I'm not a fan of Charlies, but he did write that when he was 20. I think you can excuse a 20 yr old from writing he is very available, and that Loree Jones is a babe, etc. Now, if he were to write that today, I don't feel it would be a good PR move.
I just thought it was interesting that I stumbled on it when I was looking at something completely different and the last line struck me as funny in light of the discussions.
I always think it's a good PR move to write that Loree Jon is a babe. She is, even now. As is Eva and a lot of other top women players.
I just thought the whole piece was interesting and a little window into the past.
For what it's worth I have NOTHING against Charlie Williams. I feel that if whatever he did in a hotel room is worth making public then it should be worth prosecuting. If a person is not willing to go to the police then perhaps it shouldn't be made into a public spectacle because no matter what a majority of the "public" is ALWAYS ready to lynch a person based on accusation alone.
To me Charlie has always been cordial and nice. Then again I don't have any business with him and never have. I haven't been on the receiving end of threats to hold competing tournaments, haven't had to fade those threats made real. Haven't had to deal with Charlie's demands or the way he markets his tournaments. None of that affects me in the least.
It does upset me a little when my friends are affected. When Shanelle Lorraine is put on equal billing with Kelly Fisher it's a bit offensive. When Mark Griffin has to deal with the threat of a walkout hours before his pro event starts, when he has to deal with a competing event it's a bummer to hear that stuff.
I am on the player's side but the players haven't really done much to be effective since Charlie formed the UPA. Now it's unclear what the APB (is that right?) is even doing and what involvement Charlie has. I think Charlie got into the pool management game with the best of intentions to do right by the players and unfortunately that has not worked out too well for the majority of players. The UPA seems to have disappeared and Dragon Promotions seems to be the dominant vehicle that Charlie is using to provide income for the pros in his stable of players and select others that get invited to his events. My take on this is that this is sort of where things have landed for Charlie and the place he has made in the billiard industry by going his own way and doing deals that make sense for his company and his crew.
Most of us in the industry know that it's not easy to get anything done. This is an industry that is poor and ignorant. We are. Most of us come from pool backgrounds and we don't have deep pockets or deep contact lists to draw on. So on that score I applaud Charlie for getting some events on the calendar and providing some paydays for some of the players.
And as far as I know, which isn't very far, Charlie is still single and available.
