What is your TV game you want to see
- Thread starter fast larry
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pooltablemech
Banned
Anybody remember when they use to show Steve Davis beating everybody on the 12 foot snooker table! I use to love watching those matches.
VitalSigns81
Registered
I agree that nine-ball has a virtual monopoly on Tv pool (with the exception of the trick shot shows). It's a game of high skill (despite the luck factor, mostly due to the fact that you can sink the nine and win the game without going through the whole rack, IMO.). And it sure isn't going to disappear anytime soon. But it's just not the only game.
Having another 8-Ball Tournament would be a great way to freshen up the TV scene. Even Banks would attract people (they could show matches from Derby City). As much as I love Straight Pool, though, it would be awkward for TV, I admit...tough to fit into a neat time frame without subtracting from its full effect. The only way it would make TV, perhaps, would be part of an all-around competition.
I just get a little blah at seeing the same old nine-ball match, taped several months ago, all edited and dolled up (it does the game of 9-ball a disservice, in a way). the variety would definitely help.
~Matt
Having another 8-Ball Tournament would be a great way to freshen up the TV scene. Even Banks would attract people (they could show matches from Derby City). As much as I love Straight Pool, though, it would be awkward for TV, I admit...tough to fit into a neat time frame without subtracting from its full effect. The only way it would make TV, perhaps, would be part of an all-around competition.
I just get a little blah at seeing the same old nine-ball match, taped several months ago, all edited and dolled up (it does the game of 9-ball a disservice, in a way). the variety would definitely help.
~Matt
fast larry
Banned
pooltablemech said:
I do not have to remember, I have many of them on tape, I learned so much from him. When it comes to being a grand potter of the ball, few were ever greater ball strikers than Steve Davis. What a super star.
fast larry
Banned
pooltablemech said:
ESPN DID NOT MAKE THIS FORMAT UP, Paul Gerni did, some day I will tell you the entire story.
pooltablemech
Banned
First time I saw Mike Masse and his show I was impressed! He amazed me when he put a ball on the end rail just far enough off the rail for a ball to go by it! Right in the center of the rail........then he went to the other end and said he was going to spin a ball down there with his hand and make it curve behind that ball and go in the corner!
I said to my self " Bull S**T! " lol!
He missed it the first time..........but on the second try he did it! Then he did a few more times! It was a site!
I said to my self " Bull S**T! " lol!
He missed it the first time..........but on the second try he did it! Then he did a few more times! It was a site!
I dont think you can gear a sport for peoples interest with out educating them. People have to learn and understand the game and it has to tie with our cultural affinity. Look at snooker in the UK and Soccer in Latin America and Asia. The fans there have had to understand the intricacies of the game, which Americans still might find boring, but it still is tied to its national identity. In the "Hustler" they played straight pool. But why do Americans find that film so popular and the game so exciting. The gamble. The "action". The heart of warriors at battle. Wether it be 14.1, 9 ball, 8 ball etc. I think these are the things that must be included, must be a part of it. The ring game made it clear to me. It is the American spirit of the individual overcoming odds stacked against him.
Olympic Games
The most successful sports such as NFL, NBA, Golf and Tennis have done so well mostly because they were not a part of the Olympic Games. I tend to think that cue sports entering the Olympic Games would probably do more harm than good to the sport. What has it done for handball, cross-country skiing, Equestrian, sailing, volleyball etc etc.
Sports whose primary event is the Olympics are ruled by International bureacratic bodies that usually have little knowledge of turning the game into a business. In fact the Olympic motto is the opposite. It is a kind of socialistic egalitarian fantasy. It would grant a near monopoly over the game by the Worrl Confederation of Billiard Sports (WCBS).
Also, coverage of the events at an Olympics would be very small most likely and the production would be much lower quality than what is currently seen. Olympics dilutes the events because there are so many to see at once.
9-Ball
9-Ball can be a little repetitive and short on 'big shots'. With bad position players usually go into safety mode. Still, it is a relatively fast game and quite easy to understand. It's fun to play for good potters. I think it has a good market if produced well.
8-Ball
8-Ball has great potential because the game has many strengths and it is so popular among players. Once a player starts an out, it is dangerous to revert back to safety, so many aggressive outs are attempted. These make great highlights. Most events should be edited for such highlights so as to make the players appear to have amazing abilities.
But there is a place for showing entire matches, even if that means showing some longer tactical matches. The greatest TV ratings in snooker have come from very long matches in the closing stages of the World Championships. These big event climaxes are great for live coverage so long as the audience has some familiarity with the players and the game.
Ring Game
This is a great concept. Even has an opportunity to devoped into a tournament format. eg. 3 or 4 players in a group playing 30 frames with the winner being the one with the most wins. Once his win record cannot be passed, he is declared the winner and moves into the next round.
The great advantage in having more than 2 players in this format is that it encourages great shotmaking attempts. The highlights of any match are certain to include a handful of great shots that would likely never be attempted in a 9-Ball game. This makes for fantastic highlights and 30 second promos!
