Who Would You Vote For-Mosconi OR Fats?

WHO WOULD YOU BRING BACK TO PROMOTE OUR GAME?

  • N.Y. (Minnasota) FATS

    Votes: 32 49.2%

  • WILLIE MOSCONI

    Votes: 33 50.8%
  • Total voters
    65
OldHasBeen

OldHasBeen

Tom Ferry
To try to prove a point I have been trying to make about the future success of Pool, I am going to ask AZers to Think & Vote on who You think would be the most Famous & Entertaining player to bring back for our game.
Who do you think would be the best to promote the game and bring in the largest viewer ship from the general TV audience?


TY & GL
 
OHB.. the answer is Elementary! Fats has more name recognition than anyone on the planet when it comes to pool. Even non players say his name with awe and reverence!! Was Fats the best player..NO! Mosconi just did not get the PR Fats did.. pure and simple. :)
OldHasBeen said:
To try to prove a point I have been trying to make about the future success of Pool, I am going to ask AZers to Think & Vote on who You think would be the most Famous & Entertaining player to bring back for our game.
Who do you think would be the best to promote the game and bring in the largest viewer ship from the general TV audience?


TY & GL
Click to expand...
 
OHB - the answer is elementary, it would be Willie. Even the uninitiated appreciate dominant talents (dynasties always attract fans, some to love them, some to root for the underdog).

Fats was not a promoter of the game, he was a promoter of Fats. He was a big blowhard, and only mildly entertaining, with zero credibility.
 
cut shot said:
OHB.. the answer is Elementary! Fats has more name recognition than anyone on the planet when it comes to pool. Even non players say his name with awe and reverence!! Was Fats the best player..NO! Mosconi just did not get the PR Fats did.. pure and simple. :)
Click to expand...

Wouldn't that be more properly stated as:

"... ONLY non-players say his name with awe and reverence!!"
 
I voted for Willie, but frankly don't think either would make a difference. Pool just isn't a great specatator sport. People don't get interested in pool because they watch great players, they watch great players because they're interested in pool.
All the recreational sports have lost great numbers of participants including the king of recreational sports bowling. Yeah golf has grown and tennis seems to be holding it's own, but they are the exceptions.
 
I agree with Cats that neither would help much...but I vote for Fats....I would rather watch him play.
 
catscradle said:
Pool just isn't a great specatator sport. People don't get interested in pool because they watch great players, they watch great players because they're interested in pool.
Click to expand...

I agree whole heartedly. Without knowing and playing the game, it's about as entertaining as skeet shooting. Even knowing the game, 9-ball is boring to watch. I do wish they'd go to something more difficult, like 15-ball rotation or one pocket. I'm more interested in seeing more safety plays than a 6/7 ball run out after the break. This is probably the wrong audience to ask the question.

Even tennis with all it's glitz and glamour is on a decline from it's peak. Tennis has sex appeal from it's fit and attractive players, glitz from all the "class" associated with it, and yet it's on a decline. My guess would be because there are no great rivalries anymore, and it's socially irrelevant. A single player alone won't make much of a difference.
 
While we are just wishing, the mouth of the Fat one and the game of Mosconi would be pool’s answer to Muhammad Ali add the looks of Jeanette Lee and that’s entertainment!!
 
Willie.. I agree but, non players can bring up Fats name PDQ. Can I remove your tonsils without anesthetic? Heh Heh.. :eek: :eek: :eek:
Williebetmore said:
OHB - the answer is elementary, it would be Willie. Even the uninitiated appreciate dominant talents (dynasties always attract fans, some to love them, some to root for the underdog).

Fats was not a promoter of the game, he was a promoter of Fats. He was a big blowhard, and only mildly entertaining, with zero credibility.
Click to expand...
 
Trick shots and gimmicks are what the general public expcect from pool and that is why Minnasota Fats is most reconized if a survey was taken with the general public.

How many times have anyone of you gone out with friends or work friends and played pool and they made references to you as a "hustler" or " Minnasota Fats"??
 
Quote OHB: Who do you think would be the best to promote the game and bring in the largest viewer ship FROM THE GENERAL TV AUDIENCE?

The way Tom phrased the question the only answer is Fatty.
 
