The damage is so severe that it's not that easy of a venture right now.
CJ did do something about it TWICE...
He started up a nice tour and put a ton of money in pool.
Third time's a charm isn't it, T?
I come from an era that supplied the things you needed as a Pro for a match. This included towels, powder, water, chalk, a table, a referee, and 10 pool balls. They had adequate lighting and ran the Pro tournaments in the Penthouse of the Riviera, and it was a fantastic show with Efren, Sigel, Rempe, Archer, Strickland, Reid, Hopkins, Hall, Lebron, Crane/Johnson, Davenport, Pierce, Hatch, Mizerak, West, Morris, Kennedy, etc. and 25 -50k added money. 8 Events a year were on ESPN and they showed on a real TV screen .
Now it's different, and like I said if there's money issues I understand dropping the prize fund down to 50%. What I don't understand is not announcing the players of today, just out of respect.
They had to do a lot to get where they're at and sometimes it's just nice to hear your name announced, and that you were on the Mosconi Cup, or won a major tournament or that you are just a fun guy to watch because you break really well, or can draw your ball 4 rails.....there's something nice and respectful that can be said about any player.
I did start my own tour in 96 and the very first tournament Earl Strickland won the Million Dollar Challenge which paid him, to this day the largest prize in the history of the sport. I wrote him a personal check for $50,000 at the end of the tournament, after I won the tournament. By the way, three of those matches were televised and I'm going to release two of them in the next couple of months. They are very well done TV presentations with Jimmy "Pretty Boy Floyd" Mataya doing the commentary. These shows played three times for a total of 9 airings.
In the next 4 years our new Tour (the PCA working with the WPBA) did over 70 shows for ESPN and put an additional $1,200,000 in the pockets of the players. I won $88,000 for winning the ESPN World Championships the first year (along with the Doubles World Championships with Lori Jon and the Battle of the Sexes against Vivian Villareal with 3.8 Million People watching). Each of our ESPN shows averaged over ONE MILLION VIEWERS.
Complaining about the state of pool today? I guess you could say stating the facts about tournaments is complaining, I'm not sure how to "sugar coat" not having powder, towels, water, decent environment, ESPN, and the players matches not being announced, it just "is what it is".
I had the choice to not play again under these circumstances and chose that option, so in that respect it was the correct decision, and if all the players chose not to play things might actually be better now, who knows, they certainly couldn't be any worse. Every tournament is a losing proposition for the players, only 20% of them make their expenses back. And with no potential Television coverage there's little chance for sponsorship above and beyond just getting expenses paid.
I will use every resource to help professional pool that I have, this is something I've done before and I will do again.
The damage is so severe that it's not that easy of a venture right now. I have trouble believing how it plummeted so far, so fast and is continuing to be treated like a third rate business with only a few people profiting and the rest starving.
If something does happen that's positive for the professional players it's going to make certain people very uneasy, whether I'm involved or not. Even this messed up model of a professional sport has those that are heavily invested in it remaining the same ......I have no opinion about these people, I doubt if I even know them, the only thing I want to see before I die is RESPECT RESTORED towards the Game and the players that have dedicated themselves to playing the Game at the highest level possible.
When the business people involved with their departments
(if there even are any) are at the same level as the players we will not be in this situation. The Game is determined to shine again, it's just a matter of time.
The Game is the Teacher