It was the Mid-Atlantic 9-Ball Championship, which occurred exactly one week after the Music City Open and the Derby City Classic. Also, it was held on Super Bowl weekend. To add insult to injury, there was a snow blizzard. It was held January 2003 at the then-Holiday Inn, which was right next door to where the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship used to be held (Chesapeake Beach Conference Center).
Brady Behrman, Barry Behrman's son, who I have respect for and is a friend of mine, promoted this tournament sans his father. It was his first attempt at hosting a big pool tournament of this magnitude.
Due to the snow blizzard, the spectator seats were filled with mostly locals, pool players in the event, pool players' friends. Local prostitutes came during the late evening hours during the last match of each night. They were very friendly with the tournament competitors.
There were vendors there out in the hallway, but due to what I think may have been Brady's lack of experience, he didn't collect the vendor booth fees beforehand. The vendors were all b*tching and moaning about how they did not sell one thing, and they did not pay Brady the booth fees, monies he was counting on for the tournament payouts.
The very last night of the event, me and mine were sitting in the bar of the Holiday Inn -- where else? :angry: -- and I saw Brady and his wife on the other side of the bar. There was nobody else in the joint. Everybody split and left to go home, I guess. I saw Brady's wife begin to cry. She actually was sobbing and ran to the ladies' room. Brady followed her. I didn't know what had happened at that time, and I was concerned, as I do like Brady.
Well, as it turned out, Brady didn't have the money to pay some of the payouts, especially the larger payouts, at the conclusion of the event. The players who won and got in the money wanted to get paid. I think he tried to pay out as much as he could, like the lower payouts. Though he is Barry Behrman's son, some felt that Barry should have stepped up to the plate and covered the payout monies, but Barry's thought -- and rightfully so -- was that it was not his tournament and he shouldn't be held accountable. Therein began the beginning of the storm between Danny Harriman and the Behrmans.
I believe Blackjack did try to intervene, speaking to Brady and Danny, hoping to get Danny paid, but I don't think the entire debt was satisfied.
Here's the pictures of the event. In fact, you should have seen all the great players in attendance:
http://www.azbilliards.com/gallery/showgallery.php?gallerynum=23
I still have a T-shirt. Might be a collector's item. This was the first and only Mid-Atlantic 9-Ball Championship, to my knowledge. I will say this, the place was packed with an all-star cast of players. It was like a Who's Who in the Pool World at that time in 2003. It's a shame that the timing was bad as well as Mother Nature not cooperating. Most people can't afford to take off work and go to the DCC, the Music City Open, and then this event, the Mid-Atlantic 9-Ball Championship, all in the same month. That is what, in my opinion, created the state of affairs that took place. :frown:
It reminds me of the time that Keith was playing pool in Burlington, Iowa. He was in the money rounds but didn't bother showing up the next day. Rumor had it that the tournament organizer, or one of them, lost the entire prize money in a gambling match the night before. Everybody knew they weren't going to get paid, so nobody showed up.
Check out the stands on a typical night of that event. What do you see? Players. And that's about it. Nobody came. Brady was counting on, probably, gate fees, vendor fees, et cetera, and they just didn't follow through. Lesson learned for sure. I know Brady feels terrible about it, no matter what anybody says. In my world, when I don't get paid by somebody who files bankruptcy, whatever, I got to eat the loss. I can claim it on my taxes, but only after I initiate legal action. It's the cost of doing business, unfortunately, and I definitely can empathize with Danny Harriman, an American champion, who paid good money to attend this event, e.g., food, hotel, travel, et cetera. Not getting paid was a slap in the face in what is always an underpaid industry. Welcome to American pool!
