The good intentions of BCA HOF banquet is too honor and recognize greats from the past and present, as they laid the groundwork and in turn help keep the mfg and distributors churning. It for sure wasn't home table sales that helped create the BCA office. On the other side of the coin, the BCA mfg. and distributors do not try and support/help/grow the game in all facets....which can only Help the Players and in turn....Help the BCA board members increase SALES and increase PLAY and get the BCA bankroll back to where it was at over 3mil in early 2000. I might be wrong, but do they even have a mil in the bank NOW, guess I could look since it's non-profit 401C3 corp. Am I missing something? Why don't they get this? I know over 90% of all products are sold to home owners which treat it as a game like checkers, thus not giving it enough help to become a true SPORT. Why not go after the play side which will have Future Benefits that are KEY to helping all who are involved within this industry too become even healthier. There are some many intelligent and creative individuals on the BCA board, why not use there talents, not for them but for us all.
I think you answered your own question Bill.
It's not that they don't " get it ", it's the fact they have no money that prevents them from doing more.
I'm not going to defend the BCA any more than I would defend the WPA, because I know they would never defend me. However, I have in fact taken the time to speak at length with Shane, Rob and a couple of past presidents, and to presume that they don't know or don't care about the state of pool would be incorrect.
Their funding issue is the final manifestation of a series of bad decisions, some bad politics, and some bad luck too. And unfortunately it has taken this many years to finally realize , diagnose and begin to correct the many problems they face.
(Also keep in mind, that in their absence, new promoters moved in and set up shop, making competition amongst events tougher than ever. Where would the BCA even squeeze in an event? And also in their absence, a whole generation of players has learned that there is nobody in charge. They do what they want and answer to no one. How well do you think they will respond to a governing body with no credibility?)
Now the biggest hurdle, besides cash, is credibility, and the ability to rebuild what has been lost. It won't be easy and it won't happen fast but they are at least on the right track now.
Prime examples being the BEF and the newly established Atlantic Challenge Cup, both of which have done an extraordinary job of bringing junior pool [ read: our future players] out into the spotlight, even at the international level. There are now over 40 state qualifiers for juniors whereas a few years ago there was like 6.
They are clearly and effectively focusing on the future, and not the past.
Are they back to what they once were? Certainly not.
Are there 100 more things they can do to promote the sport? Certainly.
But this sport is a hot mess and I'm sure that no matter who is faced with tackling it, they will indeed have the challenge of the century.
Give it some thought for a moment, what you might do different for the industry, and the first question you'll have to answer is " how do I pay for all this"?