Jay Helfert resigned as Tourney Director at the US Open
- Thread starter bfdlad
- Start date
GoldenFlash
Banned
Sorry...it does not "take a village".
This thread will probably go on forever but, JAY, YOU DID THE RIGHT THING!
The players need to confront Barry and find out why he did such a crappy thing, plaque or no plaque. Hell, he could have ordered his own plaque and some schmuck up there would have cheerfully awarded it to him.
Then, we see folks criticize Jay for having integrity. Unbelievable!
The players need to confront Barry and find out why he did such a crappy thing, plaque or no plaque. Hell, he could have ordered his own plaque and some schmuck up there would have cheerfully awarded it to him.
Then, we see folks criticize Jay for having integrity. Unbelievable!
Okay, let's take a vote.
Number of people who think Jay did the wrong thing: 1 (Fran)
Number of people who think Jay did the right thing: Everyone else
I felt the opposite. To me they both struggled and unforced errors and rolls dictated the outcome.
Seemed like both were struggling to find the right speed for the break and the layouts were giving them problems.
Actually felt good to see these guys struggle a bit. And yet both played around the 900 mark anyway
Their bad day is still about 500 points above my best one.
Franny, if it's something out of the ordinary, unexpected, that might affect the whole field, sure, take a vote.
But this kind of stuff?! After the chart has been called? No way, Jose. It's a no-brainer for a TD. The TD just has to have the huevos to make the right call despite whatever self-serving stunt the promoter wants to pull.
Lou Figueroa
Well always exceptions. I guess I should have said for no shows.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
Sorry guys. I've been around for a very long time. I ran events, I was on the exec board of the WPA, I've been on both sides --- as a pro player and as the President of the WPBA, just to name a few things. I negotiated the first women's TV tournament. I've seen it all.
The bottom line is that it's not cool to abandon an event right in the middle of it. You give it your absolute best shot to try to understand the situation and maybe even show a little empathy and then try to find a workable solution. From what I can tell, Barry put up a ton of money in this event --- more than Charlie Williams ever laid out of his own pocket. Is it such a stretch to work with someone who may have made an honest mistake?
Talk to people. Get ideas. Everyone is there. Use your brain. Don't walk away in a huff.
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If there is any affect on the players its Barry's fault not Jay's. Signing up to work a tournament doesn't mean you leave your integrity at the door.
So if you put up your money it gives you carte blanche to do as you will --- golden rule and all, huh Fran? Your notion is absolutely absurd.
If Barry or the TD or the rules didn't state anything about player substitutions prior to the tournament then correct it NEXT year. This year, it stays as was drawn out.
BTW, how is the WPBA doing? Since you negotiated the first women's tourney can you confirm what was told to me by a reliable source -- the women were paid by ESPN to have their tourney on TV but had to pay the exact same amount to an ESPN producer to put on the event, basically breaking even.
i've also been around for a long time and i also don't think as clearly as i once did
You did the right thing, Jay.
I generally agree with this. Where compromise ends though is when it involves cheating or other similar levels of ethical misconduct such as stealing, and what Barry did is cheating, period. Whether or not Barry or anyone else made some other mistake about failing to put Allen down as a participant (and we don't even know yet that he did make a mistake, maybe Allen had previously told him that he wasn't playing and then changed his mind at the event and decided he wanted to play) is immaterial to whether cheating is acceptable or not, and putting someone in after brackets are drawn up is cheating--period. Cheating is never acceptable for any reason. If Barry made a mistake in not putting down Allen to play (which again we don't even know is the case) then he has to do his best to make it right some other way other than by cheating.
And a smaller lesser point is that it became clear that Jay wasn't even the tournament director, Barry was. How can Jay be abandoning the post of tournament director after he finds out he isn't even really the tournament director at all? You can't abandon a post you don't hold.
But tourney director or not the bottom line still remains that any solution that involves cheating is off the table and is not open for discussion or compromise, and when you are forced into choosing between being complicit with cheating or walking away, you walk. Every time. There is no compromising on cheating, ever.
I would love to see the player that wins hand the plaque back to Barry.
Take a stand or be stuck with barry and charlie.
