For the past year I have followed the course the IPT has taken, and the plethora of discussions here on AZ. I have posted in a few threads about KT, but I generally keep my mouth shut about things I don't feel I am qualified to comment on (perhaps I should not break that rule now 
).
I always hoped the IPT would succeed for the players. I believe 95% of this community also hoped that. I also hoped the IPT would succeed for the fans of the sport. While I was not "captured" by the presentation of the King of the Hill tournament on OLN, I was certainly glad the event was aired. I was thrilled for the hall of famers! I felt inviting some of the legends of the game, basically paying them for an appearance fee, was a genuine way to pay tribute to some of the players of yesterday and tie them to some of the players of today. I thought it a grand way to kick the tour off. It goes without saying the payouts were also impressive.
I had so much fun following the North American Open. I had never followed a tournament that closely. The payouts were obviously records, and by all accounts, the players were treated in a grand fashion. It seems pretty clear (at least to me) the success of the tour ended with that tournament.
There have been a lot of people (some of them IPT tour members) to say that KT did more for them than other pool tours or venues have ever done. I certainly am not in a position to say whether they are right or wrong. But I do not believe that was his motive. I believe KT put on the tournament with the largest ever payouts because he wanted to be known as the person who accomplished that, not because he wanted the players to suddenly have a sustained opportunity to make a living. KT may like pool, but his motive for the tour was not spawned from a passion and love for the game, and a desire to share that passion and love through careful and diligent promotion. It seems fairly established that he wanted to own pool instead.
He should have never been one of the three commentators. He is not qualified. If his motive was to create a tour that could sustain itself and be viewed as a serious professional tour, he would have hired a qualified person to stand in his place. The tour was about him owning pool and to show what KT could do, so he made sure people could see his smiling face.
He should have never lied to the players. Not once. I read like many of you the guarantees of people being payed immediately at tournaments. I read like many of you his seemingly disdain for people even suggesting he would ever do anything other than that. The mere thought of that happening when he would be running the show was ludicrous. We all know those guarantees and statements are no longer on the web site. The promises of total income from the tour, and if you don't achieve that he will pay you from his own pocket, are not guarantees from a billionaire who has the players and promotion of the sport in his best interest. If that were true, you would have a contract stating those things in writing. Instead, you have weak personal guarantees meant to foster misguided trust to help promote KT and his aspiration for owning pool through the IPT.
If you are a billionaire who can back up these guarantees, and you have the players and success of the sport as your motive, you do not need to resort to condescending interviews or press releases spouting that it is time to "pop the champagne" in order to deflect scrutiny off of himself and the IPT.
He is still taking money from people for qualifiers, does anyone truly believe there will be a tour next year?
Regarding the latest, the IPT has offered to pay 1/3 of the prize money owed. Not only does that sound ludicrous to me, but it is going to be in 3 installments? Has it not crossed anyone's mind that he will pay the first installment, and that will be it? If there are no written guarantees exactly when the other two installments are to be paid, how long will people have to wait? I would suggest before anyone accepts this offer, they should consider whether they are willing to accept 1/9th of the prize money they are owed, and the other 2/9th would be a bonus if it ever shows up.
A poster suggested being positive about the IPT at this point was akin to trying to make a pet out of a snake. That seems to be a pretty good analogy to me. There is no Santa Clause, particularly in business.
One thing I hope will come out of this is a little more harmony between some of the AZ members. I have read a lot of fairly nasty posts between various members regarding the tour and its ramifications. Some members have been positive to the bitter end, some steadfast regarding their criticism of the tour, and some have seemed to change their tune about the IPT over the past year. It would be nice if we could all realize that we are all pool players or fans, and personal negativity or attacks usually undermine valid arguments and the spirit of why we make them.
This is all very sad. Maybe the IPT will rebound, but I doubt it. There is too much that would have to change. I hope the best for pool is around the corner, but the best road for something is usually the hardest and longest.
just my ramblings,
Kelly
).I always hoped the IPT would succeed for the players. I believe 95% of this community also hoped that. I also hoped the IPT would succeed for the fans of the sport. While I was not "captured" by the presentation of the King of the Hill tournament on OLN, I was certainly glad the event was aired. I was thrilled for the hall of famers! I felt inviting some of the legends of the game, basically paying them for an appearance fee, was a genuine way to pay tribute to some of the players of yesterday and tie them to some of the players of today. I thought it a grand way to kick the tour off. It goes without saying the payouts were also impressive.
I had so much fun following the North American Open. I had never followed a tournament that closely. The payouts were obviously records, and by all accounts, the players were treated in a grand fashion. It seems pretty clear (at least to me) the success of the tour ended with that tournament.
There have been a lot of people (some of them IPT tour members) to say that KT did more for them than other pool tours or venues have ever done. I certainly am not in a position to say whether they are right or wrong. But I do not believe that was his motive. I believe KT put on the tournament with the largest ever payouts because he wanted to be known as the person who accomplished that, not because he wanted the players to suddenly have a sustained opportunity to make a living. KT may like pool, but his motive for the tour was not spawned from a passion and love for the game, and a desire to share that passion and love through careful and diligent promotion. It seems fairly established that he wanted to own pool instead.
He should have never been one of the three commentators. He is not qualified. If his motive was to create a tour that could sustain itself and be viewed as a serious professional tour, he would have hired a qualified person to stand in his place. The tour was about him owning pool and to show what KT could do, so he made sure people could see his smiling face.
He should have never lied to the players. Not once. I read like many of you the guarantees of people being payed immediately at tournaments. I read like many of you his seemingly disdain for people even suggesting he would ever do anything other than that. The mere thought of that happening when he would be running the show was ludicrous. We all know those guarantees and statements are no longer on the web site. The promises of total income from the tour, and if you don't achieve that he will pay you from his own pocket, are not guarantees from a billionaire who has the players and promotion of the sport in his best interest. If that were true, you would have a contract stating those things in writing. Instead, you have weak personal guarantees meant to foster misguided trust to help promote KT and his aspiration for owning pool through the IPT.
If you are a billionaire who can back up these guarantees, and you have the players and success of the sport as your motive, you do not need to resort to condescending interviews or press releases spouting that it is time to "pop the champagne" in order to deflect scrutiny off of himself and the IPT.
He is still taking money from people for qualifiers, does anyone truly believe there will be a tour next year?
Regarding the latest, the IPT has offered to pay 1/3 of the prize money owed. Not only does that sound ludicrous to me, but it is going to be in 3 installments? Has it not crossed anyone's mind that he will pay the first installment, and that will be it? If there are no written guarantees exactly when the other two installments are to be paid, how long will people have to wait? I would suggest before anyone accepts this offer, they should consider whether they are willing to accept 1/9th of the prize money they are owed, and the other 2/9th would be a bonus if it ever shows up.
A poster suggested being positive about the IPT at this point was akin to trying to make a pet out of a snake. That seems to be a pretty good analogy to me. There is no Santa Clause, particularly in business.
One thing I hope will come out of this is a little more harmony between some of the AZ members. I have read a lot of fairly nasty posts between various members regarding the tour and its ramifications. Some members have been positive to the bitter end, some steadfast regarding their criticism of the tour, and some have seemed to change their tune about the IPT over the past year. It would be nice if we could all realize that we are all pool players or fans, and personal negativity or attacks usually undermine valid arguments and the spirit of why we make them.
This is all very sad. Maybe the IPT will rebound, but I doubt it. There is too much that would have to change. I hope the best for pool is around the corner, but the best road for something is usually the hardest and longest.
just my ramblings,
Kelly
