Call me if ----

G

Grady

Pro Player
I have a standard package for room owners, which precludes them losing money on an event. If they give me $10,000, I'll raise another $5,000 and more after the first year-so we can have a $15,000 added tournament the very first time.The room owner can have the gate and I'll show him how to sell the tickets. I mean, 100 VIP seats at $100 each gets him his $10,000 back.
I'm thinking in the midwest maybe we could have a World Bank Pool Championship, honoring Gary Spaeth and Steve Cook. In New England, a 14.1 World Championship, in memory of our beloved and already much missed Larry Liscotti and Boston Shorty. In the Southeast, One Pocket and Seniors. I plan to have Handicap 9 Ball in conjunction with Poker, too. Oh, and of course, ring games and all night action. I've got good ideas for out west,too.
If I can get some quality help, ladies and gentlemen, we can take this marvelous sport to it's rightful place in the sporting community. I have some interesting and brand new contacts with TV and isn't it about time that ESPN and commentators like Hopkins and Laurence be removed for ineptitude.
All I need is volunteer assistance and some local financial help in a few regions to get the ball rolling properly. I can't do it alone,though. On 6 of my tournaments I lost more than $10,000 and I just can't do that anymore. That being said, my events are recognized as being among the best ever staged and I always pay off; yet the Billiards Digest and the BCA don't recognize them at all, even to the mere point of including them in their yearly almanac.
All right, I think I've offended enough people for now but don't worry about it. The offendees are plenty thick-skinned.
I don't want to forget the UPA. This is as bad a group as the PPA, the MPBA(Mackey,etc.), the BCA, the WPA and Barry Hearn' crew.By the way, you would all be surprized at the number of top players and companies who have recently contacted me and pledged support. It seems that they, too are tired of the current situation. They do have to be careful, though, because of industry politics, sponsors, etc.
 
Volunteering!!!!!!!

Am not in a position to help you financially but anything I can do to help you please feel free to ask. If I can do it I will.Your message and request is as important as Paul Revere's message that the Redcoats were coming.

I can visualize a whole new perception of televised pool. Many famous celebrities as you know ,play pool on a regular basis. Some of them can play fairly well. Wouldn't it be nice to invite some of them to these tournaments.Anything to increase the viewing audience and keep the word out about pool.They might not une in to see Reyes and Strickland match up in the finals but if Justin Timberlake or Robin Williams or Barry Bonds were in the audience I bet they would tune in.

I hope this post of yours creates a groundswell of enthusiasm and brings this game back to where it should be.

It would be great if all replies and comments on your post came with offers of help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Titanic Jerry
 
Not in a position to help Grady, esp. being in the UK.

Like Titanic though, if you need any free mule work done I can do that.

One quick question though: what is the prob with Matchroom? Without them showing 9-ball on TV, there wouldn't be a pool scene in the UK. Seriously, 10 years ago there were probably 10 regulation size tables in the whole country. Now almost every room has at least 6 - 10 tables. There are also two major tours (with about 200 players total competing), and about 6 or 7 room-based tours.

I don't think any of the above would have happened without Matchroom.

Anyway, I wish you all the luck in the world in your endeavours and hope it is a roaring success. May the table roll well for you.
 
Hard Times?

Grady said:
I have a standard package for room owners, which precludes them losing money on an event. If they give me $10,000, I'll raise another $5,000 and more after the first year-so we can have a $15,000 added tournament the very first time.The room owner can have the gate and I'll show him how to sell the tickets. I mean, 100 VIP seats at $100 each gets him his $10,000 back.
I'm thinking in the midwest maybe we could have a World Bank Pool Championship, honoring Gary Spaeth and Steve Cook. In New England, a 14.1 World Championship, in memory of our beloved and already much missed Larry Liscotti and Boston Shorty. In the Southeast, One Pocket and Seniors. I plan to have Handicap 9 Ball in conjunction with Poker, too. Oh, and of course, ring games and all night action. I've got good ideas for out west,too.
If I can get some quality help, ladies and gentlemen, we can take this marvelous sport to it's rightful place in the sporting community. I have some interesting and brand new contacts with TV and isn't it about time that ESPN and commentators like Hopkins and Laurence be removed for ineptitude.
All I need is volunteer assistance and some local financial help in a few regions to get the ball rolling properly. I can't do it alone,though. On 6 of my tournaments I lost more than $10,000 and I just can't do that anymore. That being said, my events are recognized as being among the best ever staged and I always pay off; yet the Billiards Digest and the BCA don't recognize them at all, even to the mere point of including them in their yearly almanac.
All right, I think I've offended enough people for now but don't worry about it. The offendees are plenty thick-skinned.
I don't want to forget the UPA. This is as bad a group as the PPA, the MPBA(Mackey,etc.), the BCA, the WPA and Barry Hearn' crew.By the way, you would all be surprized at the number of top players and companies who have recently contacted me and pledged support. It seems that they, too are tired of the current situation. They do have to be careful, though, because of industry politics, sponsors, etc.
Click to expand...
Have you spoken with the guys at Hard Times in Bellflower, sounds like that would be an ideal venue to me. A tournament done there in conjuction with the Reno tournament in June or December would ensure all the top players would be out on the West Coast for to attend.
 
