The answers to some questions.

N

NYC cue dude

Banned
As previously asked in another thread, in regard to the World Straight Pool Championships, I'll offer some answers.

As far as accustats is concerned, there were some discussions over 2 years ago about the possibility of bringing them in to film the matches. My understanding is that accustats was COMPLETELY unreasonable in their demands. They wanted a 50% partnership of the entire event and even wanted to co-own the name. As a straight pay for product relationship, they wanted a USURIOUS amount of money, mid 5 figures!! I dont remember all of the specifics, but i do know that the parties walked away with some very hard feelings.

It should be important to also add, precisely what my involement is with this tournamnet. I put up the prize money. thats it. Everyone should be clear that I have nothing else to do with it. I DONATE the money with NO EXPECTATION of any return of my money. Furthermore, I have no say in who does or does not recieve an invitation. Most sponsors, or promoters get something for thier money, all i get is 2 wild card spots.

As far as the format is concerned, its conception was based on all past 14.1 world championships, invitation only, and round robin formats. This event IS the official world championship for 14.1, not because I say so, but because the WPA says so.

Some people insist on using the words, UPA, Dragon Promotions and Charlie Williams interchangeably. If anyone cares to be accurate, they should know that the UPA is a governing body of pool that was founded by Charlie Williams. He no longer has any involement AT ALL with the UPA, as all of his time an energy is spent on DP. He officially stepped down from the board sometime ago. The UPA has been a completely irrelevant organization for awhile now. I was asked to become president over 2 years ago, but declined for personal reasons. Hopefully, Frank can turn things around.

Dragon promotions is owned by Charlie Williams, but is primarily run by someone else. Cindy Lee is the president of that company. Dragon promotions has done some great things for pro pool in the US, and all you bashers will be sorry when they cease to do business in the US very soon. In fact, DP only has 2 events in the US now, and the World Summit of pool will end as soon as their contract with ESPN expires. We will see about continuing the straight pool championships on US soil. DP's main concerns are now in Asia.

All of you who sit on your asses and criticize, will get your opportunity to do better when there is NO MENS PRO POOL in the US. If not, all you will see is the trail of dust left by the US players who choose to continue to compete, flocking to the airports with their passports in their left front pocket, and 2 shiny nickels in the other.

I am so sick and tired of hearing Grady piss and moan about being left out. there was a time last year when I felt sorry for him, and asked the commitee to include him. After hearing the diatribe from these folks and understanding the hatred that exists for him, I left it alone. But since then, all I ever hear from Grady is either how bad charlie williams is, how he can do it beter, and guess what, nothing ever happens. Grady had the choice to try to qualify, and to his credit, he tried. I respected that so much, and even wanted to congratulate his effort. But i saw first hand in Maryland that he doesnt understand the meaning of "meeting someone halfway".

RG
 
NYC cue dude said:
As previously asked in another thread, in regard to the World Straight Pool Championships, I'll offer some answers.

As far as accustats is concerned, there were some discussions over 2 years ago about the possibility of bringing them in to film the matches. My understanding is that accustats was COMPLETELY unreasonable in their demands. They wanted a 50% partnership of the entire event and even wanted to co-own the name. As a straight pay for product relationship, they wanted a USURIOUS amount of money, mid 5 figures!! I dont remember all of the specifics, but i do know that the parties walked away with some very hard feelings.

It should be important to also add, precisely what my involement is with this tournamnet. I put up the prize money. thats it. Everyone should be clear that I have nothing else to do with it. I DONATE the money with NO EXPECTATION of any return of my money. Furthermore, I have no say in who does or does not recieve an invitation. Most sponsors, or promoters get something for thier money, all i get is 2 wild card spots.

As far as the format is concerned, its conception was based on all past 14.1 world championships, invitation only, and round robin formats. This event IS the official world championship for 14.1, not because I say so, but because the WPA says so.

Some people insist on using the words, UPA, Dragon Promotions and Charlie Williams interchangeably. If anyone cares to be accurate, they should know that the UPA is a governing body of pool that was founded by Charlie Williams. He no longer has any involement AT ALL with the UPA, as all of his time an energy is spent on DP. He officially stepped down from the board sometime ago. The UPA has been a completely irrelevant organization for awhile now. I was asked to become president over 2 years ago, but declined for personal reasons. Hopefully, Frank can turn things around.

