2010 US Open 9 Ball Championship - An Open Letter from Barry Behrman

This statement by Kelly Fisher is hard to believe “the WPBA should boycott the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships as Barry Behrman was using them to ‘fill the field’ and for publicity purposes”. Barry is giving the female pros a chance to play in the greatest 9 ball tournament in US History. The WPBA players should be sending Barry "Thank You" notes showing how much they appreciate him doing this for them since their list of tournaments is getting much smaller instead larger. The US Open will be just fine without Kelly Fisher and if she feels the way she states I hope she stays home.

James

There are a lot of the top women that have sponsors and products and a pool business of their own and need to get their name and face out there. I hope all of the top women play in the Open. I guess Kelly doesn't feel like she or the rest of the top women on the WPBA has a chance to cash like JB thinks she does. I think they do. Johnnyt
 
There are a lot of the top women that have sponsors and products and a pool business of their own and need to get their name and face out there. I hope all of the top women play in the Open. I guess Kelly doesn't feel like she or the rest of the top women on the WPBA has a chance to cash like JB thinks she does. I think they do. Johnnyt

I think it was the first year she won the San Diego tournament, she broke and ran 12 out of 14 racks in the semis and finals i believe. If she played her top speed, she could go deep in the US Open. Her recent public form has not been near that however.
 
JMO, but I think Barry should have called Ms. Fisher and settled it privately. If she really did say anything like that, it certainly wasn't in a press release or open letter to the public.

I don't see any reason for that whole paragraph except to publicly embarrass her. If he wants to prove to the world that he is changing, he doesn't need to call out someone else in order to show that he is taking the high road.

I know that people are going to flame me because they believe that everyone should have knowledge of everything, but I still believe that it is way classier to handle a beef between two parties privately instead of in a news release.

That being said, I hope that the ladies of the WPBA do show up to the US Open. It will be good for them to mix it up with the guys.
 
JMO, but I think Barry should have called Ms. Fisher and settled it privately. If she really did say anything like that, it certainly wasn't in a press release or open letter to the public.

I don't see any reason for that whole paragraph except to publicly embarrass her. If he wants to prove to the world that he is changing, he doesn't need to call out someone else in order to show that he is taking the high road.

I know that people are going to flame me because they believe that everyone should have knowledge of everything, but I still believe that it is way classier to handle a beef between two parties privately instead of in a news release.

That being said, I hope that the ladies of the WPBA do show up to the US Open. It will be good for them to mix it up with the guys.

Using this same reasoning, Kelly should have called Barry first to express her disapproval of what he was doing, rather than to publicly criticize his event, which is what she did to more than one person. When a well known athlete expresses their sentiments publicly, the word travels fast, which is how Barry found out in the first place. Not much different than what Barry did here in a far more honorable way. He didn't talk behind her back.
 
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mr whodat-its in everyones best interest to call people out in front of other people

barry has been publicly roasted numerous times on this website-he has earned the right to make a statement

btw would you like to compare what barry has done for pool and his local community compared to ms fisher?
 
There are a lot of the top women that have sponsors and products and a pool business of their own and need to get their name and face out there. I hope all of the top women play in the Open. I guess Kelly doesn't feel like she or the rest of the top women on the WPBA has a chance to cash like JB thinks she does. I think they do. Johnnyt

She obviously has character and principle and if she dosn't participate then its her loss as well as the promoter's loss. I think that calling her out in a public letter is NO class and just damage control.
 
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I am a fan and not a player. I agree with what all of you have said here. I do attend the U.S. Open nearly every year when I am in the USA. I have expressed my dislike for what I view as the inhospitable attitude Barry's staff display toward certain patrons at his poolhall.
But Barry is a graet promoter of pool and seems to be trying to do what is right by the players and fans.

But this is 2010, and my question is, does Barry deserve praise for doing what should have been done many years ago. Should Barry be a made a hero because he stop discriminating against fifty percent of the people in America?
 
mr whodat-its in everyones best interest to call people out in front of other people

barry has been publicly roasted numerous times on this website-he has earned the right to make a statement

btw would you like to compare what barry has done for pool and his local community compared to ms fisher?

I don't know what that is suppose to mean. But maybe we can start with the comparison of their rapsheets.
 
Using this same reasoning, Kelly should have called Barry first to express her disapproval of what he was doing, rather than to publicly criticize his event, which is what she did to more than one person. When a well known athlete expresses their sentiments publicly, the word travels fast, which is how Barry found out in the first place. Not much different than what Barry did here in a far more honorable way. He didn't talk behind her back.

I don't disagree with you sir. Kelly could definitely have done that and it would have been more appropriate for sure.

However, talking to someone in a pool room is a far cry from a press release. She could have been talking to a friend and the road player could have overheard the conversation and then repeated it to Barry.

Come to think of it, the road player could have simply spoken to her about her views instead of repeating the negativity to Barry and stirring the pot.