JP.. my point exactly! My 89 year old Grandma knows about Fats! In the groove pool players know it is Showmanship and Myth. I still can't wait to give Willie that Tonsilectomy.... oh I would luv it! Heh Heh.. :D :D :D
JustPlay said:
Trick shots and gimmicks are what the general public expcect from pool and that is why Minnasota Fats is most reconized if a survey was taken with the general public.

How many times have anyone of you gone out with friends or work friends and played pool and they made references to you as a "hustler" or " Minnasota Fats"??
Click to expand...
 
Lets Get Something Stright!

1. - This is not a popularity poll!
The question is - Who would be best to promote the game if we could bring only one of them back?

2. - In the next poll (not now), I would like to ask y'all who you THINK would win in a One Pocket match between Fats & - Willie, Ronnie, Cliff, Etc. This hypothetical game would have been played when all players were "At Their Peek" & I'm not guessing, I KNOW!

TY & GL
 
OHB.. I know that you know! I am not going to even guess at this one! One pocket is the greatest test of any sport I know of and I heard you are really good at One Pocket! Have you had your Tonsils checked lately? Heh Heh.. just kidding OHB! :D :D
OldHasBeen said:
1. - This is not a popularity poll!
The question is - Who would be best to promote the game if we could bring only one of them back?

2. - In the next poll (not now), I would like to ask y'all who you THINK would win in a One Pocket match between Fats & - Willie, Ronnie, Cliff, Etc. This hypothetical game would have been played when all players were "At Their Peek" & I'm not guessing, I KNOW!

TY & GL
Click to expand...
 
OldHasBeen said:
1. - This is not a popularity poll!
The question is - Who would be best to promote the game if we could bring only one of them back?

2. - In the next poll (not now), I would like to ask y'all who you THINK would win in a One Pocket match between Fats & - Willie, Ronnie, Cliff, Etc. This hypothetical game would have been played when all players were "At Their Peek" & I'm not guessing, I KNOW!

TY & GL
Click to expand...

Tom, the only person that would have any chance of beating, Ronnie, you left off the list, Efren. Nahhhhh, I still like Ronnie Allen. Best ever. Just thought about it, Efren is in the Etc. catagory I guess.
 
hemicudas.. better you than I to go into the Lions Den but, I agree with you on this one! :)
hemicudas said:
Tom, the only person that would have any chance of beating, Ronnie, you left off the list, Efren. Nahhhhh, I still like Ronnie Allen. Best ever. Just thought about it, Efren is in the Etc. catagory I guess.
Click to expand...
 
more of the general public knows who minnesota fats is than
mosconi.........but fats, imo, is the wrong image to promote.

however, i must say that NEITHER would help pool's popularity. i
mean, was there anyone in pool ever more visible than mizerak in
those beer commercials? or tom cruise in the movie? or jeanette lee
today? jeanette, btw, is a very good spokesperson for the game, and
there's no one on the men's side who comes close.

pool's problems go deeper than getting a suitable spokesman.
 
Your question implies, who is the best marketer of the game and that's easy...it's Fats without a doubt.

Marketing was Fat's forte. That's why I always liked him. He couldn't really play at Willie's level, but boy did he promote the game. I remember only him as a player when I was young in the 60's. When he played Willie on ABC TV, I was rooting for Fats because I didn't really know who Mosconi was (how would I?). Fats made me want to play pool; Willie was so good, it seemed almost boring to me at the time.

Marketing is the highest value in any industry, and it adds more value to a product than sometimes the product itself. Fats is the perfect example of that.

Jeff Livingston
 
Fatty had charisma, no doubt about it. Willie had all the talent though. If they could have melded those two together this game would be hot right now! Willie seemed quiet and aloof compared to Fatty. I read an interview of Jackie Gleason and he said he had no problem beating Fats. According to Gleason, he was a pretty good shortstop in his local pool hall and a friend of his brought Willie Mosconi in one time to match up with Gleason. They gambled a little and Willie torched him and afterwards offered to give Jackie his money back. Gleason refused to take the money back but they all had a good laugh.

When Fats and Willie had there battles on WW of Sports back in the day, it became pretty obvious that Fats was no competition for Willie. I think tremendous talent is the best ambassador for any endeavor that requires skill. It's just too bad that Willie didn't have some of Fats' personality to go with all that talent.
 
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