onepocketchump said:
One thing I know for sure. His BOOK won't kill you. If you have a grave illness and you are buying his book then you are definitely searching for something and spending $39 bucks on the chance that the answer might be in there isn't the end of the world. Better than going to a Camel event and having cigarettes handed to you for free and having to fade the smoking.
Do you think Strickland would make through even one tournament if Smith and Wesson sponsored events and gave the audience loaded .32s?
)
John
John,
What do you do when he gets tired of throwing snowballs in the furnace known as professional pool? Here's what you get: We end up right back where we're at with less credibility than what we started with. Most leaders within our industry understand this. Why don't you? It's got me wondering. I have no use whatsoever for anything he has in his books.
Second. Next time you, Earl and I are in the same room, say that to his face, don't say that here. Don't use this thread to start taking cheap shots at Earl's character. He doesn't deserve that, and you haven't earned the right to carry his golf clubs. You had an oportunity to say things like that to him at the event in Orlando. I didn't see you running up there and saying much to him. Why didn't you? Saving it for here?
Mr Wilson I will asnwer you questions. I know I promised I'd shut up, but you asked, and I will provide you with answers to your questions.
Mr Wilson said:
*If* You're wrong, how are you going to own this?
How is it going to affect your credibility?
As far as my credibility goes, in reference to what? I'm no longer playing at the professional level, I am a coach and an instructor, I am a marketing representative, I am active in organizing fundraisers for various charities, and I also volunteer my time and personal money to help make pool a better game on a daily basis. If I remain steadfast in what I am doing and keep strong in my convictions, my credibility will remain intact. If I thought I was wrong about the IPT in any way, I would not have started this thread. Anybody that knows me and has spoken with me on any subject will tell you that I say nothing without a purpose. I also make it a habit to know what I am talking about. If I am wrong about this I will still be standing here and you can throw rocks and garbage at me if you'd like. I promise you that I will be man enough to stand there and take it. I don't think that's likely to happen, but you can hold me to that statement. Give this time to play itself out.. maybe a year or two.. let the usual personalities get involved and screw it all up for everybody, and then come back and we'll assess the damage. I'll even buy you lunch. Deal?
Mr Wilson said:
See, I don't get the vehemence in your whole tone with this. It looks like really, really sour grapes from here.
It is coming across as if YOU have something to lose if he succeeds
Sour grapes? About what? I am not alone in my assessment of the IPT. You act as if I am alone in my opinon - thats not true. You can view Marissa's statement of the WPA's view of the IPT as having substance if you choose to, but I know better. I have spoken with people in that organization as well as the IBF about this subject. They share my view that this will not last as long many people think it will. Hopefully we are wrong, for the player's sake. My advice to any player (and Ive spoken to several) is to grab as much of these purses as you possibly can while its there to grab. Make sure he pays you in cash. Spend or invest it wisely. Most of them will piss it away as quick as they got it. We all know that. Let the games begin.
If this affects me in any way, it shows that I have wasted my time in my efforts over the past 18 months as I tried to get the billiards industry to start adequately supporting professional pool. Once again, we have failed to develop the trust of our own industry. This won't help. If this does anything it erases the work that I and many others have done. If this IPT does not work out, the industry will not support professional pool - AT ALL. Why should they? That's been their attitude towards men's professional pool since Mackey signed the deal with RJ Reynolds. It has been my mission to mend those fences and to do whatever I can do to generate cohesiveness between the industry leaders, the pro, and semi pro level tours, and the players. I don't get paid a dime for doing that from anybody - and I have done a lot of work - many people in the industry know that - some of the people on this forum have seen me in action.
I have always said that pool has no mass appeal because our sport is "take take take" and there is very little "give give give". Mr Trudeau can impress me and win me over by ensuring that pool players will be required to work within the communities that we enter and hold our events - and to use our newfound riches to positively impact those communities. That is the model that I have been presenting tirelessly for a very long time. We need to make a positive impact. Why do I do this? It goes back to a promise I made to Cisero Murphy several years ago. I will make a difference. And I will do so in a dignified manner. Sour grapes? Not really. There are many places to make a difference besides the billiards industry - and yes, I am looking elsewhere to donate my skills, my knowledge, and my passion. Those close to me know that I have not kept that as a secret for the past few months. The IPT has very little to do with that decision. Does this mean I am walking away from pool. Yes. Am I bummed about that? No. I'm ready to move on. I have done all that I can do up to this point and hopefully I have inspired someone to step up and take over in my place. It is the right thing for me to do at this point in my life (in regards to my physical problems).
Mr Wilson said:
What else is there that we, ( the community ) are not privy to?
If I can be honest.... I have lived the saga which I have described throughout the 8 pages of dialogue generated so far in this thread. I lived through PPPA, the PBA, the PBT, the MPBT, the PCA, the UPA, and other short lived alphabet soup tours. I think I know what I'm talking about. I am a very perceptive person. I developed that 6th sense while spending many years as a road warrior. The players that do not develop that 6th sense don't last very long out there. I was out there longer than most. I didn't stay out there and not learn how to read situations for what they truly are. This is how I was able to predict the downfall of the MPBT years before it actually happened. Im not psychic, just very perceptive, and I carefully view situations and the characters that are in them. Its just common sense.
I'm not a person that needs a lot of money to be happy. So don't get the idea that I'm bummed that I can't compete for these big purses of money. I'd much rather see money go where it is needed, not where it is wanted. What you are sensing Mr. Wilson is my passion and my love for the game of pool. My friends will tell you that I have used my love for this game
positively to wash away my reputation as that "evil bastard" that Vader referred to. I think I'm succeeding in that effort. Whatever the outcome of the IPT, pool will always remain a great game - with or without the big money - with or without me.
I suppose that explains all the egomaniac & the scary tough-guy attitudes around here too.