I guess I'm just thinking that this all seems very uncivilised.

We can agree to disagree though :) That is civilised.
 
good answer think of that on your own?(bondsman)
we are talking about pool-i dont question her character-i sometimes question her sex but i dont ever question her character

im being ignorant with my smartass comments but you actually think
thats its a smart business move by kelly to openly say something to the players in regards to his event?or does show any class?lets be real for a moment
barry no angel in his personal life-has the longest running major event in the world-has its problems no doubt-but he keeps putting it on every year

we have a player(kelly)wins a couple of tourneys plays well enough doesnt seem to bother anyone that im openly aware of -but opens her mouth in a
public forum where her influence might mean something and she says something negative-that makes her a poolplayer-too smart for her own good-and we wonder why we watch 10 year old reruns on espn-
 
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mr whodat-its in everyones best interest to call people out in front of other people

barry has been publicly roasted numerous times on this website-he has earned the right to make a statement

btw would you like to compare what barry has done for pool and his local community compared to ms fisher?

I don't agree. I think it was in Barry's best interest to create a buzz by going after Kelly in public. And I don't think we all needed to know about it - but I think people find this stuff entertaining.

Do you really believe that you have somehow gained something by knowing that Kelly "dissed" Barry, and that he is going to forgive her for it?

As for comparisons, I don't plan to compare the two. They both have accomplished much in the industry.
 
you seem nice enough but we arent talking about the same levels
of acheivment -lets agree to disagree
 
good answer think of that on your own?(bondsman)
we are talking about pool-i dont question her character-i sometimes question her sex but i dont ever question her character

im being ignorant with my smartass comments but you actually think
thats its a smart business move by kelly to openly say something to the players in regards to his event?or does show any class?lets be real for a moment
barry no angel in his personal life-has the longest running major event in the world-has its problems no doubt-but he keeps putting it on every year

we have a player(kelly)wins a couple of tourneys plays well enough doesnt seem to bother anyone that im openly aware of -but opens her mouth in a
public forum where her influence might mean something and she says something negative-that makes her a poolplayer-too smart for her own good-and we wonder why we watch 10 year old reruns on espn-

Yeah Scotty I did think of that on my own, and it was a rude inappropriate thing for me to say to say. As I have said I love what Barry does for pool. My problem is the creeps I get when I go to his place. But I am wrong to throw stones.
 
buxton

what about Buxton.. him being MIA will never make it the same.......

rest in peace Bux
 
I see it as a great opportunity for the top women players to prove their mettle. If anything a great player like Kelly Fisher should be thankful for the opportunity to show the world she can play with anyone. I bet you won't hear Jasmin complaining. She's a pool player!

I think you're on the mark.

I'm confused the women say they want respect as players, but her saying that sounds like she believes the women really aren't that good.

Kelly Fisher is a entertaining player I would think she would relish the chance to compete. I bet Jasmin Ouschan is training her ass off to win not just show up.
 
An interesting (to me) side note to all this is that Kelly had made other plans already. She will be in China during the month prior to the U.S. Open, and then play in the women's tourney (World Ten Ball) over there (in Shanghai) which immediately follows the Open. So she had no plans on attending the Open anyway. Makes me wonder why she would be trying to enlist other women players to boycott the Open. The two events are scheduled very close together, with only a couple of days of travel time for any women who goes deep in the Open. Could it be that she wants certainty that they will all come to China and play there, rather than chance a possible conflict in their schedule? I think there is more to this story than meets the eye.
 
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> I wonder what will be said if Jasmin decides to go play.

Just my opinion,she might as well. She's got the fire in the gut from what I've seen. She's at least on par with any other woman on Earth,and has proven under very similar playing conditions that she can in fact beat elite men,so why not?

I could make the case for Allison or Karen too. You can bet there will be men in that field that would get beat by all 3 daily.

She's got her opinion,no beef there.

Other people in Barry's shoes would have crumbled and the tournament would have been done in 2001 because of the effect of 9/11 on the gate.

He's made mistakes,but so what? He's made up for those in spades I'd say. Tommy D.
 
But this is 2010, and my question is, does Barry deserve praise for doing what should have been done many years ago. Should Barry be a made a hero because he stop discriminating against fifty percent of the people in America?

Obviously, you don't know the history here.
The way I understand it, the women were not allowed in the U.S. Open based on an agreement between Barry and the WPBA. It was the WPBA that did not want the ladies playing in Barry's Open. They wanted to have their own WPBA U.S. Open. I'm sure someone will correct me if this is wrong but this is what I have read several times.

IMHO, women playing in the U.S Open is long overdue and I'm am very happy to see it happening. Whatever the real reasons for the split were, I'm and thrilled that Barry and the WPBA have come to their senses and the women will be allowed to play this year and hopefully for all the years to come.
 
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