whats wrong with pool yada yada etc

[greyghost]

C'mon Greyghost, it's not the nits....I play golf with guys who only play golfballs they find, bring snacks in their golfbags from home, only drink the free water from the jugs on the course, and immediately head elsewhere after the round for cheaper pitchers than what can be had at the course. BTW, they are also the first to complain about any condition flaws, maintenance faux pas, poor service, etc. What I mean is, there are nits in all walks of life....lol

Jeez i didn't even know....all i do is work offshore and shoot pool...i didn't know the nits spread like lice and took over the whole known world.

Those golfers sound like some of the idoits that i know that will drive an extra 5miles to save 3cents a gallon on gasoline.

When did money b/c so important that being a cheap skate became the norm?

 

[john schmidt]

hi

Want to make pool exciting again? Go back to playing roll out in 9 ball and 10 ball. It gets old to watch people duck with semi-tough shots or worse yet get out of line when they shouldn't only to duck and play safe and turn a chump into a champion.

I recommend a modified roll out game. You can roll out anytime but the person taking the shot after the roll out must make the ball (opponent gets ball in hand if they miss). That would bring back great shot making and the thrill of possibly missing. Todays game is to play safe when confronted with a tough shot. This would also take away alot of the rolls of the game.

good idea ,id play that way. you normally give me a hard time but im in good mood cause i got new dirtbike today.

just kidding a little, i think you make a good point.

 

[zy112]

I understand the point your trying to make but disagree with you comparison. Come February, Lucas Oil Stadium (Colts Home) will be half full to watch the Motor Cross Event, thats 30,000 people paying at least 30 bucks.

With that aside, and this is just my opinion, but most anyone can understand the purpose of a race and all the action that entails with it whereas pool IMO can be different for the average person flipping through the channels wondering why this guy is picking up the cue ball placing it where he wants.

Don't get me wrong, I love our sport. My family however, has no clue why I would be attracted to the game. But they are you average people that "get" other sports. So I guess if I have a conclusion I think you are partially right but there are so many other variables contributing to this ie peoples personal interest, sponsorships ect... Again, just my opinion

 

[justnum]

The first time I signed up for a billiards league I thought there were age divisions like most other sports. At the billiard club I played in there weren't any age divisions, I had just turned 21. It was awkward at first. I felt like I could be the age of my opponents grandchildren. After a few seasons of that I decided pool was an old person sport. After that experience I am much gentler with my older coworkers when sharing opposing points of view. I might sign up to play again if I am 40. I look back on the experience as if I was a volunteer in an outpatient retirement home.

 

[trustyrusty]

Jeez i didn't even know....all i do is work offshore and shoot pool...i didn't know the nits spread like lice and took over the whole known world.

Those golfers sound like some of the idoits that i know that will drive an extra 5miles to save 3cents a gallon on gasoline.

When did money b/c so important that being a cheap skate became the norm?

.....I didn't even mention that they have free popcorn with those cheap pitchers, and head over to Sam's Club for SAMPLES for lunch! LOL Yeah, I play with a buncha retired nits...

 

[Deadon]

Hi John;

Actually, while not the same as some sports, one can spend plenty of money on it. Many people put tables in their homes. There is plenty of attire for pool players. Also we pay by the hour, usually close to 10 bucks. I play about 150 dollars in time a week and spend another 100 or so on food/drinks etc.. Many others do the same.

Every sport depends on how seriously you take it. You could have a cheapo 400 dollar dirt bike and just have fun, and only pay for gas. Or you could race cars, and not bikes, that could be 100K plus.

I can take a cheap set of golf clubs and a couple dozen balls and only pay small green fees on the local public course. I can bowl for next to nothing. Tennis also, just a racket. It all depends on how far you want to go. I can spend 3K at DCC real easy.

Mike

 

[justnum]

There nothing wrong with pool its people that are the problem.

 

[greyghost]

john i don't know if your tight with any moto XC people but why not try getting a tournament set up at some big XC venue? or doing exhibitions or something?

running 400 balls with some bikes FLYING past would be insane....you might get hooked by a falling bike

 

[TWOFORPOOL]

good idea ,id play that way. you normally give me a hard time but im in good mood cause i got new dirtbike today.

just kidding a little, i think you make a good point.

