Charlie Williams

9 ball

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have just finished reading the september 2003 article in BD about the Korean Dragon and quite frankly I am amazed by the way he is treated by fans and the media alike, they seem to paint him as devil figure all because he made a few mistakes when he was the president of the UPA.

I ask you though who wouldn't make some mistakes in a position like that at such a young age I mean for god sake he was only 23yrs old, all the guy wanted to do was help the male pros earn a decent living but as soon as he tried to do that people where on his back from the beginning.

The fact is if the other pros and promoters didn't like the way charlie was handling business then one of the veteran pros such as archer or varner should have stepped in because that was just far too much pressure for a 23 year old to take & quite frankly I think it is wrong for the media and fans to chastise him 3 years after he has stepped down from the position of UPA president.

In closing I will say that this is one fan who believes the decisions charlie made at that time as UPA president were done with the best intentions and he deserves the support of the fans & not the blame of the so called "fans" and media.
 
what Charlie did was bring everything on himself. Let me sk you a hypothetical question. Lets say that you are a well established promoter doing business with a certain business thats supports you as a promoter. And then CharlieWilliams comes along behind your back and tries to cut in on that business relationship. Would you still feel like you do about Charlie? And yes i do agree that CW made alot of mistakes in the beginning. But now i have to ask this question. What is going to happen to the UPA if the IPT goes with an exclusivity contract with its players??????? there will be no more UPA or any other tour that will have big name players......mike
 
It ain't over yet...

He is still seeded in tourneys and gets preferential treatment. What he has done is right in line with what all the other fly by night pool associations have done. Force everyone to join, schedule your tournaments during other tournaments and not let your members play unless they want to lose their membership, strong arm promoters and TD, seed your friends and make sure you end up in the finals and when you don't win forget about supporting the players that did. Pool players should not be presidents of Pool Associations. PERIOD.

Ever ask yourself why he goes to the Mosconi cup EVERY year no matter how well or poorly he is playing?

JV
 
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I have heard some *personal* stories about Charlie Williams which have turned me away from him strongly. Of course, I cannot vouch for the accuracy of these stories. I do know that he left my friend and great junior player Mitch Menes waiting for some time for a match in which the TD would not put him on the clock.
 
Johnny "V" said:
He is still seeded in tourneys and gets preferential treatment. What he has done is right in line with what all the other fly by night pool associations have done. Force everyone to join, schedule your tournaments during other tournaments and not let your members play unless they want to lose their membership, strong arm promoters and TD, seed your friends and make sure you end up in the finals and when you don't win forget about supporting the players that did. Pool players should not be presidents of Pool Associations. PERIOD.

Ever ask yourself why he goes to the Mosconi cup EVERY year no matter how well or poorly he is playing?

JV

Yeah, I still see that easy 6 ball he missed to GIVE Steve Davis the match when a win by him would have sealed the deal for the USA.
 
personal experiences!!!!

Charlie WIlliams has earned his reputation by being a cocky and arrogant person. Anyone who has been around him can vouch for this statement. Also his ability to promote events is horrible. He has the audacity to come to someones pool room and ask to hold an event there and in return ask for 70 to 80 percent of the door money. This might be understandable if he did promote an event, but all he does is have a poster printed and puts a stack here and there. Then ask the pool room holding the event to add half of the added money (sometimes as much as 10k). This is not good business. Just not a class act in my book and time is beginning to show what type of business he runs.

JMO
 
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mroberts75 said:
Charlie WIlliams has earned his reputation by being a cocky and arrogant person. Anyone who has been around him can vouch for this statement. Also his ability to promote events is horrible. He has the audacity to come to someones pool room and ask to hold an event there and in return ask for 70 to 80 percent of the door money. This might be understandable if he did promote an event, but all he does is have a poster printed and puts a stack here and there. Then ask the pool room holding the event to add half of the added money (sometimes as much as 10k). This is not good business. That is why the Pool Room 2 here in Atlanta will not hold UPA events anymore due to the loss of huge amounts of money associated with his events. Just not a class act in my book and time is beginning to show what type of business he runs.

