The future of pool
- Thread starter buckshotshoey
- Start date
agreed
I agree its a game that need exposure to the public whether it be kids adults etc. Pool Places could use some business.
I agree its a game that need exposure to the public whether it be kids adults etc. Pool Places could use some business.
CJ is right. For our sport to be relevant and viable, there must be a national awareness. That can only happen through television and the theatre.
Cart before Horse
Paul,
Those mediums do provide the most coverage I dont argue that but I would like to see people being successful recruiting new customers. I think some places are starting to but I don't think its widespread. How to best do that is up to the room owner because there is no organization designed to do it for them.
Paul,
Those mediums do provide the most coverage I dont argue that but I would like to see people being successful recruiting new customers. I think some places are starting to but I don't think its widespread. How to best do that is up to the room owner because there is no organization designed to do it for them.
ah, somebody gets it.
The media landscape is totally different today than 50, 40, 30, 20, or even 10 years ago. No movie will ever have the impact of "The Hustler" or TCOM" and no match will ever have the impact of Mosconi v Fats, even if we had the equal of those two legends, which we do not.
We are a niche sport. A small and increasingly shrinking niche sport; "a beautiful game played by ugly people"; a throwback to when you needed more than your two thumbs to be good at something. I love the game but *the best* pool could hope for nowadays is a reality TV show with the impact of a "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." And I'm not so sure that even that is such a good idea.
Lou Figueroa
Ahhh..somebody gets it.
As I mentioned in another thread, the elements that could sell it to a tv crowd are not the same as the elements that would build a stronger industry. The notion that any attention is good attention is like a babysitter hoping to get arrested for child smuggling. You might make the news, but it won't help your sales quota for the year.
Tcom might have boosted revenues for a while, but where are we now?
Players of all types are no better off and the industry still lags everytime the economy flinches because we have no foundation to stand on. It's a house of straw, and no gimmicks on tv will change that. If you love pool and want it to thrive, better start looking at quality over quantity. Respectability over controversy. Make momma happy, cuz if momma ain't happy, nobody is happy.
You are right, except pool for what it is and stop lamenting what it is not. We are a very small subculture that has been around for a long time and is not going anywhere. We are and can be an industry within itself. It is easier to work with what you are and what you currently have then a fantasy. The net is the future of viewing pool , not network or cable TV. Others are also going this way as well as I pointed out a few posts back.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/11/media/paula-deen-new-web-site/
This is real and doable and does not require luck. You build it yourself.
It is what it is.
I think you're right. If we know what it is and stop fantasizing then the problems we have with less business for pool are fixable.
I think you're right. If we know what it is and stop fantasizing then the problems we have with less business for pool are fixable.
kids do require exercise to hope for a "well balanced" life
I agree, kids do require exercise to hope for a "well balanced" life - pool was always just a hobby for me when I was a kid.
My best games were baseball and basketball, then tennis. I was traveling around northern MO. helping give tennis lessons three summers in a row....the guy I went with ended up becoming the Lead Tennis Coach for NMSU (who was #2 in the country the year he coached). I learned a lot giving tennis lessons and "that game was my teacher".....one of my many "mentors" on the "Road Less Traveled".
Golf was also a major part of my upbringing although I played left handed until my late, teenage years. The main thing I contribute to becoming the #1 ranked player in the world was my study of martial arts and becoming an instructor in 1992.
Pool did become more than "just a hobby" when I was on the road playing to survive, however, that's another story. 'The Game is my Teacher'
I agree, kids do require exercise to hope for a "well balanced" life - pool was always just a hobby for me when I was a kid.
My best games were baseball and basketball, then tennis. I was traveling around northern MO. helping give tennis lessons three summers in a row....the guy I went with ended up becoming the Lead Tennis Coach for NMSU (who was #2 in the country the year he coached). I learned a lot giving tennis lessons and "that game was my teacher".....one of my many "mentors" on the "Road Less Traveled".
Golf was also a major part of my upbringing although I played left handed until my late, teenage years. The main thing I contribute to becoming the #1 ranked player in the world was my study of martial arts and becoming an instructor in 1992.
Pool did become more than "just a hobby" when I was on the road playing to survive, however, that's another story. 'The Game is my Teacher'
I don't know if your answer was a knee jerk reaction or you really thought about it. Pool is a nice passive physical activity. Especially good for older people or people not up to things more strenuous. I actually feel best when I am playing pool, lots of bending, stretching and walking around the table.
I think you are mixing up playing pool with watching TV.
Play a 3 of 4 hour session, I have played 24 and 36 hour sessions and you will discover pool is a physical activity. Not to mention, pool is very safe. Golf for instance has a lot of unnatural movements that can actually cause injuries. Hip, shoulder, wrist, back, neck just to mention a few.
Pool can have a curative effect on people with certain physical problems and can be played almost till you are in the grave.
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What activity could you do for 24 hours straight that would wear you out LESS than pool? Anyway I was talking about kids not adults
Not a knee jerk reaction. Just a reaction to threads in this forum on how to get more kids playing pool...even threads about getting it into schools like that's going to happen.
I completely agree it a fine activity for ALL adults, and especially those with physical limitations. Likewise for kids with limitations.
Saying it's exercise is stretching it pretty far. I hung around pool halls enough to know. Walking 5 or so miles around a golf course lugging a bag is pretty good exercise. That's how I roll, although I know there a lot of "riders"...but even those guys walk more that a pool player does. I guess I have a pretty natural golf swing but I've never even sprained a muscle, and I play from the back tees.
