Great Column by George Fels
- Thread starter dmgwalsh
- Start date
Was the Charlie Williams event truly a World Championship? I don't know. I guess it was the best 14.1 Tournament of the year (worldwide) so from that standpoint it should qualify. Did it meet the WPA minimum money added requirements, nope I don't think so. It always comes down to "money". That is how screwed up the American/WORLD economy is that the best 14.1 Tournament of the year could not get enough "added" money to meet a minimum requirement. In the pool world "MONEY" has always been in short supply. That is why 4 or 5 years after winning a world championship...you can buy an endorsement for your "plastic pool cue", "chalk holder", "pool glove" or any other crap from the WORLD CHAMPION for $10 ($5 if he got beat last night). We all contribute to the pool world in our own way...Should "Charlie" have used the word "WORLD" (I don't know....but it was held on planet earth and any "earthing" could enter). Is "DCC" really the Southern Indiana Classic (probably not...it's close enough and you can see Louisville if you are tall). Should the "Windy City Cue Show" be called the Addison Illinois Cue Show (naw...they got breezes in Addison too). So "thank you" everybody for contributing to pool NO MATTER WHAT YOU CALL IT. For a while I was calling myself the best pool player on Nassau St. in Park Forest Illinois....But an oriental guy moved in down the block (my title may be in question).
Can anyone really be sure that your shoes are, in fact, red?
John L made the above post, but I can vouch for the fact that Johnny Z's shoes are indeed red.
Lou Figueroa
I guess, being of the opinion that pool has always lacked advertisers and sponsors, I am greatly surprised that events in other disciplines are able to garner the required dollars for sanctioning.
Does anyone know anything about this? Where is this additional money coming from for rotation events, that won't come for 14.1 events? Is it TV?
The only pool-related product whose ownership shouldn't be ashamed of themselves in this regard would be jump cues. I can see why they would not put up money for this event, when they would elsewhere.
I think both sides of the sanctioning debate have excellent points, and this is not likely to get resolved to anyone's satisfaction. However, it might be worth attacking this from a different angle and seeing if we can get these companies who are so willing to pony up for 9-ball to show some love to straight pool. Or at least try and figure out why they won't.
(My hunch is that all world championships these days are overseas, where they have TV contracts with companies like SkySports. With the guaranteed coverage, more pool companies are willing to take the plunge for advertising. If this is the case, and world championships are dependent on TV coverage for satisfying sanctioning dollars, then I would question the real worth of the WPA in the United States, where it is tremendously unlikely we'll ever get this kind of coverage.)
- Steve
Does anyone know anything about this? Where is this additional money coming from for rotation events, that won't come for 14.1 events? Is it TV?
The only pool-related product whose ownership shouldn't be ashamed of themselves in this regard would be jump cues. I can see why they would not put up money for this event, when they would elsewhere.
I think both sides of the sanctioning debate have excellent points, and this is not likely to get resolved to anyone's satisfaction. However, it might be worth attacking this from a different angle and seeing if we can get these companies who are so willing to pony up for 9-ball to show some love to straight pool. Or at least try and figure out why they won't.
(My hunch is that all world championships these days are overseas, where they have TV contracts with companies like SkySports. With the guaranteed coverage, more pool companies are willing to take the plunge for advertising. If this is the case, and world championships are dependent on TV coverage for satisfying sanctioning dollars, then I would question the real worth of the WPA in the United States, where it is tremendously unlikely we'll ever get this kind of coverage.)
- Steve
When you consider that the "gate" is small and there is no TV or mainstream print coverage, it's a wonder that the 14.1 event comes off at all. That it does is a tribute to Charlie Williams, the angels that contribute to the prize fund, and room owners like John Lavin (Red Shoes) who put on qualifiers without any hope of gain.
I too wonder where the money comes from for 9-ball and 10-ball world championships. Cue games must be a lot more popular in the rest of the world than in the good old USA, but better the rest of the world than nowhere at all. Maybe someday they will be popular again here, but the trend is discouraging.
Anyway, thanks to Charlie and Charlie's angels for helping to keep 14.1 alive. There are still those who see the beauty in 14.1, and maybe our numbers are slowly growing. I hope so.
I have another question. How did it help pool for the WPA to refuse to sanction the event?
If they aren't going to attempt to put together an event themselves and this is the most viable event anybody else can put together they accomplish nothing positive by refusing to sanction it.
If they aren't going to attempt to put together an event themselves and this is the most viable event anybody else can put together they accomplish nothing positive by refusing to sanction it.
I've been told that the organizers who add $150,000 (or so) to other WPA World Championships were irritated that someone else was running a World Championship with only $25,000 added, and those organizers let the WPA know of their concerns.
As mentioned before, for a World Championship that actually intends to promote participation from around the world, the added money is important. A sanctioned World Tournament has a majority of players from outside the country because each continental Confederation is obligated to its top players. If that tournament ends up costing the foreign entrants a lot on average, it's a large burden on the Federations/Confederations that are helping with travel expenses. Usually sanctioned World Tournaments have low entry fees because the majority of the prize fund is not extracted from the poor players.
I think most players in the US have not caught on to the deal with sanctioned World Tournaments yet. They are still used to the US model of open tournaments with the prize fund supported by hefty entry fees from the never-rans. I don't think that's the way a WC ought to be run.
Very nicely put!
Great column by George Fels
Thank you Bob.
Mark griffin
Thank you Bob.
Mark griffin
it seems people always keep saying Dragon P. calls it this and that "world championship". from what ive seen in their stories the exact name of the event that they promote is "World Tournament of 14.1". everyone else seems to associate WC status to it.
But i guess they do such a successful job marketing and promoting it that it seems natural to look at it as a WC event. Thus all these threads and posts by fans/non-fans.
But i guess they do such a successful job marketing and promoting it that it seems natural to look at it as a WC event. Thus all these threads and posts by fans/non-fans.
That assumes that every game in pool has the same level of support and is able to raise the same amount of sponsor money. It is akin to saying the Detroit Tigers cannot legitimately win the world series because they have a lower payroll than the New York Yankees.
