Reyes vs Strickland "The Final Showdown", Demonstrates the Lack of "Hype" in Pool.

As mentioned in the introduction of this blog, I will be sometimes discussing the current state of pocket billiards. Unfortunately for our great sport, it has been on the decline in popularity for decades now and after last weeks results from the Reyes/Strickland challenge match the future does not look any brighter.

Every pool player that has held a cue long enough to learn the game has heard of Efren Reyes and Earl Strickland, two of the best of all time. In 1997 still riding the success of the 1986 film "Colour of Money" a challenge match was issued between these two greats. The game was 9 ball race to 120 games winner takes all for 100,000 and this match was dubbed "Colour of Money." The match was truly epic and can be seen on youtube in its entirety for free, mind you, one needs to clear a weekend in order to watch it all as this match took 3 days to play.

The hype this match received was uncanny; it actually shook the world it was so entertaining. I find myself watching it a few times a year nearly a decade after I was introduced to it. Now the match that took place last week was once again over three days and was hyped in the same manner. Being that these are two legends with a storied history and here is one more event to ad to their legacy. However the excitement was just not there. I have not seen any numbers regarding the PPV audience, furthermore I have not seen an article or a blog anywhere boasting its success.

My quick assessment would be the lack of money that the players were competing for is what hurt the hype for this match. Because when these two names face off in a tournament bracket people take notice - even today 30 plus years into their rivalry. So logic would dictate that a challenge match between these two would garnish a lot of attention and a lot of PPV money. But I think a lot of people took my approach to this match, which was "I already saw them play for $100,000. Is it really a rematch if the winner of all three sessions receives less than $10,000?"

All credit to Allision Fisher (www.nycgrind.com) and Inside Pool Magazine for even having an event like this. However this matchup, if billed properly, could have provided some much needed hype. There was not enough build up to this match, there was no significant sponsorship and the prize fund was not enough to gather the attention these two deserved.

The promoters of our great sport need to stop doing "rush jobs" in these challenge matches. I know money is tight and bills need to get paid but these productions need the proper time and billing to receive the hype required to bring pool back to the forefront of popular culture.