call me if

Hello Grady
Sorry to hear you referring to Barry Hearn in derogatory terms again. What is that all about?
What yardstick are you using to define successful pool events? By any other standard Matchroom produce the best TV events (no contest!).
With the WPC, Mosconi Cup, World Masters, World Pool League and a few other irons in the fire they produce the only televised pool that appeals to a MASS (non playing) audience. Your plans are ambitious and I hope that you bring them to fruition. But do not be under the illusion that The Grady Way is The Gospel.
Doug Gordon
 
pro9dg said:
Hello Grady
Sorry to hear you referring to Barry Hearn in derogatory terms again. What is that all about?
What yardstick are you using to define successful pool events? By any other standard Matchroom produce the best TV events (no contest!).
With the WPC, Mosconi Cup, World Masters, World Pool League and a few other irons in the fire they produce the only televised pool that appeals to a MASS (non playing) audience. Your plans are ambitious and I hope that you bring them to fruition. But do not be under the illusion that The Grady Way is The Gospel.
Doug Gordon
Click to expand...

Grady has better ideas than anyone out there. Ask most pros and they will tell you the same thing.
 
LastTwo said:
Grady has better ideas than anyone out there. Ask most pros and they will tell you the same thing.
Click to expand...

Maybe so, but Barry Hearn is far more successful increasing exposure for the game in other countries than Grady is doing for the game here. And Barry's not even primarily a pool person. He deals with all kinds of sports, not just pool. He's a great business person, and a great marketer. Ideas are great, but action is better.

There is no doubt that the two best pool tournaments every year are the Mosconi Cup and the World Pool Championships. Fans love those tournaments, and so do the players. And they're shown LIVE in countries all over the world (except here, of course). Those tournaments have been so successful that the US Open now copies their visual format, down to the faux metal stage and the chick in the referee uniform (although Michaela Tabb is a real ref and a decent player, I doubt any of Barry Behrman's girls can run 3 friggin balls). The US Open also has Jim Wych call the matches now, and he's a regular on the Mosconi Cup and WPC broadcasts. The UK, primarily snooker countries, embrace Hearn's events by showing up, spending money, and placing bets. If Grady can pull the same thing off here, great. Until he does, though, he has no business making disparaging remarks about Hearn.

It's funny to me that people will bitch about pool players trying to run the business of pool and Grady is...well, a pool player trying to run the business of pool. Great, add another to the list. That being said, I support Grady's efforts to increase the exposure of pool, as I do for any effort to increase the monetary rewards for our beloved game. Grady is highly intelligent and motivated. Maybe he's the one, I don't know. I just don't think it's necessary to tear someone else down to rise to the occasion.

-djb
 
Barry Hearn

I have a right to not like the way Mr. Hearn does things.He takes most of the money, ala a Don King, in most of his business dealings.Don't believe me? Ask the new group from Asia who tried to do business with him or one of the four pool players who met him 10 or 15 years ago at one of the BCA's trade shows. He made it really clear that he cared not a whit about the sport but rather only his own wallet.
Jim Wych? The guy is an awful commentator. His only redeeming trait is the cresendo like ending of some of his sentences.I still can't believe that Accu-stats and Billiard Club Network don't have more imagination than to almost exactly copy Hearn' format.
I restate that invitationals are discriminatory. No true professional should ever have to qualify for any tournament.
Now, these things being said, Barry Hearn has done some good things, too. But, except for the few American players lucky enough to get invited or be in the top whatever number the prevailing org. requires, American pool and the men who play pool for a living aren't helped at all by what Hearn does.
It is eerie how similar this situation is to what transpired here in the states in the mid eighties. Wouldn't you know that, you couldn't have guessed this, a big-time fight promoter ruined my and pool,s good friend Ritchie Florence's life.I'm done with this. I know I'm in a no-win situation.But, gentle readers, remember this: Every time over the last 30 or so years that I spoke of things like this, I've been right.
 