Dragon promotions is owned by Charlie Williams, but is primarily run by someone else. Cindy Lee is the president of that company. Dragon promotions has done some great things for pro pool in the US, and all you bashers will be sorry when they cease to do business in the US very soon. In fact, DP only has 2 events in the US now, and the World Summit of pool will end as soon as their contract with ESPN expires. We will see about continuing the straight pool championships on US soil. DP's main concerns are now in Asia.

All of you who sit on your asses and criticize, will get your opportunity to do better when there is NO MENS PRO POOL in the US. If not, all you will see is the trail of dust left by the US players who choose to continue to compete, flocking to the airports with their passports in their left front pocket, and 2 shiny nickels in the other.

I am so sick and tired of hearing Grady piss and moan about being left out. there was a time last year when I felt sorry for him, and asked the commitee to include him. After hearing the diatribe from these folks and understanding the hatred that exists for him, I left it alone. But since then, all I ever hear from Grady is either how bad charlie williams is, how he can do it beter, and guess what, nothing ever happens. Grady had the choice to try to qualify, and to his credit, he tried. I respected that so much, and even wanted to congratulate his effort. But i saw first hand in Maryland that he doesnt understand the meaning of "meeting someone halfway".

RG
Click to expand...

:):)..good one..:):)
 
Thanks Randy for your response here. And thank you for DONATING the money that goes into the purse. I would asume you are talking about the Added Money. If that is the case, it is very generous of you.

On another note, how did Russ get so popular where everyone wants to steal his famous line? Russ, this one line may become as well known as "It's a nightmare, isn't it?" It does have a ring to it. :)
 
I was the first one to add russ's quote to my signature. I then logged on a few hours later that day to find something like 10 others had done the same. Most have since changed it, but man was that funny at the time.

Randy
 
NYC cue dude said:
As previously asked in another thread, in regard to the World Straight Pool Championships, I'll offer some answers.

As far as accustats is concerned, there were some discussions over 2 years ago about the possibility of bringing them in to film the matches. My understanding is that accustats was COMPLETELY unreasonable in their demands. They wanted a 50% partnership of the entire event and even wanted to co-own the name. As a straight pay for product relationship, they wanted a USURIOUS amount of money, mid 5 figures!! I dont remember all of the specifics, but i do know that the parties walked away with some very hard feelings.

It should be important to also add, precisely what my involement is with this tournamnet. I put up the prize money. thats it. Everyone should be clear that I have nothing else to do with it. I DONATE the money with NO EXPECTATION of any return of my money. Furthermore, I have no say in who does or does not recieve an invitation. Most sponsors, or promoters get something for thier money, all i get is 2 wild card spots.

As far as the format is concerned, its conception was based on all past 14.1 world championships, invitation only, and round robin formats. This event IS the official world championship for 14.1, not because I say so, but because the WPA says so.

Some people insist on using the words, UPA, Dragon Promotions and Charlie Williams interchangeably. If anyone cares to be accurate, they should know that the UPA is a governing body of pool that was founded by Charlie Williams. He no longer has any involement AT ALL with the UPA, as all of his time an energy is spent on DP. He officially stepped down from the board sometime ago. The UPA has been a completely irrelevant organization for awhile now. I was asked to become president over 2 years ago, but declined for personal reasons. Hopefully, Frank can turn things around.

Dragon promotions is owned by Charlie Williams, but is primarily run by someone else. Cindy Lee is the president of that company. Dragon promotions has done some great things for pro pool in the US, and all you bashers will be sorry when they cease to do business in the US very soon. In fact, DP only has 2 events in the US now, and the World Summit of pool will end as soon as their contract with ESPN expires. We will see about continuing the straight pool championships on US soil. DP's main concerns are now in Asia.

All of you who sit on your asses and criticize, will get your opportunity to do better when there is NO MENS PRO POOL in the US. If not, all you will see is the trail of dust left by the US players who choose to continue to compete, flocking to the airports with their passports in their left front pocket, and 2 shiny nickels in the other.

I am so sick and tired of hearing Grady piss and moan about being left out. there was a time last year when I felt sorry for him, and asked the commitee to include him. After hearing the diatribe from these folks and understanding the hatred that exists for him, I left it alone. But since then, all I ever hear from Grady is either how bad charlie williams is, how he can do it beter, and guess what, nothing ever happens. Grady had the choice to try to qualify, and to his credit, he tried. I respected that so much, and even wanted to congratulate his effort. But i saw first hand in Maryland that he doesnt understand the meaning of "meeting someone halfway".

RG
Click to expand...

