jjinfla said:
I disagree with both of these points. Even before the non-payment, a lot of things didn't look good. There was a lot of controversy from the very beginning, and the "naysayers" were naysaying long before the non-payment. Even non-naysayers were generally cautiously optimistic at best, on one hand the cash was great, on the other hand something didn't feel right.
In fact, except for the huge sums of money KT was putting in, there wasn't all that much else that looked great about the IPT. Of course, the money goes a long way, and the tournaments were first-class and the purses were big, and that was great. On the other hand, the way he snubbed his nose at the pool world, the fact the he chose to be one of the announcers of TV broadcasts, the fact that he didn't seem to know that much about the game of pool or it's history, and his general arrogance were there from the beginning. There were a lot of issues, and they were debated to no end on this board.
But the big thing going for the IPT was the sheer volume of cash he was putting in. I think that someone more competent and knowledgeable and honest could have done wonders with the financial resources he put in. And, I continue to believe that pool can thrive.
I'm not saying money's not important for something like this, it obviously is. I just object to the idea that the IPT is some sort of "test case" that proves that even with big money invested pool can't succeed. I tend to agree with Blackjack that pool needs to grow from within, cultivate "real fans" and get industry backing, and then look to a larger audience only after there is already a marketable product in the form of a major league national pool tour. That is, make a great pool tour and then televise it, rather than making a TV production first and a pool tour second, as KT has approached it.