Grady said:
I have a right to not like the way Mr. Hearn does things.He takes most of the money, ala a Don King, in most of his business dealings.Don't believe me? Ask the new group from Asia who tried to do business with him or one of the four pool players who met him 10 or 15 years ago at one of the BCA's trade shows. He made it really clear that he cared not a whit about the sport but rather only his own wallet.
Jim Wych? The guy is an awful commentator. His only redeeming trait is the cresendo like ending of some of his sentences.I still can't believe that Accu-stats and Billiard Club Network don't have more imagination than to almost exactly copy Hearn' format.
I restate that invitationals are discriminatory. No true professional should ever have to qualify for any tournament.
Now, these things being said, Barry Hearn has done some good things, too. But, except for the few American players lucky enough to get invited or be in the top whatever number the prevailing org. requires, American pool and the men who play pool for a living aren't helped at all by what Hearn does.
It is eerie how similar this situation is to what transpired here in the states in the mid eighties. Wouldn't you know that, you couldn't have guessed this, a big-time fight promoter ruined my and pool,s good friend Ritchie Florence's life.I'm done with this. I know I'm in a no-win situation.But, gentle readers, remember this: Every time over the last 30 or so years that I spoke of things like this, I've been right.
Click to expand...

So do you have a problem with the owners of baseball and football teams? They take most of the money, too. They SPEND most of the money, too. Players just play. Don King is rich, sure, but haven't his boxers gotten rich, too? As far as Wych being an "awful commentator," I'd take him over Mitch Laurence any day.

Why shouldn't pros have to qualify for some tournaments? (BTW, what is a "true professional" in pool?) Not all professional sports teams get to play in their playoffs, does that need to change, too? Damn right they're discriminatory, that's the point. Not every country gets to field a team at the Olympics (see American baseball). Does that need to change, too? Do you think game shows should give out all of their advertising money as prizes, or should they not be allowed to profit either? I guess if it were up to you, if promoters lost $50k per event like Barry Behrman has with the US Open lately, then that would be a good thing as long as the players get their money. Ludicrous.

The fact is that the business model of most professional sports (like tennis, golf, baseball, football, etc.) works. Owners and promoters make money, which in turn allows the players to make money. The dollar they're after is from the fan who's going to spend money at events and on merchandise. The more exposure Hearn's work (and yours, too) brings to pool, the higher the payouts will rise and pool might become something worth doing financially for a greater number of players.

Personally, I don't care how pool grows, just that it does so. If Hearn's model works, then great. If your ideas work, that's great, too. But quit all the bitching, whining, and sniping; there's nothing productive which can come of those things. As the Greek goddess of shoes says, "Just do it."

Whatever help I can offer, I will do so. I've met you a few times (I know you meet hundreds of people every year, so no big deal there for you) and I've enjoyed my conversations with you. I think you're a boon to the sport. I have my own ideas, too, so feel free to PM me or e-mail me at doomcue@nc.rr.com.

-djb
 
Grady, over the years i've heard some things from you and some other pro's that I didn't agree with. But overall I believe you guys are trying to do what you think is right for our sport. We're all entitled to our opinions whether we agree or not. I just want to say THANK YOU for all the effort you put forth to try and further our sport. Please don't give up and maybe the world will wake up to the greatest sport in the world. Sam
 
Grady said:
I'm done with this. I know I'm in a no-win situation.But, gentle readers, remember this: Every time over the last 30 or so years that I spoke of things like this, I've been right.
Click to expand...

Not to be rude Grady, but have some heart. You come up with some ideas, and then don't like a little opposition- or opinion of others- and quit? What do you do now when you are playing an ahead set, and are a couple games loser? Settle? You know this 'business' as well as anyone, so your ideas are not unfounded, but commit yourself and go full steam ahead. Ritchie was a great guy-miss him- but he was a go-getter for sure.
 
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