Could this happen to a pool player?

JAM

JAM

I am the storm
Silver Member
I tried to imagine this happening for a pool player, what happened to this guy in bowling. I mean, the payouts for the "big" tournament of the year are just about the same in bowling and pool: $40,000 for pool and $50,000 for bowling.

Check it out:

Just in time for the holidays last year, Tom Smallwood was grappling with the fallout of losing his job. He had just been laid off at General Motors Co. where he worked on an assembly line making seat belts for extended cab trucks. Now, almost a year to the day that he received his pink slip, Smallwood received one of the highest honors in bowling: He won the PBA World Championship, beating the reining Player of the Year Wes Malott 244 to 228.

The 32-year old Smallwood, who was an avid amateur bowler before he was laid off, not only got the trophy, but he also received $50,000 in winnings. On top of that, GM just offered him his job back.

Source: Laid-Off Worker Finds Redemption in PBA Championship

Making his victory even sweeter, Smallwood recently received a call from GM' s Job Bank offering him a new job. He politely turned down the offer, explaining he was due to appear on ESPN.

"They were surprised when I said 'no thanks'," he says.

Winning the top prize in pool at the U.S Open 9-Ball Championship of $40,000, one would still need to earn money the rest of the year. This gentleman wins $50,000 and doesn't want his job back.

What do you think? Did he make the right call, or is he just another passionate competitor about his sport, as most pro pool players are today?
 

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Nice find JAM. I think the sponsors will line up for him since he will have a "story" now, and he won't need that job at GM anymore.
 
selftaut said:
Nice find JAM. I think the sponsors will line up for him since he will have a "story" now, and he won't need that job at GM anymore.
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I think you may be right.

You know, on this forum over the years, I see golf and tennis being compared to pool, but, in reality, there is no comparison between these games/sports.

I do think bowling is a better fit if one compares pool to another game/sport.

Of course, even these bowlers have an "organization" by way of the PBA (Professional Bowlers of America), which is something that is sorely lacking for the pool players.

Most believe this is the problem with pool and have written about it extensively on this forum. Check out the PBA website for bowlers: Professional Bowlers of America

Sheesh! They are labeling this new bowing champion "The Anti-Tiger." :grin-square:

The difference that I can see initially between bowling and pool is the non-industry sponsors. Bowling's got Bayer Aspirin, Etonic, Pepsi, Geico, just to name a few.

Interestingly, they separate the ladies from the gents too, with a so-called "Women's Series." They also have a Regional Tour and a Senior Tour. Everything seems to be under one umbrella of the PBA.

This year's Bowling Championship was sponsored by Lumber Liquidators -- never heard of them :o. The article states this is one of bowling's most prestigous titles that Smallwood won.

But look at Smallwood's money earnings: His victory put him at the top of the PBA earnings list for the 2009-10 season with $69,100 through eight events and he was tied with Bill O’Neill of Southampton, Pa., for the lead in the PBA Player of the Year points race.

As most know, this can be deceiving because about half of those earnings go towards expenses, UNLESS these bowling sponsors are paying his way.:wink:
 
JAM said:
What do you think? Did he make the right call, or is he just another passionate competitor about his sport, as most pro pool players are today?
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$50k is nice, but he'll burn through that money quickly. So if he's extra-sure to be good enough to win more tournaments, or if he reckons he can find another, better job in the near future, then he made the right choice. Otherwise he's a fool.

But I think there's probably more to that story. GM may have treated him like crap, or offered him his job back at half his former salary or something. I have a feeling he wanted to tell them to spin on it when he refused the job offer.
 
He started out as a kid going to leagues with his parents.

See, I always thought the pool leagues is where pool shines the brightest.

Here's a cute picture of him holding his check and trophy. Meanwhile, he's the media darling on everything: print, online, and TV. Everybody wants a piece of Smallwood right now. Bowling may not pay much, but I wonder if he's making any income from the media attention.

Meanwhile, remember that this tournament, like the U.S. Open and others, have similar payouts to pool. Yet, nobody in mainstream media seems to cover pool. Even with the IPT's million-dollar events, there was hardly a mention about it in American media.

He does look like a nice chap! :smile:
 

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I just knew it. Behind every good champion, there's a good woman! :wink:

Here is his response to a question about him considering playing bowling as a professional.

Question: When did you start considering the PBA tour as a possible next career move?

