JAM
Verified Member
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2004
- Messages
- 1,041
I think it's kind of cool that Ronnie still steps up to the plate and engages in games of stake. I'll bet he put on a show Ronnie style with his gift of gab.
With the advent of the Internet and technology, the era of action has taken a turn. It will never be quite the same. Nobody goes on the road in pursuit of action. Back in the day, a stranger comes to town and plays the houseman or strongest player in the room, sometimes shooting with a house cue on inferior equipment. There was no bickering back and forth about oddball rules and idiotic spots. The stranger in town might make a nice score if lucky, but they also could leave town busted and disgusted. These action players had heart and stepped up to the plate with no fear.
Ronnie is indeed fortunate to have a loving family, children who care about him. Not all of the road men from yesteryear have this and die alone. There may be some who say, well, that's the lifestyle they chose, so they deserve what they get. This may be so, but these unsung pool heroes, so to speak, brought excitement to many a pool folk. The pool public in America is fickle, and pool is most definintely cruel to its own in the American pool culture, as evidenced by some -- not this one -- pool forums.
I feel fortunate to have enjoyed pool during its golden years. Gone are the road scholars of yesterday, replaced by tournament soldiers who must travel the globe to eke out a living. The existing lot of American professional players is diminishing. Most tournament soldiers today cannot afford to travel to the Middle East and stay a week unless they're sponsored, and I can count on one hand how many Americans do.
The only thing I can say to those who catch a glimpse of the Ronnie Allen cameo performance today, enjoy it while he's still alive. Would you rather watch Ronnie Allen prance around the table with his colorful personality or sweat the robotic, emotionless tournament soldiers of today who sometimes burn agonizing minutes analyzing each and every shot? Again, to each their own!
Lou Butera realized that competing in pool professionally in tournaments was like a dead fish in the water, and so he figured out how to capitalize on his pool talents and made pool work for him.
Here's what "Machine Gun Lou" Butera said about the state of pool in America when he was in his prime, about 40 years ago: You've got five companies doing over $10 million a year in this game. Yet, the amount they spend on the promotion of the game is peanuts, ridiculous. Now, if those companies can't put a quarter of a million of that into the promotion of the game, something is very wrong. There should be a Brunswick Open, an Ebonite Open, a Fisher Open, a National Open, just to name a few...all the big manufacturers should be promoting the game through tournaments.
Picture of Lou taken in December 2005 at the IPT King of the Hill in Orlando, Florida.
With the advent of the Internet and technology, the era of action has taken a turn. It will never be quite the same. Nobody goes on the road in pursuit of action. Back in the day, a stranger comes to town and plays the houseman or strongest player in the room, sometimes shooting with a house cue on inferior equipment. There was no bickering back and forth about oddball rules and idiotic spots. The stranger in town might make a nice score if lucky, but they also could leave town busted and disgusted. These action players had heart and stepped up to the plate with no fear.
Ronnie is indeed fortunate to have a loving family, children who care about him. Not all of the road men from yesteryear have this and die alone. There may be some who say, well, that's the lifestyle they chose, so they deserve what they get. This may be so, but these unsung pool heroes, so to speak, brought excitement to many a pool folk. The pool public in America is fickle, and pool is most definintely cruel to its own in the American pool culture, as evidenced by some -- not this one -- pool forums.
I feel fortunate to have enjoyed pool during its golden years. Gone are the road scholars of yesterday, replaced by tournament soldiers who must travel the globe to eke out a living. The existing lot of American professional players is diminishing. Most tournament soldiers today cannot afford to travel to the Middle East and stay a week unless they're sponsored, and I can count on one hand how many Americans do.
The only thing I can say to those who catch a glimpse of the Ronnie Allen cameo performance today, enjoy it while he's still alive. Would you rather watch Ronnie Allen prance around the table with his colorful personality or sweat the robotic, emotionless tournament soldiers of today who sometimes burn agonizing minutes analyzing each and every shot? Again, to each their own!
Lou Butera realized that competing in pool professionally in tournaments was like a dead fish in the water, and so he figured out how to capitalize on his pool talents and made pool work for him.
Here's what "Machine Gun Lou" Butera said about the state of pool in America when he was in his prime, about 40 years ago: You've got five companies doing over $10 million a year in this game. Yet, the amount they spend on the promotion of the game is peanuts, ridiculous. Now, if those companies can't put a quarter of a million of that into the promotion of the game, something is very wrong. There should be a Brunswick Open, an Ebonite Open, a Fisher Open, a National Open, just to name a few...all the big manufacturers should be promoting the game through tournaments.
Picture of Lou taken in December 2005 at the IPT King of the Hill in Orlando, Florida.
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