rlw said:
i know what you mean, i feel like a psycho taking my cues to the bathroom with me.
What is wrong with pool having a seedy image?
- Thread starter Rasta
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i know what you mean, i feel like a psycho taking my cues to the bathroom with me.
Maybe the image/seediness of pool has nothing to do with it's lack of sponsors in America. Maybe it's just not popular enough. You hear about action in Asia, plenty... just look at how much gambling there is in the Philippines, and at the Yang/Orcullo match-up. Remember Jay Helfert's posts during the WPC about every big gun matching up? It's got just as seedy an image over there.
I think America just doesn't like pool enough to watch and spend money on it anymore.
I think America just doesn't like pool enough to watch and spend money on it anymore.
StevenPWaldon said:
Good point! Other sports may also have a seedy side, but they still get much more attention then pool. Boxing, baseball, and football all have seedy things that go on, but people still seem to be interested in them. Pool will never be looked at the same as tennis and golf. I think the seedy side is what draws alot of people's interest. That may be wrong, but it seems that there is more interest in a gambling match then most tournament matches. Sponsors are looking to make money, and if pool doesn't get the attention of the general public, it would be a gamble to put a bunch of money in it.
This pretty much sums it up. Its hard to love a sport you have to follow by clicking the "brackets" on the AZB site.Andrew Manning said:
I want to see these guys play!
I think gambling outdraws tournament play for one reason only. The prize is often larger and the larger the potential win or loss the more interest that is drawn.
Clean up the publics image of the game and raise payouts to a point that it is more important to win at tournaments and the players and spectators would both soon lose interest in gambling. JMHO
Fleece3 said:
Well the image of pool that I represented is something out of the 50's sort of, if you want to include Sinatra in the mix, well I've never heard Sinatra in a pool room, but I'd rather hear that than Ludacris of Fiddy Cent...
As for my daughter hanging in a pool room, if she's there for the pool, no problem. See I have faith that I've raised my children handle themselves in less than savory situations. They know how to say no, and they are smart enough to know better. They are young, but they aren't gullible. They'll make the mistakes that I've tried to teach them not to make, because some of lifes hardest lessons can't be taught. In short they are autonomous people that I don't feel the need to worry about when I can't see them. I wouldn't have any problem with my boys going into that situation either.
Also if you read my post I included in it obvious stereotypes of people you might see in a pool hall instead of "out in the light making an honest living" (I thought that was pretty transparent)....
Pool it ain't your Grandpa's game anymore....
McCue Banger McCue
S
Scottster
Guest
Nothings wrong with the current image of pool...
Lets all get our needles, razor blades, and bongs so we can shoot up, cut up or smoke up, then try to find some sucker to hustle so we can raise some money to do it all over again.
Yeah, there is nothing wrong with this image. This image is easily marketed to CA.
If this is the image that the majority of the AZ community wants to support I will be done posting here. If this is the case there is no chance for pool to ever get the credibility the game deserves.
Lets all get our needles, razor blades, and bongs so we can shoot up, cut up or smoke up, then try to find some sucker to hustle so we can raise some money to do it all over again.
Yeah, there is nothing wrong with this image. This image is easily marketed to CA.
If this is the image that the majority of the AZ community wants to support I will be done posting here. If this is the case there is no chance for pool to ever get the credibility the game deserves.
Scottster said:
I don't know where you're playing pool or where you got that impression of it, but unless we're talking about shooting pool in Amsterdam, I don't see those stereotypes where I play. I don't think pool players have any more propencity to do the things you've listed than say pro basketball players do.
My image posted earlier in the thread is the view of pool I had as a young boy when my grandfather took me to a pool room. I was only 8 or 9, wasn't permitted to pick up a cue, but the image of what I saw remains with me. None of these guys were drunk (that I could tell), and I don't recall hearing foul language, or seeing any money change hands (not that I was paying attention). All I did was embelish it a bit. The first memory of pool aside from that was Fats barking at Mosconi during a televised event in the 70's (Wide World of Sports???). I also didn't talk about anyone cheating or lying in my "image of pool".
McCue Banger McCue
I've been around pool and golf for a long time and I've seen a lot more money exchange hands in golf than I ever have in pool. I know guys that regularly play for $500 a hole, $20 skins, $20 putts (for you golfers out there they shoot in the upper 90's ... I know). They play pool better than they golf and still don't gamble that kind of money in pool.
S
Scottster
Guest
DelaWho??? said:
That is your image of pool. What I posted is Corporate America's image of pool, definately not my image of pool.
From what you posted actually means there may be hope since you were (I guess) unaware of such an image. Fortunate for you.
iamgoingto
Registered
i think of it this way. they do show pool on espn 2 every so often and im sure that if more people watched it when it was on it would be shown more. Poker was not shown much at all, but the stations realized how many viewers watched, so now it is on all times. who cares if pool has a "seedy" image. I honestly can tell you the kids (mostly my age) that say how much they love poker and really dont know anything about the game annoy me (i started playing poker before "moneymaker"). If your looking for easy money than you want it to go mainstream (i love playing the poker players just following the trend), but if you just want to play the game with less idiots, you dont.
Rasta said:
When was the last time you saw a drive-in theater or a roller rink? They are getting scarcer than hen's teeth due to loss of popularity.
There is only one reason I, an average player, care about pools popularity...
More popularity means more rooms, means more good rooms. If the number of players diminishes sufficiently, rooms will all but disappear and the only place you'll see a 9 foot table will be private homes and an occassional rec hall in a retirement community.
GADawg said:
That's what I'm talkin' about! Excellent post.
Love of the game, who would have thunk it? Sacrilege, don't you know it's all about gambling
, any game will do.
catscradle said:
I didn't realize there was a shortage of roller rinks. They are still around, as far as I can tell.
Drive-ins went out when the sound effects and sound quality became an integral part of the movie, which, incidentally, helped increase the popularity of home theatre systems.
It is easier to install a pool table in the home than it is a big screen in the driveway or a roller rink in the basement.
Good Rolls,
Rasta
rlw said:
Some of the most trustworthy people I've known in life have been thugs and drug dealers. I can even include a couple murderers in that group. I would much rather be associated with these folks than some many "respectable" corporate / white collar types. A book's cover is often misleading.
Good Rolls,
Rasta
it doesn't really matter
It doesn't really matter if pro players "deserve" more money or not. Many in the US are complaining about the comparative poor play of our pro's. If they could make a living competing at pool without spending a major portion of their time either hustling or trying to make a living away from the pool table I have to think that the quality of their play would be better.
If you want talented people playing pool instead of pursuing other areas that pay better, then they have to be able to earn a decent income playing pool too.
Hu
Rasta said:
It doesn't really matter if pro players "deserve" more money or not. Many in the US are complaining about the comparative poor play of our pro's. If they could make a living competing at pool without spending a major portion of their time either hustling or trying to make a living away from the pool table I have to think that the quality of their play would be better.
If you want talented people playing pool instead of pursuing other areas that pay better, then they have to be able to earn a decent income playing pool too.
Hu
ShootingArts said:
I would like to see players playing for the love of the game, not for prize money, be it from tournament wins or gambling. If money is the only motivation to play, then that person should seek other avenues of income.
I have a lot more respect for someone who is willing to put in a sixteen hour session for free, never gambling a cent or playing for any prize money, than I have for a great player that won't bother playing at all unless there is the potential to make money. The first player loves pool, while the second player loves money.
That's not to say that it's wrong to play pool for money, but rather that money should not be the driving force behind playing pool.
Good Rolls,
Rasta