"Again with the $$$$$$$$"
I just read an article that said Efren Reyes was top money winner over the last 10 years in tournaments 1.7 million dollars.
They thought that was a fantastic thing. Thats an average of $170,000 a year to the worlds best player.
Think of how many hundreds of tournaments he played in all over the world in that 10 years.
How many days in motels , tournament entry fees, travel costs. Plus daily costs to live which are not unique but are relative.
Now imagine what the number 2 guy made then number 10 then number 30, 50, 100.
My best guess would be that the bottom 50 or 60 of the top 100 players the last 10 years had to supplement their tournament travels with money from gambling or a rich uncle or whatever. Mr. Behrman blames the players for the present state of our great game, I blame Mr. Behrman and some of the other promoters who have not done their job.
Part of their job should have been to find ways to make their venue grow each year, so that there are bigger paydays for everyone Some of the tournament promoters have done this some have not.
He said he wished he was 20 years younger....well he was close to that when he started, It's a shame whatever great idea he has now he didn't think of back then.
Maybe he can give his ideas to someone else and they can help the players in his stead.
I believe the players were truly ready to do just about whatever it took , including some sacrifice at first to make the IPT work.
Unfortunately it was just another way for 1 person to make money and the players to lose out.
In my opinion any tournament that has been running and is not growing has a poor manager.
I have an idea that I think might work , I am going to submit it to the Players Organization for their use.
Perhaps some of you also have ideas you might like to give them .
It's fine to talk but it means nothing if the correct people never hear it.
I for one do not blame the players for trying to help themselves , I think it has become a necessity for their survival rather than anything else.
Know this, promoters "LOSE MONEY on every Tournament, period, end of story!!!" Every promoter, every Tournament, and it's been like that forever!
A lot of yester-years great tournaments have come and gone.
Why, no money in it! Like the Akron Open for example, great Tournament to be a part of a Pro Tournament trail, "GONE." An endless list that died from the same disease, poverty! "Great promoters, like Joe Kerr, spent their lives building up tournaments like that one. Through the hard work of Joe Kerr and the Starcher family that event survived until the next year,
survived. You think Kerr or the Starchers, got rich off of that event? Recently, Greg Sullivan, has introduced the buy back formula, he says that scenario allows him to break even on the added money. Players have complained about the buy back format because, it makes the starting time's for the matches, unpredictable. But if the players had eight tournaments a year like DCC, I'll bet they'd learn to love that format despite the difficulties.
Promoters and room owners alike, build up a tournament stop, through years of hard work, at best, to see their event survive a while and then "Die on the Vine." Almost always, because there just wasn't enough support from within the local and regional, pool world to keep that event alive. The truly sad part is, the average "Ball-banging Joe" doesn't seem interested in experiencing or watching a tournament in person, anyway. Now that has to be changed someday soon, too. Barry Behrman, not only puts up his cash each year, for 35 years, but puts on one
"helluva show!" Because He loves pool! With-out him-------- would a U.S.Open event, like this one, ever exist again?
Well, maybe in the Philippines, oh yeah, forgot, its the U.S. Open!
Tournaments don't survive long with out fan based support! How many "normal pool players you know, that can tell you who Lee Van Corteza is, or Shane Van Boening, for that matter? So how does word of the game ever get to the general populous? Right now, it doesn't, it's just talked about among those who play and know about it. After all, the common working stiff is the potential T.V. audience the advertisers care about reaching. An audience, that for a lot of reasons, doesn't care or really, even exist right now! It's not the numbers that a
"pool players only" audience can generate that will ultimately matter, those numbers are way to small to count! Eventually, the billiard news has to get out beyond the world of pool and into the real world, and interest in a Pro Tour is the only vehicle that will consistently do that job.
No Identity=NO MONEY which generates no interest, which means no audience for the advertisers, and that describes the "who cares attitude," both inside and outside the game!!!!
That "IS" the problem in the long run, and the promoters are it's biggest victims.And what the Pool Community is about to lose, could set the Sport of Pool back to being a parlor game in the U.S.!!! And all because the Pool playing community at large, hasn't cared enough about our sport to financially support the game itself, from within it's own ranks.
We're fortunate and very lucky to have some-one like Barry involved with the growth of this sport. Building the longest running tournament in Pool's history is a great accomplishment. Another person who's sacrificed all "for the Love of the Game," is Pat Flemming.
I wonder if "Accu-Stats" will be around for ever? Anybody here bought a DVD from them lately?
Fan based support, is something,
every-one who's still breathing air can do right now, from where you sit, to help this sport continue at all! Buy a DVD, or maybe make plans to show up at the Open. You never know, you might start thinking like that and end up doing something positive for the benefit of the Sport, too!
By the way,
"You think Trudeau made any money in Pool?"