TAP TAP TAP

Keep up the good work!
 
Randy

Great post!
Thanks for all the effort and support in the game of pool.
Hope that the US mens game does not die and that more tournaments may be available in the future in our back yard.

TAP, TAP,
Myron (still loving my Hoppe Cue... :))
 
NYC cue dude said:
As previously asked in another thread, in regard to the World Straight Pool Championships, I'll offer some answers.

As far as accustats is concerned, there were some discussions over 2 years ago about the possibility of bringing them in to film the matches. My understanding is that accustats was COMPLETELY unreasonable in their demands. They wanted a 50% partnership of the entire event and even wanted to co-own the name. As a straight pay for product relationship, they wanted a USURIOUS amount of money, mid 5 figures!! I dont remember all of the specifics, but i do know that the parties walked away with some very hard feelings.

It should be important to also add, precisely what my involement is with this tournamnet. I put up the prize money. thats it. Everyone should be clear that I have nothing else to do with it. I DONATE the money with NO EXPECTATION of any return of my money. Furthermore, I have no say in who does or does not recieve an invitation. Most sponsors, or promoters get something for thier money, all i get is 2 wild card spots.

As far as the format is concerned, its conception was based on all past 14.1 world championships, invitation only, and round robin formats. This event IS the official world championship for 14.1, not because I say so, but because the WPA says so.

Some people insist on using the words, UPA, Dragon Promotions and Charlie Williams interchangeably. If anyone cares to be accurate, they should know that the UPA is a governing body of pool that was founded by Charlie Williams. He no longer has any involement AT ALL with the UPA, as all of his time an energy is spent on DP. He officially stepped down from the board sometime ago. The UPA has been a completely irrelevant organization for awhile now. I was asked to become president over 2 years ago, but declined for personal reasons. Hopefully, Frank can turn things around.

Dragon promotions is owned by Charlie Williams, but is primarily run by someone else. Cindy Lee is the president of that company. Dragon promotions has done some great things for pro pool in the US, and all you bashers will be sorry when they cease to do business in the US very soon. In fact, DP only has 2 events in the US now, and the World Summit of pool will end as soon as their contract with ESPN expires. We will see about continuing the straight pool championships on US soil. DP's main concerns are now in Asia.

All of you who sit on your asses and criticize, will get your opportunity to do better when there is NO MENS PRO POOL in the US. If not, all you will see is the trail of dust left by the US players who choose to continue to compete, flocking to the airports with their passports in their left front pocket, and 2 shiny nickels in the other.

I am so sick and tired of hearing Grady piss and moan about being left out. there was a time last year when I felt sorry for him, and asked the commitee to include him. After hearing the diatribe from these folks and understanding the hatred that exists for him, I left it alone. But since then, all I ever hear from Grady is either how bad charlie williams is, how he can do it beter, and guess what, nothing ever happens. Grady had the choice to try to qualify, and to his credit, he tried. I respected that so much, and even wanted to congratulate his effort. But i saw first hand in Maryland that he doesnt understand the meaning of "meeting someone halfway".

RG
Click to expand...

This gets my vote as POST OF THE YEAR.

Thank you Randy for all that you are doing in the game of pool. It is appreciated more than you will ever know. I respect both you and Grady Mathews, and I hope that there is some way you can finally meet each other half way.
 
I concur with the thanks for your support of pool, specifically 14.1. You deserve recognition for your efforts.

Thanks also for taking the time to tell the truth. Many of us complain about things, knowing only a minute part of the facts involved. Sometimes a kung-fu kick to the chest is needed.
 
NYC cue dude said:
As previously asked in another thread, in regard to the World Straight Pool Championships, I'll offer some answers.

As far as accustats is concerned, there were some discussions over 2 years ago about the possibility of bringing them in to film the matches. My understanding is that accustats was COMPLETELY unreasonable in their demands. They wanted a 50% partnership of the entire event and even wanted to co-own the name. As a straight pay for product relationship, they wanted a USURIOUS amount of money, mid 5 figures!! I dont remember all of the specifics, but i do know that the parties walked away with some very hard feelings.

It should be important to also add, precisely what my involement is with this tournamnet. I put up the prize money. thats it. Everyone should be clear that I have nothing else to do with it. I DONATE the money with NO EXPECTATION of any return of my money. Furthermore, I have no say in who does or does not recieve an invitation. Most sponsors, or promoters get something for thier money, all i get is 2 wild card spots.

