B
Barry Behrman
Guest
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2003 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships
by Barry Behrman
Reflecting back on this year’s event I have many wonderful memories of which, first of all, I was very fortunate and grateful to have been given the opportunity to be present and I will always be very thankful for that.
I’m very proud of Jeremy Jones after being runner-up in 1999 behind his friend Johnny Archer. It seemed he was on a mission this year, especially playing in the toughest bracket of the tournament and went undefeated. Mr. Jones you are an extremely deserving 18th Individual Champion of the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships and I wish you continued success.
Again, I took a huge loss due to Hurricane Isabel coming right in the middle of the tournament. The Conference Center was closed one day and Q-Masters over 2 days. I expect the total loss this year to be between 40 – 50 thousand dollars.
As most of you know I dedicated this year’s event to my parents. I lost my Dad last November. After other losses I’ve incurred I have decided not to wait to borrow money from friends, but to use my inheritance he left for me right away. I’ve taken care of this before returning to jail waiting my October 10th court date. All of the players were happy to see me and I want to show my appreciation to them as well. I will not allow any more negative press about the prize fund. I’ve lost over $150,000 the past 3 of 4 losing events and for not my love of people and pool I would not continue. Next year’s dates are September 6 – 12, 2004 and I will be taking out hurricane insurance. You can “bet” on that. I will add $50,000 minimum to next year’s event and will increase it to $72,000 for a full field of 256 players.
The most important thing I have learned while out for two weeks to run my event was to never put myself into that situation again, and I mean it. The love and support from everyone was overwhelming and that meant so much to me. More than words could ever describe.
Many people will say that I’ve had a lot of bad luck and I sure have, but I’ve also learned you make your own luck. Maybe I’ve deserved what has been dealt to me and to my misfortunes. By living my life more responsibly and do the right things maybe life will be better. My life would have never been the same if I had missed my event this year, never. Thank you all for your support and as Paul Newman said in The Color of Money, “I’m back.”
Barry Behrman
P.S. I want to thank all those who worked so very hard this year.
Candy Rawson – Q-Masters General Manager
Christopher Adams – Q-Masters League Director
Tim Colvin – Q-Masters Store Manager
David Bray – Q-Masters Day Manager
Kara Turnipseed – Q-Masters Food & Beverage Manager
Inside Pool Magazine – Press
National Billiard News – Press
Pool and Billiards Magazine – Press
Billiards Digest – Press
Shannon Paschal – Ticket sales
Heather Bress – Ticket sales
Craig Morris – Doorman
Tom Lattimer – U.S. Open staff
Mike Adams – U.S. Open staff
Shannon McKimmey- U.S. Open staff
Dave Girouard – U.S. Open staff
Todd Caldwell – U.S. Open staff and Referee
Kara Deitch – National Anthem performer
Scott Smith – U.S. Open Tournament Director
Steve Logan – U.S. Open Assistant Tournament Director
Ed & Jason Hagen – U.S. Open setup
Tom Manley – U.S. Open setup
Billy Hoffman – U.S. Open setup
Damon Watson – U.S. Open setup
Mark Fisher – U.S. Open setup
Ty Laha, II. – U.S. Open setup
Team Bentley – Sardo racker
Mark Hoover – Sardo racker
Jim Hayes – Sardo racker
Jim Antoskow – Sardo racker
Diamond Billiard Products – Table Sponsor
Iwan Simonis – Cloth Sponsor
Sardo Tight Rack – Rack Sponsor
Aramith – Billiard Ball Sponsor
Pat Fleming and Staff – Accu Stats Video Productions
and
Rob Sykora – Billiard Club Network
I would like to pay special thanks to Candy Rawson and Christopher Adams who began work on this year’s event back in April and who are still finalizing the particulars. Their vital hard work was distributed on organizing sales for VIP seating, vendors, sponsors, player entries, event set-up and so many more details that simply cannot be listed here in their entirety.
