What could we do as players, etc. to better the image of pool

[CocoboloCowboy]

Title should have said. What is it we could do as players, bar owners, room owners, league operators, tournament directors', etc. to better the image of pool.

I have said for year pools (players etc.) needs a new image for corporate America to support Pool. Like they support other sports like the Olympics, NBA, NFL, MLB, Tennis, Golf, PRCA Rodeo, NASCAR, and some of the other sports that corporate America support.

Any ideas?

I know to play in the PGA, be the the Ladies, Men's or Senior Tour you have to have a CARD. The Card is issued after successful completion of the PGA School, where Rule of the Game are learned, Dress Code is Learned, Etiquette of the Game is learn etc.

 

[Johnnyt]

Stop gambling, stop dumping and doing business in general, dress neat, don't drink, smoke or do drugs. If your not making a living playing pool get a part time job instead of borrowing and never paying back. None of this will ever happen so...forget about it. Johnnyt

 

[fruehlein]

No smoke, alcohol and drugs. Dress-code like the snookerguys and play every time honest and be a real sportsman.


It could be easy !!

 

[asbani]

Johnnyt has said it all, and I totally agree.

imho i'd love to make pool image looks better, because the way it looks in our country now isn't that good. They don't even consider it as a good sport which is heart-breaking for ppl like myself.

whenever my parents or family knew I was going to the pool hall, They automatically picture it in their brains as I am going to some club or a place to waste my time..... which is sad. I hope i can change this image. Lets hope years will change it OK.

I hope for pool to be something classy, like when you tell some randoms about Golf tournoment or Tennis Tournoment or even snooker tournoment.. even when they don't know tennis or golf, they will still consider it a game for gentelmen and money and famous. unlike the way they see pool..

 

[worriedbeef]

no smoking and drugs is the big one. smart dress but not nessecarilly snooker like.

there's nothing wrong with betting so stopping that would be doing it at the expense of our beliefs. if two players want to play a game between themselves for money then why shouldn't they?

switch to ten ball. we are talking about the image of the game here and pool just doesn't command as much respect as a game sometimes when you see our world championships with slow soft cut breaks leaving five and six easy balls to run out. it's just selling our game short a bit. and longer races too.

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

Stop gambling, stop dumping and doing business in general, dress neat, don't drink, smoke or do drugs. If your not making a living playing pool get a part time job instead of borrowing and never paying back. None of this will ever happen so...forget about it. Johnnyt

 

[steveharn]

Clean it up.

Create places where people are not afraid to send their kids. Places where competition and skill are the focal points, not "hustlin" or gambling for money. Get the smoke out, build some nice places for people to come. That's the answer.

 

[mantis99]

there's nothing wrong with betting so stopping that would be doing it at the expense of our beliefs. if two players want to play a game between themselves for money then why shouldn't they?

.

Except the fact that it is illegal in most places!!

Owners of establishments where pool is played need to enforce house rules that prohibit the type of behavior that has created the image for pool. Bars that do not want trouble, quickly throw out and ban the trouble makers. Pool owners need to do the same.

Pool players need to nehave like decent people. Don't hustle, do drugs, get uncontrollably drunk in public. I do not see that happening though. Ask people on here whether or not hustling is wrong, and many will say it is OK. Pool has flourished in places where the people who like to do those things go. Because of this, they frequent pool establishments and help create the image.

People just do not like to WATCH pool. I have mentioned before, that whenever I tell people that I like to watch a lot of pool, they look at me like I have 2 heads, and usually respond with something like, "And you don't fall asleep?". That or they say, "oh yah, I like to watch those trick shots". I simply do not believe pool is something the masses will every watch on TV.

 

[blackeee]

Except the fact that it is illegal in most places!!

Owners of establishments where pool is played need to enforce house rules that prohibit the type of behavior that has created the image for pool. Bars that do not want trouble, quickly throw out and ban the trouble makers. Pool owners need to do the same.

Pool players need to nehave like decent people. Don't hustle, do drugs, get uncontrollably drunk in public. I do not see that happening though. Ask people on here whether or not hustling is wrong, and many will say it is OK. Pool has flourished in places where the people who like to do those things go. Because of this, they frequent pool establishments and help create the image.

People just do not like to WATCH pool. I have mentioned before, that whenever I tell people that I like to watch a lot of pool, they look at me like I have 2 heads, and usually respond with something like, "And you don't fall asleep?". That or they say, "oh yah, I like to watch those trick shots". I simply do not believe pool is something the masses will every watch on TV.

I don't particularly like to watch it on TV myself. I'm a room owner and have been playing 40 years and play every day. The TV commentary and commentators are lousy and there is too much editing. Seldom do we get to see a good safety battle. Give me accu-stats every day!

