If the Str8 Shots post was in error, it was still theirs. People reacted to the post as presented. I think we all wish everyone at Str8 Shots good luck but they need to learn from this experience. Their mission is one most of us believe in.
Exactly^^^
JAM and Lorider are hugging saying they stood up for what they knew to be right when the world wasn't supporting them. How ANYONE can read Kim's original post and think "I want to defend this person and company" is beyond my level of understanding.
Str8 Shots was obviously trying to produce that match (which I think was WAY WAY premature since TAR produced the first 2). Mark says he contacted Justin about it, but Justin said he only received a text message asking for a call - no details. Then Kim found out about the TAR match and was fully aware of the offer and decided to make a post saying she advised JS to not do it and there would be no match -- and went as far as to outline the specifics of Schmidt's contract regarding his responsibility to come to them for permission.
From there... the ball was already rolling downhill -- and fast. When Kim made a clarifying post, it did everything BUT clarify anything. It further confirmed what everyone was already thinking. Of course, when Danny made his quip about residuals -- then everything was confirmed for the most part.
So of COURSE everyone got up-in-arms... no one was spinning, no one was unfairly attacking -- the community circled around TAR and stood up for what was right. No one spun anything --- we're all literate and can read just fine.
What really happened was:
- Mark was recently taken on by Str8 Shots and wanted to come out of the gate with a home-run match and did his job to set it up. I really like Mark and respect what he has done with challenge match productions in the past, however, it's fair to say his actions were premature and he should have waited to even MENTION the match to Str8 Shots until he gave Justin the courtesy of a sit-down to discuss his plans and intentions. Did he HAVE to... prob not... but it's the right thing to do since Justin was vested with two previous matches with those players, sitting at 1-1, and had previously tried to get the match together. Had Mark taken the time to do this one step, this entire thing would have been averted.
- Kim's original post was her true initial intention. She controlled her player, which she felt was within her right of sponsorship. I think everyone gets that. The thing that put the community up-in-arms was the undertone that she would leave it open to produce the match in the future, which sent the entire community on tilt. That's when everyone marched up the hill with pitch forks and torches. The blow-back was so intense, she likely thought, "WTF is going on... what's happening!?!?" Once it blew-up beyond anyone's expectation, Str8 Shots suddenly had miscommunications, confusions and basically said they didn't mean what they posted and it was all a big misunderstanding.
^^^ All of the above is perfectly clear and documented and doesn't leave anything up to interpretation.
- The way I see it is Justin called Kim and her husband who prob sounded flustered and totally sincere when she said everything is a total FUBAR and nothing is what they intended and everything is a miscommunication. Justin is a SUCH a classy guy, he probably steps out of the shower in the morning in order to take a piss in the toilet, before stepping back into the shower -- and gave her a verbal hug on the phone and put her olive branch around his forehead like Julius Caesar and ended the call like a professional.
^^^ This is all speculation because I wasn't on the call and I'm not sure if Justin really steps out of the shower to take a leak, but if anyone does, he does because that's how proper, kind-hearted and classy he is.
Everyone makes mistakes and I've made more than anyone on this pool forum and as they say: Let ye who hasn't effed-up, pitch the first stone ---- and I threw my stone decades ago. It's been said that Str8 Shots does a lot for juniors and for events, etc, and I'm sure they do -- it's just that no one has ever heard of them. Based on what is coming out, I'm sure they're legit and I'm SURE they do good things. That said, I'm sure they learned their lesson.
Mark Cantrill is one of the very best exhibition promoters in the U.S., without a doubt. I'm sure he saw a big opportunity and attacked it with vigor and tried to spear a mammoth and drag it into Str8 Shots to show them he can deliver, which he does 99.9999% of the time. I'm sure if Mark could have a mulligan he would and if Kim could have a mulligan on her two posts, she would and if they each had mulligans, they'd be in the center of the fairway and we'd all be crowded around their ball excited to have a new, fresh face in our community doing super good things for all players, from pros to juniors.
With that said, I'd like to apologize to Kim, her husband, and Mark for my scathing attack. I only have two speeds: french kissing and melting someone's face off like the German dude from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. I don't own TAR and sometimes I pull shit that's in the "not my problem" pile into "my problem" pile when it's not my job to melt someone's face off.
TAR has single-handedly revolutionized pool streaming and big-action streaming. Although Accu-stats was the first (if I recall), TAR was the first to be successful at it. Now, someone "might" (I wouldn't) say _____ has a nicer-looking stream or ______ has better camera angles or ______ has better commentators, but NONE of them (stress NONE) would be in that position if TAR hadn't paved the way.... and that's a stone-cold fact. I think that's why TAR has a special place in many of our hearts and we defend them to the death when we perceive a "wrong" is going down, just like they're our family.
Str8 Shots is the newbie in our community and I wish them the best and I hope they pave their own way in our industry just like TAR did. In time, it's very possible some other company comes forth and sets off a similar maelstrom where the entire community circles around Str8 Shots and we beat that company to a bloody pulp if we perceive a "wrong" is going down. As a pool community, we're a VERY loyal group when it comes to the companies who treat us well and operate with integrity.
CUMBAYAAAAA MY LORD......CUMBAYAAAA. CUMBAYAAAAA MY LORD...CUMBAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
