A sad day for me and pool in America
- Thread starter Grady
- Start date
Poolplaya9 said:
This is great news that Mark G. has just announced about CSI. What does CSI stand for?
I am reminded of the TV show, "CSI." I watch that show every night! :grin-square:
As another opinion, I too agree that each State championship should be restricted to its residents. It wouldn't seem fair to have a player from Arkansas be called the Ohio State Champ, for example. This is just my opinion, though, and maybe there are good reasons to have them open to all.
PLEASE DON'T FORGET DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA where there is taxation without representation in the tournaments. D.C. is not a State, but we have pool players who live here! :wink:
I think I may know who Holly is. There can't be another Holly who loves pool as much as this one does. Does she have two dogs and used to live in Arizona? She will be GREAT to get this new CSI thing going!
JAM
Fatboy said:
Fatboy, in this comment "life pays you for what you did," I think Grady Mathews should be able to claim what he did for pool, PLAYING it, WINNING tournaments, as well as PROMOTING it.
For the readers of this forum who may not know about Grady Mathews, read a little more about Grady on Wikipedia, in case you don't know about the legend of Grady Mathews: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grady_Mathews
Then do a Google search for "Grady Mathews" in quotes and see what pops up.
Actually, in my opinion, Grady did it the hard way, and his accomplishments should not be discounted as if he's stale bread in the pool world. Only in America does this kind of attitude exist.
Elsewhere, especially in Native American, Japanese, and other cultures, the elders are given a great deal of respect and cherished for their past accomplishments. They are celebrated during their life by all, even when they age. Their worth is considered GREAT. This is what I call "respect."
Love him or hate him, Kevin Trudeau knew how to pay respect to the pool legends when he gifted each BCA Hall of Famer with $30,000 just for showing up to Orlando, including two byes in the tournament. This is what I call "respect."
Me personally, I don't respect people because of their net worth. One's actions do garner my respect, what one has accomplished in their lifetime to a given cause, a sport, an entity, a non-profit, et cetera. I respect you, Fatboy, as a forum member and enjoy your sense of humor, but I respect you based on your forum personality and wouldn't care if you were a millionaire or a broke dog. LOL!
In sum, money sometimes ruins good people. Sure, it makes life easy not having to worry about paying bills, but having a lot of money can and does change personalities with some folk. I hope it never changes yours, Fatboy. You seem like a nice person on this forum.
JAM
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even though Tiger Woods won the masters, at the next master he still has to make the cut. He doesn't get to play all 4 days just because he won before.
Yes, Grady should be invited. Invited to qualify !
Just my .02.
Ray[/QUOTE]
That pretty much sums up reality, in the real world.................this above post should pretty much end this thread, time to move on Professor.
Yes, Grady should be invited. Invited to qualify !
Just my .02.
Ray[/QUOTE]
That pretty much sums up reality, in the real world.................this above post should pretty much end this thread, time to move on Professor.
I personally don't think the golf analogy is a very good one, since there are several situations where PGA tour players are granted "lifetime exemptions" due to past performance. Answers.com states that players with 20 or more wins on the PGA tour receive certain lifetime exemptions, and isn't it "The Masters" that gives lifetime exemptions to players who have won the tournament before? I know that I've seen octogenarians teeing it up at major championships before, and it certainly wasn't due to being high enough on the money list that year. Even if they just play their two rounds, miss the cut and go home, the end result is that there are young people running around today who have had the memorable experience of seeing guys like Sam Snead and Billy Casper play golf live, which wouldn't have been possible without these types of exemptions. I think it's a nice gesture for the tour to honor them in that way, and the fans seem to eat it up.
It seems to me that a little more consideration should be given to what pool fans would like to see, and a little less worrying about pleasing a small group of the sport's insiders. I mean, isn't the goal to attract fans, who in turn bring money and attention to the sport?
We can't just sit around thinking "once the fans show up, we'll accommodate them". We have to create something that attracts fans, and showing some class by honoring our sport's senior champions is probably not a bad place to start. Despite it's other failings, the IPT at least seemed to have a grasp of this concept.
As always, JMHO,
Aaron
It seems to me that a little more consideration should be given to what pool fans would like to see, and a little less worrying about pleasing a small group of the sport's insiders. I mean, isn't the goal to attract fans, who in turn bring money and attention to the sport?
We can't just sit around thinking "once the fans show up, we'll accommodate them". We have to create something that attracts fans, and showing some class by honoring our sport's senior champions is probably not a bad place to start. Despite it's other failings, the IPT at least seemed to have a grasp of this concept.As always, JMHO,
Aaron
JCIN said:
I would love to have unity in pool, but everyone seems to have this "the world is against me" attitude. Pool players tend to think about themselves and their wallet and less about pool as a whole. Little do they realize, they are only making things worse for themselves.
For pool to be at its best, there needs to be ONE organization. And a separate players union to keep the organization in check. The organization needs to be in charge of both professionals and amateurs and be the ruling on a players skill level. There should be several levels of amateur. Like baseball's minor leagues. The better you are, the higher you are. The amateur leagues would fund the professionals. So professionals would be able to actually make money without paying entry fees and would give players intensive to advance in the system and not sandbag.
