One Governing Body

ForumGhost516

ForumGhost516

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Folks forgive me if i sound lke i dont know as much as everyone else on here as i probably dont i came to this forum with an understanding of our sport as a whole not its governing bodies or representatives. so if this post is wrong i apologise in advance.

Professional and amateur pool needs one singular governing body as golf has the PGA a world renowned organization that is known for solely the presentation of governing of, and promotion of golf in all of its forms. Now from what i can tell the UPA and the BCA are from what i have learned the two closest things we have to governing bodies. I believe that if pool is to survive as a professionally sanctioned sport we need an organization like the PGA the NFL and so on. Tennis has the USTA and Hockey has the NHL.

Perhaps this is a pipe dream, and perhaps this has been said over and over again. Now i know im just a twenty five year old from NY so what can i do but i felt I at least could write this to shout from the roof tops my discouragment at being an amateur in a sport that bears little or no future. Children nowadays can make more money literally going to worldwide guitar hero and dance dance revolution tournaments then they can at a professional pool tournament and believe they do exist as scary as that sounds.

I have this incredible dream to become a professional player to play against the likes of Shane Van Boening Johnny Archer and everyone else that i see on TV and on DVD's. Will it happen probably not just like the average golfer probably will never play along side Tiger Woods at the Masters. However as an amaeteur i find this task even more daunting as i have no specific path to getting there except for going to events and plunking down money and hoping for the best. Perhaps this is our way in pool and if it is i hope some day i can make it.

I have a passion for our sport that has been fueled all the more by this forum. To see and know that there are more like minded people out there who have a pasion for the game i love as well. I have shared information strategies, sold and bought equipment on here and i am sure that our ranks do not even cover a tenth of the pool playing world.

So what does it take aside from money. Who are the higher ups that we can contact about a tour or at least a tournament based upon honesty integrity class and respect. A tournament with the worlds finest. A testement to competitiveness and sportsmanship. if you can answer this question i guess you are a far better person than I.

Is it Diamond or brunswick for tables Simonis Predator the companies that we see all over the tours. Do we need private backers and funding? I am asking because even though i am just a regular guy like the rest of you i would love to do it just once. Put on a tournament that people are not worried about where the money is coming from and where and how they are getting it.

I am in New York so if you have ideas please let me know. My goal is not to take players away from any of the current tours in my area. The Joss the Tri States Blaze or Predator Tours but to create one event as a start that will hopefully change the face of pool if even for a moment. Invite the mass media. News channels and more. Will i fail in this resolve most likely. I am not looking to make a dollar on this nor am i looking for praise or kudos. I am sick and tired of seeing our sport in a state of disarray. Whether it be the Desert Shootout which i am in no position to judge or whether it be the current boycott going on in the Phillipines.

So i ask again what does it take? Who will help me or am i doomed to fail before i begin. I know Mike Janis is trying to take the initiative and bring this issue to the table. If you know of someone or a company or anything that could help let me know and i will start putting out the word to everyone i know.

Sincerely
Pools biggest ***** lol Charlie
 
well let me be the first than to give you some KUDOS!

i dont think it is much of a pipe dream! this article should be submitted in other forms, such as Sports Illustrated, Pool & Billiards, ETC. maybe even submit the letter to the like of ESPN or something....


Lets all get the Big Wheels turning here, you get my vote!

Keep up the good work!

Steve
 
Excellent dreams. Hold on to them.

As for the pro tour industry being in disarray, you are, unfortunately correct.

Any great structure has many components that often differ in some important aspects from one structure to the next.

But one component that they ALL have is a solid foundation because without that, the structure is doomed.

Well, the foundation of pro sports is the athletes...period.

IMHO, there NEVER has been an effective, united player organization in america.

Back in the day, Brunswick didn't just heavily influence the tournament side of the game...it was a DICTATOR. The players did what Brunswick told them to do...and like it!

There are certain advantages to enlightened dictatorships and I don't wish to suggest how enlightened (or not) Brunswick might have been but clearly, there was no strong player organization in the Brunswick era and there has been none since.

IMHO, pro touring, in America, will remain the equivalent of a "third world economy" unless and until the players but their personal/competitive and personality issues aside and unite for the greater good.

