Keeping It Real...

Mark Griffin said:
Fatboy,

I just have to partially disagree.

I DO agree that the costs have to be trimmed. And there is a lot of waste (there laways is).

BUT to move it back to a pool room is too much of a retreat. Big tournaments just don't very well in a pool room.

It would affect the prestige - the TV and filming and everything else.

There should be (is) a better way.

Mark Griffin
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Thats only a decision Barry can make. unless he opens up the books(And he has not, to the best of my knowlege-perhaps you know more than me)


My whole point is "Its broken-fix it"

If it wasnt broken I'd say "If it aint broke, dont fix it"


I see the US Open in its current form as a over blown remnant of the "Glory days of America". then the roof caved in on EVERYONE and Barry is standing on the deck of the Titanic borrowing his way into another year? Thats the problem. Not the solution.


Your a great biz man Mark, You have my full repect for many years now. And having said that I dont think we can really be the judge of what needs to be fixed. Unless you know more than me, Assuming you dont its all up to Barry. If you do I'll shut up and see how it all works out. And I really hope it does. I want the best for Diamond, you, Barry, players, fans, gamblers, vendors, even the guy at the door who tries to catch people who didnt pay to get in.

I believe there is time to for Barry to come up with a solution. But mediation, arbitration, last minute $$$ will only prolong the inevitable. Its a over blown event in todays economy. Its broken, not dead. More people sitting around holding onto the past because Barry is putting his ego first is a train wreck. And yes I'm allowed to say that-I mean it with all due respect to Barry. There is a reason I am allowed to say that-however I will keep that out of the publics eye.


I like Barry, I have no beef with him-always been on good terms and respect him as I do you. I dont have a horse in this race, I remember when I started going to the pool room in 85. I dreamed of going to the US Open. We all did. The last thing I want to see us as pool players is to lose something as great as the US Open. And We will lose it if the captian goes down with the ship. And thats what I see happening as of now. so today I finally spoke up-FWIW, perhaps nothing. I'm not a champion, promoter, or even in the biz. But I do play and put $$ in action and support pool.

Respectfully

eric


702-241-8000
 
Fatboy2 said:
I am a biz man :smile:

Its a matter of hard choices and common sense.


Egos are the whole problem here on both sides. its easier to feed your ego than make a hard decision.


until that happens there will be therad after thread and endless bickering about nothing real.


I'm keeping it real.

best

eric


And I know a lot more than I let on about this...
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Great posts Eric! Heres my question! Is he locked into the convention center? Cuz that and the tables are two of the BIIIGGGEERR probs!
 
poolhustler said:
Great, First "Fatboy".

Then "Fatboy2"....

Now "Ol Fatboy"...

When will the misery end???
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never.......unless I get shot, I have seen guns come out in the pool room a couple times, 2 times in the boiler rooms(one time I was the gun man-Gods honest truth); but those days were long ago. so you'll have to suffer a bit longer with me.:p

all the best,
Eric:thumbup:
 
gamemaker said:
Great posts Eric! Heres my question! Is he locked into the convention center? Cuz that and the tables are two of the BIIIGGGEERR probs!
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I dont know if he is locked in, only Barry know's. But I'll speculate here-If I was in his shoes and locked in to the Convention Center, I would tell them to go pound sand, my tournament is more important than keeping the Conv. Ceneter happy; and deal with the fall out later. But again only barry knows this stuff and none of the real questions were asked by the players or anyone else that I saw until this thread.


I will say it again, I hope for all of us it works out. But it really rests on Barry, not the players(they only reacted). and again I dont know if their reactions will have the desired effect.

If its a cause/effect thing then the players are screwed.

Everything in business breaks down in logic, thats how I run my businesses. I dont get emotional. I make hard decisions. I aint the BIG guy I was 4 years ago and I admit that I'm smaller, not as rich and still not making $$$, I'm honest about my situation. Keeping it real, thats what the Brothers say(and they have my respect too) all cultures do. Thats a very common saying among black people, and they got that one right(among many others) we all bleed red. IMO Barry is not keeping it real, so far. Perhaps he is doing something about this or comming to terms with it. It aint easy going from big---->smaller. But Barry has the brains to grow it again when the time is right, its not right now.


Look at this:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/25/news/economy/post_office_shut_downs/?hpt=hp_p1&iref=NS1


the Post office is shutting down up to 3,653 offices. I realize nobody ownes the post office, but if someone did they would have to Keep it real and come to terms with that. Thats whats real in our world right now.


Fatboy2<---------lol, i''m having a idenity crisis today:cool:
 
Even when the economy was good there wasn't much to look forward to if you become really good, but gambling action. And that was really hard work and a lot of luck. It did happen. Our pool culture carries with it, the idea that there were warriors scoping the land to earn a living. Some had lots of success. Many, Many failed miserably.

