Mixed feelings on Seeding Tournaments. If a tournament is slated for Television, then yes, seed the tourney. Why? Well, what we need the most is to appeal to the audience with NAME RECOGNITION. Face it, serious poolplayers don't really care who is playing as long as it's a good match. We bi#Ch about the production companies cutting the matches short because we want to see every shot of the match, but the generally recreational poolplaying public wants to see names they recognize... Allison, Karen, the Black Widow, Earl, Johnny, Efren, etc. They don't want to see Joe Blow that had a good run and made it to the final 12 or so. Name recognition gets audiences, PERIOD. So, for tournaments slated for TV, while I don't generally like Seeding, I completely understand it.
Now, if the tournament is not being filmed and produced for TV, then NO WAY. Let the draw fall by pure chance and maybe a guy who's just getting the rolls that day makes it to the finals or semi's. Wish all tournaments could be that way. Unfortunately, when a production company is spending a fortune getting something "ready for TV", then they have to consider the names that will most likely be in the finals and hope they're names that the recreational poolplaying public will recognize.
later,
Bob