Take a stand or be stuck with barry and charlie.
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The guys that were on the waiting list got bypassed also. They may have felt slighted.
I think Jay did the right thing. Barry asked him to get Allen in several times, Jay refused, and Barry makes the move anyway the first time Jay takes time to grab a meal. It was a nitty move and undermined Jay's authority. He may as well have fired Jay, it had the same effect, Jay could not continue knowing that at any moment his decisions could be overruled at Barry's whims.
You've heard of slow learners, well Barry is a never learner..keeps shooting himself in the foot.
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What a shame it is when he has such a great platform, good people helping out, elite players who (for whatever reason) keep supporting his event.
He could showcase great american pool, instead it is now this.
He could showcase great american pool, instead it is now this.
So, a player wins the US Open - twice - earning free entry for life.
For the 40th anniversary, the promoter of the event calls and personally invites said player to come and play. At the same time, the promoter requests that said player present an honorary award - since that player is one of the only ones that competed in the early years, and nearly every year of the event.
Player makes travel plans and arrives, only to find his name is not on board - as expected. Apparently some sort of miscommunication has occurred, and promoter tries to handle things to remedy situation.
As often happens - some sort of mistake has occurred. It's never pleasant, and everyone wants an easy solution - of which, one does not normally exist.
Of course, i'm biased in this discussion - but I know full well that all types of things happen in the course of promoting a big event. Miscommunications occur. You can never make everyone happy - someone will always feel slighted. Any player - at any level - would expect to play in an event that they were personally invited to and made travel plans and incurred expenses to play in. There is seldom an easy solution.
I think it's a far stretch to think this was some sort of "cheat" move to help the player (my father, if that's not obvious yet) advance ... It was merely an attempt to rectify an oversight - one that the event promoter wanted to personally fix.
In fact, it could have been seen (again, I'm biased) as an opportunity to allow the crowd to watch a former champion and hall of famer compete once again.
But instead, everyone is so quick to cry foul and act like the event is rigged or something. A mistake was made and a remedy attempted. It's life, it happens. You can never please everyone, no matter what you do.
Since all previous champions are invited to play for free - for life (to my understanding) wouldn't such a revered tournament director be sure to include those names first on the enrolled list? Or at least double check with his boss, the promoter? I personally handle the "registered players" list for our events every year, and I know the previous year's champion is always first enrolled - until otherwise notified.
And I also know that mistakes happen, and the perils of rectifying them to make everyone happy.
For the 40th anniversary, the promoter of the event calls and personally invites said player to come and play. At the same time, the promoter requests that said player present an honorary award - since that player is one of the only ones that competed in the early years, and nearly every year of the event.
Player makes travel plans and arrives, only to find his name is not on board - as expected. Apparently some sort of miscommunication has occurred, and promoter tries to handle things to remedy situation.
As often happens - some sort of mistake has occurred. It's never pleasant, and everyone wants an easy solution - of which, one does not normally exist.
Of course, i'm biased in this discussion - but I know full well that all types of things happen in the course of promoting a big event. Miscommunications occur. You can never make everyone happy - someone will always feel slighted. Any player - at any level - would expect to play in an event that they were personally invited to and made travel plans and incurred expenses to play in. There is seldom an easy solution.
I think it's a far stretch to think this was some sort of "cheat" move to help the player (my father, if that's not obvious yet) advance ... It was merely an attempt to rectify an oversight - one that the event promoter wanted to personally fix.
In fact, it could have been seen (again, I'm biased) as an opportunity to allow the crowd to watch a former champion and hall of famer compete once again.
But instead, everyone is so quick to cry foul and act like the event is rigged or something. A mistake was made and a remedy attempted. It's life, it happens. You can never please everyone, no matter what you do.
Since all previous champions are invited to play for free - for life (to my understanding) wouldn't such a revered tournament director be sure to include those names first on the enrolled list? Or at least double check with his boss, the promoter? I personally handle the "registered players" list for our events every year, and I know the previous year's champion is always first enrolled - until otherwise notified.
And I also know that mistakes happen, and the perils of rectifying them to make everyone happy.