Not even gonna mention kids playing basketball, tennis, etc for 2 hours or more
Just saying most kids simply need something a LOT more physical than pool to burn off their natural energy and all that fast food they are eating...lol.
The idea of getting more kids playing pool after school is never get a speck of support from anybody but certain pool players. The premise is flawed. Getting adults playing pool is the goal I would think especially if you own a pool hall.
I think I saw a mention in this forum of somebody trying to start a billiards summer camp for kids. How would that work? Get up do some exercising, maybe some canoeing or hiking. Then hit the pool room?
Lou,
I wish I didn't get it but I've kind of studied on this awhile in order to get it. On all levels I've looked into pool is a tough way to try and make money. So you do it because you love it and the best you can hope for is to get someone else to enjoy it too because its a hard game to fully understand. For me that understanding is compelling and I enjoy the challenge and the competition. I would like more people to see it that way so there would be more people to play when you go to the pool room. I think pool is a very nice addition to a full life of work and family. Mac posted a story about how he found out how to go get the business in another thread I think and it proved to me that there are people that want to play pool, you just have to find them and give them some incentive to do that.
Every idea I have ever come up with for getting new people into the sport fell short because of apathy on the part of someone unwilling to try things. So I think it just takes some education to get people to open their eyes some to doing something about getting new customers. If a owner has a decent business I would guess that he would be the hardest to convince in doing anything. If a owner is going down he might be willing to work some for it.
Without an organization created to promote pool the only organization we have to rely on is the room owner and our individual efforts.
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If you think it should be, then you do it.
Did anyone make the most of the people who started pool because of tcom?
When tcom came out kids said "I can do that, I want to do that," meaning they could be a cool character like Vincent and play a cool game and make some money. I'll get back to this in a minute but first I want to ask about something else.
What are you talking about when you say make momma happy, quality over quantity, etc.? What are the plans? You seem to be in with some of the people who are looking to grow the sport, I'd like to know what their vision is. Please explain who momma is and how they plan on making her happy, and where will this lead pool to? This sounds fascinating to me.
Now back to what I was saying earlier. Imo someone needs to get the kids to say "I can do that, I want to do that" again. There seems to be zero marketing outside of azb and it is not even directed towards generating new fans or new players. You say a reality show that appeals to a network won't work in growing pool at the same time. We'll how about a reality show that revolves around the youth of pool in heavy action? How about making superstars out of Skylar Woodward, Joey Grey, Chip Compton, Justin Bergman etc.? How about we make millions of teenage boys around the country say "that is cool, I want to do that." And how about this time, before the interest is generated, there is a plan for keep the kids involved? For example, let's say that someone were to structures a league for teenage boys and girls across the nation to get involved in and make some cash if they win. There could be weekly tournaments for the participants also every Saturday and this whole system could be professionally marketed during the commercial breaks of every exciting episode in the reality shows life. A league for teenagers as big as the b a would generate not only players but also fans. Friends, family they all start to support them. Sponsors get involved, perhaps tv coverage, etc. And to top this vision off what if in there were a professional league, that paid out some real cash, also that the players could aspire to become? Of course this is not possible immediately but instead of the owner of the armature league pocketing every dollar he could invest in pro pool so that somewhere down the road both a successful amateur league and successful pro league are both possible, respectable, and working together and it all started with a reality show about gambling as the initial hook.
This !
Now you are talking !! Something along this line would be much better than another movie. How about throwing in a pool table in a reality show like Big Brother, or The Amazing Race?? (Are they still on? I don't watch TV anymore) You could have the couples pair off on a Valley table to play some "3-ball" in order to get to the next step or something like that.
The key is exposure. Without it, pool is going nowhere FAST ! Introduction of the game to a younger generation that is ignorant of how much fun the game can be is needed. Increased participation makes the room owners happy, the promoters happy, AND the sponsors happy.
Now you are talking !! Something along this line would be much better than another movie. How about throwing in a pool table in a reality show like Big Brother, or The Amazing Race?? (Are they still on? I don't watch TV anymore) You could have the couples pair off on a Valley table to play some "3-ball" in order to get to the next step or something like that.
The key is exposure. Without it, pool is going nowhere FAST ! Introduction of the game to a younger generation that is ignorant of how much fun the game can be is needed. Increased participation makes the room owners happy, the promoters happy, AND the sponsors happy.
That would bring a little awareness but it wouldn't have the impact of what I am visioning. There is a fear of what the image of gambling would do to the sport though. This fear is irrational imo. The promoters talk about how American pool suffered because of tcom, and the hustler but I certainly don't call the impact both had a pool suffering. It was the promotion of years later that has been killing it. The boring keep it safe promoting. I'm not saying we have to go crazy here but how about a little excitement?
Promoters also have recently used the Mosconi Cup results as evidence that pool players should view the sport as Thorsten or Ralf do. They say Americans view it as a thing to gamble on and that is ruining the sport and the players. BS, just look at how the Filipenos view the game, how good their players are, and how popular the game is in that country. The same results could happen in America if the sport were promoted right and I don't believe that promoting it as a high class, clean, wholesome sport is the way to go. The game needs a little edge to it imo. Just a little edge though, enough to make the game exciting and be presented in a way that has an impact.
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Oh, I see what you mean. Yeah that would be good too.