Doug was given a jacket, just a little token of how much he is appreciated on this site. These are the images of the back and front of the jacket and the story behind it is below. What isn't shown in these images are the dozens of signatures on the jacket.
Hu
Back
Front(upper left, small)
The story behind the jacket: Without any false modesty, I instigated the idea, doing what I am best at! Melinda(AKA Trigger) and I worked out the original design of the embroidery and I was supposed to buy the jacket. That is pretty much where my involvement ends until I got around to typing this tale. Melinda, perhaps recognizing after a few days that I like to shop just a little more than I like a triple root canal, took over the shopping. She located the jacket, found the embroiderer, finalized the design, chose colors for the jacket and embroidery, and did all of the real leg work to get this thing started. Without her the idea might well have died stillborn. After all of this time, effort, and expense, she still put some dollars into the pot. All I can say is what a lady!!
After getting all this done and getting the jacket in hand she passed it on to Ray(Bigtruck) to take to a tournament, start getting signatures on it, and ship it on to me when this was done. Ray took care of the signatures and the dollars for shipping then passed the jacket to Todd(TX Poolnut) who took care of the actual shipping on to me, probably the heavy corrugated plastic packaging too, I don't know. I passed it on to Joey(JoeyA) to carry to the DCC, specifically asking him to not make a big thing of it, taking away from his DCC. I asked him to find a home for it in the AZB room if he could and check if there was a marker by it now and then.
Joey went so far above and beyond what was asked as to leave me almost at a loss for words! (OK, this is Hu typing, not really ever at a loss for words, lots of them)
Joey takes the time away from his business to go on one major road trip a year if he is lucky. The DCC was it. So it is huge that instead of focusing on playing his best, being entered in all three divisions and some mini tournaments I believe, Joey focused on getting names on this jacket. The results are almost beyond belief. Not considering the names of the AZB members on the jacket which I have already been told mean a ton to Doug, Joey collected a group of signatures from great pool players, legends of the game, old time road warriors, and up and coming stars that may be unmatched on any other single piece of pool memorabilia. I heard it far outstripped the banner for the AZB room itself to give some idea. After doing all of this, Joey rush shipped the jacket to Doug while he was going through an especially trying time. Joey did this out of his own pocket of course after making signatures on the jacket the primary purpose of an expensive trip to the DCC. I am well aware that Joey did this primarily for his close friend Doug but still I am truly overwhelmed at his efforts to insure the success of the jacket idea.
Many others helped or stood ready to help. John Barton of JB Cases was one of the first to offer information, cash, or any other aid possible. He wasn't called on this time but knowing he backed the project insured that it could happen. Many thanks to you too, John. Others assisted in many ways and of course every person who signed the jacket helped make this a success. I know ten times as many would have signed had they had the opportunity or the space on the jacket but this was still a huge success and Doug is deeply appreciative of the jacket.
I have to close by thanking Melinda and Joey yet again. The contributions of both of them are truly inspiring and are what really made this whole thing happen.
Hu
Sorry, no images of the signed jacket. Hopefully some will turn up that somebody snapped at the DCC.
Hu
Back
Front(upper left, small)
The story behind the jacket: Without any false modesty, I instigated the idea, doing what I am best at! Melinda(AKA Trigger) and I worked out the original design of the embroidery and I was supposed to buy the jacket. That is pretty much where my involvement ends until I got around to typing this tale. Melinda, perhaps recognizing after a few days that I like to shop just a little more than I like a triple root canal, took over the shopping. She located the jacket, found the embroiderer, finalized the design, chose colors for the jacket and embroidery, and did all of the real leg work to get this thing started. Without her the idea might well have died stillborn. After all of this time, effort, and expense, she still put some dollars into the pot. All I can say is what a lady!!
After getting all this done and getting the jacket in hand she passed it on to Ray(Bigtruck) to take to a tournament, start getting signatures on it, and ship it on to me when this was done. Ray took care of the signatures and the dollars for shipping then passed the jacket to Todd(TX Poolnut) who took care of the actual shipping on to me, probably the heavy corrugated plastic packaging too, I don't know. I passed it on to Joey(JoeyA) to carry to the DCC, specifically asking him to not make a big thing of it, taking away from his DCC. I asked him to find a home for it in the AZB room if he could and check if there was a marker by it now and then.
Joey went so far above and beyond what was asked as to leave me almost at a loss for words! (OK, this is Hu typing, not really ever at a loss for words, lots of them)
Joey takes the time away from his business to go on one major road trip a year if he is lucky. The DCC was it. So it is huge that instead of focusing on playing his best, being entered in all three divisions and some mini tournaments I believe, Joey focused on getting names on this jacket. The results are almost beyond belief. Not considering the names of the AZB members on the jacket which I have already been told mean a ton to Doug, Joey collected a group of signatures from great pool players, legends of the game, old time road warriors, and up and coming stars that may be unmatched on any other single piece of pool memorabilia. I heard it far outstripped the banner for the AZB room itself to give some idea. After doing all of this, Joey rush shipped the jacket to Doug while he was going through an especially trying time. Joey did this out of his own pocket of course after making signatures on the jacket the primary purpose of an expensive trip to the DCC. I am well aware that Joey did this primarily for his close friend Doug but still I am truly overwhelmed at his efforts to insure the success of the jacket idea.
Many others helped or stood ready to help. John Barton of JB Cases was one of the first to offer information, cash, or any other aid possible. He wasn't called on this time but knowing he backed the project insured that it could happen. Many thanks to you too, John. Others assisted in many ways and of course every person who signed the jacket helped make this a success. I know ten times as many would have signed had they had the opportunity or the space on the jacket but this was still a huge success and Doug is deeply appreciative of the jacket.
I have to close by thanking Melinda and Joey yet again. The contributions of both of them are truly inspiring and are what really made this whole thing happen.
Hu
Sorry, no images of the signed jacket. Hopefully some will turn up that somebody snapped at the DCC.
