The professional players have collectively been shooting themselves in the foot for at least 40+ years. I don't see anything changing in the immediate future...sad to say.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
 
I haven't been in the pool scene for very long so forgive me if I'm wrong, but I've noticed a trend away from gambling, bad reputation pool more to pool as a professional sport, with tournaments. I feel it's more unknown, but more respected.
 
Scott Lee said:
The professional players have collectively been shooting themselves in the foot for at least 40+ years. I don't see anything changing in the immediate future...sad to say.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
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To your points.

World 10 ball - Cancelled 2 or three times along with the World Summit. That's because of dishonest promoters in the PI - Exactly my point not a positive for the sport.

Bonus Ball - Has been rescheduled a few times and will effect players ability to attend other tournaments. The promoters have said all along that it is not their intention to prevent players from attending major tournaments...and they already have "stand-ins" waiting for that opportunity. - We shall see what actually happens, I have a feeling things are not going to go as smooth as your predict.

US Open moves to a new venue - Mixed reports on if this was a good or bad move. Too bad! It's Barry's event, and he can hold it anywhere he chooses. Don't like it...don't come...siimple as that! - I agree it's Barry's event and nobody can take that away from him. Obviously though if the new venue does not make spectators or players comfortable they will choose not to come back again next year. It's easy to say "Don't come back" when it is not your event. When it is you have a responsibility to make your custyomers happy so they will come back and you can continue to generate the money needed to hold the event. Thats just basic business.

Everything else I tend to agree with you.
 
weakfingers said:
I haven't been in the pool scene for very long so forgive me if I'm wrong, but I've noticed a trend away from gambling, bad reputation pool more to pool as a professional sport, with tournaments. I feel it's more unknown, but more respected.
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Its hard to say if you have it right or not and I am sure it would depend who you spoke to and what part of the country they live in. We know that the tournaments are not every weekend (Big ones) We also know that tv time is Very limited and so I would not be shocked if players were doing more gambling these days but you only hear about the big money games. If the Pros had more real tournaments to attend they would rather go to those. I don't know you could be right.
 
Coming together......

A few subjects that really need to happen.
1,Organizations need to come together and acknowledge the professionals of the game. Work with them, they are the people who show the the best in billiards.Use them as a example for amatures to follow.
2, take the bad element out of the media, for example ,when they stream, don't show people gambling,Thats not the example we want to show the public. Work with these streamers to bring the best to the screen.
3, bring into the spot light people or organizations that are helping people ,whether it be a life threatening illness, or instructors teaching our youth.This is what we should be showing the public.
Anyway thats just my small thought on the problems that have crippled our sport. I beleive until these subjects are addressed, we will be asking the same questions over and over again.




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It's important to understand that the things you list are symptoms, not causes. There are simply too many people fighting over too little money.

The cause is that not enough people play the game, and those that do play don't take it seriously enough to want to watch it. After all, watching a golf match is far more boring than watching pool; and any golfer would choose playing over watching golf on TV. But it has enough players that if even only 5% watch golf on TV it's enough to attract major advertisers.

Where's pool going? I haven't a clue.
 
I think we need a really smart person who has a great reputation to stand up and say "I am gonna do it" The problem is nomatter who it was the players, promoters (In general) would not follow without a fuss to get a middle ground where everyone was happy. Secondly that person who is qualified has a hell of a job ahead of them and that type of person does not work for free. So maybe dammed either way.
 
xplor said:
Pool has never been a productive sport. It is just a bunch of guys playing for drinks. The money that was made was by bookies making action at the end of the day. The player got 30% if they won but the match maker made money what ever the outcome. Yes , your backer bet against you.
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How could someone win reguardless of outcome?
 
I agree with Scott, and would add that I personally feel that we should not focus our energies toward the top (pro ranks), but toward the bottom where the everyday player dwells. Our local pool rooms. :smile:
 
xplor said:
Pool has never been a productive sport. It is just a bunch of guys playing for drinks. The money that was made was by bookies making action at the end of the day. The player got 30% if they won but the match maker made money what ever the outcome. Yes , your backer bet against you.
Click to expand...
Love it,great post!!!!To me the IPT was the best
payouts in pool history even though everyone hated Kevin Truedeau but
was still willing to take his money.
I hope his next book is titled(The secrets of Pool they didn't want you to
know about):smile:When it comes to pool players and money,ethics
become foreign and the almighty dollar takes its place.
 
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