You really can't please pool fans.
U.S. OPEN 2026, Frisco, Texas, August 25-30
- Thread starter jbart65
- Start date
It is a local thing for sure. I talked to a police officer that actually had an idea what’s going on. It was specifically that area, specifically in this case the Embassy suites and their own policy on event events with a certain amount of people and alcohol being sold. I suspect tie in with the Comerica Park, but that’s just speculation. But what I do know now that I talked to a few people is that this was specifically an embassy suites mandate based on number of people and alcohol being sold at the event.
ESPN did it for me!
Attachments
Was a bit odd hearing Emily announce on camera that maybe it’d be nice to have a Texas Open. Like was that just stream of conscious talk for expanding the US WNT without vetting her thoughts? Or a more serious threat to compete with the existing event’s identity? Or even Jeremy brokering her interest to buy out the event like they did with the US Open?
Maybe WNT buys out the name “Texas Open” and the existing event gets the Intl Open treatment and is renamed the YeeHaw Classic
Maybe WNT buys out the name “Texas Open” and the existing event gets the Intl Open treatment and is renamed the YeeHaw Classic
Screw ESPN, I had this recorded as I was going to be out for a while, of course ESPN switched it to another channel 3/4 the way through... now I had to read about how it ended here. (which I'm thankful you guys do a pretty good job covering the tournament, thanks all). This isn't the first time ESPN has done this! Why can't they put the other programming on a different channel!
I didn’t like it either but pool will always lose out to college football unfortunately. The pool hall I was at had ESPN U fortunately and a lot of us were watching on our phones on the WNTTV website.
Happy you were able to watch it all. Seems to me college football belongs on espnu.
I was disappointed too, but we should be happy that pro pool was finally on live TV again- it's been decades. Let's hope it keeps up
"Ca pu toe" is how the arena announcer intro'd him.
I heard him say "Capote" like Truman Capote
Get the vowels right. Not many trick consonants except Chinese and Korean. They can't spell.
Has pool ever been on LIVE TV in the US? I only remember matches being shown after the fact, but maybe I’m forgetting (since I’m in Canada and can’t watch). The only live mainstream TV I remember was Matchroom World Championships in early 2000s so maybe that was available in the US?
How many of these titles did Incardona win? He’s in the HOF.
Well Billy is in under Meritorious Service, not greatest players. Not that he wasn’t an excellent player in his day, but his record as a player isn’t HoF worthy.
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Chipotle? I had a burrito there last week
Yes, he did say it like that. I just listened to it again a few moments ago. Instead of saying Cah-POE-tee, the announcer said Cah-POE-tay. The emphasis on the second syllable was okay, but it was the third syllable that went off track in the announcer's "Michael Buffer" voice.
Keith was talking to somebody at the Open who said Joe Rogan played pool with his friend and others until 5 a.m. in the morning on one of the outer tables.
In one of Joe's interviews, he mentioned something that resonated with me. Though I'm sure we pool folks are aware of the problems plaguing pool going mainstream on TV, Joe hit the nail on the head. He mentioned this twice on camera. Here's a snippet of what he said in one interview.
WNT JACK: The sport itself, how far it's grown in the years, you've known the sport and you've loved to play. How important is it to see the sport grow?
JOE ROGAN: Well, it's my favorite game. So, for me, it's very personal. I've loved pool forever, and I think it's one of those things that if people played it, they would appreciate it more.
It's very difficult to get people to watch a guy just run out, and if you don't play pool at all, you go, oh, it doesn't even look like he's having a hard time. You don't understand the concentration that's involved, you get perfect position, perfect angles on each shot.
I think it needs more of this. and what Matchroom has done is pretty incredible because they've really upped the profile and made these matches like these bigger, much more professional experiences. The pay is better. There's more of the tournaments. They're really well done, and I think that goes a long way towards making pool a more—or getting the popularity that I think it deserves.
WNT JACK: Yeah, absolutely. I think you will agree here the importance of this final being on ESPN2. What do you think of that?
JOE ROGAN: It's exciting. It's great. The more exposure, the better. I think YouTube has been a giant asset for pool because there's so many videos that are available now. When I was a kid, you used to have to get Accu-Stats. Shout out to Pat Fleming. So you buy these VHS tapes, and I just have boxes of like old Buddy Hall and Nick Varner matches and Mike Sigel and all that stuff. So now the fact that it's available on your phone and the World Nineball Tour website is perfect for that as well. The fact that you can just watch videos on your phone anytime you want.
Interestingly, a friend of Keith's on-site said Joe had bodyguards with him.
Here's the Joe Rogan interview with Natalie Pike and FSR, right after FSR beat Filler. The question Natalie asked at the end made me cringe a little I'm not sure if she was trying to be nice or if she really did not know much about who Joe Rogan was. I like her, though. She's a nice addition to the WNT team.
WNT NATALIE: Joe, I know you're a huge, huge supporter of 9-ball, a big, big supporter of the sport as well. And I heard in your commentary. You were talking—you said it is one of the most underrated sports in North America. For anybody to watch that, how could they not be obsessed with this sport?
JOE ROGAN: I think the real problem with pool is you really only appreciate it if you play it. I think that's the problem. And then when you see guys who play as good as him, it almost looks easy. So it's good to have a game like this where there are some mistakes and you get a few "ooh," a few scratches and a few tense moments and a few bad safeties. And it's—you know, it is a beautiful game. It's an unforgiving game. It's a precise game. And when you watch it played beautifully, like that runout he you just did when you know it's on the line for the—you know, to get to 10 like that, it was just fantastic.
WNT NATALIE: Joe, are you sticking around? What's your plans?
JOE ROGAN: I'm here for two days.
WNT NATALIE: Amazing. Well, thank you. I hope we can get you back on the comms table because—
JOE ROGAN: Yeah, for sure. Definitely. It was fun.
WNT NATALIE: You could have a future in 9-ball commentary.
JOE ROGAN: I'm pretty busy, but every now and again, I would love to come by.
WNT NATALIE: Well, thank you. We really enjoyed your commentary.
JOE ROGAN: My pleasure. Thank you.
Here's the Joe Rogan interview with Natalie Pike and FSR, right after FSR beat Filler. The question Natalie asked at the end made me cringe a little I'm not sure if she was trying to be nice or if she really did not know much about who Joe Rogan was. I like her, though. She's a nice addition to the WNT team.
WNT NATALIE: Joe, I know you're a huge, huge supporter of 9-ball, a big, big supporter of the sport as well. And I heard in your commentary. You were talking—you said it is one of the most underrated sports in North America. For anybody to watch that, how could they not be obsessed with this sport?
JOE ROGAN: I think the real problem with pool is you really only appreciate it if you play it. I think that's the problem. And then when you see guys who play as good as him, it almost looks easy. So it's good to have a game like this where there are some mistakes and you get a few "ooh," a few scratches and a few tense moments and a few bad safeties. And it's—you know, it is a beautiful game. It's an unforgiving game. It's a precise game. And when you watch it played beautifully, like that runout he you just did when you know it's on the line for the—you know, to get to 10 like that, it was just fantastic.
WNT NATALIE: Joe, are you sticking around? What's your plans?
JOE ROGAN: I'm here for two days.
WNT NATALIE: Amazing. Well, thank you. I hope we can get you back on the comms table because—
JOE ROGAN: Yeah, for sure. Definitely. It was fun.
WNT NATALIE: You could have a future in 9-ball commentary.
JOE ROGAN: I'm pretty busy, but every now and again, I would love to come by.
WNT NATALIE: Well, thank you. We really enjoyed your commentary.
JOE ROGAN: My pleasure. Thank you.