A Letter To Allen Hopkins

ForumGhost516

ForumGhost516

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The idea for this letter came from Stevekur1 and he has given me the opportunity to write it given my penchant for big words and long winded essays lol.


Dear Mr. Hopkins,

On behalf of the straight pool community at large I would like to take this opportunity to ask for some semblance of a straight pool challenge at this years or even next year's Valley Forge Super Billiards Expo. Your event is incredible and you attract players from around the world as well as exhibitors, friends of the sport, customers, and of course the people our sport owes its lifeblood to the spectators. I personally have been now on two occasions and find it to be the high point of my billiard year.

However there is one thing that could make it that much better. A straight pool challenge.

I ask this humbly as I am not sure exactly what would go into this but I am sure the entirety of the AZbilliards 14.1 forum would get behind it as well as many pros. It seems to have gone over quite well at Derby City and we would love to the chance to see this type of challenge come to fruition at your event.

As I am sure you know being a living icon in our sport, 14.1 has seen a massive resurgence with larger names coming out of the wood work like Thorsten Hohman, John Schmidt, Mika Immonen, Oliver Ortman, the Austrian wonder girl Jasmin Ouschan, Stephan Cohen of France and many many many more. Not to mention the wealth of talent that is literally an hours drive away in NY. Players like Steve Lipsky and Danny Baroudy, Tony Robles, Jim Gottier, and Jude Rosenstock.

It was an honor to play with you and these people all at the world straight pool championships and judging by the reaction I got when I got home from this event I am more than sure it would draw in even more people to your incredible event.

So again Mr. Hopkins we beseech you to look inwards in your own heart to the game you truly love. Find it and bring it out in the form of any kind of Straight Pool Challenge at the Valley Forge Super Billiards Expo.

If help is needed please let me or any of us know what is needed and I am sure we can come up with something.


Sincerely,
Charles M Eames
along with many many many others.
 
if need be i will be there all week to count every ball pocketed, rack every rack for the challenge. also i will clean every ball in between challenges ! ! ! ! !

Also include in the letter, how 14.1 is trying to make a resergence with many leagues and monthly and quaterly tournaments popping up since the rebirth of the 14.1 world championships brought to you by predator and Charlie Williams.

also include how all that would be needed is one table set up with a spectating area and possibly even a ethernet connection or WiFi access so we can stream the entire thing across the entire Straight pool community !!!

Include in the letter as well how he features 9 Ball, 10 Ball, 8 Ball, and Trick Shots. and why not with all of this showcase the grandfather of all games with 14.1


If anyone else has any other ideas to add, please add them here. We would like to get the final letter out in the mail as soon as soon as possible.

Thanks Everyone, Maybe we can all make the difference !
Steve

Lastly:
if we made the final letter petition style, would you like your name on it so you could be included in the people held responsible for bringing 14.1 back into the limelight where it belongs ??????
 
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Go for it, Allen!

Allen:
I've attended every Billiards SuperExpo save one since the beginning in East Rutherford and have held VIP tickets for the pro events.
What could make me an even more devoted supporter? 14.1! A 14.1 challenge a la Derby City or the 60 points with continuing run format that Pat Fleming used for the Accu-stats Invitational would be the gem in the crown.
New Jersey-Philadelphia-New York is the hub of the reviving straight pool movement. An event at King of Prussia would create an even greater draw to the SuperExpo.
 
I'd be happy to do a final once-over review for spelling/grammatical correctness

stevekur1 said:
if need be i will be there all week to count every ball pocketed, rack every rack for the challenge. also i will clean every ball in between challenges ! ! ! ! !

Also include in the letter, how 14.1 is trying to make a resergence with many leagues and monthly and quaterly tournaments popping up since the rebirth of the 14.1 world championships brought to you by predator and Charlie Williams.

also include how all that would be needed is one table set up with a spectating area and possibly even a ethernet connection or WiFi access so we can stream the entire thing across the entire Straight pool community !!!

Include in the letter as well how he features 9 Ball, 10 Ball, 8 Ball, and Trick Shots. and why not with all of this showcase the grandfather of all games with 14.1


If anyone else has any other ideas to add, please add them here. We would like to get the final letter out in the mail as soon as soon as possible.

Thanks Everyone, Maybe we can all make the difference !
Steve

Lastly:
if we made the final letter petition style, would you like your name on it so you could be included in the people held responsible for bringing 14.1 back into the limelight where it belongs ??????
Click to expand...

Steve:

Accolades to you and the folks working with you on this very admirable effort! Behind you all the way. The only thing I might add, before you send the letter out is to have some folks review the letter for spelling and grammatical correctness. Not so much in the "spelling/grammar police" vein, but rather I'm sure you want this letter to look polished and very professional. Allan has a lot of folks working with/for him, and although he himself might not be too concerned about these kinds of things, the people doing the administrative work for him might be.

Although primarily an I.T. network security consultant by trade, I do a considerable amount of technical and trade publication writing, and I would humbly offer my services to do a final once-over review before the letter goes out. Gratis, of course -- anything I can do to help in this great endeavor, is reward enough for me.

Let me know how I may be of service in this great effort!
-Sean
 
As far as Allen goes, and certainly not speaking for him, I am sure he has thought of a 14.1 event at the Expo, being a world champion and 14.1 purist. But being on the promotors side of the expo, he knows the dollars side of it wouldn't add up to a profit, which he needs to turn a profit at the expo.

It could happen if a certain amount of people got together and rented a booth for 1k and put up a table though :) But streaming might be a problem as last year there was a problem, if I remember correctly, getting enough upload for the 2 streams that were on premesis. Another thought is to hook up with TheActionReport as they are there streaming, they got a 7ft smart table last year, maybe they could get a 9ft smart table instead and hold the challenge.

