Fogedaboutit.
As things stand it ain't gonna work anyway. Not that there's anything wrong with the idea or the game on the field when first class players are playing but beyond that--
Everybody seems to want to just dip a toe in case the "water" is too hot or too cold and that's a sure fire recipe for failure and it won't be X-Ball's fault.
Let's look at a couple of examples (and as isolated incidents I'm not suggesting a pattern but think they can still be instructive):
MGO--and X-Ball specifically. Plainly circumstances conspired with the horrendous weather and big time work was put in to keep things "afloat" (bad pun, I know) but,
What effort was made on behalf of X-Ball leading up to the event? What extras were introduced to elevate the X-Ball competition and display it in all the much ballyhooed glory it's supposed to have? And while we're at it, what is being done on behalf of X for LA in a couple of weeks? Isn't an LA exhibition of X-Ball the perfect location if you're working on gaining media attention and interest? If X is the future and if people have really sunk some serious green into it what is being done to assure the success of that investment?
[The way it looks to this outsider is that everyone on both sides of the pond are slightly enamored with the potential return on X but unwilling or unable to commit to it in a manner that gives it a real chance to succeed.]
NPPL S7--NPPL, inc. and Pure Promotions almost certainly "lost" money and perhaps quite a lot of it putting on this event. And if so, it is surely something they can't do for an unspecified period of time so what did they "purchase" with their cash? A foot in the door of outside sponsors and potential future revenues, lots of local media exposure, introduced pb to tens of thousands of new people, and the goodwill and faith of the bulk of the player base to name a few.
They have a plan. A plan to extend their reach, their revenues and the sport of pb in the process. And before they started they decided what needed doing if they were to have a chance to succeed and made the decision to take the risk and potentially flush a substantial amount of money down the drain. It was a gamble. It still is a gamble, but it won't fail for lack of committment in resources, time, effort and vision.
Now maybe the X-Ball gang are all over this, and I hope they are 'cause I believe in X, and I just haven't heard anything about it. My point isn't to suggest one is bad and the other is good. My point is most of time success doesn't fall into your lap and everyone involved in making the big events around the world possible at some point took risks, spent money, worked hard and hoped to build small successes into larger ones. But the more you have to lose the harder it becomes to keep taking risks. Yet every time the stakes on the return go up so does the ante. How many folks are out there with the vision and the willingness to reach for the next step up?
BTW, it's easy to have opinions (and I'm loaded with 'em) and the purpose of this post wasn't to slam anyone or praise anyone but maybe, just maybe put the bigger picture into a little clearer focus. All of us who play the game owe those who have helped bring it to this point our gratitude regardless of what comes next.
As things stand it ain't gonna work anyway. Not that there's anything wrong with the idea or the game on the field when first class players are playing but beyond that--
Everybody seems to want to just dip a toe in case the "water" is too hot or too cold and that's a sure fire recipe for failure and it won't be X-Ball's fault.
Let's look at a couple of examples (and as isolated incidents I'm not suggesting a pattern but think they can still be instructive):
MGO--and X-Ball specifically. Plainly circumstances conspired with the horrendous weather and big time work was put in to keep things "afloat" (bad pun, I know) but,
What effort was made on behalf of X-Ball leading up to the event? What extras were introduced to elevate the X-Ball competition and display it in all the much ballyhooed glory it's supposed to have? And while we're at it, what is being done on behalf of X for LA in a couple of weeks? Isn't an LA exhibition of X-Ball the perfect location if you're working on gaining media attention and interest? If X is the future and if people have really sunk some serious green into it what is being done to assure the success of that investment?
[The way it looks to this outsider is that everyone on both sides of the pond are slightly enamored with the potential return on X but unwilling or unable to commit to it in a manner that gives it a real chance to succeed.]
NPPL S7--NPPL, inc. and Pure Promotions almost certainly "lost" money and perhaps quite a lot of it putting on this event. And if so, it is surely something they can't do for an unspecified period of time so what did they "purchase" with their cash? A foot in the door of outside sponsors and potential future revenues, lots of local media exposure, introduced pb to tens of thousands of new people, and the goodwill and faith of the bulk of the player base to name a few.
They have a plan. A plan to extend their reach, their revenues and the sport of pb in the process. And before they started they decided what needed doing if they were to have a chance to succeed and made the decision to take the risk and potentially flush a substantial amount of money down the drain. It was a gamble. It still is a gamble, but it won't fail for lack of committment in resources, time, effort and vision.
Now maybe the X-Ball gang are all over this, and I hope they are 'cause I believe in X, and I just haven't heard anything about it. My point isn't to suggest one is bad and the other is good. My point is most of time success doesn't fall into your lap and everyone involved in making the big events around the world possible at some point took risks, spent money, worked hard and hoped to build small successes into larger ones. But the more you have to lose the harder it becomes to keep taking risks. Yet every time the stakes on the return go up so does the ante. How many folks are out there with the vision and the willingness to reach for the next step up?
BTW, it's easy to have opinions (and I'm loaded with 'em) and the purpose of this post wasn't to slam anyone or praise anyone but maybe, just maybe put the bigger picture into a little clearer focus. All of us who play the game owe those who have helped bring it to this point our gratitude regardless of what comes next.
