First let me say that THIS POST IS NOT ON THE BEHALF OFSTR8-SHOTS. This is my personal take on this whole situation.
Well, its been hard to sit back and watch this thing go down. My opinion is that there has been a REALLY BIG misunderstanding on a few levels.
I personally have always got along with Justin/TAR/CSI and we have in the past worked together to schedule events so as not to compete or make players unavailable when the other wanted to set something up. Not that I have ever been a competitor of TAR but having 2 events at the same time does nobody any good. I'm sure that you see what I am talking about.
I started a thread asking about Danny with the intention of possibly putting together a PPV match. My opinion was that TAR/Justin had NO interest in working on this again after what had gone down the last time they tried an statements that were made.
Well one thing led to another and before I knew it I had spoke to both players and I tried to make contact with Justin to just see what his thoughts were on it. I am aware that Justin has a life outside of TAR and I'm sure he was busy and I got no response. From that point I left it alone thinking at some point Justin would call me if he felt like he should or needed to an it left my mind completely.
To answer the question Did anyone know that there were any ill feelings between the two players (Danny and John) The simple answer is of course I knew about the ill will but after talking to both Danny and John I guess I didn't really know the extent of the ill will and the impact it could have and what could potentially go down.
I spoke with str8-shots honchos and told them about the match I was working on and that it wasn't going to be friendly and we would need to do all we could to control the situation. Str8-shots were not aware of rivalry being so heated and had concerns about the Jr Players that are involved with str8-shots also wanting to see a team mate play and then seeing a meltdown. Please remember that they work to instill sportsmanship and integrity into these young players and if anything happened it just would go against what the are trying to get across.
A quick response to Kvnbrw I think. I know what you are trying to do with your statements that I don't trust John.to behave. However let me just put it to you like this because you obviously can't see anything but one side. There would be two players in the room and even if John Behaves as agreed and we trust that to happen and he acts like the pope that does not stop Danny doing something (Not saying he would this is just a scenario) So if Danny punches John (Who is behaving) in the mouth John just like many would probably react. Now we have a fight on our hands no matter who is to blame. Meanwhile the kids that Str8-shot are sponsoring have tuned in to watch a team mate play and this is what they see. After all the advice and encouragement to be a sportsman and honor with integrity the Pro is in a fight. I'm sure that you can see how that would look.
Moving right along, the next thing is that I saw was the open invite to John and Danny from TAR. I was a little confused since I had began working on a match that I didn't think TAR wanted and then they go over the top of me without a call back to talk about it. I know that TAR started the rivalry and that was the reason I tried to call in them in first place out of respect. Mean while things went along faster than planned and wires got crossed and here we are.
I have to say that I am a little disappointed in some of the people on here who were willing to make such nasty, hurtful and just plain mean and rude remarks about Kimberly and Str8-shots. I am not saying this because I work for them, I am saying this because they are good people and do more for pool in general than at least 99% of the people who have been knocking them. Seriously do for pool what the do and the Jr programs, the troops overseas and the BEF and then maybe you have right to bash them if you don't like their stance on anything. Until them I think that those who are not doing what they are should show a little greatfulness and respect.
I know this whole thing has not gone the way of popular opinion on here at least and again, mainly down to miscommunications, crossed wires and misunderstandings. NOBODY was trying to take anything away from TAR and I hope after all this that everyone can still be friends around here and I guess lets see what happens next. These are my personal thoughts and nobody elses. Not sure if this has answered any questions but at least you have my input. I have been around here a few years now and I have had a few problems here and here but not too many and so I hope that you guys know that I do all I can for the benefit of the pool world and fans in general. Oh before anyone says it, yeah I make money on it too, not much but it keeps me alive.
Thanks for listening,
Mark Cantrill