JMO


What spoke loudly to me was I worked directly with him over two days, I made him some pretty good dough and I got paid as agreed, but when I saw him down the road he never said hello or acknowleged my presence, I've seem that kinda personality before, its like he's up HERE and we are DOWN there. Shallow man.
 
9 ball said:
quite frankly I think it is wrong for the media and fans to chastise him 3 years after he has stepped down from the position of UPA president.

Some people are not forgotten just like Adolf Hitler was not forgotten or forgiven even after 65 years.:cool:
 
Snapshot9 said:
Yeah, I still see that easy 6 ball he missed to GIVE Steve Davis the match when a win by him would have sealed the deal for the USA.

I think it's a joke that he's playing in that thing. You got all kinds of champions...Morris, Strickland, Archer, Owen....and Charlie Williams. The guy doesn't even play pro speed position.
 
i remember charlie way back when we were both like 11 years old hangin out in the old q-masters in norview, va.... he used to be a pretty nice guy but i think he has burnt a lot of bridges since then, and obviously forgotten where he came from... especially in terms of his relationship with barry behrman. i'm not here to judge anyone or anything but nowadays when i think of cw the words pompous, arrogant, condescending, and self serving come to mind.
 
cueball1950 said:
what Charlie did was bring everything on himself. Let me sk you a hypothetical question. Lets say that you are a well established promoter doing business with a certain business thats supports you as a promoter. And then CharlieWilliams comes along behind your back and tries to cut in on that business relationship. Would you still feel like you do about Charlie? And yes i do agree that CW made alot of mistakes in the beginning. But now i have to ask this question. What is going to happen to the UPA if the IPT goes with an exclusivity contract with its players??????? there will be no more UPA or any other tour that will have big name players......mike
I don't understand this. Did you have exclusivity with the sponsor / partner? Did you introduce Charlie to him on faith that this was your connection?

Sounds like normal competition to me. I do this business and know that others will try to attract the same sponsors and partners that I approach, and the ones that offer the deal that they want are the ones that get the business. That's just the nature of business and it can be done in a moral way, and sometimes people step over the lines.

Perhaps there is more to the story that I'm not getting?

Charlie may not be the best promoter or business man in the world, but he is somewhat unique as a pool player, who at such a young age has got quite a few good events up and running. No doubt he's made mistakes but that's par for the course for most promoters who give the industry a try. Thank god there are those out there who give it a shot...some are gonna be better than others and the market will sort them out.

Colin
 
If he's stumbled along the way once or twice, so what? Charlie Wiliams is one of pool's best promoters and greatest visionaries, and I believe that he understands pro pool's landscape as well as anyone.

Long live Charlie Williams!
 
Charlie Williams is one of the hardest working people in the billiards industry. I am glad that he does not allow this negative criticism to effect his motivation for promoting the sport. I hope he continues to promote events - and I will support him 100% all the way.
 
9 ball said:
I have just finished reading the september 2003 article in BD about the Korean Dragon and quite frankly I am amazed by the way he is treated ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,harlie made at that time as UPA president were done with the best intentions and he deserves the support of the fans & not the blame of the so called "fans" and media.

williams took a lot of cr@p, but why should another player assume the mantle when it's clear that it's a no-win situation. they're pool players, not businessmen.
 
There are a lot of smartasses out there who have no idea what is going on. Charlie Williams is the best thing that could happen to pool. I do know him very well and what he does for players and the sport. Do you ? You guys should be ashamed of yourself. Damn, I dont curse often, but it makes me sick to read all the bullsh...from people, who have never done anything for the sport, don't know the players, don't know nothing about pool politics and can't make two balls in a row...

Anybody that can badmouth Charlie Williams to this degree is no friend or fan of mine,

Thorsten
 
I have spent quite abit of time with charlie and I personally think that he has done more for pool this past decade than anyone else. As a young man, player and businessman, charlie has been both succesful and somewhat of a visionary. Most of the negativity surrounding his name is pure jealousy.

The people who criticize the loudest, are often the very same people who have done nothing for pool, themselves. If we had more interested parties involved like charlie, the world of pool wouldnt still be in the gutter.