So in that sense, we need to branch out to possibilities of developing a love for the pool player, to the market. We aren't just players of a game. We play a very intense, physically demanding game. On the outside, it looks like a game with simple movements, but it's so much more than that.

The gambling will be there. You'll thirst for it. But for now we need to focus on tournaments. Prize money, sponsorship money...I mean come on just recently we are trying to focus on better camera equipment? What took so long? And the girls....why did we let them prance around giggling and waving like we're little kids and they got candy. Do they really need to do that to promote their tour? No they are good as they are.

Oh man. I'm going to stop. I have pictures of Earl popping in and out of my thoughts. What the hell is going on with this world!
 
One thing I would like to see that may indeed be a better business model is to move the event around to different parts of the country from year to year. Perhaps he gets a real good deal at the Chesapeake Convention Center but certainly he isn't shopping price holding it there every year. I would imagine, especially in this economy, he could find a better deal if he expanded his list of potential sites across the nation.

Might be good for the gate and field too. As it stands now, aside from the traveling pros the field is probably largely made up of lower level regional players. Because the event is in the same place every year there is perhaps not the sense of urgency to enter if funds are an issue because they can just enter next year. Could be the same mentality for spectators as well. If the event moved around I think the field would probably fill early because for any second tier players in that region the event would be a must as they might not have the opportunity to play in it again several years until it comes back to that location. Perhaps the same for spectators too. I know if the Open was held in Southern California there would be no way myself or many others would miss the chance to attend.

There are plenty of large cities nationwide with the ability to hold this event and probably some deals out there. And there would be more (and cheaper) hotels than exist currently.

Not that any of this would solve the problem for this year, but I'm just throwing the idea out. Oh, and free stream it into Q Masters.
 
Opinions?

Eric, I respect your opinions on most things, but I have to disagree with you on this one.

Here are a couple of ideas I think would help:
1. Lower the total purse (I'd be happy to win 30K and get paid on time than to win 40K and not get all of my money)
2. Stop paying past champions entry fee for life!
3. Set a time limit for completing the pay out of the larger purses to no more than 30 days after the end of the tournament and let the players know this up front. If this doesn't work for them then they don't have to play in the US Open.

If the US Open was moved to a pool room as you suggest then it isn't even close to what it's been since the Chesapeake convention center became the home of the US Open. This is part of what makes the tournament so special. The facility is perfect for holding an event like the US Open. I don't think I could spend what it costs me to go to the US Open for a week to watch a tournament in a pool room. I've been to Q-masters many times and even though it's one of the best pool rooms i've ever been to it can't support the seating for the spectators and Accu-stats and also Barry would lose the extra revenue from the US Open crowd at Q-masters every day he gets when the Open is in town.

James
 
The draw the first few days of the tourney is a pretty low draw and would be a sunk cost..

I would think that if he held the first 3 days at Qmasters he could cut his overhead substantially and it would not impact his overall business opportunity cost by using the tournament room. He has 70+ tables and the players that play in the back room will likely be there watching the tournament. This might also lead to more action in the main room after and before matches.... Would give it more of the Derby feel since any woofing can be immediately handled.......

I'd say get rid of the entry fee except for the prior year's winner and runner up...... No reduced entry for early pay.... Reduced entry for amateurs would be fine to me tho since you have to have some cannon fodder.

Seed the tournament like he has been doing but put a bounty on a seeded player..... $500 to anyone who knocks one of the 10-12 seeded players into the losers bracket first round.... We all love upsets and underdogs.... Also gives the underdog an extra motivation for bringing the A-game.... We have heard many lesser players complain about seeding not allowing them a chance at an easy draw and being able to maybe back into the money so this should shut them up........

Give AWAY tickets on the radio.... The morning shows are always wanting freebies they can toss out to caller number 7... If you want a big crowd the best way to get one is to start with a small crowd....... Give some to a charity and let them sell them and keep the profits..... Woohooo a crowd with a healthy dose of GOOD pr if ya clue the media in!!!!

Allow exhibitions/free clinics in the halls of the convention center... I know Barry doesn't like anything going on outside of the tournament room at the convention center as he thinks this will detract from the gate and people will remain outside watching, but this is the farthest from the truth... If they come to the convention center they are going to watch the tournament at some point...

But..... the spectators are also going to at some point want to get up and move around.... I can see no reason the VEPS shouldn't have clinics or that Omega shouldn't pay someone todo a 15 minute trick shot exhibition every hour..... Maybe if that's allowed more vendors will show up to offset costs... I could see someone like Geno or Stan Shuffett paying for a booth if they were allowed to use one of the hall tables for a demo every hour...... Maybe have an instructors table as well.... Barry gets a cut of the fee for the lesson... I get to have the lesson at the Venue and the instructor gets to offset some of the costs for the trip.....

Fatboy is right..... some things need fixin........
 
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