Just before I got laid off. That's one of those things where I wasn't too upset. Honestly I assumed I'd rather have worked instead of trying tour trials. I enjoy being home with my family. I have a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. But if you'd have asked me 13 months ago 'Do you want be a pro bowler or work for GM I'd have stayed with GM.

It is unbelievable the way things came together. I told my wife that the day I turn 30 I am done bowling for real, done ever attempting to do tour trials. I always had a decent job and I said I am too old to do it. After 30 you're not going to start a career in bowling. We agreed. I am not really into signs or that things were meant to happen for you but it just worked out so unbelievable that the Tour Trials were going to be held in Detroit so close to where I live, along with all the World Series of Bowling events - at that time they had just announced the location of the World Series events - my wife agreed 100%, so I bowled Tour Trials and we said if that doesn't work out we will figure out what we will do. Fortunately she has a decent job, it was never life or death. She carries our insurance. Without her job we'd have been hurting.
 
One Game!

I am amazed that they determine the winner of bowling match by one game! I hear top pool players complain all the time that ESPN forces them to play short sets of pool in the late stages but could you imagine if you only got to play a race to one!

I understand that they play more games early and are seated into the final games based on the earlier averages but what a huge amount of pressure in that final game! One open frame and you are pretty much screwed.
 
She will probably soon regret her encouragement as she will be kicking his a$$ for not taking that $75. per hour GM pays to assemble seat belts.:frown:
 
TheMarsMan said:
I am amazed that they determine the winner of bowling match by one game! I hear top pool players complain all the time that ESPN forces them to play short sets of pool in the late stages but could you imagine if you only got to play a race to one!

I understand that they play more games early and are seated into the final games based on the earlier averages but what a huge amount of pressure in that final game! One open frame and you are pretty much screwed.
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You pretty much hit the nail on the head there Mars. For 2 years I made my rounds of the northeast regional bowling tour, and most weekends were win/lose depending on about a handful of pins. We played blocks of 10 games in the qualifying stages, and then it went to sudden death in the finals for TV.

You know, no one talks about the gambling in bowling :) I remember playing $5 a pin back when I was 16 or 17. That was a pretty hefty bet for a pin chaser in high school. :grin:
 
Humility, this guy have from the way he answers those questions. Hope it doesn't get into his head when he becomes a household name in the future.

This reminds me of a great Bowling Champ and Hall of Famer, a Pinoy named Paeng Nepomuceno. He was a humble person, just like Efren Reyes.
 
And another thing.,..

Bowling has modernized its game, with bowlers showing lots of emotion and employing more body english. In the old days, televised bowling was a dead serious affair. Now the bowlers mix it up with the crowd and with each other, and it makes a much more entertaining broadcast. Pool, meantime, produces boring matches with very little interchange among the players and crowd.

The PBA has been the guiding light of tournament bowling for most of the past century. Pool, alas, has nothing close.

But I agree with JAM that pool and more related to bowling than it is to golf or tennis. But as I look around Denver, I see lots of bowling alleys that appear to be prospering. And the pool scene in Denver continues to wither. It's gonna take an exciting new champion (Landon Shuffett or Austin Murphy) to spark new interest in the game.

High-def broadcasts would also help viewers identify balls. I've seen bowling in high-def lots of times, but never pool.
 
Bigjohn said:
She will probably soon regret her encouragement as she will be kicking his a$$ for not taking that $75. per hour GM pays to assemble seat belts.:frown:
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Don't forget the extra benefits: health insurance, sick leave, and vacation time off with pay!!!!!

James
 
TheMarsMan said:
I am amazed that they determine the winner of bowling match by one game! I hear top pool players complain all the time that ESPN forces them to play short sets of pool in the late stages but could you imagine if you only got to play a race to one!

I understand that they play more games early and are seated into the final games based on the earlier averages but what a huge amount of pressure in that final game! One open frame and you are pretty much screwed.
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Yes.. but in bowling, (and almost every other sport) each person gets to play no matter what. You get up and bowl your game, I bowl mine, we compare the score. You had the exact same opportunities as I did.

Not so in pool. That's what makes pool so different from any other game. You don't get the exact same opportunities. Now.. they try as best they can by going to an alternating break, but that's about as close as it gets.