The 10-ball format could be exchanged for the 9-ball format making it more likely for a single player to run 8 racks and come from behind for a classic win. Both could be tried.
The winner takes all version is also fun, but very much a game of luck in the closing stages.
Trick Shots
These events could definitely be done better. Most of the shots on ESPN are too easy. Needs more amazing and creative shots, better production and commentary. World record attempts. It can certainly be great for promos.
Editing of highlights from a longer more testing event should improve the attractiveness of the game as a competitive sport. As knowledge of the game grows, big events could be shown live for longer time periods so long as the production and event format is polished and fluent.
Snooker
There is much to learn from Snooker, but the WPBSA has had many problems in recent years. Part of the problem has been that the organization is democratic, unlike Barry Hearn's Matchroom which produces the Matchroom Snooker League, the Mosconi Cup and several other good events.
The players tend to vote in their own immediate interest, and few of them have much idea of what it takes to make the sport more profitable. Lots of infighting is the result, and lots of missed opportunities for Snooker which is the no.2 most broadcast sport in the UK. The are now represented by World Snooker which brought in LG as a tour sponsor, but failed to find as many sponsors as they had intended. A court case is underway between the WPBSA and World Snooker. One of several expensive court cases the WPBSA has had in the past few years.
All that said, their are great opportunities for the sport, but it requires appropriate administration that understands marketing.
Colin
www.hamcorp.com
The most successful sports such as NFL, NBA, Golf and Tennis have done so well mostly because they were not a part of the Olympic Games. I tend to think that cue sports entering the Olympic Games would probably do more harm than good to the sport. What has it done for handball, cross-country skiing, Equestrian, sailing, volleyball etc etc.
Sports whose primary event is the Olympics are ruled by International bureacratic bodies that usually have little knowledge of turning the game into a business. In fact the Olympic motto is the opposite. It is a kind of socialistic egalitarian fantasy. It would grant a near monopoly over the game by the Worrl Confederation of Billiard Sports (WCBS).
Also, coverage of the events at an Olympics would be very small most likely and the production would be much lower quality than what is currently seen. Olympics dilutes the events because there are so many to see at once.
9-Ball
9-Ball can be a little repetitive and short on 'big shots'. With bad position players usually go into safety mode. Still, it is a relatively fast game and quite easy to understand. It's fun to play for good potters. I think it has a good market if produced well.
8-Ball
8-Ball has great potential because the game has many strengths and it is so popular among players. Once a player starts an out, it is dangerous to revert back to safety, so many aggressive outs are attempted. These make great highlights. Most events should be edited for such highlights so as to make the players appear to have amazing abilities.
But there is a place for showing entire matches, even if that means showing some longer tactical matches. The greatest TV ratings in snooker have come from very long matches in the closing stages of the World Championships. These big event climaxes are great for live coverage so long as the audience has some familiarity with the players and the game.
Ring Game
This is a great concept. Even has an opportunity to devoped into a tournament format. eg. 3 or 4 players in a group playing 30 frames with the winner being the one with the most wins. Once his win record cannot be passed, he is declared the winner and moves into the next round.
The great advantage in having more than 2 players in this format is that it encourages great shotmaking attempts. The highlights of any match are certain to include a handful of great shots that would likely never be attempted in a 9-Ball game. This makes for fantastic highlights and 30 second promos!
The 10-ball format could be exchanged for the 9-ball format making it more likely for a single player to run 8 racks and come from behind for a classic win. Both could be tried.
The winner takes all version is also fun, but very much a game of luck in the closing stages.
Trick Shots
These events could definitely be done better. Most of the shots on ESPN are too easy. Needs more amazing and creative shots, better production and commentary. World record attempts. It can certainly be great for promos.
Editing of highlights from a longer more testing event should improve the attractiveness of the game as a competitive sport. As knowledge of the game grows, big events could be shown live for longer time periods so long as the production and event format is polished and fluent.
Snooker
There is much to learn from Snooker, but the WPBSA has had many problems in recent years. Part of the problem has been that the organization is democratic, unlike Barry Hearn's Matchroom which produces the Matchroom Snooker League, the Mosconi Cup and several other good events.
The players tend to vote in their own immediate interest, and few of them have much idea of what it takes to make the sport more profitable. Lots of infighting is the result, and lots of missed opportunities for Snooker which is the no.2 most broadcast sport in the UK. The are now represented by World Snooker which brought in LG as a tour sponsor, but failed to find as many sponsors as they had intended. A court case is underway between the WPBSA and World Snooker. One of several expensive court cases the WPBSA has had in the past few years.
All that said, their are great opportunities for the sport, but it requires appropriate administration that understands marketing.
Colin
www.hamcorp.com
If you want the popularity of cue sports to take off, you need a good promoter. Get people excited about the game again, the way Fats did in the 60s.
Best thing to happen to pool since then was The Color of Money. After that movie, everyone suddenly wanted to be Vincent.
Seems the only people they're selling pool to these days are already pool players.