Great thought and effort guys.

Kevin Vidal
 
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A booth, a booth!

Guys:
Enough with misunderstandings and misunderstandings corrected and apologized for!
The real issue is 14.1 at SuperExpo. Since we can't necessarily count on an angel like Bob Jewett, how about a subscription? What if 100 straight pool junkies put up $25 per? How far would that go towards bankrolling a booth? Maybe the action would be taped with the DVD's discounted to subscribers...
The 14.1 challenge could be open to all of those APA sticks as well as the pros. (Your chance for immortality for, say $25.)
Let's think together; 14.1 deserves it.
 
BayGene said:
Guys:
The real issue is 14.1 at SuperExpo. Since we can't necessarily count on an angel like Bob Jewett, how about a subscription? What if 100 straight pool junkies put up $25 per? How far would that go towards bankrolling a booth? Maybe the action would be taped with the DVD's discounted to subscribers...
The 14.1 challenge could be open to all of those APA sticks as well as the pros. (Your chance for immortality for, say $25.)
Let's think together; 14.1 deserves it.
Click to expand...

Thats actually a really good idea. Though I think we would need something almost as big as the Predator Booth if we wanted a full size table. That being said does anyone know where we could get a table ? Also how much would a booth that size cost if we wanted to do a 14.1 Challenge that way. How long do you think we would need and would we end up doing it like the DCC ? Final amount of players go into matches ? ETC.

LOL

Let Steve or I know.

Charlie
 
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I think its better to hook up with Justin of TAR and see if his spot can have a 9 footer this year instead of the 7 footer. He will have the stream hooked up and I am sure something can be put together with TAR.

Secondly, here is the format I would use ( I actually am putting together some 14.1 events here in the northeast with this same format - stay tuned).

Each player has to qualify to a final 8 player single elim tournament format, 100 pointers in the final 8 format.

**Each player pays $15 or $20 for a buy-in to qualify.
**Each player has the option to buy-in up to 4 times, to try and reach a qualifying score.
**Each buy-in is as follows to create a qualifying score. A breakball is set up and the player runs as many as possible until the player either misses or fouls. The player does this 5 times, and the total of the 5 times adds up to a total score, this final score of the 5 times is the players qualifying score.
**The top 8 scores after all buy-ins are complete enter a single elim 100 point final format. If there is a tie at the #8 spot then those players playoff with 5 tries again to determine who makes the final 8.
**The buy-in money is pooled for a prize fund.
**The qulifier buy-in period is a set time frame, maybe a complete day with a table open to qualiers would be good.
**The single elim round of 8 finalists should only take 6 hours with playing 100 pointers.

The events I am planning here in the northeast with this format will be using 8 tables, qualifying period between 11am and 2pm, then 2:30 we will go into the 8 player single emlim finalist 100 pointer format, the events will be over and done at 7:30pm, lots of players looking forward to it!

Kev
 
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It sounds like a great format. Steve brought up a good point also during a phone conversation. Last year while we were there we saw Andy Segal practicing on a side table off the main entrance. What were those tables there for and if they are just there do you think we could use one of them?

I mean the more tables we can use the better period. Also I dont think this should be done on a seven footer.

Call me a purist in that sense but I think it should be done on a nine footer.

Charlie
 
After a lengthy discussion here is what we have come up with thus far.

1. The possibility of using the special events arena if it is available, it is highlighted in white on the current SBE map. We would have to talk to Hopkins or his people to see how much this would cost.


2. The possibility of using booths 13, and 14 on the SBE exhibitor map they are highlighted in white meaning they are still available.

3. As for a live stream of this we will be getting in touch with TAR and whoever else might be interested in doing a live stream, and if not we will try and figure something out.

4. There is a possibility of us doing dvd's for this as well during the final matches and if asked for during the qualifying runs if someone posts up a big number.

5. Selftaught your format sounds incredible, the only thing holding us up i think is the money aspect. Not only do we need a lot of people to come up with the 20 dollars to cover the expense of the booth and what not we would also need prize money as well. Especially if there are going to be any pros involved.

6. Should pro's be allowed? I say yes but am curious to hear what you guys have to say about this.

7. We need to get a table banner etc.

8. We need to find a proofreader for any and all promotional materials *** (Sfeinan that was for you buddy.) lol :-) looking forward to that brew man.

Guys we really want to hear your thoughts on this as it is for this amazing 14.1 community we are doing this.

Thanks

Charlie and Steve.
 
here is a picture of the floor plan, and the are that we have in mind.

expo.jpg
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here is the link for the expo page so you can see it a little more clearly.

http://www.superbilliardsexpo.com/upper.html

Steve
 
I think the main thing hindering us is money.

You figure at 20 bucks a person we would literally need 100 people just to cover the cost of the booths to rent, now i am more than fine with that fact that we would spending 2 grand on this and there is a slim chance of making it back. My main concern would be having a good amount of prize money for the players.
 
Ahhh, welcome to a promotors world! I think the next step is to talk to Allen before making any plans, he might just like the idea and provide a couple tables at certain hours or something.

Kev
 
Sounding better all the time

A lot has developed since this morning. I'll see what I can do to help. It would be wonderful if this could happen.:smile:
 
I think we are definitely on the right track here. There have been some incredible ideas thrown our way and some that we have come up with on our own.

I agree with Kevin that right now the ideal thing to do is to see if Allen Hopkins may have some pearls of wisdom for us on this endeavor perhaps he will have a table or two available to us.
 
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