BCA Hall of Fame, Men and Women

C

Cameron Smith

is kind of hungry...
Silver Member
The other thread on the BCA hall of fame got me thinking. Since the men women generally don't compete against eachother (up until the IPT anyway), would it be a good idea to elect one woman and one man every year?

I don't think it is fair to say one person is more deserving than the other, because they competed in entirely different circumstances. Its like the discussions I've heard about, "who's better? Or who's more dominant? Tiger Woods or Annika Sorenstan (sp?)". They don't compete against each other so you can't really compare based on championship wins. The only way to decide is to have them both play a difficult course that requires presision rather power. In my opinion both Robin Dodson and Earl Strickland should have been inducted.

P.S. Don't take this as an oppurtunity to discuss the shortcomings of the women players. I don't like seeing those women bashing threads.
 
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sjm

sjm

Older and Wiser
Silver Member
I really don't think that this makes sense. At least in America, and even in recent times, for every woman that has dedicated her life to the game of pool, there are fifty men that have done so.

The male competitors in the BCA Halll of Fame are there because they competed on or nearly on a par with the sport's all time greatest men.

Extremely few in the history of women's pool have competed anywhere near the level of the premier players like Ruth McGuiness, Jean Balukas, Ewa Laurance, Robin Dodson, LJ Jones, who, as a group, have set the bar very high for inclusion. Having said that, however, times are a changin'. More and more women are distinguishing themselves in competition, and that means that, over time, more and more women should get into the Hall of Fame.....but not yet. Allison Fisher, Karen Corr, Vivian Villareal, Gerda Hofstatter, and Jeanette Lee will all likely get in one day, and each will be very deserving of the honor.

I'm as big a fan as there is of women's professional pool, but admitting women to the BCA Hall of Fame just to balance the numbers doesn't seem right to me. Excellence should be the measuring stick, and excellence is measured in professional titles.
 
rackmsuckr

rackmsuckr

Linda Carter - The QUEEN!
Silver Member
sjm said:
I really don't think that this makes sense. At least in America, and even in recent times, for every woman that has dedicated her life to the game of pool, there are fifty men that have done so.

The male competitors in the BCA Halll of Fame are there because they competed on or nearly on a par with the sport's all time greatest men.

Extremely few in the history of women's pool have competed anywhere near the level of the premier players like Ruth McGuiness, Jean Balukas, Ewa Laurance, Robin Dodson, LJ Jones, who, as a group, have set the bar very high for inclusion. Having said that, however, times are a changin'. More and more women are distinguishing themselves in competition, and that means that, over time, more and more women should get into the Hall of Fame.....but not yet. Allison Fisher, Karen Corr, Vivian Villareal, Gerda Hofstatter, and Jeanette Lee will all likely get in one day, and each will be very deserving of the honor.

I'm as big a fan as there is of women's professional pool, but admitting women to the BCA Hall of Fame just to balance the numbers doesn't seem right to me. Excellence should be the measuring stick, and excellence is measured in professional titles.
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I heartily agrree with everything you said up until the very last word. I also think a person's contribution to the sport should be rewarded, not by only playing excellence, but in promoting, teaching or authoring excellence as well, imho.

Editing note...I had not read the other HOF thread until now, so I know you probably were talking about the player category and not the meritorious category, sorry. :rolleyes:
 
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sjm

sjm

Older and Wiser
Silver Member
rackmsuckr said:
I heartily agrree with everything you said up until the very last word. I also think a person's contribution to the sport should be rewarded, not by only playing excellence, but in promoting or authoring excellence as well, imho.
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The initial post made it clear that it referred to players earning their way in through competition.

Still, I wholeheartedly agree with you that a person's contribution to their sport can justify inclusion in the hall, but in the meritorious service category, and the meriotirious category is not the subject of this thread.
 
C

Cameron Smith

is kind of hungry...
Silver Member
sjm said:
I really don't think that this makes sense. At least in America, and even in recent times, for every woman that has dedicated her life to the game of pool, there are fifty men that have done so.

The male competitors in the BCA Halll of Fame are there because they competed on or nearly on a par with the sport's all time greatest men.

Extremely few in the history of women's pool have competed anywhere near the level of the premier players like Ruth McGuiness, Jean Balukas, Ewa Laurance, Robin Dodson, LJ Jones, who, as a group, have set the bar very high for inclusion. Having said that, however, times are a changin'. More and more women are distinguishing themselves in competition, and that means that, over time, more and more women should get into the Hall of Fame.....but not yet. Allison Fisher, Karen Corr, Vivian Villareal, Gerda Hofstatter, and Jeanette Lee will all likely get in one day, and each will be very deserving of the honor.

I'm as big a fan as there is of women's professional pool, but admitting women to the BCA Hall of Fame just to balance the numbers doesn't seem right to me. Excellence should be the measuring stick, and excellence is measured in professional titles.
Click to expand...

Its not to balance anything, its just that they compete seperately so I would think that seperate consideration is order. You said that excellence is measured in proffesional titles, but neither of two genders had to play each other for those titles.

But I didn't mean every year. I don't know what length of time has to go by before someone can be considered for induction. But what I thought is that when ever a woman is elligible for induction that there be seperate consideration.

I guess I just don't think it is fair to compare accomplishments when they achieved them in completely seperate circumstances.

That being said Im starting to feel that my foot is inching ever further into my mouth. But that's ok it generally lives there.
 
Tbeaux

Tbeaux

Angelic Hotdog
Silver Member
Regarding women in the HOF, there were perhaps a half dozen who had made a name for themselves before the 1970's (mostly exhibitions). Then you have the ones who formed up the WPBA. All of these should be honored for their contribution to womens pool. As far as winning play goes, the opportunity for wins has been pretty limited. WPBA wins, World Championship wins, some National level wins in some countries. I'd have to say though that Allison has already established her credentials for entry.
Jeanette,Karen,Gerda,Vivian all have great records and one day should be considered. Many of the current players are making a mark on billiards but not by wins, by being wonderful ambassadors of the sport.

Terry>Hiya, Linda how's it going;)
 
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