I don't mean to give you a hard time I just disagree with you alot!!! LOL

Good to see you giving exhibtions. I hope you make to to Portland, OR or Seattle, WA I would like to meet you someday. I would also like to pay for a lesson from you.

 

["CaliRed".]

John,

someone's making some money from pool, because there are a lot people on here that have 10 or more high priced cues, everyone has more than 1 case that made out of the hide of a albania waffle mouse's underbelly, they got 9 ball keychains, 34 different kinds of cuetip tappers and shapers, they got t-shirts, custom pool balls, 9 ball and 14.1 and 10 ball racks, they got custom pool tables where they hired some snake guy to travel thousands of miles to set it up......etc....

What they REALLY need is more rock star personalities like the Who or Jimi to destroy their equipment after their performance.

Picture Mika after the US Open.. he sinks the last ball and goes on a terror... breaking his cue into 28 pieces, jumping up and down on his $3000.00 case, flinging his gear into the crowd and finishing up with some lighter fluid on the break and jump cues.

Now THAT will bring in some sponsers and money!:grin:

 

[jimmyg]

no problem ,i feel ya. i just felt like throwing my thoughts around a little.

I know where you're trying to get to....but the road just doesn't go there.

Everything has a price entry point, pool's is quite low compared to grand prix racing or collecting Picasso art, but high compared to playing catch with a frisbee or fishing off a pier. Even tennis can be played cheaply at well kept public courts.

Making all cues cost $1,000.00 would probably kill the sport just as making every baseball bat cost $500.00 would do for sand lot baseball.

With the exception of owning your own quality table, pool has always been a low cost sport to play, and that has always been one of it's attractions. Aside from the effect of inflation, increases in the cost of participation usually reflect advances in equiptment, improved playing facilities, popularity, and supply demand influences. Simply raising prices in order to get paid more rarely works, usually backfires.

Picking jobs is the same, if you want to make $250,000.00 a year, you usually don't take up being a kindergarden teacher, or a UPS driver.

But doing something that you love for a living usually makes up for making less money.....in spades. IMO.

Jim

 

[mnorwood]

Jeez i didn't even know....all i do is work offshore and shoot pool...i didn't know the nits spread like lice and took over the whole known world.

Those golfers sound like some of the idoits that i know that will drive an extra 5miles to save 3cents a gallon on gasoline.

When did money b/c so important that being a cheap skate became the norm?

Funny story keeb, I know a golfer who was arrested for sneaking in to the NSU golf course to get all the balls and clubs out of the ponds around the course. When they cuffed him he had 6 clubs and 2 giant trash bags full of balls.

I also know a guy who built a street hobby stock race car motor and all for 3000 dollars and won 8 feature races in one season with it. The guy is a redneck Leonardo Divenci that lives and races on nothing. He's definitely the exception and not the rule in racing.

Cheap people are everywhere and I am probably the cheapest nit of all time. I will go in to the nit hall of fame and my bust will be next to Ebenezer Scrooge. LOL.:grin:

 

[Nick B]

Auto-anything and pool is a poor comparison. You put me in a F1/Indy/Nascar of today and Michael Schumacher in a Circa 99 and I wipe the track with him. Carbon-fiber, wind tunnels and telemetry cost $.

With a house cue and and 25cent tip I can probably play 97% of my full speed in 10 min. $ = performance in Auto-anything.

I recently bought a new mountain bike for $900. I have not ridden in 20 years. Suspension, stiff and light. Gives my old bike the 5 and the breaks. Beside it was a bike for 4K. I asked the kid helping me what the difference was. 1" of suspension travel and 1.2 pounds. The 9K model would shave another 1/2 llb off.

 

[Ky Boy]

There nothing wrong with pool its people that are the problem.

BINGO!!!!!!! Here is the problem....players and spectators of this sport are cheap in lots of ways. Most here think nothing of paying $$$$ for a new cue and then complain because it is $100 to get in the tourney.