 

[BPG24]

Stop gambling, stop dumping and doing business in general, dress neat, don't drink, smoke or do drugs. If your not making a living playing pool get a part time job instead of borrowing and never paying back. None of this will ever happen so...forget about it. Johnnyt

Good post JohnnyT

 

[9 on the snap]

Stop gambling, stop dumping and doing business in general, dress neat, don't drink, smoke or do drugs. If your not making a living playing pool get a part time job instead of borrowing and never paying back. None of this will ever happen so...forget about it. Johnnyt

Johnny is right, as usual. It ain't an image problem, it is what it is. Some like it some don't. It will NEVER clean up because if it did it wouldn't be pool.

 

[StevenPWaldon]

Oh come on. Snooker players smoke, drink and get wasted just like everyone else.

Look at Alex Higgins. He was always smoking with a tumbler of liquor DURING SNOOKER MATCHES! And snooker gained popularity because of him. It's not the smoking or the booze. Or even the drugs.

Snooker world champion Cliff Thorburn had a cocaine problem. Ronnie O'Sullivan isn't a saint by any stretch of the word. Americans just don't want to watch pool. It's that simple.

No smoke, alcohol and drugs. Dress-code like the snookerguys and play every time honest and be a real sportsman.


It could be easy !!

 

[9 on the snap]

Create places where people are not afraid to send their kids. Places where competition and skill are the focal points, not "hustlin" or gambling for money. Get the smoke out, build some nice places for people to come. That's the answer.

The only problem with that is that the players I know like the smokey pool halls where you can drink and gamble without having to deal with kids!

 

[s0lidz]

I had an idea a long time ago that could possibly help the image of pool, however, I don't know if it is practical or even possible.

If somebody could open up a high class pool room (don't call it a pool room or hall though), and call it a club. Very much like a Tennis club or country club. Charge a membership fee but no hourly fee. Club members could come and play whenever they wanted. Keep the equipment in pristine condition (like a country club golf course as opposed to a public course). Have a high class restaurant (not like a bar though) and a pro shop. The place would have to be smoke free as well. This might get a higher class of people involved, and more importantly, money.

It has been discussed many times already, the fact that pool is a lower class sport than tennis and golf. In tennis and golf, you have rich people spending tons of money to play. In pool, you've got broke ass players trying to scrape up their rent money at a smoky bar where the drunks hang out.

There really isn't any place for the rich higher class community to play. They consider themselves better than most other people (sorry but I'm only stating the facts) and they want their own place. I'm not a rich person, far from it in fact. But even I hate going to smoke filled bars and playing pool on crappy equipment.

 

[cuetable]

I am going to chime in this time...

"Start focusing a little more on the shots, talk a little less about money."

We need to explain the pure essence of pool better to people who don't play yet but might be interested in learning the challenge.

Ask yourself these questions:

Why do people watch sports they don't play?
How come they all understand the rules or even the strategies?
Do they really care how much a team or a player is going to win?

Title should have said. What is it we could do as players, bar owners, room owners, league operators, tournament directors', etc. to better the image of pool.

I have said for year pools (players etc.) needs a new image for corporate America to support Pool. Like they support other sports like the Olympics, NBA, NFL, MLB, Tennis, Golf, PRCA Rodeo, NASCAR, and some of the other sports that corporate America support.

Any ideas?

I know to play in the PGA, be the the Ladies, Men's or Senior Tour you have to have a CARD. The Card is issued after successful completion of the PGA School, where Rule of the Game are learned, Dress Code is Learned, Etiquette of the Game is learn etc.

 

[jamesroberts]

Stop gambling, stop dumping and doing business in general, dress neat, don't drink, smoke or do drugs. If your not making a living playing pool get a part time job instead of borrowing and never paying back. None of this will ever happen so...forget about it. Johnnyt

I dont understand why golfers can drink smoke and gamble and its perfectly ok.......i think the main problem with pool is theres no big tour to garner tv time......there are a ton of regional tours that have conflicting dates......if the ipt woulda stuck with it pool would be better off than it is now......i dont see the ladies tour having conflicting dates, it seems everyone involved with womens pool has a common goal..advancing the womens tour ...... where it seems the mens tour has a bunch of promoters that dont care where pool goes just as long as they make a buck

 

[s0lidz]

I dont understand why golfers can drink smoke and gamble and its perfectly ok.......i think the main problem with pool is theres no big tour to garner tv time......there are a ton of regional tours that have conflicting dates......if the ipt woulda stuck with it pool would be better off than it is now......i dont see the ladies tour having conflicting dates, it seems everyone involved with womens pool has a common goal..advancing the womens tour ...... where it seems the mens tour has a bunch of promoters that dont care where pool goes just as long as they make a buck

For one thing, not all golfers drink/smoke/gamble. In pool, it is perceived that every player takes part in these activities, and this perception is for the most part correct. When an average person goes to a pool hall, they get an up close look at these activities and that is all they see. In golf, you don't see this taking place because you are alone with your group on the course.