As far as the format is concerned, its conception was based on all past 14.1 world championships, invitation only, and round robin formats. This event IS the official world championship for 14.1, not because I say so, but because the WPA says so.

Some people insist on using the words, UPA, Dragon Promotions and Charlie Williams interchangeably. If anyone cares to be accurate, they should know that the UPA is a governing body of pool that was founded by Charlie Williams. He no longer has any involement AT ALL with the UPA, as all of his time an energy is spent on DP. He officially stepped down from the board sometime ago. The UPA has been a completely irrelevant organization for awhile now. I was asked to become president over 2 years ago, but declined for personal reasons. Hopefully, Frank can turn things around.

Dragon promotions is owned by Charlie Williams, but is primarily run by someone else. Cindy Lee is the president of that company. Dragon promotions has done some great things for pro pool in the US, and all you bashers will be sorry when they cease to do business in the US very soon. In fact, DP only has 2 events in the US now, and the World Summit of pool will end as soon as their contract with ESPN expires. We will see about continuing the straight pool championships on US soil. DP's main concerns are now in Asia.

All of you who sit on your asses and criticize, will get your opportunity to do better when there is NO MENS PRO POOL in the US. If not, all you will see is the trail of dust left by the US players who choose to continue to compete, flocking to the airports with their passports in their left front pocket, and 2 shiny nickels in the other.

I am so sick and tired of hearing Grady piss and moan about being left out. there was a time last year when I felt sorry for him, and asked the commitee to include him. After hearing the diatribe from these folks and understanding the hatred that exists for him, I left it alone. But since then, all I ever hear from Grady is either how bad charlie williams is, how he can do it beter, and guess what, nothing ever happens. Grady had the choice to try to qualify, and to his credit, he tried. I respected that so much, and even wanted to congratulate his effort. But i saw first hand in Maryland that he doesnt understand the meaning of "meeting someone halfway".

RG
Click to expand...

Your generosity and support of the game is much needed and appreciated more than most can express.

Many of us share a passion for this game and though we are a small audience, our love is often unwavering and our views and opinions taken out of context. As for myself, I don't wish to bash folks for their efforts, I just wish for so much more and it often comes off as negative. Many of us should beter examine how we express our views and opinions.

I truly wish you could both work to meet half way. The two minds working together could be so poweful.
 
i appreciate all the kind words, but like most everyone here, my motivation for helping promote this game is pure and simple, I LOVE THIS GAME. Sure recognition is fine, but hardly my goal. What bothers me most, however, is that when some of us get a little info, we run with it like its the gospel, when indeed it is badly represented. I try hard in all spects of my life to atleast gather all the facts before i'm off on a tangent.

For instance, with accustats. Sure I would have loved to have had BOTH of these events preserved for all time by them, but economically, it wasnt even close to being viable. To have someone then come on here and attampt to crucify us for not utilizing them, without the facts, is reprehensible. I understand it's human nature, and I suppose it figures thats why I hold so many of them in contempt.

rg
 
Blackjack said:
This gets my vote as POST OF THE YEAR.

Thank you Randy for all that you are doing in the game of pool. It is appreciated more than you will ever know. I respect both you and Grady Mathews, and I hope that there is some way you can finally meet each other half way.
Click to expand...


Even after all the slanderous words dished out by grady in the last year, I rose above all the past nonsense and approached him at the Maryland qualifier. Not surprising, though, he let that opportunity for "clarification" slip through his fingers.

rg
 
olauzon said:
good grief. i gotta work tomorrow. 45 mins, 1 bag and 3 beers.
Click to expand...

I feel you pain dude.

1184429933358.jpg
 
Thanks

NYC cue dude said:
As previously asked in another thread, in regard to the World Straight Pool Championships, I'll offer some answers....
Click to expand...

Thanks to Randy for explaining the situation in a civil way.

As a spectator I can see some major improvements this time over the first one. With the experience gained I am certain they will have a even better tournament next year!

As of now this is the best thing we have for straight pool. It has gathered a community for purists and inspired more events around (various leagues/tournament). I hope everyone can help nourishing this young event as it is growing: look at broader picture together, be considerate and constructive when sharing thoughts.


Issues Suggested:
1, Shot Clocks - As SJM mentioned, we need a better system to make the games enjoyable to watch and keep the tournament schedule on track.
2, Score Sheets - As Bob and Steve has pointed out, we need a better score sheet method to keep the record for the future.
3, Score Board - As Bob has pointed out, a well organized public board would be helpful for everyone.