The only way pool is going to pay more to the players is to up the entry fees. There are many pro players in pool who can't and wont make enough money to live on each and every year. But yet they insist on staying on the tournament trail trying to cover the nut and win a big tourney. That's great...I wish I could as well but I can't. If players had to pay $500 or maybe even $1000 to get in a tourney then they would feel like they have won something. Most pro level players could scrap up enough on the road between tourneys gambling, lessons, or something to cover the entry fee, or at least I would think so.

One note to JS's original post is this. Most of the large bike manufacturers produce more than just cycles. Honda produces a wide array of items much like Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, etc. They don't rely solely on bike sales to put money in the sport. They use mass marketing to bring in $ to the company as a whole.


Pool sells itself short as well. Nothing sells if it is too cheap....and that's pool!! You know, I would like to know how much Brunswick and other pool merchandise-related companies make each year. I also wonder how much they put back into the sport. Anyway, I see your point John and I hope you see mine as well.

Gary

 

[Underclocked]

Add an element of danger. The prospect of seeing someone get badly injured or killed seems to be the real crowd draw.

Maybe fragmentation 9-balls would bring the viewers. :wink:

Pool has become too sedate and passive. Let the characters be what they are in the room and during play. Let the crowds be more reactive. Put some excitement back in the game. A pool hall isn't a church whether it's at the corner room or on national television. Give the viewers something to talk about - they may not understand the skill and finesse involved in consecutive table runs nor even be impressed... but they would be impressed by someone throwing a hissy fit (McEnroe style) or cursing the crowd. Give the crowds what they want instead of boring them to tears.

 

[George]

spɹɐʍʞɔɐq puɐ uʍop ǝpısdn unɹ s,ʇı sı ןood ɥʇıʍ ɯǝןqoɹd ǝɥʇ

 

[enzo]

well this will probably start a 40 page thread but oh well.
i was talking to friend today how we need to make pool exciting etc.

thing is pool is inherently unexciting unless you play it etc.

as some of you know i now am into dirt bikes and street bikes.

i would venture to guess there are as many people who play pool as ride dirt bikes maybe way more.
i just bought a drz400e plated dirtbike today for 2200.guess what now im gonna put skid plate,aftermarket bars,oil,filter,mcct,case savers,radiator guards,antifreeze,
grips,battery tender,i could go on and on.
my point is when you love dirtbiking you go into motorcycle shop and the new ktm bikes are 9000 .
thats how the dirtbike companies can sponsor and pay the pro riders because when your a dirtbike nut like me your going to spend 3-9 thousand on one or more bikes .

if your a pool nut you can buy a cue for 95 bucks join a league and maybe once a year get a new tip.

i know i know there are many in pool who spend more than that but trust me the average motorcycle enthusiasts spend way more on average which is how the money trickes down from the bike companies to the pros.

im not saying the pool crowd is broke or cheap im just saying if you love pool you buy a predator for 500 ,if you love dirtbikes you buy a 9800 dollar ktm,then each year you spend 1000 on maintenance on the bike.

the cue will last forever and might need a tip.


trust me the pool crowd follows the game just as much as the bike crowd but the bike crowd is forced to pay more money to play the game which is how the motorcycle pros get rich.


people always say nobody watches pool its boring etc.

the same amount watch pool as dirtbike racing but the average dirtbike nut spends way way way more because he has too.


they dont sit around dirtbike racing saying . its not exciting and nobody watches.they say we just need the 100,000 that watch to go out and buy a 5000 dollar bike every 3 years .


in pool even if everybody that played pool bought a 200 dollar cue it wouldnt change much because the cue lasts 20 years. the bike lasts1- 5 years and cost 50 times as much.



i would rather watch the dirtbike pros race then watch the masters golf in person but to somebody else dirtbikes are boring.


everybody has some hobby they are in love with ,mines bikes and it costs big money to play.

if someone loves pool it costs nothing to play and thats one of the many reasons pool companies dont sponsor players.

there are many other sports that are the same like golf,every year its a new 500 dollar driver or 55 dollar box of balls that barely last18 holes.