I hear people talk about charlies success with such venom, as if his hard work and dedication shouldn't have a payoff. Shame on you.

I for one, am disgusted with such talk, and comparisons yet, to adolf hitler. You can be sure, whoever posted that, is surely someone who is so disastisfied with thier life, they can only project their own failures upon others that they are envious of.

I am through with this forum. I will post when I want, when i need something and when i can exploit it for my benifit. People who know me, know that i am in a serious position to help pool, but i am now even more disillusioned with the cumulative garbade that clutters these pages. This is the second rude awakening i have faced with regards to lowlifes in the world of pool in the last two months.

My wife was right, when she said all i'd find in poolhalls are scumbags.

rg
 
thorstenhohmann said:
There are a lot of smartasses out there who have no idea what is going on. Charlie Williams is the best thing that could happen to pool. I do know him very well and what he does for players and the sport. Do you ? You guys should be ashamed of yourself. Damn, I dont curse often, but it makes me sick to read all the bullsh...from people, who have never done anything for the sport, don't know the players, don't know nothing about pool politics and can't make two balls in a row...

Anybody that can badmouth Charlie Williams to this degree is no friend or fan of mine,

Thorsten

Toastie,
That's my point exactly. This "bash Charlie" crap usually emanates from the same camp everytime it comes up here. They have never seen what goes on behind the scenes and how hard that Charlie, James West, and Cindy Lee work to promote our sport. Most of the people that criticize Charlie's personality have never taken the time to get to know him or watch him work around the clock to pull the strings together so that tournaments can run as smoothly as possible.

Randy, don't allow a few negative posts to keep you from participating in this forum. You insight and input is greatly appreciated as well as all YOU have done to promote the game of pool.

PS - Toasti - thanks for sending me that number - I will call Ralf on Saturday evening.
 
My wife was right, when she said all i'd find in poolhalls are scumbags.

You needed your wife to tell you that? :eek: lol, jk. That's why I bought a pool table. I can get my ball banging fix without having to even look at the ulgly faces of the ultra-jealous, gossiping, back-stabbing, degenerate scum that loiters in local pool rooms. That way I can go into a pool room for an occasional tournament or to shoot with old buddies without getting burned out by the idiocy that results from regular visits. The better you are...correction - if you're better than THEM..you'll be hated.


Anyway, I'm sure that a few of these types have discovered the internet and AZ forums...
 
whoa

I hate to break it to you know it alls. Your wife my have been right about the pool hall but if you think your going to meet a "better" class of people on the golf course or a squash court you are also mistaken.I caddied at one of Americas best country clubs and I've seen the "upper crust" come to blows over a putt several times so there no reason to act like thats what you expect from someone because they are pool players!
 
In Charlies defense

It is amazing to hear all the bad press about Charlie, if it were not for him then the men would not have had a tour. I guess some of yall' out there wouldn't understand that because you have jobs and do not rely on pool as a means of an income. Yes Charlie is cocky, the comment he made about the women not being able to compete on the mens tour with an exception of a few was wrong to say and innacurate. With a sardo rack (9 ball) there is very little difference between some of the top males in our sport vs. the top females, also he may have some issues when it comes to business (my way or the highway attitude.) Lets remember that he is Korean and has very strict values when it comes to doing business, I consider Charlie a friend even though I think he has alot to learn, he is strong when it comes to getting the ball rolling and has alot of drive. The way he handled the shot clock at the World Championships was not too good, but lets look at the other side of the coin here if not for Charlie we might not have had another 14.1 event for who knows how long. By the way he is a fine 9-ball player, there does seem to be some politics in pool and he is unfortunately right in the middle but I do believe he means well in his effort to help promote pool. We all have alot to learn, lets all keep in mind that the upa was founded with good intentions and at one time there was some good people aboard as some still are. Charlie once told me his goal was not to win a bunch of major tournaments but to be remembered as the one who helped it grow, I think he feels as if his efforts have gone unnoticed by the players and it sometimes does make him act arrogant. All I can tell you is I have known him a while and yes he is sometimes not very sensitive to the players but on the other hand he has helped the game of Pocket Billiards.
Sincerely,
Danny Harriman
 
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