But this is all just a dream world. Like I said, nobody can agree or just be happy. Some people just don't see the bigger picture.
Justin, I too have that dream.... and a clear plan. Find me 6 million and Im set!
I tottaly agree! Does anyone understand why they keep inviting michelle wi to golf tournaments? It is difficult for the average person to follow pool with so many different faces and tours going on. I have been in the industry for 20 years and hell, i cant keep up!! would it hurt to set aside a couple exemptions for some players for the good of the game?
The difference between pool and baseball, basketball, golf, hockey, football, bowling, curling, darts, and every other sport I can think of is they all have an organization which the players belong to and manages the sport. Every time somebody tries to do that with men's pool you get resistance from people who think it will ruin their deal or are simply jealous. Even frigging fishing is unified and has an national organization. Do you think people would be making big bucks to go fishing if they weren't unified and had an organization?
Your exactly right...I have NO idea why people keep trying to compare pool to other sports.There is NO unification or organization in the sport of pool.NONE.And until that happens its just a entertainment sport.alstl said:
Its a joke to be blatantly honest.So let NOT compare pool to any sport that actually has any legitimacy.
A perfect example is someone saying they are gioing to have a 14.1 world championships..............Ok, well I'm having the Wsop tonight at my house.
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JAM said:
I'm sorry Jam, but in my little bit of the world the only promoting of pool I've ever seen from Grady is complaining about others.
I'm sure he's great in your little bit of the world though. Every time I see one of these threads from Grady my first thought is how it damages pool even more. Not to mention his reputation.
Pool is dying in this country, and it has zero to do with pro's, tournaments, or anything else. In its heyday pool was popular because it was a way for people to spend time, to make some money, and have a place to hang out while they were unemployed.
Now people have welfare and game systems to keep them busy.
Sure there could be a good professional tour, but that would take money, organization, and strict rules. Unfortunately I don't see any legitimit business groups going to put up the money in this country anytime soon. You can fund a single event without a huge problem, but a professional tour that is successful is going to take a lot more money and pool just isn't something that big companies want to buy into. Just my .02
cubswin said:
Thanks for your very nicely written reply to my post. I can sense that you have a lot of integrity and took time to make sure your post would not be offensive and/or argumentative, yet still presenting a differing opinion than mine!
I understand how you feel. In a sense, I share the same feelings as you about pool in America. Seven years ago, I was so enthusiastic about it and had dreams of making my own mark in pool by creating a literary masterpiece. My creative juices were flowing, and I was on cloud nine.
Fast-forward 7 or 8 years. I quit writing about pool because the current state of affairs in American pool disgusts me. When I see the discriminatory practices, good-old-boys club mentality, and no credible professional tour for American male pros, quite frankly, I just don't give a damn anymore.
Don't get me wrong. I have been a pool enthusiast since I was about 16 years old, and I am 54 today. Even when I took a hiatus from it, I had "The Color of Money" poster at my cubicle when I worked on the Hill. My car tags said "RACK-EM." Everybody I worked with on Capitol Hill thought that I was a great pool player. If they only knew! :grin: My greatest claim to fame in pool is that I was a 6 out of a 7 ranking system on the Busch League.
My best friend at that time used to cringe when I brought up the topic of pool. She had never heard of Steve Mitzerak and was shocked that I was surprised that she had not heard of him.
When I took a job working graveyard shift in a local pool room in the '80s, my mother really had a fit. "My daughter working in a billiard parlor," she would say, shaking her head. When I named my cat "8-Ball," my mom always called her "April," refusing to say the words "8-Ball." My cat 8-Ball lived to be 25 years old, BTW.
I don't know why I took a liking to pool. I have a lot of happy memories of pool, though, before I met Keith McCready. After I saw the professional tournament trail, I came away with a much different opinion.
My point is that pool is alive and well in America for leagues, bar bangers, and social shooters. That is when pool was the BEST for me. I had so much fun, I tell you. The professional pool scene in the United States is on a downward spiral, and if you happen to ever find yourself on that professional tournament trail, it's full of stop signs, hurdles to jump, and bumps in the road placed there by your own countrymen. I won't let it bring me down, but I will embrace the good times up ahead in pool. I don't care about ranking systems or the so-called "governing body of professional pool" anymore.
I'd rather sweat an all-night action match between Keith McCready and Jerry Slivka for a C-note a game than follow this tournament trail. I will still root for my faves, though, to include Bustamante. I hope he wins this week. Filipino players, unlike the Europeans IMO, have charisma and charm, and they can sure play. I just love 'em all. :wink:
USA, ALL THE WAY. And if it can't be an American in the winner's circle, let it be a Filipino, preferably Bustie or Alex.
:happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance:
JAM
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Right on the money!!!
I could not agree more!!!
reps for you!!!!
jay helfert said:
I could not agree more!!!
reps for you!!!!
mroberts75 said:
I guess that's one of the benifits of having been a lousy player all my life. Now i'm 82 and getting better.
Dave Nelson
Coming from a clown boy whos planning on building cues in a tent, well, you made me laugh.
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