anyway believe me if a brand new dirtbike cost 300 bucks and lasted 15 years and never needed parts honda could not and would not pay chad reed millions to wear honda clothes and ride a honda bike.

the fact is, if people liked pool players, they could use them to sell whatever they'd like: cigarettes, beer, cadillacs. sad fact is, nobody likes or maybe admires pool players-- and they also get no exposure i guess is another reason. you have to realize for a solid decade and a half, if anybody was interested in marketing their product via pool players, wll they'd have to do is a tad of research and find out about a character like say earl and they run screaming from the "opportunity" to use players to advertise.

my point, pool players have probably screwed themselves over the years.

 

[pocketpared]

Funny..just last night,,,

Just last night I emailed my friends the stats for 2009. The top cash game poker player, Patrick Antonius, averaged more money in a week than the top tournament pool player, Mika Immonen, earned in a year.

ps..invent a set of balls that play heads and shoulders above what we have today but explode after a week.

 

[HollyWood]

I'll take Michael Cochran (nowadays)skip yole timmy S.

I've never bought a hundred dollar cue since the seventy's-all the jw's were black or brown 4pts. 175. in 1976,and the top of the line was 350. Georges Blakbuska's were like 425. Paul Huebler was around Adams ,mucci, Danny Janes,Schon. If I was running a pool joint it would be straight up- I'd throw at least 1/2 of the patrons out, telling them to never return. Too many drug influenced loosers.Taking money from your pocket and, Hustling your good everyday Patrons. I'd make the Pro's clean up there acts too. All the big Pro events- drug testing- Then maybe the kids would have someone to look up to nowadays if they wanted a pool playing Hero to look up to!!!!!!! I like the Scott Lee type that teach students at the colleges. Just like willie M. he never told me I had to give up being human to play, Dallas West never did, the miz didn't put crap in my head either. I rode dirt bikes as well- but riding full throttle changes things, Trees don't move, and be prepared to bust your balls. John you should have bought that KTM dirt bike, but did you look at there ninja racer for 20,000. Dirt bike,or a horse equals a bicycle. John you are talented keep with the pool . You are definitely one of better players- except when you hustled Danny Harriman! Play Hard but be Safe- whens the next challenge match?

 

[catpool9]

What pool needs today!

Want to make pool exciting again? Go back to playing roll out in 9 ball and 10 ball. It gets old to watch people duck with semi-tough shots or worse yet get out of line when they shouldn't only to duck and play safe and turn a chump into a champion.

I recommend a modified roll out game. You can roll out anytime but the person taking the shot after the roll out must make the ball (opponent gets ball in hand if they miss). That would bring back great shot making and the thrill of possibly missing. Todays game is to play safe when confronted with a tough shot. This would also take away alot of the rolls of the game.

TWOFORPOOL, you are exactly right with your post!, why just earlier today my friend and I was saying the same thing.

With the ball in hand format today you run 5 balls n play safe, cause your sorta out of line for the next shape shot, players don't have the guts to bare on down and make the next shot , just take another method for the win, you may win the game, but it was boring as HELL to watch!

And I may add that the "alternating break" is killing the spectators side of the sport, who wants to watch a guy run a few balls for the win, then turn the table over to their opponet and watch the same crap!

I want to watch someone run 5, 8 or 10 racks in a row, now thats Exciting Pool,even watching players put two's and three's together get people talking.

Until pool goes back to "winner break" the crowd of paying spectors will continue to dwindle until everyone that does watch pool will be doing it for free on live streaming!, you can take that to the bank.

Don't get me wrong about the live streaming tho, its the best "tool' for pool that has come along ever, but other changes have to be made for it all to work for the players benefit.

Sometimes you have to take a step backwards to go forwards, like go back in time for pool, when the crowds were enormous at pool tournaments, because everyone wanted to watch the next big run!

John S., I hope your still in that good mood, because I hate to tell ya, when you crack that ass real good on that dirt bike!, your not going to be worried about pool any longer,or that bike either. I hope for your sake it doesn't happen, but I've seen alot of nasty crashes in that sport!


David Harcrow