Your idea for a big tour is a good idea, but it will not happen until there is more money involved. There will not be more money involved until the people with money get involved. The people with money will not get involved until they can take part in the sport. They cannot take part in the sport when all they can do is go to a bar.

The best thing that could happen for pool in the long run, is to shut down completely. Years later it would reopen, hopefully under a completely different image. When a forest becomes wild and overgrown, a fire destroys it and it regrows into a beautiful environment. The same thing needs to happen with pool. Thats why pool halls are closing after the smoking bans. Pool grew into an activity that needs certain types of people to survive (smokers/drinkers/gamblers). If rules were put into effect to cleanse the environment, pool would lose its current business, but hopefully more rooms would open in the future and bring in new customer bases. Until this happens pool will go nowhere.

 

[jamesroberts]

For one thing, not all golfers drink/smoke/gamble. In pool, it is perceived that every player takes part in these activities, and this perception is for the most part correct. When an average person goes to a pool hall, they get an up close look at these activities and that is all they see. In golf, you don't see this taking place because you are alone with your group on the course.

Your idea for a big tour is a good idea, but it will not happen until there is more money involved. There will not be more money involved until the people with money get involved. The people with money will not get involved until they can take part in the sport. They cannot take part in the sport when all they can do is go to a bar.

The best thing that could happen for pool in the long run, is to shut down completely. Years later it would reopen, hopefully under a completely different image. When a forest becomes wild and overgrown, a fire destroys it and it regrows into a beautiful environment. The same thing needs to happen with pool. Thats why pool halls are closing after the smoking bans. Pool grew into an activity that needs certain types of people to survive (smokers/drinkers/gamblers). If rules were put into effect to cleanse the environment, pool would lose its current business, but hopefully more rooms would open in the future and bring in new customer bases. Until this happens pool will go nowhere.

well i cant really agree with everything you say....... i play pool... i dont smoke and i never drink when i play seriously and i gamble very little....so there are some unfounded stereotypes there......... after giving this some thought the main problem with pool is that there is such a disconnect with
amateur pool players.... the amateurs drive the golf industry but they do nothing for the pool industry

for example i played in atlanta for the seminole tour 10 ball tourney last week, now this was a 8k added event and it only got 48 players. at the same time they were having some kind of league there, apa i think, they must've had 200-300 league players there and maybe like 5-10 came over to watch corey and johnny and 20 other world beaters....i mean some of the best pool players in the world were 50 feet away and nobody cared....if this was a golf tourney are you kidding you couldve charged $50 to get in and it woulda sold out.............it would be nice to see the apa and the bca sponsor a tour with 4-6 tourneys a year for the pros.....give something for the amateur to shoot for

 

[bandido]

JMO and from my experience when I lived there in the USA for 12 years, reading the posts here and comparing watching the trend. Pool in the US nowis a product of your past and the solutions instituted by leaders of the industry there. The solutions, its failure and how the US Pool Community responded to the failures led to its current state. What I think, JMO, lacked was development of its future, the kids.

Myself, if I was still there, will accept what it currently is but will get a group of enthusiast friends together and donate kid size pool tables to the Boys and Girls club, schedule to devote some time with the kids and nurture a good relationship with the parents and the community leaders. Hopefully, in a few years time, there will be some progress affecting the sport.

I won't worry about the smoking issue. In a few years their (smokers) doctors will forbid them or a combination of medical and economic reason will. America is quite health concious now so it will impact the time when these B&G kids hit the pollhalls.

As for current pros and would-be pros, look outside the borders and join more international tournaments. You may learn something to contribute back home.

just my 80 centavos worth(=$.02)

 

[memikey]

.... the amateurs drive the golf industry but they do nothing for the pool industry

for example i played in atlanta for the seminole tour 10 ball tourney last week, now this was a 8k added event and it only got 48 players. at the same time they were having some kind of league there, apa i think, they must've had 200-300 league players there and maybe like 5-10 came over to watch corey and johnny and 20 other world beaters....i mean some of the best pool players in the world were 50 feet away and nobody cared....if this was a golf tourney are you kidding you couldve charged $50 to get in and it woulda sold out.............it would be nice to see the apa and the bca sponsor a tour with 4-6 tourneys a year for the pros.....give something for the amateur to shoot for

Hard to know where to start with the above!

You start by offering clear evidence of what many would already agree to be one of the main fundamental problems i.e. that not enough people, especially pool players, actually want to 'watch' pool no matter what the brilliance of the players available to be watched might be......yet in almost the same breath you appear to then make the incredible suggestion that those people who have already proved they have little interest in watching pool should dip into their pockets (via the organisations they pay fees to) in order to help fund the pros to play still more pool that an insignificant number of the members of those organisations want to watch!!!!!

I doubt if you intended your suggestion to read quite as crass as that cold devil's advocate assessment does ......but surely you can see how it can appear to some?