About Video Production:
50K (a guessed figure) for a video production to get several good matches from a tournament is not entirely unreasonable if everything is covered. It will However, given the subject matter and audience population, it would probably be a money-loosing deal to invest in. As of now Straight Pool will not get on to network TV unless there is some programming changes. And it will take a long time to sell 2500 DVD's at $20 a pop just to recover costs. I remembered Accu-Stats covered the NYC 14.1 tournament in 2000. I wonder whether they have broken even by now? In any case I wish we can have 4 more talented artists like Jorge next year. The video he put together (propoolvideo.com) is great for die-hard straight pool fans to get a taste of the event. I believe he has got even more to come.

Some Event Photos:
http://pl.cuetable.com/showthread.php?t=703
(please excuse the pocket camera quality, I just got a 10M camera ready for the next year :) )
 
jay helfert said:
Thanks Randy for your response here. And thank you for DONATING the money that goes into the purse. I would asume you are talking about the Added Money. If that is the case, it is very generous of you.

On another note, how did Russ get so popular where everyone wants to steal his famous line? Russ, this one line may become as well known as "It's a nightmare, isn't it?" It does have a ring to it. :)
Click to expand...

In case you missed it this is the thread where Russ became famous or infamous http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=63825&highlight=short+Russ

The key posts are the first couple then the BOMB from Russ at #10 where he introduced his famous line, then number #18 and #24 from Smorgass Bored giving him his name and then another player exposing him fully at #25, 50 and 69. There is probably more good stuff but that will give you the basics.
 
That's Why I Get The Big Bucks....... (it's my BRAINSTORMING)

Wei said:
About Video Production:
50K (a guessed figure) for a video production to get several good matches from a tournament is not entirely unreasonable if everything is covered. It will However, given the subject matter and audience population, it would probably be a money-loosing deal to invest in. As of now Straight Pool will not get on to network TV unless there is some programming changes. And it will take a long time to sell 2500 DVD's at $20 a pop just to recover costs. I remembered Accu-Stats covered the NYC 14.1 tournament in 2000. I wonder whether they have broken even by now? In any case I wish we can have 4 more talented artists like Jorge next year. The video he put together (propoolvideo.com) is great for die-hard straight pool fans to get a taste of the event. I believe he has got even more to come.


Which reminds me. With channels for fishing, football, game shows, news, movies, etc.
What would it take to get a HD Cable channel on TV with 24 hour Pool. Old tournaments/matches, current tournaments/matches, a talk show with a Host that has poolplaying studio guests and phone in questions (like Larry King) and e-mailed questions ? Profiles/histories of players and HOLF members. Pool in all it's forms, 8 & 9 ball, one-pocket, 14.1, banks, etc...
Doug
( is it something that could 'go public' and we could all invest in )
 
Smorgass Bored said:
What would it take to get a HD Cable channel on TV with 24 hour Pool. Old tournaments/matches, current tournaments/matches, a talk show with a Host that has poolplaying studio guests and phone in questions (like Larry King) and e-mailed questions ? Profiles/histories of players and HOLF members. Pool in all it's forms, 8 & 9 ball, one-pocket, 14.1, banks, etc...
Doug
( is it something that could 'go public' and we could all invest in )
Click to expand...

For anybody that has had the pleasure of watching John Schmidt's 245 ball Run DVD, it shows how inexpensive it is to make a good straight pool video. I'm pretty sure john's production costs were less than $100 - I'm not sure how much it cost them to burn the dvd's - but it couldn't have been more than what he's made off the dvd sales. My point is, that is one of the best dvd's I've seen. One camera - great player - telling us how he's running balls. I'll speak for the entire straight pool public - WE LOVED IT!

There is no reason to jump right in with major production companies if it cannot be realistically budgeted without incurring a loss. I would venture to guess that if I got some good, clear amateur video of the Pete Sinkler 14.1 tournament next month - spent some time and energy on some commentary - a few player reviews - whatever - I could show that the true fans could give a $hit less about all the bells and whistles that come with paying a high dollar operation. They just want to see the matches. When we can afford the top dollar stuff - then we can budget for it. Right now, there is a market for dvd's of any quality and the opportunity is there for the right people to make it happen - and hopefully keep the costs down. When that happens, we can market our product to TV in the same way Zuffa markets the UFC and WEC - and for the most part, they control their product and their production - not like the deal we have always had with ESPN.
 
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