2003 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships
by Barry Behrman
Reflecting back on this year’s event I have many wonderful memories of which, first of all, I was very fortunate and grateful to have been given the opportunity to be present and I will always be very thankful for that.
I’m very proud of Jeremy Jones after being runner-up in 1999 behind his friend Johnny Archer. It seemed he was on a mission this year, especially playing in the toughest bracket of the tournament and went undefeated. Mr. Jones you are an extremely deserving 18th Individual Champion of the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships and I wish you continued success.
Again, I took a huge loss due to Hurricane Isabel coming right in the middle of the tournament. The Conference Center was closed one day and Q-Masters over 2 days. I expect the total loss this year to be between 40 – 50 thousand dollars.
As most of you know I dedicated this year’s event to my parents. I lost my Dad last November. After other losses I’ve incurred I have decided not to wait to borrow money from friends, but to use my inheritance he left for me right away. I’ve taken care of this before returning to jail waiting my October 10th court date. All of the players were happy to see me and I want to show my appreciation to them as well. I will not allow any more negative press about the prize fund. I’ve lost over $150,000 the past 3 of 4 losing events and for not my love of people and pool I would not continue. Next year’s dates are September 6 – 12, 2004 and I will be taking out hurricane insurance. You can “bet” on that. I will add $50,000 minimum to next year’s event and will increase it to $72,000 for a full field of 256 players.
The most important thing I have learned while out for two weeks to run my event was to never put myself into that situation again, and I mean it. The love and support from everyone was overwhelming and that meant so much to me. More than words could ever describe.
Many people will say that I’ve had a lot of bad luck and I sure have, but I’ve also learned you make your own luck. Maybe I’ve deserved what has been dealt to me and to my misfortunes. By living my life more responsibly and do the right things maybe life will be better. My life would have never been the same if I had missed my event this year, never. Thank you all for your support and as Paul Newman said in The Color of Money, “I’m back.”
Barry Behrman
P.S. I want to thank all those who worked so very hard this year.
Candy Rawson – Q-Masters General Manager
Christopher Adams – Q-Masters League Director
Tim Colvin – Q-Masters Store Manager
David Bray – Q-Masters Day Manager
Kara Turnipseed – Q-Masters Food & Beverage Manager
Inside Pool Magazine – Press
National Billiard News – Press
Pool and Billiards Magazine – Press
Billiards Digest – Press
Shannon Paschal – Ticket sales
Heather Bress – Ticket sales
Craig Morris – Doorman
Tom Lattimer – U.S. Open staff
Mike Adams – U.S. Open staff
Shannon McKimmey- U.S. Open staff
Dave Girouard – U.S. Open staff
Todd Caldwell – U.S. Open staff and Referee
Kara Deitch – National Anthem performer
Scott Smith – U.S. Open Tournament Director
Steve Logan – U.S. Open Assistant Tournament Director
Ed & Jason Hagen – U.S. Open setup
Tom Manley – U.S. Open setup
Billy Hoffman – U.S. Open setup
Damon Watson – U.S. Open setup
Mark Fisher – U.S. Open setup
Ty Laha, II. – U.S. Open setup
Team Bentley – Sardo racker
Mark Hoover – Sardo racker
Jim Hayes – Sardo racker
Jim Antoskow – Sardo racker
Diamond Billiard Products – Table Sponsor
Iwan Simonis – Cloth Sponsor
Sardo Tight Rack – Rack Sponsor
Aramith – Billiard Ball Sponsor
Pat Fleming and Staff – Accu Stats Video Productions
and
Rob Sykora – Billiard Club Network
I would like to pay special thanks to Candy Rawson and Christopher Adams who began work on this year’s event back in April and who are still finalizing the particulars. Their vital hard work was distributed on organizing sales for VIP seating, vendors, sponsors, player entries, event set-up and so many more details that simply cannot be listed here in their entirety.