Schedule exhibitions at high schools. Get the pros out in the small pool halls at 9:00 on a Friday night (when there isn't a major tournament). Put 'em on Oprah & Montel (get more ladies involved). Let em know who Sarah Rousey and Kim Shaw are.
Get Vince McMahon or whoever did the world Texas hold 'em tournament to promote it.
Then it won't matter much what cue sport they are playing.
Best thing to happen to pool since then was The Color of Money. After that movie, everyone suddenly wanted to be Vincent.
Seems the only people they're selling pool to these days are already pool players.
Schedule exhibitions at high schools. Get the pros out in the small pool halls at 9:00 on a Friday night (when there isn't a major tournament). Put 'em on Oprah & Montel (get more ladies involved). Let em know who Sarah Rousey and Kim Shaw are.
Get Vince McMahon or whoever did the world Texas hold 'em tournament to promote it.
Then it won't matter much what cue sport they are playing.
Remember the TV show called "Pot Black"? From the UK, it was about snooker, but had interviews, etc. Very well done IMO. I couldn't wait to see it every week. Steve Davis, Jimmy White and the rest of the snooker guys were not only entertaining but halarious when they wanted to be. Something like that would be a good idea here.
fast larry
Banned
Top Spin said:Remember the TV show called "Pot Black"? From the UK, it was about snooker, but had interviews, etc. Very well done IMO. I couldn't wait to see it every week. Steve Davis, Jimmy White and the rest of the snooker guys were not only entertaining but halarious when they wanted to be. Something like that would be a good idea here.
Bob Byrne gave me years of the footage, from the first one to the end. What I learned from them was in valuable to me and to my teachings. I began teaching all sorts of snooker things to my pool students.
fast larry
Banned
bruin70 said:
No, I came up and grew up on 5x10's with 4 l/2" pockets. 9 ball is a lousy game on such a table, makes it too damn hard I don't care who you are.
14.1 played correctly is like snooker on a 6x12, if you keep all the balls on one half of the table size is not a problem, actually the bigger table then becomes a benefit. That plan does not always hold true and balls do go up table and you face some long shots that are missed.
The high run on the 10' table was Crane, 1939, 309 balls. Willie later set the record for 365 and that held until the 10' tables went away. Willies 526 was on a 8' table with bucket 5 l/2' pockets, Eufemia's 625 was on a 9' table, the greatest run of all time.
Straight should be on a 9' table, nobody can handle a ten footer today, it would be ugly to watch.
When I was a kid I remember seeing on TV some kind of "all-around" championship. It was Straight Pool, snooker and I think 8-ball. I remember the finals were Steve Mizerak and, I think, Stephen Hendry (the very young, at the time, snooker player)
It was all cut-up into a high-light kinda thing, but I would love to see something like that with today's players. Maybe some wacky match-ups; Efren vs. Archer at 3-cushion, or Fisher vs. Strickland at snooker. It was different anyway....
It was all cut-up into a high-light kinda thing, but I would love to see something like that with today's players. Maybe some wacky match-ups; Efren vs. Archer at 3-cushion, or Fisher vs. Strickland at snooker. It was different anyway....
Eight ball is my choice. Almost everybody knows the rules (except ball-in-hand and jump shots), it's what's played in 90% of bars, and it would help bring more ladies into the sport.
I like ten ball on tight pockets instead of nine ball with Sardo,buckets,etc... .
Not enough people play or understand the game of three cushion billiards, but this game show up excellent on tv and is a lot more interesting than ESPN 7-Ball.
I like ten ball on tight pockets instead of nine ball with Sardo,buckets,etc... .
Not enough people play or understand the game of three cushion billiards, but this game show up excellent on tv and is a lot more interesting than ESPN 7-Ball.
VitalSigns81
Registered
Indianaguy said:
The scary thing is, it might even be far worse...read this little piece of humor:
http://www.jimloy.com/billiard/future.htm
~Matt
What I'd like to see ?
-Old Mosconi, Greenleaf, Crane tapes digitally enhanced and remastered. Preferrably 14.1
-straight pool, any match goes
-10-ball, makes running multiple racks very hard
-one-pocket, a must ! I don't care how long one match takes !
-series in "greatest matches/battles of all time". For instance 95 Sands Open Reyes vs. Strickland. What a shot from Reyes at 12-12 !!!
-series in "greatest shots of all time".
-trickshots, and with this I mean artistic billiards. Predetermined shots for every player. Jumps, masses, extreme draws & follows etc.
sigh...
-Old Mosconi, Greenleaf, Crane tapes digitally enhanced and remastered. Preferrably 14.1
-straight pool, any match goes
-10-ball, makes running multiple racks very hard
-one-pocket, a must ! I don't care how long one match takes !
-series in "greatest matches/battles of all time". For instance 95 Sands Open Reyes vs. Strickland. What a shot from Reyes at 12-12 !!!
-series in "greatest shots of all time".
-trickshots, and with this I mean artistic billiards. Predetermined shots for every player. Jumps, masses, extreme draws & follows etc.
sigh...