UP FRONT
The sun's in my eyes and
other operator excuses
There was a ping-pong player once who wasn 't
very good at the game , but somehow he had this
image of himself as being the Bjorn Borg of ping-
pong if all the elements were just right.
But the elements were never right , and every
point he lost , he would cite a reason that he missed .
"The table 's crooked ."
"The sun's in my eyes."
" The ball is cracked ."
And he'd lose game after game- 21-15 , 21-14,
21-17 ' 21 -9 ' 21 -19 .
And every time , it was the same thing - ' 'The
table 's crooked ." " The sun 's in my eyes." "The ball is
cracked ."
Conditions are never going to be ideal for any-
thing . Did you know that when Babe Ruth called his
s'hot and hit the home run in the World Series game ,
there was a 15-mile-per-hour wind blowing in?
Did you know that when Secretariat won the
Bel most Stakes , setting a new track record , he was
running in less than ideal conditions?
And did you know that any number of baseball ,
basketball , and football stars had their greatest
performances when battling the flu or leprosy or
both?
The point is that the operator is in a perfect
position to make excuses for less than stellar collec-
tions week after week . After all -
The players have deserted the gamerooms.
The manufacturers are turning out boring
games.
There 's nothing new under the sun .
But , like the crooked table and the cracked ball ,
these are merely excuses operators are using to
sabotage themselves .
In this issue , we investigate two equipment
types- the pool table and the electronic dart game .
In both cases , these equipment types are as good or
as bad as an operator makes them . Pool tables can
be the curse of an operation with the location
buying its own table and kicking you out of the stop .
And dart games will make money for just a couple of
weeks before dying on location .
But, for the operator who isn 't afraid to make
money the old-fashioned way , these two equipment
8
types can be reversed and made into the co in-op's
money cow of t'he mid-1980's. They must be
promoted , not just operated .
The alibis are there for the operator who is
looking for excuses why he can 't accomplish any-
thing . But , for the enterprising operator who hasn 't
forgotten why he got in this business in the first
place , pool tables and electronic darts offe r a world
of opportunity.
The ope .ators who have devoted the time and
energy to instituting league play in the i r locations
are in better financial shape today than those who
are waiting around for the next hit video game .
For the league operator, he 's found that pool
tables and dart games offer a steady cash flow and
secure locations and , what 's more , new locations .
It all has to do with one 's perspective . Pool
tables and electronic darts can be the curse or the
savior for today 's operator. It depends entirely upon
the operator.
For the operator who is more interested in
finding excuses, than in making money , here 's a
start:
The players have deserted the gamerooms.
The manufacturers are turning out boring
games .
And there 's nothing new under the sun .
But don't stop there! you can also add :
The table 's crooked .
The sun 's in your eyes .
And the ball 's cracked .
So don 't wait for those ideal conditions . You
can bail yourself out only by your own efforts .
There was never a more foolish death than the
man who died of thirst in the desert. He never
realized that the cacti that surrounded him in that
desert held for him all the water he needed to dr:nk .
.)
u
.J- L..
'. ._ _ _
David Pierson
Editor
PLAY METER. September 1,
198~i