And...fortunately...the above is not merely my opinion but is there for the whold world to see for themselves. There is not one single significantly successful professional sport that does not have a STRONG and in some cases SUPER-STRONG player organization.

That is the foundation. Above that, there must be a single MAJOR LEAGUE touring organization run by BUSINESSMEN and WOMEN not by the pros themselves. (I don't think there is a single PGA board member or senior officer who was a major name touring pro).

So, the structure is
A) Let the players play and the business people run the business and
B) Do so within a structure of a strong player organization relating to a strong tour organization.

What is needed to get that structure designed and under construction?

Unfortunately, like substance abusers, sometimes people just have to hit rock bottom before they can turn their lives around.

I don't have intimate insights into the mindset of all major pros...but a few though...and I cannot detect ANY "let's do it" attitude among any great number of them.

But a turn around is certainly not impossible. In fact, I think that it would take less than 50 players...in the world...to lock arms and just say Damn it..enough is enough...AND THEN RETAIN SOME ONE PERSON WITH THE KNOWLEDGE, DRIVE AND AMBITION to help those 50 players fashion a structure that they would ALL agree to and commit to FULLY....because without those players, there would be no tour AT ALL.

In my personal opinion, there are PLENTY of private individuals who would back such a structure BIG TIME....tens of millions big time...if they only could be convinced that the players were TOTALLY UNITED.

HELL...over $200 million has already been ponied up by not that many mega-wealth guys who want to get their rocks off on a sub-orbital space flight!!!!!

PLENTY of them have done A LOT nuttier things than back a pro tour featuring the most played (or nearly so) participant sport in America!!

Gimme a break!

But those people are not stupid (mostly) and they wouldn't put ten cents into the industry in its present state.

And...big clue...the women have been doing it pretty correctly for oh.., 25 or 30 years and a few of the top names are pulling down multiple hundreds of grand a year from sources OTHER than prize money!

EARTH TO MALE PROS......HELLOOOOOOOOOOO!

(-:

Regards,
Jim
 
Am so glad to see these opinions exist here. We did lay a foundation for the future of professional pool with the forming of the BMPAP. A mighty strong foundation if I may say so specially with all the top-notch professional players that helped establish it. Quite a turmoil in the earlier stages but now that we've left that conflict behind and moved on with our programs we see it turning into a worldwide movement specially from all the encouragement from professional pool players from all corners of the world.

Rodney has been very encouraging, and so were players from the Middle East, since the start and we thank them for this. Soon we'll have our world Professional Pool organization and sooner if we get more to help build it.

Do you want to help build on this foundation or would you rather reinvent the wheel?
 
ForumGhost516-

Your intentions are grand and your passion is pure, but let be honest here...

Many have tried before but all have failed. Still, the (pipe) dream lives on. Some are still looking for the solution including Mike Janis, Blackjack, Mark Griffin, and many others.

If I didn't tell you to forget this pipe dream and concentrate on your current career, I would be irresponsible in my suggestion.

Just do the math...The current money leader on the 2008 AZ Money Player List is the great Ralf Souquet at $102,000. Not bad you may say until you look at 10th place of a measly $17,000 (Approx. 50,000 a year minus air-fare, hotels, equitment maintenace, & no benefits). Oh, did I mention that the tournament you are in might go belly-up?

Pool is not golf or tennis or basketball. You do not need new shoes every six months or new golf balls everytime you hit it in the water or anyother product for that matter. In pool, tables last forever, sticks last forever, you can have one or two cases in a life time, and you dont need "billiard" shoes. You do need a new tip, chalk, and felt. We are lucky to have Viking and Joss supporting two tours as is.

If you think some sugardaddy is going to come along and plop down millions, your dreaming.

All that being said, think of pool as entertainment and decide how much time and money it is worth to you. Save up your money and goto the DCC or a Viking event and kick Johnny's a**.

Good Luck!
 
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I thank everyone for their responses. In all honesty i know its a pipe dream i just want to see something happen. And it might be something grand or a dream but something. Some kind of anything i guess. I guess im jaded and naive.
 
ForumGhost516 said:
I thank everyone for their responses. In all honesty i know its a pipe dream i just want to see something happen. And it might be something grand or a dream but something. Some kind of anything i guess. I guess im jaded and naive.
Click to expand...

We would all like to see something happen. The reality is so much more complex than anyone really knows or has the power to change.
 
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