But.... you already knew that...
 
i dont care if i won the US open I would still keep my job, as its guaranteed. You could win the open and stay broke forever trying to win another one....

america needs more workers not professional athletes
 
I looked at the PBA web site and was impressed by the idea that it is similar to (but not as good as) AZB. Then it occurred to me that AZB could become the professional organization for pool players.

Give Pros their own forum where they will not be harassed by trolls and such. Over time AZB could conduct polls of Pros, players, amateurs etc and could have even more of an impact on the sport.

Maybe this should be a new thread with a poll. With a sufficient number of volunteers there could be many good things that come from such an idea. Of course Mike H and others would need to give it some serious thought.

Propoolplayer has lobbied for a non-fee based association. Perhaps this is the place to do it.
 
Could be a great idea for the pro's

Joe,

I'm totally ignorant as to how it works but a forum site using this same software has a hidden forum. You can't see it from the main forum unless you are a member of the hidden forum. It is password protected also. Works well, it has been around close to ten years with no intruders. Of course it isn't like the pro's don't bang heads with each other too but putting together a pro's only forum could be a great place for them to discuss things.

There is a downside for AZB though. The other site's main forum lost some of it's most valued posters since they came to post infrequently or not at all on the main forum, spending most of their time on the private forum or elsewhere. We do have a fairly significant group of pro players posting on AZB although most prefer to remain nameless. Losing them and any new pro players going directly to the hidden site would have a real impact on the forum.

Hu


JoeW said:
I looked at the PBA web site and was impressed by the idea that it is similar to (but not as good as) AZB. Then it occurred to me that AZB could become the professional organization for pool players.

Give Pros their own forum where they will not be harassed by trolls and such. Over time AZB could conduct polls of Pros, players, amateurs etc and could have even more of an impact on the sport.

Maybe this should be a new thread with a poll. With a sufficient number of volunteers there could be many good things that come from such an idea. Of course Mike H and others would need to give it some serious thought.

Propoolplayer has lobbied for a non-fee based association. Perhaps this is the place to do it.
Click to expand...
 
JAM said:
I think you may be right.

You know, on this forum over the years, I see golf and tennis being compared to pool, but, in reality, there is no comparison between these games/sports.

I do think bowling is a better fit if one compares pool to another game/sport.

Of course, even these bowlers have an "organization" by way of the PBA (Professional Bowlers of America), which is something that is sorely lacking for the pool players.

Most believe this is the problem with pool and have written about it extensively on this forum. Check out the PBA website for bowlers: Professional Bowlers of America

Sheesh! They are labeling this new bowing champion "The Anti-Tiger." :grin-square:

The difference that I can see initially between bowling and pool is the non-industry sponsors. Bowling's got Bayer Aspirin, Etonic, Pepsi, Geico, just to name a few.

Interestingly, they separate the ladies from the gents too, with a so-called "Women's Series." They also have a Regional Tour and a Senior Tour. Everything seems to be under one umbrella of the PBA.

This year's Bowling Championship was sponsored by Lumber Liquidators -- never heard of them :o. The article states this is one of bowling's most prestigous titles that Smallwood won.

But look at Smallwood's money earnings: His victory put him at the top of the PBA earnings list for the 2009-10 season with $69,100 through eight events and he was tied with Bill O’Neill of Southampton, Pa., for the lead in the PBA Player of the Year points race.

As most know, this can be deceiving because about half of those earnings go towards expenses, UNLESS these bowling sponsors are paying his way.:wink:
Click to expand...

A few years back, bowling was is dire straits not unlike pool today. It was "saved" by a group of Microsoft executives that bought the pro bowlers tour and turned it around with some creative marketing.

IMHO, pool will need someone to take the reins to create a legit tour. Obtaining outside sponsorship won't come until there is an actual product that is televised regularly and it probably won't be televised regularly until there are some sponsors. A classic case of catch 22 :(
 
I think turning down their offer had less to do with money than it did with honor & principle. I applaud his decision to leave GM in the dust.

My question is why do they want him back?

Did winning that tournament make him a better assembly person? No.

Do they have another motive then? Probably.

For the free publicity? Probably.

Makes them look like the good guys? Yeah.

Win the annual bowling tourney among the Big 3? Just kidding.
 
Exactly where do you live where your job is guaranteed?
Remember... this guy was laid off from his guaranteed job


greyghost said:
i dont care if i won the US open I would still keep my job, as its guaranteed. You could win the open and stay broke forever trying to win another one....

america needs more workers not professional athletes
Click to expand...
 
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