Keith
I watch nearly every pro match they show on TV. At the end of watching a match, sometimes I have trouble deciding who I thought won. Why would I have to decide that? Well, as soon as I see a player rush through the process and have to shoot quickly a shot that they should have spent some time on, then to me there was no winner.
In chess, very good players are known for taking very long periods of time to make a play. Thus the clock was added. In billiards, players are not known for taking long periods of time to take there shot. So why was this added. It was added for TV. Quite a few years ago "The Championship Game" as far as public opinion purposes are concerned was changed from 'Straight Pool' to '9-Ball'. 9-Ball is a great game, especially since ball in hand rules were added. This change of 'championship games' came about because of TV. Why?, because it is faster moving. I think this was a good thing. It put pool on TV and is helping developed interest in the game. 9-Ball being a faster game on its own wasn't good enough, they wanted it to move along even more quickly. So my guess is that it was the TV folks that suggested the addition of a 'shot clock'. This didn't help the game. TV editors edit out parts of every match anyway, if they need to edit out 30 extra seconds of thinking that a shooter might need now and then, they can. There are some shots or situations that require a little extra thought. Everyone knows this.
I was wondering what you think about this.
JR
I watch nearly every pro match they show on TV. At the end of watching a match, sometimes I have trouble deciding who I thought won. Why would I have to decide that? Well, as soon as I see a player rush through the process and have to shoot quickly a shot that they should have spent some time on, then to me there was no winner.
In chess, very good players are known for taking very long periods of time to make a play. Thus the clock was added. In billiards, players are not known for taking long periods of time to take there shot. So why was this added. It was added for TV. Quite a few years ago "The Championship Game" as far as public opinion purposes are concerned was changed from 'Straight Pool' to '9-Ball'. 9-Ball is a great game, especially since ball in hand rules were added. This change of 'championship games' came about because of TV. Why?, because it is faster moving. I think this was a good thing. It put pool on TV and is helping developed interest in the game. 9-Ball being a faster game on its own wasn't good enough, they wanted it to move along even more quickly. So my guess is that it was the TV folks that suggested the addition of a 'shot clock'. This didn't help the game. TV editors edit out parts of every match anyway, if they need to edit out 30 extra seconds of thinking that a shooter might need now and then, they can. There are some shots or situations that require a little extra thought. Everyone knows this.
I was wondering what you think about this.
JR
