Well I guess the biggest question's are still the same : Who exactly is the ABP and who exactly is speaking for them. Until these questions are answered its SSDD.
Something else I wonder is what exactly is a "United States ABP Ranking Points event" and why would anyone care about spending the time and money to do one? Evidently the ABP isn't doing any so it makes me wonder why they expect someone else to. I won't even get into the conflict of interest aspect of having a promoter sitting on the board of a players organization with no way for other promoters to have input.
I see this going one of two ways. One is it will simply end being up a mouse fart in the wind and things carry on as normal. The other is the ABP tries to force existing promoters into the seeding and rule changes under threat of boycott. If it is the latter I see a tough row to hoe for the ABP because of a few salient points I think they may not be giving enough weight:
1. There are not a whole lot of people jumping up to do $25K added events.
2. The people who already do $25K added events have nothing to gain by changing their established formats and rules.
3. The pro pool scene in the U.S. is tenuous at best. Rumor on the street is that the Seminoles are not coming back next year which knocks out five big money events right there leaving two Zuglan events, Barry Berhman doing the Open, Greg Sullivan doing the Derby, Mark Griffin doing the US Open 10 ball, Allen Hopkins doing the SBE Pro event and maybe Charlie Williams putting one or two 10-20k events together. Lets look at this list and guess who is going to change their rules, format and seeding:
Hopkins: Maybe.
Zuglan. Not no but probably hell no.
Sullivan: No way. Derby just doesnt lend itself to seeding or long races and isnt really a strict pro event anyway.
Barry: Maybe but I doubt it. Biggest sticking points is the call shot/call safe rules for 9 ball and the ABP seeding. Plus Barry is Barry, the Open is his baby and he is gonna draw a line somewhere on being told what to do.
Mark Griffin: He's my friend and partner so I know him pretty well. Lets just say it would surprise me greatly if he bought into the seeding and rule changes "required". A level of surprise on par with oh say the sun not coming up tomorrow.
Charlie Williams: ABP board member and if you believe the rumors head string puller. It's been a minute since Charlie did a BCA ranking points event but I suspect if and when he does do a $25K added event in this country it will be ABP all the way. Shocker there.
So we have three "No's", two "Maybe's" and a yes. If pushed the three no's will in all probability tell the ABP to pound sand and either keep on keepin on or just pull up from the pro game altogether. All in all it looks pretty bleak for the ABP prospects of turning existing events into a tour they can slap their name on.
I really hope this doesnt turn into a "my way or the highway" situation for anyone because no one is going to come out ahead.Best case for the ABP IMO is grandfather existing events as they sit, lobby for changes if you want but live and let live with the people who have for a long time and continue to pay your salaries however meager you may deem them.
The absolute best thing for the players to do to improve their own lot has been stated here on numerous occasions: Create your own tour. Show some serious organizational skills, unity, common sense, work ethic and there will be people jumping up to help. I can attest to this first hand. You'll starve for awhile but it's the only way to control your own destiny. If you are not willing or able to do that then making demands on others isn't going to get you where you want to be.
Damn. I didnt really mean to write all that. I was just going to post this picture:
